Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 8/26/23 – Brad Grim Makes Last Lap Pass for his Second Win of the Season at Grandview Speedway

On the final lap Brad Grim contacted leader Colton Perry setting him sideways as he went by to take the lead and his second win in three weeks.  Colton was able to reel in a sideways car and held on to the 2^nd place finish while 3^rd place Adrianne Delliponti was able to steer clear of hitting the runner up as he collected his car.

Polesitter Kaitlyn Bailey took command of the race from the green and opened a solid 2 second lead over Colton Perry until the first caution on lap 8.  On the restart Colton Perry took over the lead with Delliponti and Grim in tow as the three cars broke away from the field.  Brad Grim moved into 2^nd and for the final ten laps was literally side by side with Perry but unable to make repeated attempts to complete the pass for the lead.  On the final lap Grim contacted Perry who was able to save a sideways car while Delliponti was able to avoid hitting Perry as Grim drove to his second win of the season.     

Heat races were won by Ronnie Solomon, Bastian Miller, Logan Watt, and Colton Perry.

Consolation races were won by Parker Guldin and Jordan Henn.

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

1. BRAD GRIM, 2. Colton Perry, 3. Adrianna Delliponti, 4. Ryan Graver, 5. Joey Vaccaro, 6. Brett Gilmore, 7. Brian Hirthler, 8. Addison Meitzler, 9. Jesse Landis, 10. Cody Manmiller, 11. Jesse Hirthler, 12. Logan Watt, 13.  Kyle Smith, 14. Mike Schneck Jr., 15. Parker Guldin, 16. Nathan Horn, 17. Bryan Rhoads, 18. Kaitlyn Bailey, 19. Ronnie Solomon, 20. Steve Young, 21. Molly Struss, 22. Mark Mohr, 23. Dylan Swinehart, 24. Tom Miller Jr., 25. Bastian Miller, 26.  Jordan Henn

DID NOT QUALIFY: Mark Gaugler, Nicholas Hamm, TJ Mayberry, Kenny Bock, Michael Burrows, Tyler James, Monte Pool, Logan Bauman, Kyle Hartzell, Nathan Mohr, Zach Steffey, Decker Swinehart, Keith Haring.

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES –  8/26/23 NASCAR POINTS RACE # 15

Brett Grim took the win from his 7^th starting position posting his 2^nd win in three weeks.  In the past three weeks Brad has bookend two wins around a DNF wreck riding the proverbial Grandview rollercoaster.

This week’s win didn’t come without its challenges as Brad won his heat race but was penalized two spots and dropped to 3^rd due to contact with another car.  For Brad it was no harm no foul as he still was in a handicap position for the feature.  Who won the heat after the penalty was imposed? – 2^nd place Colton Perry who would meet Grim later in the feature.

In the feature Brad chased leader Colton Perry from lap 13 to 24 and literally tried to pass him on every exit with a margin at the line of between .098 and .32 for eleven laps until the final lap when the two cars made contact in the center of turn 1/2 and Perry gathered up his sideways car while Grim went by into the lead to take the win on the final lap.  Perry did a masterful job collecting the car while 3^rd place Adrianna Delliponti also did a great job avoiding the sideways Perry.

Brad commented “Car was good in the heat but got in a jingle with a friend of ours as we were both going for the same real estate and made contact.  I still won the heat but because of that contact was penalized two spots back to 3rd.”

“In the feature with two laps to go I thought I had another 2^nd place finish since I couldn’t get by Colton.  He ran a good race but he was late picking his corner entry running the wall and diving in so I couldn’t get a good run in on the top.  On the final lap Colton lifted early which allowed me to get underneath him.  I thought I turned him, but he saved it.  I showed him my nose too early, and he was trying to make his car as wide as he could which is what anyone who is leading would do.”

I wasn’t good on the bottom as I usually am, so we have to figure out why that happened.  I had to worry about the 7A Adrianna as she stayed right there with me the entire race and ran me clean.  I was able to pass her for 2^nd on the top.  I was also worried about the 101 Graver who is good on the top and on the only restart I wanted to start on the top but got stuck on the bottom.  In the end Adrianna and Ryan Graver were right there within striking distance on the final lap.”

Colton Perry finished 2^nd from his 2^nd starting position and lead 15 laps until being passed by Brad Grim for the lead on the final lap.  Colton posted his best finish of the season by far.  The season has been filled with contact incidents, mechanical failures, and bad racing luck until tonight when Colton was able to put together his first complete night with a heat race win and a near feature win gathering a baseline for the remainder of the season. 

Colton reflected “The night started off rough with starter issues which made us miss hot laps. We made a lot of changes going into this week.  So, in the heat race we were going out and hoping for the best and we seemed to hit on something that worked for us.”

“Then for the feature I just went out with the idea to keep it in one piece and get some good notes this season to hopefully come back better for the 38er and next year.  I did not expect to lead all those laps in the feature.  Once I saw Grim’s nose; I knew I had to do everything I could to keep him behind me.  But that last shot got me to sideways and then all that was on my mind was to catch back up to him and hope I could sneak back around him.”

“This was our first time on coils, I could see a difference in the car’s response and the coils absolutely made the car far better this week.”

Adrianna Delliponti finished 3^rd from her 8^th starting position to post her best finish of the season.  After a couple of subpar finishes in the past two weeks; Adrianna turned in her best performance of the season and raced up into 2^nd place before finishing 3^rd in the one caution 25 feature.

Adrianna noted “Tonight things just went our way for a change.  In the heat we found our way forward from 7^th start position to a 2^nd place finish which was our best heat of the year.  We have struggled all year with our heat setup and making the handicap, so this was something we have been working to move forward into the handicap.”

In the feature we had the benefit of our best handicap position of the season starting 8^th.  By lap 2 we were in 4^th.  After the first and only restart of the race we moved into 2^nd place but Grim was better then we were, so we settled into 3^rd when he went by on lap 13.  I was a very close 3rd to the leaders Perry and Grim as they battled for the lead so I stayed on the bottom thinking they may tangle.  On the last lap I was right there when Perry went sideways and hit the breaks to avoid him.”

This was my kind of track tonight and we had everything go our way tonight.  We got the stagger right tonight and it made a big difference in the car.  We finished 10^th in the points last year and hopefully tonight will help us finish better than 10^th this year.”  

Ryan Graver finished 4^th form his 10^th starting position and is showing improved consistency with his 5^th top ten finish in his last 7 races.

Ryan reflected “In the heat I started 7^th and just waited for gaps to open and capitalized on mistakes by other drivers.  The car was good on the bottom, and I didn’t force anything on my way to a 2^nd place finish and a handicap spot for the feature.”

“We had a very fast car in the feature and the driver just has to time driving into the gaps right.  The car is working, and the driver just must turn left.  When under caution, I’m searching the track looking at the surface and the black to see if I can find a better line.  The three leaders broke away from me, but I drove where they were not running and I was able to track them down in the final laps and closed the gap.  I just need to relax a little more and maybe change a line later in the race and I could have been up front in real contention for the win.

I do everything on the car during the week and my dad just does some mechanical second checks.  This week we had a family medical issue before the race and were at the hospital right before we were to leave for the race.  After arriving at the track, I realized that in our rush to get to the track we forgot our belly pan.  Big shout out to Brett Kressley who took the belly pan off his backup car and gave it to us for the night.”    

Joey Vaccaro finished 5^th from his 5^th starting position and has posted with 4 top ten finishes in the last 5 weeks. 

Joey noted “Last week we just missed qualifying and ended up being first alternate.  We just got unlucky in our heat race last week and I got too greedy in the consolation going for the lead when I should have just settled for a qualifying spot. 

“This week we got back where we belong after making some slight change to the car going into the week to see how the car would react and the car handled great.  We had a solid heat going from 4^th to 3^rd.”

“For the feature we tried another change to the suspension, and it worked perfectly again.  I wasn’t as good early, so I fell back a few spots from our 5^th starting position but as the race went on the car really came to me and I think with a few more laps we would have a bid for the lead.  I’m so surprised this older backup motor has done as well as it has, and it just keeps trucking along.  It’s been a great 5 weeks; we haven’t torn anything up and I’m extremely happy with how the 2nd half of the year has gone so far.”

Brett Gilmore finished 6^th from his 10^th starting position and rebounded after 3 weeks of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Brett commented “The past 3 weeks have been rough between getting in wrecks or getting absolutely driven through. Sure, it’s racing at Grandview but jeez the respect just isn’t there at all anymore.”

“In the heat we started 8th and got stuck on the top for the first couple laps but I got back to the bottom and was keeping up with the pack. Someone put a tire on the track that we had to avoid that for 4 laps but finally got a break with the caution.  Restarted 7th and then followed my team mate up through the field and ended up 3rd.”

“Started 10^th in the feature and was kind of holding my own and running with Mark Mohr and he pushed up the track in front of me and we went 3 wide off turn 4 with Cody and just got into Mark.  The hole closed quickly, and I feel bad about the situation, but I guess that one’s on me.  Restarted 9^th, I think I managed to get a couple people up to 6th where we finished. Track was decent wasn’t much of a top after half-way.  I don’t understand what these “crate” motors are getting ahold of, but they are fast.  All in all, a decent showing after the nightmare the past couple weeks.

Brian Hirthler finished 7^th from his 13^th starting position and continued a streak of 9 top ten finishes in his last 10 races.

Brian stated “My car seemed good all night. We found a problem in the car, and it has been much better the last 2 weeks or so.  In the heat even with a narrow track, we were able to make ground and get to the front in a heat race without any cautions.

“In the feature the track was good, but I was boxed in for a good amount of time.  It was tough to catch the leaders before I was out of time without any late race cautions.”  

Addison Meitzler finished 8^th from his 12^th starting position and continues to push forward in the points standings moving into 4^th with two weeks of racing remaining.

Addison noted “It was one of those nights.  Sprints killed the track from the start.  Heats were all on bottom. Went with same setup we have been running and track was smoked. Each lane was equally as fast and took 5 laps to pass someone.  Only one yellow so limited restart opportunities.”

Jesse Landis finished 9^th from his 6^th starting position after returning from some time off to get parts and repair the car.

Jesse commented “We started 4^th in the heat race, got shuffled on the outside for the first lap or 2.  Was able to get back down on the bottom and got my way back 4th and that’s where I finished.  This was my first time making the handicap since the Firecracker 40, so we are moving in the right direction again.

Started 6th in the feature and went right to 3rd after the first lap.  The one and only restart was OK but got hung up behind a car for a few laps and couldn’t clear myself down.  By the time I was able to clear myself, I fell back to 7th.  Battled with Hirthler and Meitzler for the last 10 laps or so.  When I pulled on to the trailer after the feature, I had a puncture in my RR.  Not sure if it happened during or after the race, could possibly why I lost a few spots at the end.  It is sad that a 9th is one of my best finishes for the year but that’s just seems to be my luck this year.  Starting that far up front and getting to 3rd so quick, it really should have been a race I should have had a shot to win but the car and driver just didn’t make the right moves. Missed a few weeks with family events and a wrecked race car.  A few weeks ago, I made a mistake in the consolation and clipped the car in front of me while running 3rd.  Spun out and got hit hard on the left rear damaging the car pretty bad.  Needed the frame and pretty much everything on the left rear replace.  An expensive mistake on my part but that’s racing.  I told my dad this week that racing is really expensive and wrecking race cars is extremely expensive.”

Cody Manmiller finished 10^th from his 11^th starting position and returned to a top ten finish.

Cody stated “We have just been off and not running like a top 5 car like we should. I was good in the heat and able to advance to 4th and make the invert.  First 8 laps before that yellow bumped me into 8^th, but then after the restart I moved down too early and then got stuck racing Addison and Landis the rest of the race instead of moving forward.”

Both points leader Logan Watt and 3^rd place in points Kyle Smith moved forward only 2 spots from their mid-pack starting positions.  For the first time this year, Watt and Smith did not move forward by an 8-10 position like that they usually do every week.

Kyle noted “The sprints made the track a little weird this week.  Car wasn’t bad but didn’t seem like anyone went anywhere on this track.”

Logan Watt was involved in the front stretch tangle on lap 8 which may have damaged his car and limited his ability to move forward during the feature.

Logan Watt posted only his 3^rd finish out of the top ten this season in 15 races and he continues to maintain a 260-point lead over 2^nd place Brian Hirthler with two races remaining in the points chase for 2023.”

On Saturday, September 2 Grandview will host a two-division show featuring 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.