Grandview Modified Pit Notes 9/02/23 –   Tim Buckwalter Goes Back to Basics and Back to Victory Lane at Grandview

Tim Buckwalter used a lap 25 slider to pass a high and hard charging Rion Haring for the lead which 5 laps later turned into Buckwalter’s first Grandview win of the season.

Ron Haring took the early lead despite four early cautions with the final restart on lap 8. Haring rocketed back to the lead and continued to use the high side as Buckwalter moved into 2^nd and the two leaders reached lapped traffic on lap 17.  Buckwalter closed in on lap 22 and the two drivers battled nearly side by side in lapped traffic until Buckwalter threw a slider for the lead on lap 25.  For the final five laps it was clear sailing for Buckwalter who checked out to over 2.5 second gap over 2^nd place Brett Kressley and 3^rd place Ron Haring.

On lap 1 Bobby Gunther Walsh was involved in a scary incident with heavy contact to the outside wall in the middle of turn 1 & 2 which sent Bobby careening down the track to be hit by Lex Shive.  After extensive extraction efforts by track crew and EMT staff; Bobby was carried from his car on a backboard regaining consciousness in the ambulance on his way to the hospital for further evaluation.  

On Monday Bobby stated “I want to thank my crew chief Jeff Paulson, his family, my crew and everybody that helped get the car loaded up and back home. Additionally, Jeff Paulson for building me such a great car and making sure it’s safe. Thanks to Bicknell chassis and Hans Devices and I truly thank God!”

“I saw the end of the in-car camera from Lex Shive, and I do feel bad for Lex as he had nowhere to go. Lex left his in car camera on, so I saw how fast Glen Mertz responded and his concern as well as how fast the entire safety team arrived.  I really would like to thank them, the ambulance crew, EMT’s and fire fighters for a fantastic job.  I know the Rogers family and many fans were concerned and a huge thank you to the Rogers family and all the fans. The outpouring of support has been amazing and I’m grateful for all the prayers, concerns, and friendship. When I watch the replays, I can’t believe I’m alive and avoided serious injury.  I have no serious injuries, just sore everywhere and in a lot of pain which will heal in good time, and I will be doing just fine very soon.”   

Heat race winners for the 31-car modified field were Ron Haring, Kevin Hirthler and Tim Buckwalter.

The consolation race was awarded to Mike Lisowski as it was checkered at the green with only 7 cars able to make the call.

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

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

DID NOT QUALIFY: Bobby Trapper Sr., Mike Laise, Chris Gambler

On Saturday, September 9 Grandview will host a two division show featuring both the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman and crown division champions. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to main event features with racing starting at 7:30 P.M.

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 9/02/23 NASCAR MODIFIED POINTS RACE # 17

Tim Buckwalter posted his first win of the season from his 9^th starting position.  It has been a trying and difficult season for Tim Buckwalter and the 23X team seemed to encounter some sort of race day problem or issue every week but tonight they turned that all around and had a solid car all night long and they quickly turned into the car to beat tonight.

In victory lane Tim noted “I first want to start off what that I hope Bobby is OK and that was a nasty one.”

“We might have had one good night all year here at Grandview and we definitely had every kind of issue possible from motor to mechanical to setup from week to week.”

“I really got to thank my guys for sticking it out with me.  I’ve had the same guys for 20 years and this year they were ready to quit, and I think we all were.  We have been through a lot in every race this year.”

“This place right here (Grandview) is as tough as it gets and for that reason, I love racing here every week.  If you can conqueror here, you can conqueror anywhere.”

“Ronnie (Haring) was running really well on the top but when he got in traffic, I was able to close up to his bumper and knew it was my chance to slide him for the lead and the win.”

“Hats off to Norm for staying with it, we struggled a lot but without him I wouldn’t be here.”  

Back at the trailer Tim noted “We went back to basics this week and made some changes in the brakes department too.  In the heat we had the motor running decent with good speed that we really should be showing all the time; but due to a list of issues we haven’t shown this speed very often this year.  Jeremy has this carburetor on point, and I can’t thank him enough.”

“We won the heat from our 7^th starting spot. If a night starts off right, like it did tonight, and everyone does their job these are the nights you win the race.  You can’t be searching the track all night to find a preferred line.  We were dialed into the track right from the heat race.”

“In the feature we didn’t make any changes and even ran the same tires that we ran in the heat race. You know your setup is neutral when you don’t make any changes for the feature.”

“Ronnie was storm-in out in front at one hell of a pace, but I was able to cut the gap when he reached lapped traffic.  Ronnie can get around the top here at a pace with Kressley and the best of them.  I moved around and cheated entry just a little and then saw he was tight in turn one for 2 laps in a row and I knew it was time to slide him.  You don’t see sliders too often in modified; but with him going into turn 1 tight it was the perfect time and worked out for us.  After getting the lead I stayed up top and the lap cars dropped to the bottom. I was able to just check out for the last five laps.  We got the motor, carb and setup all coming together after weeks of missing something every week so it just all finally all came together tonight for us.  We’ll be back next week and then for the 76er hoping to keep the wins rolling in now that we got one.”

Brett Kressley finished 2^nd from his 15^th starting position which when combined with Craig Von Dohren’s 6^th place finish extends his lead in the season championship points standing to 111 points over Von Dohren with one race to go next week.

Brett continued with his 3^rd race on his new Grandview coil car and has posted podium finishes in all three outings with a 3rd, 1st and 2nd place finish.

Brett stated “Nothing fancy last night; but the track was really racy and fast.  We just kept our nose clean and worked our way into a position where we could be there at the end of the race. This car has been great for sure, and my guys are winning in the shop and giving me a consistent car every week.”

Ron Haring finished 3^rd from his 2^nd starting position. Ron posted his second 3^rd place finish of the season.  It’s been 13 long weeks with a wide variety of issues keeping Ron from duplicating his 3^rd place result in May until this week.  It just so happens; this is the first week that Ron has switched to a coil suspension and the results were visible immediately for the 85 team.

Ron noted “In the heat it was a bottom dominate track, so I ran the bottom.  The car ran good on the bottom, and we got the heat race win.  This was my first week on coils and the car instantly drives faster, better, and more consistently than when I was on bars.”

“In the feature the car was a rocket on the top and I led for 24 laps.  The lapped cars moved over and were not a problem for me. In the last six laps the car got tight, and Timmy got by for the lead.  Our RF tire gave up with 6 to go and it wasn’t a new tire from the start.  I got boxed in by a lapped car on the last lap and gave up 2^nd to Brett Kressley.  I’ll take a 3rd place finish at this place any time.”

Mike Gular finished 4th from his 14th starting position. Mike raced the same car three straight nights. Last night at Big Diamond’s season finale; tonight, at Grandview and tomorrow night back at the Coal Cracker.”

 Mike noted “We use the same car and just maintain and change to the Diamond or Grandview setup. We do have a backup car ready to go in the shop, but we find it better to use one car for a three-day weekend of racing instead of a track specific cars.”

“The early season decision to stay local weekly at Grandview this year on Saturdays instead of driving three hours to Middletown has been a great one for us reducing my windshield time while getting to have my family and friends here at the races with us every week. It has been really enjoyable to be back at Grandview and closer to home every week during the season.”

Mike continued “In the heat we ran 9th to 2nd, and we found the track did not slow down as much as we expected it would.”

“In the feature we ran the bottom because the top was not far enough out for us yet and wasn’t good enough for us to pass on yet. All in all, another good night on the Hill putting a straight car in the box again this week.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 5th from his 10th starting position. Jared reflected “Things went from bad to good in the heat.  Early on in the heat I was boxed and couldn’t get forward in a heat that was loaded with top ten cars but in the final 4 laps I was able to turn the tables and worked up to a 4^th place finish and made the handicap for the feature.”

“In the feature I kept getting stuck on the bottom for restarts and I wanted to be on the outside.  We still managed a 5^th place finish which got us in the handicap on a night when our on-track positioning was not the best and the car got tight.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 6^th from his 14^th starting position but is running out of time on his 4^th consecutive bid for the Grandview point championship.  Craig has one race remaining on the 2023 Saturday points race calendar and is behind Brett Kressley by 111 points.  Craig will need to finish about 12 spots in front of Kressley to claim the 2023 points championship for the 4^th straight season.

Ryan Grim finished 7^th from his 19^th starting position.  Ryan stated “We made some changes in the heat race setup that took the car from loose to tight in the heat.  I’ve been trying to tighten car, so this was what we are looking for.  The track was very narrow and heavy in the heat.  I lost my tear off sheets by lap 5. I qualified but didn’t make the handicap this week.”

“In the feature I started on the bottom and stayed on there and it seemed to get better later in the race. We shot forward to the front early on in the feature.   No one passed us during the feature.”

Kevin Graver finished 8th from his 7th starting position. Kevin lost his mentor and father Kevin Graver Sr. and has dedicated the remainder of this season to the memory of his father who inspired his and his son’s racing career.

Kevin reflected “We had a decent car in warmups.  In the heat race the driver was a bit off but a late caution helped settle things down for us and Kevin qualified for the handicap.”

We had a good car in the feature especially in the beginning of the race.  I was contending for 2^nd when a caution came out.  I then proceeded to get a bad restart and lose a bunch of positions.  I just tried to keep my head straight; hit my marks and ended up in 8^th place.  This wasn’t the finish we were looking for but was a great effort by our team.  Hopefully we can keep going forward and improve in the last two races of the season at Grandview.”

Jeff Strunk finished 9^th from 25^th starting position.  For the 2^nd week in a row Strunk had bad luck in the heat race and got a flat tire which retired him as a DNF.  Jeff qualified through the consolation and had a solid car in the feature going forward 16 spots to finish in the top ten.

Kevin Hirthler finished 10^th from his 8^th starting position.  In the heat race Kevin capitalized on a late restart to take the win and secure a handicap spot in the feature.  After going to the back of the field early in the feature; Kevin came back through the field for a 10^th place finish.

Doug Manmiller had a flat on lap 9 and came back through the field for an 11^th place finish to secure his 4^th place standing in the points standings with one race to go next week.

Ryan Watt (7^th in points) was in a tangle and finished in 17^th limping home with a damaged race car for the final 21 green flag laps.

Eddie Strada (10^th in points) had one of those Grandview nights with some wall contact on lap 8 that ended his night as a DNF.

On Saturday, September 9 Grandview will host a two-division show featuring both the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman and crown division champions. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to main event features with racing starting at 7:30 P.M.