Grandview Modified Pit Notes 7/15/23 –  Mike Gular Holds off Late Charge by Craig Von Dohren to Take his Second Grandview Win of Season  

Mike Gular took the lead on a lap restart and held off the hard charges from Brett Kressley and Craig Von Dohren to take his second Grandview win of the season.

Ron Haring took the early lead until a lap 12 tangle with lapped cars handed the lead over to Craig Whitmoyer who also received damaged in the incident and both drivers withdrew to the pits.  Mike Gular took the lead on the lap 13 restart and fought off Brett Kressley and then later a hard charge in the final laps from Craig Von Dohren to take the win.

Heat race winners for the 36 car modified field were Jeff Strunk, Doug Manmiller, Ron Haring Jr. & Bobby Trapper Jr.

Louden Reimert & Eddie Strada won the consolation races.

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

1. MIKE GULAR, 2. Craig Von Dohren, 3. Brett Kressley, 4. Ray Swinehart, 5. Jared Umbenhauer, 6. Doug Manmiller, 7. Jeff Strunk, 8. Ryan Grim, 9. Mike Lisowski, 10. Jimmy Leiby (Alternate), 11. Kevin Graver Jr., 12. Bobby Trapper Jr., 13. Jesse Leiby, 14. Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 15. Mark Kratz, 16. Eric Biehn, 17. Louden Reimert, 18. Darrin Schuler, 19. Tim Buckwalter, 20. Ron Haring Jr., 21. Craig Whitmoyer, 22. Eddie Strada, 23. Justin Grim, 24. Eric Kormann, 25. Chris Esposito, 26. John Willman, 27. Kevin Hirthler, 28. Ryan Watt, DNS – Carroll Hine III

DID NOT QUALIFY: Ryan Beltz, Dave Dissinger, Nate Brinker, Brian Hirthler, Joe Funk, Logan Bauman, Lex Shive

MODIFIED PIT NOTES –  7/15/23 NASCAR POINTS RACE # 11

Mike Gular took the win from his 13^th starting position and posted his first win in only four weeks since returning to Grandview weekly.  Mike inherited the lead from 3^rd position when leaders Ron Haring & Craig Whitmoyer were involved in a lap 12 red flag tangle with lapped traffic that ended both of their nights. On the lap 13 restart Mike choose the top and put Kressley on the bottom.  In the final 5 laps Craig Von Dohren made a hard charge on an improving bottom lane and pulled near even a few times but Mike took the checkered flag by a .31 second margin of victory and drove into victory lane with his 2^nd Grandview win of the season.  

In victory lane Mike reflected “We had an awful June and July, it seemed like we couldn’t do anything right.  We had a good car tonight and it got us to the front early which is always important here.  The track was awesome from bottom to top.  There was some havoc up front with the leaders and some lapped cars, but we got through on the bottom and ended up with as the leader on the next restart.  We were good on the bottom, but with the 19K next door in the front row I wasn’t going to give him the top since he’s so dominate when he is up there.  The car was on rails tonight and we ripped the bottom better than usual too.  With 1 or 2 laps to go, I saw the nose of the 30 and figured I was a rhythm on top so I wasn’t changing lanes at this point. Staying up top worked out and we were able to hold off Von Dohren to take the win.”

Back at the trailer Mike noted “In the heat my crew chief made one major change for the slick track conditions, and it paid off.  We were one of the better cars moving from 9^th to 2^nd and getting into the invert for the feature.”

“In the feature I had a good car and was very aggressive early. I wanted to get to the front before Craig, Brett and Jeff.  On lap 12 I was looking forward down the backstretch and saw the melee and was able to check up and get below the tangle.  I came out of the red flag as the leader when both leaders Haring and Whitmoyer could not continue.  On the restart I choose the top instead of giving it to Brett Kressley who was in 2^nd place since he is so dominate around here on the top.  I didn’t think he could work around me on the bottom, and I was right.  When the 30-car showed up in 2^nd on the bottom, I was a bit worried, but I was in a good rhythm on the top and felt I could carry it to the win.  The top got further out, and the bottom started to equalize to the top, but it was a chess match to the end, and we were able to hold on for our 2^nd win of the season.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 2^nd from his 16^th starting position and posted his sixth podium finish in 11 races.  Craig moved from 8^th to 4^th on the lap 13 restart and then just methodically moved forward coming up only one spot short in 2nd place after a last lap bid for the win.  Craig continues to extend his points lead to 61 points over Brett Kressley who is in sole possession of the 2^nd place in the mid-season points standings.

Brett Kressley finished 3^rd from his 15^th starting position.  Brett was in 2^nd after the lap 13 restart but couldn’t find a way around Gular from the bottom.  Brett is only 61 points behind Craig Von Dohren for the Grandview mid-season points lead while he is leading the Big Diamond Friday night points standing by 153 points over Jeff Strunk.  Kressley is looking for his career first points championship and with any luck he may get his second in the same year if he can pull off a double championship season.

Brett stated “We stayed with our basic set up that we always fall back on.  The car was good, but we just missed a few small tweaks. I feel like the car was better than the last few weeks just needed a little bit more.”

Ray Swinehart finished 4^th from his 5^th starting position to post his best finish of the season.  Ray had a strong run last week and was running in 4^th when he began to lose power and had to pull off with two laps to go.

Ray noted “The car got the nose knocked off in the parade lap tangle, but it was still good in the feature.  We have a completely different motor from last week which was a bit down on power from the previous motor, but it did a really nice job tonight.  The car wasn’t that good early when the track was heavy but when the track slicked off the handing came in and I was able to hug the bottom.  We are very happy with this finish after struggling with this new car for the first half of the season.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 5^th from his 20^th starting position.  Jared commented “We had a tough heat race and missed the handicap by one spot sending us to the feature in the 20^th qualified position.”

“Starting the feature in 20th, I just had to get up on the wheel early and hope that I pick the right lane.  By the middle of the race, I had already cooked the tires and our tires sealed over. Everyone was fast on a good fresh track, and I was very good on the top.  I think I could have gone 4^th but I had nothing for the top three cars.  I started to hang after the last caution.”

Doug Mankiller finished 6^th from his 12^th starting position,  Doug reflected “We had a good car and ran up to a 3^rd place but then the car started to fade, and I didn’t know why.  The car wasn’t the same after the lap 12 red flag incident.  When I came in after the race, we found that the bead lock had been ripped off while running wheel to wheel with someone.” 

Jeff Strunk finished 7^th from his 14^th starting position.  Jeff has had a solid season with 8 top five finishes and two top ten finishes with only one DNF due to being involved in a tangle early in the feature a few weeks ago.  Jeff still stands alone in 3^rd place in the mid-season points standings behind only Craig Von Dohren and Brett Kressley.

For the 2^nd week in a row Jeff won his heat race from his 8^th starting position and had a very strong car.  Early in the feature Jeff got bottled up in mid pack and had to pick off cars one by one until he reached the top ten on lap 19. In his final ten laps he was able to run down a few more spots for a 7th place finish.

Ryan Grim finished 8^th from his 25^th starting position.  Ryan has posted top ten finishes in 7 of his last 8 races and has moved into tenth in the mid-season points standings.

Ryan commented “We were awful in the heat, and I don’t know what we are missing in our heat race setup.  The car was worse than it was last week and I’m still not comfortable and didn’t have any grip.  In the consolation, the car was a little better and the track had started to rubber up after the sprint cars and you could only run the bottom.”

“In the feature the track was racy, the car was good early, and I just went forward by following the holes people made.  In the last ten laps the car was way too free, and we also started on the outside on restarts that caused me to give up a few spots late in the race and finished 8^th.”

Mike Lisowski finished 9^th from his 18^th starting position.  After falling to the back of the field in both his heat and feature races Mike surged forward late to get the last qualifying position in his heat race and get into the top ten in the feature with a 9^th place finish,

Mike stated “We had a good car all night. The results don’t show it, but it was just one of those nights where we just didn’t catch any breaks. We got behind in the heat and a late race caution & restart allowed us to rally from 8^th to 5^th and to get the last qualifying position.

In the feature we had a very similar race.  I fell back to 21^st and got some damage in the lap 12 red flag tangle.  On the restart we started to gain positions and picked them off one at a time until I reached 10^th place on lap 20.  On the final lap I was able to grab one final position to post a solid 9^th place finish.”  

The Leiby brothers were both trying some new things and having a difficult time in their heat with neither car qualifying from their heat and both cars starting mid-pack in their consolation race.

Jimmy Leiby missed qualifying in his consolation by one sport with a 5^th place finish and ended up as the first alternate position sitting in the infield and hoping for an opportunity to get into the feature and avoid what would be his first DNQ of the season.  In a bizarre turn of events, there was a tangle before the field took the green and Carol Hine III sustained damage and was towed off the track giving Jimmy a starting position at the back of the field which he turned into a season best 10^th place finish.”

Back at the trailer Jimmy reflected “We tried a new shock package last week and again this week.  It felt very good in holt laps but in the heat, we just had absolutely no grip and couldn’t qualify for the feature.  The consolation track took rubber and was only around the bottom so we couldn’t move forward and finished the qualifying sitting in the first alternate position which I was not happy about.  We have started every feature in our first year of modified and tonight because we tried a new shock package we were looking at missing our first feature of the season.”

I started packing the trailer but drove the car to the infield for the first alternate position without even changing tires from our consolation tires.  The field went through turn 1 & 2, and I started taking my gloves off and was getting ready to pull across the track and start putting the car in the trailer when the whole field wrecked on the back stretch before taking the green.  Ed Scott came over and told me the 114 can’t go so you are going to go.  So, we got in and avoided our first DNQ of the season.”

“I narrowly missed the lap 12 red flag tangle after locking the brakes and the car started to go faster.  I decided to go into the pits on lap 12 to change tire and adjust air pressure since the car was way too tight.  We returned to the rear of the field and the car was handling much better with a new right rear.  I was able to move forward for the rest of the feature.  I got up to 9^th place and on the final lap was protecting on the 15 but made a mistake and gave up a spot. We still finished 10^th for the second time this season.”

Jesse Leiby finished 13^th from his 27^th starting position for the second week in a row.  Jesse stated “We tried something new to start the night and car was amazing in hot laps.  I thought I made the right adjustments for the heat and just didn’t make enough adjustment.  In the consolation I got the car dialed in thanks to some help from the soon to be in-laws.”

“In the feature the car was insanely fast, and I had a good top ten going until I got hit under caution in the LR and had to deal with a bent the rear. I was more worried under caution about the rear being okay and didn’t pay enough attention to keeping heat in the tires and they sealed over which caused us to go from 10th back to 13^th.”

Louden Reimert made a rare Saturday Grandview appearance and was running in 6^th from his 21^st starting position when he pulled off the track on lap 18.

Louden recalled “It was tough passing in the heat like it always is, and I couldn’t get forward, so I had to qualify from the consolation.  The changes for the consolation felt really good so we left the car alone for the feature.  In the feature we went forward, and I was passing Ray Swinehart for 5^th when I felt a drivetrain vibration and decided to pull off before it came apart.”

A couple of drivers in the top ten points standings had a rough day on the Hill from start to finish.  Both Tim Buckwalter (5^th) and Ryan Watt (9^th) could not move forward in their heat races and qualified for the feature through the consolation. Tim started 26^th and Ryan 27^th but it was to no avail as both drivers left the track early and on a tow truck with front end damage.

Nate Brinker was leadings his heat race on lap 10 when his car erupted in smoke ending his night.  Nate noted, “We’ll be back next week with our backup motor in the car.”

Ron Haring won this heat race going away and he was leading the feature when disaster struck his 85 car, and he was involved in a tangle with lapped cars that ended his night early.  Nonetheless Ron has apparently found the speed that got him a win late last year.

Ron noted “We tried different rear shocks, and we got our speed back in the car this week. The car was good car in the feature. I had just caught the back of the field and then the lapped cars were all stacked up when a couple of them got together and I couldn’t get around them.  I could have used a yellow to clear the racetrack but didn’t need to be in it.”

Kevin Hirthler debuted a new 2022 Bicknell with a new Murray engine and qualified for the feature from the heats in his first outing with his new car.  Kevin stated “The care felt pretty good first night out just need to get some notes going on this car to be able to tune it.  The ignition box went bad under yellow, so I pulled in.”

Sportsman racer Logan Bauman had a rare off week but decided to bring out his new modified and start shaking down for the 76er.  Logan reflected “ We lost an oil line while sitting in the infield for hot laps so never got out for hot laps and we also missed our heat race.  We started last in our consolation but wanted to feel the car out.”

The modified has so much more power than the crate car.  I got myself tight a few times and was able to use the throttle to reset the car which isn’t something your able to do with the crate car.  It was a blast driving and I’m so ready to take it back out and get a few more fast laps under my belt.” 

Next up on Saturday, July 22 will be a three-division program under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner for the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman joined by the Outlaw Racing Series Vintage Cars. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to the 30-lap Modified and 25-lap Sportsman main events while Vintage Cars will be feature only with racing starting at 7:30 P.M.