Grandview Modified Pit Notes 8/19/23 –   Craig Von Dohren Claims Forrest Rogers Memorial $10,000 Win at Grandview Speedway

Craig Von Dohren took the lead on restart # 8 at lap 40 getting past a resurgent Kevin Hirthler to drive into victory lane for the $10,000 win.

Early leaders were Lex Shive, Ron Haring and Nate Brinker who traded the lead for the first 18 laps until Kevin Hirthler moved into his first lead of the night on lap 19.  Eddie Strada made a strong move and motored past Hirthler for the lead on lap 23.  Strada extended his lead in lapped traffic until a wisp of smoke appeared and he quickly pulled into the infield giving the lead back to Hirthler and drawing the 6^th yellow of the night.   Hirthler maintained his lead through two restarts and opened a lead over Von Dohren.  But on the 8^th and final restart Von Dohren pulled into the lead off the restart and then pulled away from Hirthler in the final 10 laps to take the Forrest Rogers Memorial win.   

The top five was rounded out by Kevin Hirthler in second followed by Brett Kressley, Doug Manmiller and Mike Gular in 5^th place. 

Heat race winners for the 36-car modified field were Eddie Strada, Doug Manmiller, Jeff Strunk and Lex Shive.

John Willman and Timmy Buckwalter won the consolation races.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (50 laps):

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

DID NOT QUALIFY: Ryan Beltz, Mark Malcolm, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Eric Kormann, Kyle Weiss, Glenn Owens, Mark Kratz, Ray Swinehart

MODIFIED PIT NOTES –  8/19/23 NASCAR MODIFIED POINTS RACE # 15

Craig Von Dohren took the win of the 50 lap Forrest Rogers Memorial from his 14^th starting position.  It may be only his 2^nd win of the season; but it happens to be the biggest payday of the season at Grandview next the 76er in September.  Craig was also able to close in on Brett Kressley’s now slim 23-point lead by two more positions with three races to go in determine of the 2023 points champion.

The 23-point lead by Kressley breaks down to one position during the season through 15 races with the majority of the points difference coming from Kressley’s better finishes in the heat races.  Von Dohren has three races left to defend his 2022 Grandview NASCAR points championship.

In victory lane Craig reflected “We had some intense racing coming to the front in a six-car pack and I got jammed in the front stretch wall and I thought we were finished but we were able to continue on.”

“We really had some issues on restarts tonight and I’m not sure what the issue is, but we will be looking at it this week.  I did time the 8^th and last restart just right and was able to stay even with Kevin off the restart and then pull into the lead on him out of turn 4.  As the race progressed; I was not comfortable up top and thought the top was getting slower and knew we had 15 laps to go.  I kept working the bottom and hitting my marks in the last 15 laps.  The many cautions gave me time to formulate a plan for the last restart of the race.  The track did slick off and the bottom was the preferred place to be.”

“I sucked all year and have been down on myself.  Last night at Big Diamond we dropped out while leading.  We have good stuff here at Grandview just got to put it together and keep riding through this terrible string of luck.  I’ve been chasing the money too much this year.  You got to chase the dream and the cash will come.”

Kevin Hirthler finished 2^nd from his 9^th starting position and posted his best finish of the season in only his 5^th outing on a brand-new car.

Kevin stated “We got the gremlins out of this new car just in time for the Forrest Rogers Memorial this week.  We had two weeks working bugs out of car and then two weeks getting the motor right. Tonight, was the first time in our five outings on this car that I was smiling after hot laps instead of chasing changes.”

“The car stayed good for the heat and went from 6^th to 2^nd and then I lost some spots on a restart but fortunately we stayed in the last handicap spot for the feature.”

“In the feature the car was good from the drop of the green and just got better as we generated more heat in the tires. I had one scary moment when a spinning car came down and slammed into the side of my car.  I thought the contact would throw my car off, but once I settled back driving the car it was clear nothing important was bent and the car was still 100% good.  I drove up to 2^nd behind a strong Eddie Strada until he broke and pulled off when I inherited the lead with Von Dohren right behind me in 2^nd.  I was able to hold the lead despite numerous restarts with Craig right next to me in the front row.”

“You know I was selling programs in the stands in the 90’s and Craig was already winning features out there on the track.  Craig has a boatload of experience, and you know if you line up with him restart after restart that he’s bound to hit one better than you sooner rather than later.”

“On that last restart he jumped me a little and when I hit the cushion in turn four, he just drove away.  He timed it just right and I went with him on the restart instead of not firing and risking backing the field up, but I was confident I could get him out of four in front of him if I hit the cushion right.  Under green we were driving away from Craig, but he found a way to get the win off the restart and that what makes him a great driver.”

Brett Kressley finished 3^rd from his 15^th starting position after going into the pits and to the back of the field for a flat on lap 8.  Despite having a visibly wobbling and out of balance right front tire Kressley drove from a back of the field (19^th) to 8^th in a little over ten laps.  In the next 20 laps he continued to move forward one position at time until he was in 3^rd on lap 40 which is where he stayed right to the checkered flag.  

Brett made a bold move running his brand-new coil car for the first time in competition at the biggest race of the year and in the middle of the points chase.  A huge turning point for the race and his bid for the points championship was his lap 8 pit stop and being able to return to the race and run back through the field to a podium finish. Brett’s 3rd place finish maintained a 23-point lead over Von Dohren with three races left in the season.

Brett noted “We run coils on Fridays at Big Diamond, so it definitely helped me understand the feel I was looking for from the coil car for the first time at Grandview.  We got an assist from Kevin Graver who gave us some test laps on this car at Grandview in the past few weeks.  I have been working with Ron Seltman on shocks for well over a year now and he was the key for us to be ready to debut with coils at the Forrest Rogers Memorial.  I gave him the green light to make us up 4 shocks and springs for this car and he got us real close right off the bat.  We came in on a lap 8 yellow with a bent LF shock but didn’t have time to change the nosepiece that was bent into the shock.  So, I just dealt with the car and drove extra hard.”

Doug Manmiller finished 4^th from his 12^th starting position and posted his 11^th top six finish this season and holds down a solid 4^th in the season point standings with three races remaining for the season.

Doug recalled “We had a great car in the heat and was able to go high or low and that’s what is necessary in the heats in order to make it through and qualify for the feature.”

“We were good in the feature but ended up in the wrong lane a couple of times and all in all I was very happy with tonight.  We didn’t get to the front quick enough but there were some good cars starting up front that made it tough.  We kind of had a 4^th place police car patrolling right outside a podium finish tonight.

Mike Gular finished 5^th from his 16^th starting position and came in early for a flat tire sending him to the rear of the field on lap 6 but he was able to run back to front through the field to a 5^th place finish.

Mike reflected “We were money in the heat and the car was very good again like it has been for our three wins in the last month.  In the feature we came out with a super car but had an early left rear flat and ended up chasing the front of the field the rest of the night.

“We had a very good car that could win tonight, and it is very frustrating and irritating to have this one get away.  I have never won the Forrest Rogers and we were coming in on a roll and off a win last week.  I won’t let this one get away like this again.” 

Ryan Watt finished 6th from his 23rd starting position.  Ryan stated “Car felt great in hot laps.  In the heat race we were all racing for the same spot when I made contact another car and after that the car wasn’t the same the rest of the night.  We didn’t have a lot of time, so we changed some stuff around for the consolation and the car still wasn’t better, but we did qualify for the feature.”      

“For the feature we had time to change two rear shocks, springs, and make some other adjustments.  But after all that we still had something binding up in the front end which we thought may be a bent shock.  In the feature the car was just a little bit off and would bounce when we hit a hole.  The car got better later in the feature when the track slowed down and came to the car.  When we got home, we found our bind and it was a bent LF shock as well as a bent front axle.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 7^th from his 11^th starting position but he was asked to go to the pits to make repairs for a piece of metal that he was dragging which sent him to the back of the field into 22^nd position on lap 6.

Jared recalled “We had a very fast car in our heat race.  In the feature we got some damage from the first caution and got sent into the pits by track officials due to a piece of metal that was dragging on the right side of our car.  After we went into the pits, we came back out in 22^nd and the car was a handful the rest of the race.  There was a lot of beating and banging as we moved through the field from the back to the front.  By the time I got back to the top ten, the car just didn’t feel the same as did early in the race.  We were just a sitting duck on the restarts and in the end, we were just hanging on the best we could.”

Tim Buckwalter finished 8^th from his 21^st starting position returning to a top ten finish after a tough five week stint of bad luck jingles, breakage and mechanical issues.

Tim noted “We lost the power steering in the heat race and didn’t have time or parts to repair it for the consolation.  Thanks to Ryan Watt we were able to replace the power steering for the feature.  We changed motors again this week and it feels like our program is back on track with this motor.  We got a good baseline with this motor tonight and I feel we can fine tune this car now and stay competitive for the remaining weeks of this season.” 

John Willman finished 9^th from his 20^th starting position to post his best finish since opening day of the season.  The “underdog” and Kam Racing 291 team have struggled with finding speed and handling this season but have posted their best finishes at the longer races this season.  Historically John has finished his seasons with his strongest runs in the final weeks of the season and he is hoping that the trend will continue in the final three weeks of this season.

John reflected “We got our second top ten finish of the season, but the car is still not where we want it to be.  I had to manhandle the car all night and it was just a handful and wore me out.  I thought I junked the car in the consolation when I caught a rut but was able to save the car and then drive back around the 9L to win the consolation.  Our restarts were good tonight, and I was able to roll the middle off the restarts and get some spots.” 

Nate Brinker finished 10^th from his 5^th starting position as his “up one week down the next” season moved back into an “up week” after staying in the top five for the first 20 laps of the feature.

Nate commented “Our night started out with a good finish 3^rd in our heat. We were running the top cautiously in 2^nd when Strunk got around us on the bottom and I found that the bottom was good too late, but we were just happy to qualify through the heat and avoid the consolation.”

“As for the feature, our setup was spot on in the beginning, but it did fade towards the end of the 50-lap feature due to the wrong tire selection.  We did lead a few laps earlier on, but I just couldn’t stay with the front runners on the long runs.  I did make some driver errors and later in the race I was trying some different things along with trying to run the bottom.  All in all, it was a good night as we gear up for the Sixer.”

“We came into tonight wanting to make the feature and log all fifty laps for data while rolling the car in the trailer. On top of all that I’ll take a 10th.  Dave, Bryan, my dad, my grandfather, my fiancé, and everyone that helps with this car on and off the track is amazing, I couldn’t ask for a better crew.  None of this would be possible without my crew, everyone at Hoffman’s speed supplies, the Hoffman family, Ricks towing, Bry-Cor racings engines, and everyone that helps us.”  

Jimmy Leiby finished 11^th from his 22^nd starting position.  Jimmy noted “In hot laps we tried a new thing and the left rear torsion arm popped out.  Then in the heat I got stuck behind a jam car and spun trying to get around him. In the consolation, I just tried to keep the car straight for the feature.”

“In the feature I was just surviving until the end with torsion bars that were worn out and we managed to stay on track for an 11^th place finish.  We’ll fix the torsion bars this week and be back hoping to get better and stay clean through the end of the season to be ready for the Sixer.”

Eddie Strada had a new motor in for the Forrest Rogers Memorial and it showed as he mowed through the field from his 10^th starting spot and took command of the lead on lap 22.  Eddie was in control through lapped traffic with a one second lead over 2^nd place Kevin Hirthler until the motor shut off in the back stretch on lap 33 and he pulled into the infield ending his dream night early.

Eddie reflected “Yeah this was the best car we’ve had so far this year.  A new set of shocks along with a new engine definitely put us on our best run of the season.   We’re not quite sure exactly what happened yet.  Usually, it’s tough to pass in lapped traffic, but tonight all the lapped traffic were super cooperative and made it easy on me as they moved out of the way once race control let them know the leader was coming over the radio.  We were super happy that we had the car to beat but it just sucks we couldn’t finish this race off with the win.”

Jeff Strunk, Ryan Grim, Mike Lisowski, Kevin Graver and Justin Grim were all involved in early tangles that ended their feature early.

Bobby Gunther-Walsh had what appeared to be by far his best car of the season as he checked out on his heat race until he lost his motor in a plume of smoke ending his night early.

Kyle Weiss made an appearance in the Umbenhauer # 5 but missed qualifying for the feature by one spot in his consolation race.  Nonetheless Kyle built his notebook for the 76er.

On Saturday, August 26 Grandview will host a 3-division show featuring the URC Sprint cars and both the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to main event features with racing starting at 7:30 P.M.