Freedom 76er The Rest of the Story – Grandview Regulars Go All Out at the 76er

Here are a few of the Grandview Regulars who had memorable 76er efforts in more ways than one:

Bobby Trapper Jr. noted “Yes overall it was a good weekend for us. We struggled on Friday trying new setup stuff but to no avail.  Saturday the heat was aggressive to say the least. I was aggravated with myself in the heat race when I got into a qualified spot but then made a mistake and kept pushing forward which caused me to end up losing that qualified spot in my heat race.”

After not making it to the feature through the heat race and knowing I was involved in a big wreck in last year’s Minuteman; I was more determined than ever to go out there in the Minutemen and control our destiny by driving to the front and getting into the 76er which was our goal all along.

“We went back to basics and made simple changes for the minuteman. For the first 8-10 laps the track had grip anywhere but then as usual it started to go away quickly. Finding the high line before the other guys in first and second was the key and the car felt fantastic up there.  Our racing luck finally made a turn for the better as I was leading by a decent margin when the nine-car tangle happened behind me.  In the end it was the most comfortable car we’ve had in weeks and the timing couldn’t have been better.  Happy to pick up the win in the Minuteman but really would have been happier if we qualified through the heat race and had a better starting position in the feature from the draw.”

“In the feature we didn’t make many changes and the car felt good as well. We were moving forward but just not quick enough to stay on the lead lap with a really fast Godown.  It was disappointing to get lapped just a few laps before that caution as it would have been great to see what we could do for the rest of the race if we stayed on the lead lap. But overall, very happy that we showed some speed and qualified while keeping the car in one piece.  To post a solid outing at the 76er was a great way to finish our season out.”

Two weeks ago, Bobby Gunther-Walsh took a hard hit to the wall and another hard hit from another car in what looked like a season ending incident for the driver and the car.  But racers do what racers do and when Bobby G came through the gate on Friday afternoon it really wasn’t unexpected and truly a welcome sight.  Bobby was feeling better in a few days, and he directed his crew to start prepping the backup car for the 76er a few days after the incident.

Bobby reflected “A big thank you to Ron Seltman of Fast Four Shocks for getting all the shocks redone for this car and to Jeff Paulson and his family for getting this car ready.  Jeff had been working on the backup car all season long so all we had to do was put the motor in and shocks in the backup car.   They had the car ready to race last week at the final points race but we got rained out.  I really think it was better for my body to have another week off.  It was a wonderful feeling to be driving back up the hill after such a violent and grim looking accident just two weeks ago.”

“For the heat race I drew the ninth starting spot.  After the draw I figured “oh well”, but then Craig Von Dohren spoke to me after the drivers meeting.  Craig was very happy that I was OK after the accident, and he asked where I was starting.  I told him 9^th and I that was not very optimistic.  Craig told me “Well just plug away and don’t let where you’re starting bother you, just plug away and don’t give up.” It was a nice encouraging message from a top driver and meant a lot to me.”

“On the first lap a couple of guys got together and I believe I was restarting seventh. I think we got another lap in and a couple more guys got together and then I’m starting fifth or sixth.  I know I passed two guys and then got passed back by Bobby Trapper then I passed him back.  On the last lap Bobby showed me his nose coming off two, we raced into three and four and he had me on the outside when we touched a little bit and I beat him by a couple car lengths.  It was a great moment for me, and I was very happy.”

“After the heat race, I understand that there was a nice ovation on both the front and back stretch from everyone which I sincerely appreciate. To bounce back from that accident and not just show up but race e hard and be successful was a huge victory for me.”

“This is my third time qualifying for the 76er. The Last time was about 10 years ago and the time before that about another 10 years. I hope I don’t wait that long to qualify again.”

“It sounded like I got a nice ovation from the crowd at the driver introductions.  I’m beyond grateful for it.  I don’t know how to put it into words, and it means a lot to me, both the fans applause and their words of encouragement in the pits after the race.  It’s has really been a heartwarming experience.   The Rogers family were all wonderful when I walked up the steps with hugs of encouragement.  I am thankful for them, the emergency team and the first responders of the Bally ambulance company who did such a great job two weeks ago.”

“At any rate as far as the feature goes, when I walked out onto the track after parking the car and saw how much moisture there was and how the track crews worked it over, I was thinking “oh boy we made a mistake here, we’ve got the wrong set up.” We tighten the car up based on how the track looked after the Minuteman 20 and how I thought they would prep it for the Sixer.  In the first 10 or 15 laps I could hardly turn, and the car was way too tight. We dropped like a rock and lost a ton of spots.  But when it came time to race with the leaders, I was able to keep up, the car handled much better as a track came to me.  But by that time, we were a lap down and then I got spun and the car would not restart so we were done for the night.  All in all, I am very happy, thankful, and overjoyed that we made the sixer.  It was a proud moment for my team and me and I felt a sense of accomplishment racing my way into the Sixer from a 9^th starting position in only our second time out on our new coil over suspension setup.”

Kevin Graver came into the 76er on Friday with high hopes, but they were dashed early in the night when his motor broke.  Around midnight Kevin threw a “Hail Mary” Facebook post out there requesting a loaner motor or a ride and went to bed hoping for a miracle that would keep his 76er weekend going.

Kevin recalled “Friday was a real heartbreaker of a night for us, we hurt the motor in the 7A (we think a lifter broke). Then Ryan was running 2nd in the consolation for the 38er when the yoke broke on the transmission.  We left Friday night pretty dejected, so I posted on Facebook that we were done for the weekend unless someone wanted to loan us an engine or give me a ride.  I knew it was a long shot and most likely we’d be sitting at home on Saturday.”

“We stayed at my nephew’s house in Macungie rather than drive home since we had planned to race both days.  At 8 a.m. on Saturday morning my phone rang, and it was Brett Kressley who said that he saw my post and he proceeded to offered me a ride in his Big Diamond car.”

“To say I was shocked would be an understatement.”

“We needed to put our shocks, wheels, and tires on the car, plus do maintenance to get the car ready. So, my son, his roommate from college, and myself headed to Kressley auto sales to start working on the car.  In the meantime, I called Jimmy Wismer and told him about the offer.  Jimmy grabbed his truck and trailer and headed to Kressley’s too.  It was all hands-on deck to get the car ready for the 76er.”

“We had high hopes driving a high caliper car. Our heat draw wasn’t great (7), but we were running 6th working on 5th when we were rooted out of the way and finished 8th in the heat which put us starting 4th in the consolation.”

“We finished 3rd in the consolation which transferred us to a 17^th starting position in the Minuteman.  We were moving forward in the Minuteman, and up to 10th or 11th when disaster struck.  A car was stopped on the backstretch with a folded up-front end and a bunch of us had nowhere to go and ended up wrecking with a total of nine cars involved.  It was a very disappointing end to a very exciting day that I believe will help our 7A program going forward.  It’s not every day that you drive one of the track champion’s cars.”

“It was a great opportunity from Brett that I’m very thankful for.  There are not very many people who are willing to help someone out like that and I can’t thank Brett Kressley, his family, and team enough. He is a class act and true asset to the modified racing community and Grandview.”

Brett Kressley had three cars competing at the 76er.  In addition to his car, Brett had two of his other cars piloted by Grandview regular drivers Addison Meitzler and Kevin Graver.  Kevin has done some testing of a new car for Brett this season which helped him maintain his handicap while his car was being repaired during the season.

 Brett commented “I figured with my car being a guaranteed starter I’d give it a whirl and bring a couple of extra cars into the equation and see what we could do.  It started as a one eye open Saturday morning on Facebook, but when I saw Graver had trouble with his car the night before I figured I would let him use the Big Diamond car.”

Dylan Swinehart started the season as a modified driver until an engine failure cut his season short in June.  Dylan then switched over to a second new crate car while his brother continued to run his first crate.  Dylan finished the 38er on the podium in third place, but his heart and eyes were still on participating in the 76er with a modified.

Dylan stated “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 and I wish I had a small block for tomorrow because I think it would be really good.  Well Colt Harris overheard us and offered us a spec 358 motor.  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. 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 by the time tech was just closing.”

“We had a lot more to do before hot laps and just made it.  We were the last car out for track pack, but we made it.  Warmups went great but the brakes weren’t strong. We 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 then heard a noise in the motor on lap 2 so I shut the motor off.”

“We got 3^rd 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 this year for my team.  I cannot put into words how thankful I am for my friends, family and crew who made this happen over the weekend 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”

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.