Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 7/08/23 – Addison Meitzler Claims Firecracker 40 Sportsman Win

Addison Meitzler moved through the field from his 14^th starting spot to take the lead on lap 25 and then held off a late charge from Ryan Graver to win the $3,250 Sportsman Firecracker 40.

Polesitter Kaitlyn Bailey took the early lead until the first restart on lap 8 when Nicholas Hamm powered into a commanding lead. Addison Meitzler took over the lead on lap 25.  The 2^nd and final restart on lap 29 saw Meitzler continue as the leader and hold off a late surge by 2^nd place Ryan Graver to take his first win of the season and drive into the $3,250 Firecracker 40 victory lane.  

Heat race winners for the 47-car sportsman field were Dakota Kessler, Molly Strussy, Nicholas Hamm and BJ Joly.

Jesse Hirthler and Adie Delliponti won the consolation races.

T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FIRECRACKER 40 FEATURE FINISH (40 laps):

1. ADDISON MEITZLER ($3250), 2. Ryan Graver, 3. Dakota Kohler, 4. Kyle Smith, 5. Brett Gilmore, 6. Brian Hirthler, 7. Logan Watt, 8. TJ Mayberry, 9. Cody Manmiller, 10. Jesse Hirthler, 11. Nicholas Hamm, 12. Jesse Landis, 13. Mike Schneck Jr., 14. Logan Bauman, 15. Molly Struss, 16. Decker Swinehart, 17. Dylan Swinehart, 18. Zane Roth, 19. Kenny Bock, 20. BJ Joly, 21. Adrianna Delliponti, 22. Nathan Horn, 23. Kaitlyn Bailey, 24. Ronnie Solomon, 25. Zach Steffey, 26. Brad Brightbill, 27. Michael Burrows, 28. Colton Perry

DID NOT QUALIFY: Mike Stofflet, Jordan Henn, Nathan Mohr, Mark Kemmerer, Hunter Iatalese, Nick Faust, Tom Miller Jr., Tom Miller Sr., Joey Vaccaro, Mark Gaugler, Mark Mohr, Dallas Breidenbach, Kyle Hartzell, Tyler Vidal, Keith Brightbill, Parker Guldin, Brandon Banos, Keith Haring, Brad Grim

FIRECRACKER 40 SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES –  7/08/23 NASCAR POINTS RACE # 10

Addison Meitzler finished 1^st from his 14^th starting position to take the checkered flag on a $3,250 win at the Firecracker 40. 

In victory lane Addison commented “ Luck has not been on our side this year.  Every week we seem to find the wrong lane and get jammed up behind slower cars.  I think we should have been 3 or 4 spots better every week this year.”    

“We had a good car all night and there were only two cautions which worked to my favor.  I basically went were they were not, and they were not up top so that’s were I went.  I didn’t know what I should do on the late restart, but it worked out.  After the restart I went to the bottom to use the lappers as blockers.”

Back at the trailer Addison reflected “In the heat race we went four wide through the middle on lap 1 and then I picked two more spots to get into the invert for the feature.  In the feature we started 14^th, and I knew I had to be aggressive when the opportunity presented itself, so I drove through the middle of a three wide hole on lap 1 which got me into the top 10 in the early laps and from there I just took my time and picked them off one at a time.  We had a good car that could run anywhere.  We have been getting better every week so we just continued our normal changes from the heat to the feature.”

Ryan Graver finished 2^nd from his 13^th starting position and was moving forward every lap right to the checkered flat.

Ryan recalled “This was definitely one of the best cars I ever had.  In heat race I just played it relaxed and let everyone else make mistakes then just tried to capitalize off them which took us from 7th to 3rd in the heat.”

“Feature time we didn’t know what to expect and were really focused on trying to be good throughout the whole race which proved to be a good decision.  Early on the car was super maneuverable and I was able to move through traffic extremely well.  Later in the race I think we may have been a little bit faster than Meitzler when we hit our marks, but I just made a few mistakes that really cost me a chance at that win.  Last night showed I have more to learn as a driver and we have a rocket ship of a car right now that I just need to learn how to drive it better.  I can’t thank Fast Four Shocks enough for the help he has given us along with every one of our sponsors and my dad for everything he does for me.”

Dakota Kohler finished 3^rd from his 10^th starting position.  Dakota posted his 3^rd top five in the past 6 weeks and is showing signs of emerging top five consistency.

Dakota commented “Heat was ok, and I really wasn’t expecting to win the heat.  The front 3 got away quick did but with Joey’s motor blowing up the resulting yellow put me in a spot to win the heat and we did.”

The feature started good and definitely needed to get out front and get into a rhythm with the longer race length, but it wasn’t easy getting up there.  Once I was able to get to second, I was just trying to stay in a rhythm and save tires for later in the race as it was going to come down to being in traffic.  About halfway though, the tires started to give out and Addison got around me on the top and then Graver, so I knew I had to move up because more were probably coming.  I just tried to stay with them to make a move if one of them made a mistake, but they were just too far away at that point to do anything.  We’ll take a 3^rd with a straight car any day.”

Kyle Smith finished 4^th from his 15^th starting position. Kyle continued to add to his 3^rd place standing in the mid-season points standings and he picked up a little ground on points leaders in front of him – Logan Watt and Brian Hirthler.

Brett Gilmore finished 5^th from his 18^th starting position.  Brett noted “We started 8^th in heat and avoided the first lap wreck which was kind of helpful.  I did get behind a little wreck but managed to get back up into a qualifying spot which put us 18th for the feature.”

“For the feature we threw some new tires on and a little extra fuel in the car.  Our car was decent the whole feature and we could pass on the top and bottom. Thought that last caution helped me, but I started losing power with 10 to go and was holding on for dear life at the end. Not sure why but I’m pretty sure our battery went bad, and I was just trying to finish. I’ll take a top 5 but I know we could’ve done better.”

Brian Hirthler finished 6^th from his 17^th starting position.  Brian reflected “My night was okay, warmups and heat…feature.  I wasn’t too good early and didn’t get passing till after the halfway and this wasn’t the night for that to happen.  Probably guessed wrong on the surface, but that happens.”

Logan Watt finished 7^th from his 25^th starting position and was able to turn a bad night into a top ten finish.  In his heat race Logan had a rare parts failure when his driveline broke giving him a DNF in the heat and sending him to the consolation.   Logan finished 3^rd in the consolation which put him 25^th in the feature.  Logan posted the hard charger of the night coming through the field 18 positions to a 7^th place finish.

TJ Mayberry finished 8^th from his 9^th starting position to match his best finish of the season.  At midrace TJ moved into 5^th place but faded a bit in the final 20 laps to an 8^th place finish.

TJ commented “In the heat race we started 5^th, and the goal was to just stay on the bottom. I had a great start and worked my way to 2^nd.  The car felt solid, and we held on to make the handicap.”

“We made some changes for the feature and focused on setting the car up for later in the race but overall, it felt good the whole race. The car freed up towards the end, I couldn’t run the top near as good as the other guys at the end.  Wish we could have held on to a top 5 but with the luck we’ve been having it was a good finish in a big race.”

Cody Manmiller finished 9^th from his 19^th starting position and continues to add to his consistent weekly finishes in the top ten or high teens which puts him 5^th in the season points standings.

Cody noted “The heat was chaotic, but thankfully I was able to grab the final qualifying spot on the last lap.  Unfortunately, I’ve still only made the handicap once all year.  I started 19th in the feature and on the first lap there was a traffic jam and a spinning car came down into my right side and nearly flipped me over.  Of course, there was no yellow, so I was all the way in the back and way behind. Felt great the rest of the feature despite the early damage, but just too much ground to make up.”

Jesse Hirthler posted a 10^th place finish from his 21^st starting position.  Jesse stated “In the heat I was boxed in with all my relatives around me. We picked off some cars early and actually got into a qualifying position from our 9th starting spot.  On the only restart, the cars in front of me got messed up and so did I, which prevented me from getting a run under a car for 4^th.  Little mistakes like these will cost you big time and I just need to get a little better at that part of racing.  Then my uncle rolled around me on the closing laps and put me in the consolation.  In the consolation I started on the pole and from what everyone said I pulled away from the field which is good. We had one yellow, but it didn’t affect me because we went back to how we were running.  I made a lot of mistakes in the consolation too and I need to work on them but nonetheless I won the consolation and started 21st in the feature.”

“ In the feature we were taking it easy the first couple of laps to see how things played out, but a little bit into the race I got tangled with another car that was slowing and cost me a couple spots.  There was a restart and I got racing with the cars behind me, which hurt me, but it is what it is.  I started making moves and picking off cars on the high side and was about to get close to around 13^th, but then we had another restart which I used to pass 3 more cars. I was then able to get close to my uncle and that made me very happy then I spent the rest of the feature battling with Cody Manmiller.  Overall it was a good night, but like I said, with the mistakes in the beginning of the night it hurt me at the end.  If I would’ve started further front, I may have had a shot, but a lot of mistakes cost me tonight. I will take the top 10 and a really fast car. Let’s see what we can do in 2 weeks.”

Nicholas Hamm finished 11^th from his 2^nd starting position, led for 16 laps and posted his best finish of the season in his 6 starts.

Nicholas stated “I didn’t really feel too good in the heat race and felt slow.  I didn’t change anything but tires for the feature.  On the short run it was really tight, but as the laps ticked away the car just got better and better. This was our 4th feature ever and we were in contention for a win which is not a bad showing in our rookie season.”

Next up on Saturday, July 15 will be a two-division program under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner for the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and the MASS 305 Sprint Car Series along with a kid’s money scramble. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to the 30-lap Modified and 25-lap MASS 305 Sprint Car main events with racing starting at 7:30 P.M.