Grandview Modified Pit Notes 7/01/23 – Craig Von Dohren Back on Top with his First Win of Season at Grandview Speedway

Craig Von Dohren patiently and methodically worked his way through the field from his 13^th starting position and on lap 18 passed Jeff Strunk for the lead to take his first Grandview modified win of the season.

Jeff Strunk surged forward from his 12^th starting position to move into an early lead on lap 8. Brett Kressley quickly charged into a close 2^nd from his 14^th starting position; but his contention for the lead ended abruptly on lap 11 with a flat tire sending him to the pits and then the back of the field while Craig Von Dohren continued to move forward using the top of turn four to power past Strunk for the lead on lap 18 and drive into victory lane for his first win of the season at Grandview Speedway.

Heat race winners for the 34 car modified field were won by Glen Owens, John Willman, Chris Esposito, and Brett Kressley.  Owens, Willman, and Esposito all posted their first heat race win of the season.

 Timmy Buckwalter and Eric Biehn won the consolation races.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps):

1. CRAIG VON DOHREN, 2. Jeff Strunk, 3. Ryan Watt, 4. Mike Gular, 5. Doug Manmiller, 6. Mike Lisowski, 7. Ryan Grim, 8. Tim Buckwalter, 9. Craig Whitmoyer, 10. Bobby Trapper Jr., 11. Brett Kressley, 12. Eric Kormann, 13. Eddie Strada, 14. Jesse Leiby, 15. Joe Funk, 16. Kevin Graver Jr., 17. Chris Esposito, 18. Ryan Beltz, 19. Darrin Schuler, 20. Bobby Trapper Sr., 21. Jimmy Leiby, 22. Carrol Hine III, 23. Justin Grim, 24. Glenn Owens, 25. John Willman, 26. Eric Biehn, 27. Ray Swinehart, 28. Jared Umbenhauer

 DID NOT QUALIFY: Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Ron Haring Jr., Mark Kratz, Chris Gambler, Nate Brinker, Kevin Hirthler

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 7/01/23 NASCAR POINTS RACE # 9

The racing night was turned upside down by a brief rain shower and threat of more rain to come.  Track management made the decision to change the run order for the night with the Sportsman feature going out immediately after the modified consolations due a radar screen showing more rain in the area.  The modifieds were then the final feature of the night. 

For Craig Von Dohren to be winless at Grandview through 8 races would seem to be upside down.  But for one reason or another, CVD effortlessly righted the ship with his first win of the season and quietly moved right into the points lead with an average finish of 4^th through 9 race this season.

Things were looking up for Craig right out of the gate as he got the last handicap position with a 4^th place finish in his heat race.  Jeff Strunk and Brett Kressley bolted to the front in the feature, but the big break came of the night when Brett Kressley had a flat tire and fell out of contention for the win.  Craig might not be moving as forward as soon as some other drivers; but he is still moving forward each week, and this probably won’t be his only win at Grandview this season.

 In victory lane Craig Von Dohren noted “I want to thank everyone for sticking with me while we couldn’t find our way to victory lane early this season.  I’m thankful to Bruce and Jason who give 110 % to this car all the time.  We got held up early by guys running side by side and just couldn’t get through but then found some holes and got in position to make a move on for the lead on the top coming out of 4.  It’s been a rough year for us.  Tonight, the track was hammer down and with typical hard Grandview racing.  The track was good and wide from bottom to top.  Hats off to Grandview track staff for prepping another outstanding feature track.”

Jeff Strunk finished 2^nd from his 12^th starting to rebound from a DNF after a hard crash last week.  Jeff had a great start this week moving into 7^th on the first lap and then into the lead on lap 8.  Jeff lead until lap 18 when Craig Von Dohren drove past him and took over the lead.  Craig maintained about a half of a second margin over Jeff right to the checkered flag to take the win while Jeff posted a 2^nd place finish and his 7^th top five finish of the season at Grandview.

Jeff stated “We have a good fast racecar.  The 4-heat race format is much better for everyone and produces less contact and carnage then 3 heat races format with 11 or 12 cars each.  Our car was really good on the bottom, and I was in a good rhythm and didn’t feel any pressured.  About mid race Craig got the top rolling and when by the time I heard him, he was along side of me.  It always sucks to be leading a race and not get the win; but on the positive side we been in the hunt to win in the last 4 races, and this was a good rebound from a crash last week in the feature. The track surface was great tonight, and track crew did a great job beating the rain and keeping the show moving.”

Ryan Watt finished 3^rd from his 16^th starting position and is showing consistency with a win and 3^rd place finish in his last two races with his blue Bicknell.  Ryan has also made a strong move in the points standing to 5^th from 8^th in the past two weeks.

Ryan noted “We finished  2^nd  from 7^th in our heat.  We had some good fortune in our heat race since I caught the inside wall about 5 laps in and got a LF flat. So, we got lucky that no cautions came out and I was able to finish carrying the flat left front.  The contact did bend the front axle, but we decided not to swap it out and we just moved the axle around to compensate for it being before the feature started.  We weren’t as good in the feature and in the long run Craig and Jeff were much better.  I think I could have used a harder tire, since it seemed like I could stay with Craig and Jeff for about 3 laps but when my tires started to build heat, I couldn’t stay with them either one of them (Craig or Jeff).”

Mike Gular finished 4^th from his 15^th starting position as he debuted a new car for the first time at Grandview and he plans to return to weekly Saturday racing on the Hill for the remainder of the season. 

Mike commented “We went from 9^th to 2^nd in our heat which put us in the invert and out of the consolation for the night.”

“ In the feature we were a little slow moving to the front and just not as quick getting forward as some of the guys like Jeff and Brett.  This was the first time out for a brand new car tonight.  We had a really good car and a good night which gives us something to build off of for next week.  We had a little bit of rain, and it seemed give us a real good and even track with an equal bottom and top for most of the feature.”

 Doug Manmiller finished 5^th from his 20^th starting position.  Doug reflected “We barely qualified for the feature in the heat and did miss the invert which put us starting 20^th.  We got in a little jingle in the heat race but did benefit from smaller heat race format this week with only 8 or 9 cars in each of the four heats.  The heat races are still very tough to qualify from.  In the feature we got held up early and just had too little too late but still managed a 5^th place finish.”

Mike Lisowski finished 6^th from his 9^th starting position to post his 5^th straight top ten finish.  Mike noted “A solid night for us and we had a good car that was just not quite good enough at the end of the feature when it really matters.  Making the invert from the heat was huge for us and we just need to be better at the end of the night.”

Ryan Grim finished 7^th from 23^rd starting position and bounced back from a 24^th pull off DNF  last week.  Ryan recalled “We were just awful in the heat, and I wasn’t comfortable in the car, so we had to go to the consolation.  It rained during our consolation which made the track wide open.”

“In the feature we lucked out and ended up on the bottom and gained a bunch of spots in two laps and somehow ended up in 7^th place.  The track was wide and had a top and bottom that both were very good.  I just need to find some more right rear grip to get better and run up front with the big guys.”

Timmy Buckwalter finished “8^th from his 21^st starting position and continues to maintain his 4^th place in the mid-season points standings.

Timmy noted “We started the night off with electrical problems in the heat and had to change the MSD box for the consolation race.  The car was great in the consolation and greater in the feature.  We got boxed in and lost a few spots in the feature; but was a good night for us to go 21^st to 8^th and end the night in one piece.  Track was wide and with a curb and you could let the track do the work.”

Craig Whitmoyer finished 9^th from his 17^th starting position and posted his 3^rd consecutive top ten finish.  Craig stated, “In the heat we didn’t have the drive I thought we should have, we started 5^th and finished 5^th which missed the handicap, but we did manage to qualify for the show from the heat.”

“In the feature we made some good changes and moved forward to another top ten finish on a slick track.  I really feel like we are getting a handle on what we are doing and by avoiding wrecking in the feature it has been giving us a good starting point to build on for next week.”

Bobby Trapper Jr. finished 10^th from his 8^th starting position and currently sits 10^th in the midseason points standings.  Bobby Trapper Jr commented “ In the heat the car was good, I had a blast racing in it, and we moved forward from 6^th to 2^nd.”

“In the feature I just missed the setup and didn’t tighten the car up enough to account for the change to running after the sportsman feature.  I was too free right from the start, and the car got really loose in the last ten laps or so.  In the end, we were just holding on, but I was definitely glad we were able to hold onto a top ten finish.”

Brett Kressley finished 11^th from his 14^th starting position.  By lap 9 of the feature Kressley was in 2^nd place but a flat tire on lap 11 sent him to the pits and back of the field, but Brett was able to come back through the field to salvage an 11^th place finish.

Brett won his heat race running from 8^th to 1^st with an outstanding and very fast car.  In the feature the 19K continued to be fast until he got a flat while running the top for the lead with Strunk.

Brett commented “We had an excellent car all night and not sure why our tire went flat.  When we went in for the flat, we made a few changes, and the car was better after lap 15 when the track leveled off. ”

Eric Kormann finished 12^th from the 4^th starting position posting the best finish of his five starts this season filling in for an injured Kenny Gilmore in the Baily 81.

Eric reflected “It was really an up and down night for us.  We came into the night feeling really good about some things we found during the week that we hoped were going to fix our brake issues from last week.  In the heat race I was losing brakes as the race went on, and I fell back to 3^rd, but we were still in the handicap and that’s all that matters.”

“We worked on the brakes for the feature and stayed up near the top five for the first 20 laps, but then the car got erratic in the closing laps, and we fell back to a 12^th place finish.  I’m not happy with our finish tonight and I feel the car was good enough to potentially grab a top five finish.  I’m really enjoying my time racing at Grandview, and I feel we improvement every time out and most definitely think we are going in the right direction and have great potential in the second half of this year.  I’m very thankful for all my driving opportunities this season and being surrounded by great car owners, partners and friends while racing at Grandview with the # 81 Bailey modified team and Delaware with the Tubbs Family # 10 crate team.  I am looking forward to racing every week again and some weeks twice in two different states, two different divisions, two different motor types, and two different chassis.  It going to keep me on my toes to say the least.  We finally got my motor back and for my # 36 modified and I’m look forward to getting it back on track for the fall special events season.”

Joe Funk finished 15^th from his 6^th starting position posting his 8^th consecutive race of where he qualified for the feature.  Joe recalled “We cut our only good tire in the heat race and were lucky to be able to finish the heat and stay in the handicap.”

“In the feature we stayed in the top ten for the first 20 laps and then faded to 15^th.  We are focusing on trying to be better in the final 10 laps of the feature and getting rid of our late race feature fade.”

Next up on Saturday, July 8 will be a two-division program under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner for the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman participating in the 53^rd annual Firecracker 40 Sportsman championship race. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to the 30-lap Modified and 25-lap Sportsman main events with racing starting at 7:30 P.M.