Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 7/01/23 – Mikey Schneck Claims First Grandview Sportsman Win

Polesitter Nick Faust led the first 18 laps until Mikey Schneck motored past and into the lead on lap 19.  Schneck then opened a lead on the field and held off a hard charging Logan Watt in the final 4 laps to take his first career Grandview Sportsman win.

Heat race winners for the 35 car sportsman field were Nick Faust, Keith Haring, Tom Miller Jr., and Molly Truss.

Addison Meitzler and Brett Gilmore won the consolation races.

T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1. MIKE SCHNECK JR., 2. Logan Watt, 3. Nick Faust, 4. Brett Gilmore, 5. Kenny Bock, 6. Nathan Mohr, 7. Ryan Graver, 8. Addison Meitzler, 9. Tom Miller Sr., 10. Jesse Hirthler, 11. Kyle Smith, 12. Adrianna Delliponti, 13. Jesse Landis, 14. Cody Manmiller, 15. Brian Hirthler, 16. Molly Struss, 17. Colton Perry, 18. Hunter Iatalese, 19. Zach Steffey, 20. Decker Swinehart, 21. Mark Mohr, 22. Kaitlyn Bailey, 23. Dakota Kohler, 24. Andy Ressler, 25. Kyle Hartzell, 26. Parker Guldin, 27. Keith Haring, 28. Tom Miller Jr.

DID NOT QUALIFY: Michael Burrows, Dylan Swinehart, BJ Joly, Joey Vaccaro, Logan Bauman, Brandon Banos, Mark Gaugler

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

Mikey Schneck took his career first Grandview win from his 12^th starting position in a green to checkered 25 lap feature.  The previous race Mikey came up one spot short with a 2^nd place finish, but he has served notice that if his car doesn’t break you better look for him in the top five.   

In victory lane Mikey reflected “This has been a roller coaster of the season and we have been up one week and way down the next.  We broke our transmission twice this season in the heat race only to run a top five the following week.  We got really close to our first win last week getting side-by-side for the lead on the final lap and coming up one spot short last week.  I wasn’t going to let this one get away after I got out front.”

“I got up to 3^rd really quickly and after moving into 2^nd realized 332 was pretty far out there but I was gaining on him every lap.  When 332 made a mistake, I was able to move past him and take the lead.  I was able to pull away and got around lapped traffic without any problems.”

Back at the trailer Mikey stated “We went 6^th to 4^th in our heat race when two guys slammed into each other off the start and  I was then able to jump into 4^th.  From there it was pretty much just hammer down for the rest of the heat race.  I knew where I was and if I had an opening for 3^rd, I was going take it but no sense pushing it.  Seems like everyone in front of us made the handicap this week which put me back to 12th for the feature.”

“We always get everything ready when we finish our heat race, so the schedule change moving the sportsman feature up to before the modified feature didn’t really affect us.  I would be in favor of keeping sportsman running before the modifieds or switching every other week on who goes first with their feature. We just kept the car simple and close to the same as last week. I watched the consolation, and the rain didn’t really change the track from what we thought it would be.”

“The feature started with two cars getting tangled and I slightly grazed them when they came down off the top a little and I was very lucky that I didn’t cut a tire or something.  On the restart, the top didn’t fire, and I was able to pass 4-5 cars while moving to the front and from there it was just picking them off from the bottom and top one by one. I got to third, and I could see Faust had a good lead out in front of me but once I got to second, I could just run fast laps and he made a slight bobble which got me under him with like 7 laps left.  I thought the track was great I had very minimal tire wear. I have to thank Jason Hernley, my dad, my team, and all our sponsors. To get my first career win at Grandview is outstanding.”

Logan Watt finished 2^nd from his 15^th starting spot posting his 5^th top three finish in 9 starts and currently continues to lead the season points standings at the midway point.

Logan reflected “In the heat the car was very good, and we made the handicap from an 8^th starting position.  We tried a little different setup in the heat to see how it would work and it felt great.”

“When our feature got moved at the last moment to before the modified feature it turned out to throw off my setup.  We had the car setup for the usual slick track with a bit water but when we rolled out it was a completely fresh track, and I was really tight on the top.  I had to fight the car through the corner which killed my momentum on the car in front of me.”

“In the feature you know starting 15^th it isn’t going to be easy to work your way forward because you have guys fast guys like Mike Schneck, Jesse Hirthler and others in front of you, but we still managed to get to 2^nd in a 25 green flag race which is a very strong run for us all things considered.”

Nick Faust finished 3^rd from his pole starting position and posted a career best finish.

Nick commented “We started on the pole and car handled excellent in the heat race.  In the feature we burnt off the RR and didn’t have much left on the LR either at end.  We started to fade around lap 15 but it was great to lead the feature for nearly twenty laps.  We usually only have Billy Moiser and my so Sam helping but tonight we had some extra help with the setup from Chris Yob and Corey Colaluce and it made a difference in the car.  I was hopeful for a top ten tonight, so a podium finish is beyond any of my expectations for tonight.  We are only three years into this program, so we still have a lot to learn.”

Brett Gilmore finished 4^th from his 21^st starting position and posted another outstanding back to front run through the field.

Brett commented”  In the heat the car wasn’t bad in the first 2 laps I felt like I could’ve moved forward but then I lost brakes and just couldn’t get the car to turn. I lost positions and had to go to the consolation. I had a good car in the consolation on the top and just held my line since I knew my teammate Adie was going to give me plenty of room and knowing that was a good feeling.  We then got some rain during the consolation  and the track had more grip, so I just ran the bottom on the last lap to see what I and the track had on the bottom.  After winning a long rain delayed consolation, I started 21^st in the feature.”

“In the feature I ran bottom for a few laps but quickly saw that the top had more speed and grip, so I moved up to the top.  With only one caution, I had to run as hard as I could on the top just making moves everywhere I could find.  The car was really fast on the top and still decent on the bottom.  The only thing I changed for the feature was a new right rear which is all I needed.  I definitely thing I had the car to beat in the feature but just ran out of laps at the end.  All in all, a good night and the car is straight and now we start getting ready for the big race next week.”  

Kenny Bock finished 5^th from his 7^th starting position and posted his second 5^th place finish of the season for what has been a very difficult and disappointing first half of the season for Bock Racing.  

Kenny stated “Our night started off a bit sketchy with our right panels getting torn off early in the heat race, but we still managed to finish 3^rd and get in the all-important handicap position.  In the feature the car was tight, and I had to stay on the bottom.  I liked that the track changed during the feature from tacky to a racier track later in the race. I did get stuck behind some lappers, and I had a hard time reading were they were going and lost a few spots, but this was a good bounce back night for us since we have been struggling after three weeks of varying mechanical failures.”

Nathan Mohr finished 6^th from his 11^th starting position.  Nate noted “We had a good night all around with a 5^th to 3^rd in the heat and capping the night with a 12^th to 6^th in the non-stop feature.   We had a mechanical failure on Friday at Big Diamond, so this was a good bounce back night for us.”

Ryan Graver finished 7^th from his 13^th starting position and moved into 9^th place in the Grandview mid-season point standings.  Ryan has consistently qualified for the feature this season and has posted a win, 5^th and 7^th place finish.

Addison Meitzler finished 8^th from his 20^th starting position and currently sits 7^th in the  Grandview mid-season points standings.

Addison stated “We were in the first heat of the night and like usual in heat one it was a one lane track, so we only went from 7^th to 6^th.  In the consolation the track was wide open fast, and we made the feature.  We went from 20^th to 8^th in a non-stop green flat feature and were still moving forward at the end just ran out of laps.”    

Tom Miller finished 9^th from his 4^th starting position and posted his best finish of the season. 

Tom recalled “We finally got the push out of the car.  It has bite us several time this year ruining good early feature runs but tonight we got to the end of the feature for the first time this season with a top ten run.”

“My tires went about half-way through which wasn’t surprising as I run used tires.  I can’t afford new ones.  Pretty sure if I had new tires, I had a top three car. It sure would be nice if I could find a tire sponsor.  We are hoping this is our turn the corner moment for a much better 2^nd half of the season.”

Jesse Hirthler finished 10^th from his 14^th starting position and season long consistency has him sitting 6^th in the mid-season Grandview sportsman points standings.

Jesse reflected “In the heat race I was able to move pretty quick to a qualifying spot but then was also able to make some more moves on two other cars and make the handicap.”

“I wasn’t expecting them to put the sportsman out first, so we were rushing to get everything together for the feature.  I don’t really like the fast tracks like we had tonight and usually like a slower slicker track.  We will take the top 10 finish and move into the big 40 lapper event next week.”

Despite only one caution on lap 0; the 25 green flag non-stop feature saw some very strong back to front runs.

Cody Manmiller and Brian Hirthler both used provisionals with good results running from 27^th and 28^th respectively to 14^th and 15^th.

Adie Delliponti and Kyle Smith started 23^rd and 24^th respectively and posted 12^th and 11^th place finished for what turned out to be good points nights for both drivers who are in the top ten in the points standings.

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.