On lap 12 Brian Hirthler went to the top to pass Jordan Henn for the lead, then endured 8 cautions, and held off Joe Toth in the final laps to win his first Freedom 38er.
Jordan Henn led the field to green and quickly found himself in a three-way battle for the lead with Joe Toth and Brian Hirthler. It was Brian Hirthler taking the lead on lap 12 from his 4th starting position. After the 4th restart on lap 13; Hirthler held off a strong & close high side challenge from Henn, but he was able to stop Henn’s momentum and maintain his lead through a series of 8 cautions. Brian used the top of the track to dominate the field and take his first Freedom 38er victory.
Heat races were won by Dylan Swinehart, Brad Grim, Brad Arnold, Zane Roth, Dakota Kohler, and Logan Bauman.
Consolation races were won by Kyle Smith, Jesse Hirthler and Decker Swinehart.
A record 61 entries attempted to qualify for one of the 28 starting positions for the 2023 Freedom 38er.
T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (38 laps):
1. BRIAN HIRTHLER, 2. Joe Toth, 3. Dylan Swinehart, 4. Jordan Henn, 5. Kyle Smith, 6. Addison Meitzler, 7. Logan Watt, 8. Logan Bauman, 9. Cody Manmiller, 10. Jesse Landis, 11. Jesse Hirthler, 12. Mike Schneck Jr., 13. Brandon Edgar, 14. Brad Arnold, 15. Jason Hamilton, 16. Adrianna Delliponti, 17. Nathan Horn, 18. Decker Swinehart, 19. Mark Mohr, 20. Zane Roth, 21. Steve Kemery, 22. Steve Young, 23. Parker Guldin, 24. Keith Haring, 25. Brad Grim, 26. Dakota Kohler, 27. Mark Gaugler, 28. TJ Mayberry
DID NOT QUALIFY: Michael Burrows, Tyler James, Nicholas Hamm, Brett Gilmore, Grant Hilfiger, Bryce Bashore, Brad Force, Xavier Sprague, Molly Struss, Bob Lineman Jr., Tyler Vidal, Jax Yohn, Danny Buccafusca, Kevin Olenick, Joey Vaccaro, Kaitlyn Bailey, Dirk Rimrott, Zach Steffey, Brad Brightbill, Bastian Miller, Talan Carter, Nick Faust, Bryan Rhoads, Colton Perry, Tom Miller Jr., Shon Elk, John Redner, Kenny Bock, Ryan Graver, Dallas Breidenbach, Ethan Bill, Rob Tete, Ronnie Solomon
FREEDOM 38ER PIT NOTES – 9/15/23 SPORTSMAN
Brian Hirthler made it two wins in a row to close out his Grandview season when he picked up the Freedom 38er win from his 4th starting position. Brian has won his final two races of the 2023 season with his open sportsman motor which will no longer be a legal motor option at Grandview next year. In the final race of the season there were seven open sportsman motors, one 604 crate and 53 crates. Next season the only motor that will be an available option in the sportsman division is the Crate 602 motor.
In victory lane Brian commented “This is my first 38er win and the most important win of my career. It seems like I’ve been trying to win this one forever and to win the final race for sportsman motors is something else. I have had the worse luck at this race over the years with distributor cap coming apart, breaking cams, dropped a valve as a guaranteed starter, and vapor locking while leading in 2017. Yeah, figured I needed all the luck I could get with that history so have the lucky rock and blue boxers with me today and our luck has finally changed.”
“I was not setup for the bottom, and I did start race on the top. I fell back early from 4th to 6th but then the top came in and the car came back to life. I was able to get to the top before the rest of the front runners found out it was good up there. There were a lot of restarts and I tried to catch everyone off balance by using them to my advantage as the leader. On around lap 14, I checked to see if there was rubber on the bottom and then felt Jordan up top, so I went back up top. It was tight in four when I got back to the top but once I got back up top my car was dominant and pulled away.”
Back at the trailer Brian noted “My 38er night went very smooth, with 61 cars signed in a lot can go wrong in a hurry starting with the draw. We did our homework all season basically preparing for this race and the different track conditions. We never ran the same setup twice this season, which I’ve never done before. We had weeks where it was really good and weeks where it was really bad, but I felt that was the only way to learn what works best on what surface. With the rain out last week, I had an extra week to go over notes, look at video footage, review lap times, go back through my setup book and see everything and refresh my memory before heading into Friday.”
“Our first curve ball was drawing 7 out of 10 cars in the heat with only 3 qualifying. You never know how the heat race is going to play out, but we got a great first lap and got into 3rd which was a relief and from there I just felt the car out on the top and bottom to try to prep for what I would need for the feature. Ended up 2nd in the heat and went to the pits to start getting the setup & tires ready for the feature. I spent a good amount of time watching the track during the modified practice to see what looked like the best lanes for the 38er. I actually missed the redraw, but my brother picked me a good spot #4. Coincidently I missed the redraw in 2017 too and never actually picked but got the last position left in the bucket which happened to be #1. 2017 was the only other season I ever led the 38er and had a temperature/ fuel issue late in the race which robbed us of the win that year after dominating much of the race.”
“Once the feature started, I was feeling the track and car out. My setup was familiar as I just used something very similar the week before in my feature win at the last points race of the season. I slipped from 4th to 6th early on and right before the caution came out, when I found the high side was coming in and the bottom possibly fading a bit. Once back to green, I wasted no time getting to the top and picking my way through the top five taking over the lead around lap 13. I tried to put a gap between myself and 2nd which gives you a buffer when you get into lap traffic. Just as I caught lap traffic the caution waved, and my huge lead was erased. After a few mid race restarts, we opened a pretty good lead which we held onto till the end. I never really felt the top fade too bad, so I never really switched to the bottom like some other cars did. My lap times fell off the last few laps due to an issue in the drive train. After we went to victory lane, the motor had a bit of a tap and I found out in tech that we hurt the motor due to the colder temps and not getting it warm enough before the feature.
It was the last race for our open sportsman motor since they are now outlawed from future competition at Grandview. It has been a great motor and makes me happy that I got to be the 2012 rookie of the year; won three championships; 21 feature wins and won the last two races that the open sportsman motors competed at with the final one being the race that has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time – the Freedom 38. I got to run the open sportsman division with such a broad spectrum of competitors through the years, many of which have gone on to win big races and championships in the modified division which shows how valuable the open sportsman class was for a higher competitive level in the current modified division. I am not sure what is in store for the 2024 season. Running modifieds weekly on my racing budget would be tough to be competitive weekly and not to mention the added time in the shop. Running a crate would mean buying a completely new engine package as the carb, exhaust & other items are all different. I’ll take a few months and decide what will work best for the team and we will try our best whenever & wherever we compete in 2024.”
Joe Toth finished 2nd from his 3rd starting position. In victory lane Joe stated “We have only been here 5 or 6 times so don’t have a lot notes. In the heat we were in the right place at the right time and drove from the back of the field to 3rd in one lap and was able to sneak into the redraw from the heat race.”
“We made the wrong setup call for the feature, and it really bit us today. The car came around, but it was too little too late. It is hard to beat laps around this place and Brian has a lot of laps around here. Brian has been racing as long as I have been coming to the races even back to my spectating days.”
Dylan Swinehart finished 3rd from his 17th starting position. In victory lane Dylan reflected “I ran the top, bottom and middle but you really must be patient in these longer races. Today I was actually a little too patient and the yellows didn’t fall my way. I went 6th to 4th with fourteen laps to go but just not enough time to get to the top of the podium. My team put forth an extraordinary effort today and in victory lane I worked out a deal to run Colt’s Harris’s spec motor tomorrow in the 76er.”
Postrace Dylan stated “Well we decided to try a few different things for the 38er and put good tires on the car instead of the junk tires I’ve been running all year. We started 2nd in the heat and were able to get the lead quickly and into clean air which helped us get the win and the redraw spot. Naturally I drew 17th starting spot in the feature. We made a few adjustments for the feature and stayed patient through the race and was able to get a 3rd place finish.”
“I was standing at Victory Lane talking to my dad while waiting for pictures and I said to my dad that the car was a little tight tonight, but I wish I had a small block for tomorrow because I think it would be really good. Colt Harris overheard us and offered us his spec 358 motor for the 76er. I told him don’t mess with me like that. He said no I’m serious, I’ll drop it off. I looked at my dad and crew and asked if they wanted to do this and they all said yes let’s go. We stayed up till 4 am pulling the Crate out of Decker’s car (83) instead of using my car (38) since the transmission broke before the feature and it was making a lot of noise as we drove to victory lane. After washing the car and pulling the motor we went to bed at 4:00 am and I woke up at 6am to go over the car. At 10am the motor showed up and we had to find all the pulleys, parts, and wires to complete the motor swap. We are lucky to have good friends and resources that we found everything and made it to the track just before tech was closing.”
“We had a lot more to do before hot laps and just made it. We were the last car out for track pack. Warmups went great but the brakes weren’t strong. Went over the brakes for the heat and had a good pedal but still lost them on the track in the heat. Started 5th and was up to 3rd in a lap when unfortunately we developed a vibration and then I heard a noise in the motor on lap 2 so I shut the motor off.”
“We got 3rd in the 38er and made a run at the 76er in the same weekend. I can’t thank Colt Harris enough for making this opportunity to run the 76er happen for my team. I cannot put into words how thankful I am for my friends, family and crew who made this happen and my sponsors who have been with me each year:
US Electrical Services, Abbi Co. Inc. Bailey Fab
Weller Motorsports, Maidencreek Distributing
SNA Inc. Enviroscapes, Deka Batteries”
Jordan Henn finished 4th from the pole position. Jordan noted “In the heat race I struggled with a tight car and driver mistakes. The guy in front of me would make a mistake and then I would mess up too but, in the end, I managed to go from 5th to 3rd in the heat and make it into the redraw. We pulled a good number for the feature and got the pole position but just couldn’t get it done in the feature.”
“It’s tough running up front since you don’t know where to run and especially when you are up front early in the race that’s always tough. The 4* went by me on the top before I knew it. I tried the top, but the car was again too tight in the turns. On lap 14 I made a run for the lead on the top and made some racing deal contact with Brian who didn’t know I was up there. It’s disappointing to start on the pole and finish 4th but with 61 cars here tonight you can’t mad about getting 4th.”
Kyle Smith finished 5th from his 20th starting position. Kyle reflected “In the heat I started 8th and track was really heavy and wide. The bottom was gripped up making it very hard to pass anyone using the top. I got up to 4th and couldn’t find a way around Adie, so we went to the consolation.”
“The track was watered for the consolation, and I ran the bottom early and then moved to the top when the bottom slicked off and won the consolation from the pole position.”
In the feature I started 20th and I just followed Logan Watt through the field until a lap 4 tangle deal happened in front of Logan causing him to stall and me to get into him, but I was able to keep my car going. I picked off cars one at a time until my motor seemed to die out in mid race but then it picked back up and I was able to finish 5th. The 8 cautions made it hard to get a rhythm, harder to pass with the field was always being bunched up on a very slick track.”
Addison Meitzler finished 6th from his 11th starting position. Addison reflected “We had steering box issue in warmups and changed it before heat race. Started 5th in the heat and got to 2nd which put us in the redraw.”
“In the feature we started 11th and halfway through the race we had the starter break off and it was swinging into my left leg. I think it was also shorting out giving us a ground issue because I lost power in the 2nd half of the race and the car was horrible on restarts. The motor just never ran the same after that so we settled for 6th. We probably had a top 3 car until that happened.”
“I also had the opportunity to race the 76er in Brett Kressley’s backup car. In the 76er heat I drew the pole and finished 2nd to qualify for the feature.”
In the 76er feature I re-drew 5th and had a good run going until the first caution and then the car just wasn’t the same in the turns and fought a tight in and loose out car the rest of the night but hung in there and finished the 76er in 17th.”
Logan Watt finished 7th from his 18th starting position after going to the back of the field on lap 4 from a tangle after working up to 13th in 4 laps.
In pre-race ceremonies Logan was recognized as the 2023 Grandview sportsman points champion. In victory lane Logan stated “As a kid I always wanted one of these championship belts and it’s hard to believe I would win one in my first year of full-time sportsman racing. The competition here is tough with every week having around 40 cars. Brian (Hirthler) and I battled all season long and he raced me hard and with respect every week.”
Logan reflected “We had a guaranteed spot in the 38er as the 2023 track champion, so I just ran the back of a heat to see what the track was looking like. I drew 18th in a very stacked field, so early in the feature I went to the bottom and was in 12th by lap 4 but something happened in front of me, and I got in a tangle and stalled the car. I went to the back of the field and quickly ran back to 16th only to have the car not fire on a restart and again fall back to 22nd. When the race went green to checkered for the final 31 laps; I was able to come through the field quickly and finished 7th. I just ran out of laps and needed a 50-lap race tonight. The cautions were definitely a factor in the outcome of the race tonight. I am blessed to be here and thankful for all my family, crew and sponsor support that made this season possible.”
Logan Bauman finished 8th from his 13th starting position. Logan reflected “We started on the pole in the heat and won with a very fast car on a slick track to start the night out on a good note. Our redraw wasn’t so good as we started the feature in 13th position.”
“We had a great car in the feature and drove up to 4th. I made a few driver mistakes and hopped the cushion a few times. The track was very technical and was gritty on the bottom but had grip that you had to hit just right for it to work. I went to the top but couldn’t find anything up there. You needed other drivers to make a mistake to be able to pass them and everyone seemed to have equal cars.”
Cody Manmiller finished 9th from his 24th starting position.
Cody recalled “The 38er was a replica of our whole season in one night. We drew bad and started in the back of the heat. We missed making the redraw by one spot and got into the show from the consolation.”
In the feature we went from 24th to 8th by lap 24 and the car felt as good as it has all year long. On the final restart I lost all RR grip for the last ten laps but was still a good night and I felt the best I have in the car all year. We just can’t draw a decent number. The cautions were frustrating tonight because I would pass two cars and then caution would come out and they would get there spot back and I would have to pass them all over again. I passed some cars five times tonight.”
Jesse Landis finished 10th from his 10th starting position. Jesse commented “I was able to get a lucky draw in the heat race by pulling a 2 out of the bag. In the heat race I was able to get down right off the start and pretty much just rode the bottom for the 12 laps. Figured if I didn’t make a mistake, I would be in a pretty good spot. I finished 2nd and redrew 10th for the feature.”
“In the feature the car was pretty good right from the beginning. I got to 7th after the first lap and felt like I had a good pace. The early cautions didn’t really help me at all, but by halfway I was going for 5th but then I got pinched twice in the lap and lost four spots. On the last restart I was 9th and fell back two spots but was able to regain one spot and finished 10th. I guess 10th out of 61 isn’t bad so I’ll take it to close out my year.”
Jesse Hirthler finished 11th from his 21st starting position.
Jesse commented “In the heat I was able to pick the 3rd position but a mistake on my part cost me that position and I would run most of the race in 4th. In the consolation I started on the pole and I had just looked at what happened in the race before me. I ran smooth consistent laps taking the checkered flag for the win.”
“In the feature I started 21st and knew it was a long race, so I was just taking it easy for the early part of the race. As the race progressed, I picked off car after car. I was very happy with the adjustments we did to the car which made it very maneuverable, I could go bottom, top, or wherever. I was up to 9th and going for 8th when the car started to fade. I went all the way back to 11th and finished my first Freedom 38er in 11th. Overall, I met my goal for the night which was to make the show and complete all 38 laps. So, it was a good night for me but would’ve liked to have seen what I had for the big dogs.”
Bradon Edgar finished 13th from his 28th starting spot in the field. Brandon noted “Another bad draw put us behind the 8 ball, but we went forward every time we were on the track. 8th to 5th in heat race. We caught a big break in the consolation when 2nd place broke so that helped us get into the show to bring up the rear in the feature. Starting 28th in the feature, we made wholesale changes, and we were definitely better. We got a little help from cars dropping out but passed a good number of cars under green and ultimately ran out of tire. I think if we went with a harder compound, we would have been a lot better at the end instead of just barely hanging on. We haven’t raced at Grandview for two years, so all in all we were pleased with 13th in a field of 61 cars.”
Grandview will close their 2023 season out with the following Outlaw Racing Series Enduros:
Saturday, September 23 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, Xcel 600 Modifieds – 7 pm
Friday, October 13 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, Linda’s Speedway Chargers – 7 pm.
Saturday, October 14 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, Xcel 600 Modifieds – 5 pm.
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