Moneymaker Modified Pit Notes 4/06/23 – Mike Mahaney Wins Rogers Memorial Money Maker at Grandview Speedway

New York’s Mike Mahaney took the trip south to Pennsylvania this weekend to compete in Grandview Speedway’s  Bruce Rogers Memorial Money Maker and it paid off in a big way with Mahaney posting a green to checkered $7,500 trip to victory lane.

Mahaney led every lap of the 50 lap feature from the pole position and withstood five restarts taking a 2.5 second lead to the checkered flag over 2nd place Stewart Friesen.

Heat race winners for the 51 car modified field were Mike Gular, Justin Grim, Ryan Watt, and Jeff Strunk.

 Michael Storms and Billy Pauch Jr. won the consolation races.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED VP RACING FUELS BRUCE ROGERS MEMORIAL FEATURE FINISH (50 laps):

1. MIKE MAHANEY (1), 2. Stewart Friesen (3), 3. Jeff Strunk (7) , 4. Anthony Perrego (13), 5. Duane Howard (2), 6. Craig Von Dohren (10), 7. Doug Manmiller (9), 8. Billy Pauch Jr. (22), 9. Mike Gular (11), 10.  Alex Yankowski (19), 11. Danny Bouc (14), 12. Ryan Watt (17), 13. Tim Buckwalter (18), 14. Eddie Strada (23), 15. Frank Cozze (24), 16. Ryan Grim (16), 17. Jimmy Leiby (6), 18 Kyle Smith (4), 19.  Lex Shive(20), 20. Michael Storms (21), 21. Matt Stangle (15), 22. Justin Grim (5), 23. Joe Funk (8), 24. Kevin Hirthler (12)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Eric Biehn, Jared Umbenhauer, Kevin Beach, Dylan Smith, Chris Gambler, Rick Laubach, Nick Rochinski, John Willman, Eric Kormann, Bobby Trapper Sr., Jon Kellner, Bryan Rhoads, Kevin Graver Jr., Louden Reimert, Nate Brinker, Mike Lisowski, Ray Swinehart, Ron Haring Jr., Brian Hirthler, Darrin Schuler, Brandon Edgar, Chris Esposito, Carroll Hine III, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Mike Laise, Brett Kressley, Talan Carter

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 4/06/24

Mike Mahaney had a “necessity is the mother of invention” weekend that turned into a perfect storm which lead him to victory lane with the only big block entry in the field of 51 modifieds.  Mike’s PA spec was not ready yet, so the choice was easy – bring the big block to the race or sit home on the porch and for Mahaney that’s was an easy answer.

In hot laps Mike was the only big block in the field and he timed 11^th of 13 cars which looked like a long night was on the way for the 35 team.  In addition Mike also drew the 11^th place starting position in the 4^th heat sitting right next to Grandview’s 2023 modified champion Brett Kressley.

Right at the start of his heat race, Mahaney’s luck began to change and at the drop of the green he was able to avoid the 3car tangle which took Kressley out of the heat race before lap 1.  From there Mahaney worked his up from his 11^th starting position to 5^th and he took the final transfer spot in the 4^th heat earning him the 20^th of 20 redraw spots.

With the 20^th redraw spot, Mahaney found the feature pole position waiting for him when he finally got his draw.   Once on the pole, Mahaney took the big block up to the top and turned it loose on the spec field, but five cautions kept bringing him back to the field.  On the 5^th restart, Howard got within a couple of car lengths of the  Mahaney, but a rut and subsequent bobble saw Howard relinquished 2^nd place to Stewart Friesen on lap 37.  Mahaney was able to hold off his New York rival Stewart Friesen by 2.5 seconds for the win of the 50 lap feature.

Mike noted “ We came back from the drivers meeting with a 53 draw and I knew it was going to be tough to qualify starting 11th in the heat.  I was patient at the start and able to avoid a wreck then I got aggressive on the top to get some crucial positions to grab the last redraw spot. That was big, and I’m not sure if we would win at the end of the night without making it to the last transfer spot. It was also very slick in the heat and the big block didn’t seem to be the right combination but then the feature track prep seemed to turn the tables into our favor.  To get the pole with the final redraw spot just seemed like a perfect storm for us, and we were able to just cling to the edge of the storm and drive through for the win.”

“In the feature it was advantageous for our big block in the beginning when the track was wet, but later as the track slicked off it looked like a spec could be better with the track.  We had a great handling car all night thanks to Dig Race Products and their superior shocks.”

“It really was great track prep by the Grandview track crew, started out dry in the heats to keep it from being rough from all the rain we had during the week. The prep before the feature gave us a great top and some excellent racing for the fans and drivers.”

“I did not expect to have the lead we had, nor did I know how far ahead I was with no rear-view mirrors or anything in these cars I was nervous the whole time that Duane, Stew, and Jeff were probably catching me, so I pushed the car hard the whole race.”

Stewart Friesen finished 2^nd from his 3^rd place starting position.  Stewart commented “We had a good car tonight, but we were a bit too tight early, and the track just didn’t come in for us soon enough.  Congraulations to Mike on his win tonight.”

Jeff Strunk return to Norm Hansell’s 357 and in his debut posted a strong run all night with a 3^rd place podium finish from his 7^th place starting position.

On the podium Jeff noted “This was a good solid night for us to run 3^rd and we got beat by two of the best in the business with great equipment and great owners.  Thank you to Norm, Jay and all the guys in the shop.  Glad to be on the podium tonight and can’t thank Norm enough.”

Back at the trailer Strunk stated “It was a good first night out for our team against a very competitive and great field of cars.  We did get two decent draw numbers – 6th in a loaded heat race, and 7th in the feature which played a big part in our night.”

“I’m proud of our effort with the time frame we had to build the cars and be as prepared as we are. Thanks to my great crew who have been with me over the years, Norm and Jay (crew chief) for putting me in the seat of the iconic 357.  A special thank you to Terry Fasnacht, Mike Gular and Ron Seltman for the opportunity to drive for them in early races at Georgetown and Port Royal which was a great confidence builder for me this year.  Also, thank you for Grandview Speedway for a great tack and all the great fans who were here on a cold and windy night.”

Anthony Perrego finished 4^th from his 13^th starting position and continues to post solid outings at just about every event he attends so far this year this year. 

Duane Howard returned home to make his 2024 Grandview debut with a 5^th place finish after running in 2^nd for most of the feature until a rut disruptive the car and slide him back from 2^nd to a 5^th place finish.

Duane commented “It feels good to back home at old stomping grounds! That big block was pretty stout tonight!! When he took off on the restart and I didn’t, it very was clear I wasway too tight early in the race.  I thought maybe by the end of the race that the track would come back the other way and be more to my advantage.  The track was really good through mid-race from lap 15 to lap 35 were the car felt the best for me. I was able to get Freisen back on the one restart, and then started to track down Mahaney and when he got into lap traffic, I thought I would at least have a shot at sniffing the lead. We were able to get under the 35 car on one restart, but he was too strong for us to get around him. Then we had some unfortunate issues with the right rear and just needed to nurse the car home for a solid 5^th place finish.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 6^th from his 10^th starting position as he begins his bid to reclaim the 2024 Grandview points championship.  Craig finished 2^nd in his heat race starting from the pole position which will most likely the last time Craig sees a pole position at Grandview until the Thunder on the Hill shows or the Freedom 76er.

Doug Manmiller finished 7^th from his 9^th starting position to post a much better finish then last year’s Money Maker when he flipped down the front straightaway on lap # 1 in 2023.

Doug reflected “I was happy with our 3^rd place from the 8^th starting position run in our heat which was stacked with talent.  We just wanted to get in the show and get in a solid position.  We got a decent re-draw with a 9^th starting position out of 20.  We had a good run going and moved up to 4^th when some steering issues developed, and we started to fade a bit but all in all it was a good run.  There were a lot of good cars, and I thought the track was very racy for the feature.  With all the rain and lack of sun this week track, conditions could have been a lot worse.”

Billy Pauch Jr. finished 8^th from his 22^nd starting position in his first outing of the season in the Breitenstein Motorsports 14B entry.  In his heat race Billy moved forward from 10^th to 6^th just missing qualifying for the field by one position.  Pauch Jr won the consolation from his pole starting position.  Billy had a strong 8^th place finish from his 22^nd starting position in the feature.

Billy stated, “My first run for Breitenstein Motorsports turned out to be a good run through the field in the feature on a great track that held up great for the first race of the season.”

 Defending Money Maker 2023 champion Mike Gular finished 9^th from his 11^th starting position.  Mike was on the move through the field, but a contact incident sent him to the back of the field on lap 20.  Mike rebounded and moved from 20^th back through the field to a 9^th place finish.

Alex Yankowski went to the back of the field on lap 4 after stopping on the track.  Alex was able to run back through the field and post a solid 10^th place finish in the 2rs entry.

51 cars attempted to qualify for the 50-lap feature with 13 visiting teams and 38 Grandview regulars on the premises.  8 outsiders qualified while 16 Grandview regulars qualified.  

Modified rookie Kyle Smith debuted and qualified for his first modified race with a solid 3^rd place finish in his heat race from a 4^th starting position.  Kyle had a decent run going in the feature, but he found contact with a car that was pulling off of the track and ended up with a broken rear.

Kyle noted “We were very happy with qualifying for our first modified race of the 2024 and earning the $1,000 to start money, but on the other hand it was not good to get a broken rear for no good reason.  We will be back next week to qualify for the 2^nd week in a row.”

Ryan Grim made a strong heat race run going from a 10^th starting position to a 5^th place finish.  In the feature Ryan was moving forward and was up in 8^th on lap 21.  Late in the race Ryan’s tires appeared to have sealed over dropping him to a 16^th place finish.

Defending 2023 Grandview points champion Brett Kressley started his night off with a bad draw for his heat race starting 12th in a 12-car field.  Unfortunately, it got even worse for Brett as before lap 1 was completed he was involved in a 3-car tangle that put his 2024 car on the hook and in the trailer for the rest of the night. Team Kressley tried to roll out the 2023 backup car but after one lap in the consolation Brett pulled off to end his night early.

Jon Kellner was another driver with a quick end to his night before lap 1 was completed in his heat race.  Jon was returning to Grandview modified racing after a 10-year hiatus from racing. Unforuantely at the start of his heat race his 21 entry was standing on it’s nose when Kevin Graver and Eric Kormann had no were to go and plowed into Kellner’s car effectively ending all three entries night before their heat race lap 1 was even completed.

Next up on Saturday, April 13 will be a two-division program under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner for the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to the 30-lap Modified and 25-lap Sportsman main events.