Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 4/13/24 – Gavyn Krupp Wins his First Grandview Feature  

In only the second Crate race of his career, Gavyn Krupp picked up his first win and a trip to victory lane at the historical speedway on the hill.

Polesitter Gavyn Krupp led the first two laps before T J Mayberry took over the lead on lap 3.  Mayberry led until lap 22 when the leaders of Mayberry, Krupp and Watt went three wide but then got involved in an incident with a car pulling off the track and a lapped car which collected Mayberry and Watt knocking both drivers out of the race with heavy damage to their cars.  Krupp was then able to hold off Mikey Schneck in a two-lap shootout to take his first trip to Grandview’s victory lane.   

Heat race winners for the 46-car sportsman field were Gavyn Krupp, TJ Mayberry, Joey Vacarro, Adrianna Delliponti, and Cody Manmiller.

 Jesse Hirthler and Dylan Swinehart won the consolation races.

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

1. GAVYN KRUPP (1), 2. Mike Schneck Jr.(11) , 3. Jesse Landis (6), 4. Adrianna Delliponti (12), 5. Addison Meitzler (13), 6. Nathan Horn (10), 7. Tyler James(16) , 8. Dylan Swinehart (20), 9. Joey Vaccaro (3), 10. Ronnie Solomon (7), 11. Decker Swinehart (22), 12. Zane Roth (19), 13. Ryan Graver (24) , 14. Nick Faust (4), 15. Cody Manmiller (8), 16. Mark Gaugler (5), 17 Brett Grim (23), 18. Nathan Mohr (17), 19 Jesse Hirthler (21), 20. Mark Mohr (18), 21. Kyle Hartzell (25), 22. TJ Mayberry (22), 23. Logan Watt (14), 24. Dakota Kohler (15), 25. Mark Kemmerer (9), 26. Brett Gilmore (26)

DID NOT QUALIFY:  Logan Bauman, Parker Guldin, Mike Stofflet, Colton Perry, Keith Haring, Lawson Szerencits, Mike Loney, Randy Graber, Dennis Graber, Steve Young, Nicholas Hamm, Kaitlyn Bailey, Shannon Slaughter, Monte Pool, Teague Miller, Troy Bollinger, Stephen Laubach, Kenny Bock, Michael Toth, Zach Steffey

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES – 4/13/24

Gavyn led the first two laps and then stayed in 2^nd behind leader TJ Mayberry for the next 20 laps.  On lap 22 things got complicated as Logan Watt made his bid for the lead with a three wide battle for the lead all the while approaching lapped traffic.  A car pulling off slowed down a lapped car which then contacted two of the three leaders putting Mayberry and Watt into the backstretch wall.  Krupp was able to get through the whole ordeal and take over the lead with two laps to go.  After the red flag when racing resumed Gavyn was able to hold off Mikey Schneck to take his first 602 Crate win at Grandview Speedway. 

Back at the trailer Gavyn reflected “We won the pole in our heat race by about a car length and made some changes for the feature that worked for us.”

“In the feature I just kept rolling and kept my pace.  I took the lead at the line by inches on lap 23 then moved to the top in turn of 3 as I went three wide with Mayberry and Watt as we approached lapped traffic.  The lapped car on the bottom got jammed up by a car cutting down from the high side to exit the track and slowed which caused contact that took Mayberry and Watt into the back stretch outer wall.  The outside opened up for me to get bye while the middle and bottom got bottled up with the slowing lapped traffic.”

Gavyn continued “On the last restart, I didn’t know whether to run the top or bottom, but I decided to go with the bottom for the two-lap dash to the checkered.  Schneck would draw even with me in the middle of the turns, but I hit my marks on the final lap it was incredible to take the checkered flag for my second race at Grandview Speedway.”

“We are on torsion bars with a right side pan hard set up. This is how the car was set up when we bought it last fall.  So, we ran in October at the last enduro outlaw race were Grandview let the modified and sportsman practice and we took advantage of the opportunity.  I liked the way the car felt and handled, so being a small family-owned race team we decided to stick with that setup and run it this year to save some funds instead of trying to reinvent wheel in regard to our setup.  However, we did have the left side provision put in the frame this winter by Bobby Strunk, so we do have the ability to go to the left side if we choose to do so.  Also, we were keeping in mind the press release and rule change that as of now are expected for the 2025 season at Grandview and Big Diamond and remove the left side pan hard setups from competition for the 2025 season.  As our season goes along, we may play around a little more with different things, but right now I am comfortable with this right-side setup with torsion bars and our main goal is to get seat time and laps under my belt.”

“I started racing quarter midgets at 5 years old and in my later years raced at the quarter midget USAC regional and nationals.  I retired from quarter midgets at 13 and then ran Stage 1 modifieds for a few years and won a championship at Hamlin and races at Shellhammers and Lanco.  2024 is my first year in a Crate 602 at Grandview and today was my 2^nd race ever in a 602 Crate car.”

Mikey Schneck finished 2nd from his 11^th starting position and continued his strong start to his first full season running a 602 Crate at Grandview after transitioning from a sportsman motor during the 2023 season.

Mikey reflected “Our hot laps are starting to get better, and I think we have found what we need to change to improve our performance in hot laps. The track was super slick today due to the crazy winds.  Got to applaud Grandview for running where most tracks cancelled and providing a good surface considering the extreme weather conditions.”

“Heat went well right off the start, the car in front of me pushed up and slowed the outside lane and I was able to go to 3rd right away.  After that my car felt like it was laying over hard on the right side but was still able to manage stay in 3rd. With 46 cars here and starting in the back of a heat race, I was good with not going to the consolation.”

“Considering the conditions we went with the harder tire but in hindsight we may have been a bit better off with a softer tire at the very end of the race with a red flag and a two-lap dash.”

Mikey continued “The feature track was kind of what I thought it would be. I could run multiple lanes and keep moving forward.  I think I got to 3rd and then Logan got by me.  I saw the lap traffic coming up and next thing I saw a slow car in turn 1/2 and I kept watching him and he just cut down across the track and I saw the wreck develop in front of me.  It really sucks for the cars that got taken out while running up front, but they were both OK after a hard hit.  After the red flag, my tire lost heat and with single file restart and only two laps left, I felt I had a shot but just wasn’t close enough coming to the checkered.  Good for Gavin to get a win at a tough track.  The consistent finishes so far this season moves me up in points but back in the heat handicap and with 40 plus cars every week definitely makes it harder to qualify directly from your heat race.” 

Jesse Landis finished 3^rd from his 6^th starting position.

Jesse noted “After the first week of dealing with a fuel issue, this week was much smoother for us.  Car felt decent in hot laps.  In the heat race we were able to get to 2nd off the start from third.  Pretty much just rode there, I made clean laps and didn’t feel any pressure so there wasn’t a real reason to over drive. This was actually my first crate race with windows instead of sail panels, I really didn’t know what the car would be like to make changes for the feature, so I left it the same as what we had in the heat.”

“Start 6^th in feature quickly got to 3rd in 3 laps and got gapped by the leaders. I started to close in a bit but then the caution came out.  Restarted on the bottom, outside seemed to roll a little better so lost a spot there.  Battle for the rest of the race in the 3rd to 5th range till the last caution.  I was content with the 5th until the last caution and got moved up 2 spots from that incident.  Restarted with 2 to go, I rode the bottom so I did not open myself up to being slide or if the leaders got together, I could sneak by on the bottom.  The last two laps raced clean, and we brought it home in 3rd.  No real changes in the car from last year besides going to windows so I have to start a new notebook on what will make the car work without sail panels.”

Adrianna Delliponti finished 4^th from her 12^th starting position and posted her 2^nd top five finish in two starts this season at Grandview.  New season, new team, and new results with back to top five runs for the 23xa driver.

Adrianna noted “In hot laps we had too much stagger and we were not tight enough for the heavy track.  We were in the 4^th heat and the track was dusted off.  We started 8^th in the heat and were able to avoid two accidents which was a significant change in our luck.  On the lap 3 restart I started on the outside and was able to move into the lead and pull away from the field for the heat race win.”

“For the feature we were really good at the start, but we made the wrong tire call and went with a 50. As the race progressed, we got tight in the corners and the car faded.  I’m not sure if the tires sealed, but on the positive side, we did pass Joey Vacarro on the final restart and moved from 7^th to 4^th in the final 3 laps.  I was fortunate to be far enough back from the lap 23 wreck of the leaders to be able to get through without any damage or involvement.”

“Our setup this year is completely different than anything I have had in the past and now I can usually put the car anywhere and it will work.  Timmy Buckwalter is already making changes for next week and he is always making changes.”

Addison Meitzler finished 5^th from his 13^th starting position and after two top five finishes Addison is the early season point leader with a whole lot of racing to go.

Addison commented “We made changes during the week and the car was much better in warmups.   In the heat and feature we didn’t have the best car and got boxed in for a while.  Just stayed patient and picked cars off at the end.  We will go with same heat setup this week and try something different for feature and see what happens next week.”

Nate Horn finished 6^th from his 10^th starting position and qualified for his 2^nd feature of the season.

Nate stated “Car felt good from warmups right into the feature.  Just need to tweak the driver a bit to get used to the new car and new suspension. This car is good, and I don’t think it needs any change.  Started 6th in the heat, was up to 2nd but finished 3rd.  Started 10th in the feature was up to 6th or 7th lost a few spots and then gained a few back toward the end.  Didn’t have a great tire package on for the feature but all in all was a decent run and just need to keep stepping forward from here.”

After a tough start at the season opener with a DNQ, Tyler James found the right setup this week and was moving forward all night long in both the heat and feature.  Tyler finished 7^th from his 16^th starting position in the feature.

Dylan Swinehart finished 8^th from his 20^th starting position and for the second week in the row has run back to front resulting in two 8^th place finishes from starting positions of 20^th and 22^nd.

Dylan reflected “We tried a few different things this week. In hot laps we ended up driving over something and getting a flat.  In the heat we drove up to 5th but couldn’t pass since it was the 1st heat of the night and follow the leader, but track was fast.  In the consolation the car was a rocket, but I didn’t expect it to lock down around the bottom for the feature.  So, I left a soft tire on for the feature and didn’t have much tire left for the end of the race. even though I ran from 20 to 8 and it wasn’t a bad run, I could have done better.”

Joey Vaccaro finished 9^th from his 3^rd starting position.

Joey noted “Hot laps were good, and the car felt better than last week but you never really know anything till you see how you fair in the heats.  We knew we would start up front this week since we had a bad draw and a DNQ on opening day last week.  We made a bunch of changes and kind of leaned back to where we were last year, and it worked well for us this week.”

“We won the heat from the pole and showed some good speed with a driver that was just having some trouble figuring out the racetrack but that still started us off 3rd for the feature.”

“After watching the races the rest of the night, I had the thought that the track may rubber up at some point around the bottom, so it was a hard choice for me tire wise, but I went with the harder tire.  In the beginning we fell off a little bit from 3^rd, but started making up ground again when the tire came in.  After the red flag that put us in the 3rd spot but sitting there all that time let the RR tire cool down and I just didn’t have enough time to heat it back up.  After that we had a nasty push and quickly fell back a bunch of spots, but we still managed to get a 9th out of it.  We made a lot of progress from being out to lunch last week to top ten this week now we know we are in the ballpark with where we need to be going forward.”

Ronnie Solomon finished 10^th from his 7^th starting position and is heading back in the right direction after an opening day DNQ.

TJ Mayberry led 20 laps of the feature only to be collected on lap 23 in an incident with lapped cars while racing three wide for the lead with Logan Watt and Gavyn Krupp.

TJ reflected “Overall the car is not too bad just minor bolt on stuff and bends that can be fixed.  All in all, it was a very good night.  Car felt strong in the heat, but we had too much stagger in the car.”

“We made some changes for the feature, and it really felt like those changes worked.  It’s hard when you lead most of the race (20 of 25) because you can’t usually tell where the preferred line is. The top went away at the end and that’s where Gavyn and Logan caught me. I still felt like I had a great shot to win it but unfortunately the lapped car took that away from us.  Frustrating but encouraged by how strong we were tonight.”

Next up on Saturday, April 20 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.