Grandview Modified Makeup 5/11 Feature Pit Notes – John Willman Finishes What He Started Two Weeks ago and Wins Held Over Feature  

John Willman had to wait two weeks to race the held over feature after posting his best heat race performance of the season at Grandview Speedway. But it turned out to be well worth the wait since just two short weeks later he would post his first win of the 2024 season.

After the two-week delay, John hit the track for the feature and quickly proved that the 74W was still ready to go to the front at the drop of the green.    On lap 7, Willman moved into the lead from his 4^th starting position which he held throughout seven restarts.  Craig Von Dohren made a last lap hard charge but, John held on for his first Grandview win since September of 2019.  

Heat race winners for the 39-car modified field were Chris Gambler, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Kevin Graver Jr and Louden Reimert.

Jeff Strunk & Craig Von Dohren won the consolation races.

Many teams brought back-up cars and were prepared for a second complete modified program, but it wasn’t meant to be as another untimely rain front paid an untimely visit and concluded the rest of the night’s racing activities early once again.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED VP RACING FUELS BRUCE ROGERS MEMORIAL FEATURE FINISH (30 laps):  1. JOHN WILLMAN (4), 2. Craig Von Dohren (20), 3. Eddie Strada (13), 4. Kevin Graver Jr.(7), 5. Jared Umbenhauer (17), 6. Kevin Hirthler (10), 7. Mike Gular (14), 8. Duane Howard (28), 9. Tim Buckwalter (12), 10. Jeff Strunk(19), 11. Michael Storms (24), 12. Jimmy Leiby (18), 13. Joe Funk (30), 14. Bobby Gunther-Walsh (2), 15. Eric Kormann (22), 16. Ryan Grim (11), 17. Doug Manmiller (21), 18. Jon Kellner (8), 19. Chris Gambler (1), 20. Ryan Watt (24), 21. Mike Laise (6), 22. Brian Hirthler (29), 23. Ryan Beltz (3), 24. Brett Kressley (28), 25. Justin Grim (9), 26. Frank Yankowski (5), 27. Mike Lisowski (25), 28. Kyle Smith (26), 29. Louden Reimert (15), 30. Craig Whitmoyer (17), DNS – Nate Brinker

DID NOT QUALIFY: Ron Haring Jr., Carroll Hine III, Ray Swinehart, Brett Kressley, Bryan Rhoads, Joe Funk, Bobby Trapper Jr., Chris Esposito, Eric Biehn, Darrin Schuler

VP RACING FUELS HARD CHARGER: Duane Howard +20 (28^th to 8^th)

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 5/11/24 Held Over Feature

John Willman knew his car was getting better with improvements at his two most recent Grandview heat races and as well with strong performances at Georgetown in Delaware and Action track.  But tonight, he was able to confirm everything he hoped and believed to be true by posting his first Grandview feature win since 2019.

Back at the trailer John noted “We knew we were on the right path at Action track but had a tire issue.  Last year at Grandview we hit the setup occasionally, but now we have found consistency with both our motor and setup.  Anthony Perego helped us in the past few weeks with some spring/shock and geometry changes.  We also have refreshed motors in both 74W cars.”

“We also posted the fastest lap of the feature tonight.  Going into the race I felt like I had a pretty good chance to win this one from our 4^th starting position.  In the beginning of the race there was no outside line on restarts but after I crossed over to the bottom on lap 3, we went right to the lead on lap 7.  I was fine with the feature staying green and felt I could handle lapped traffic just fine during the race but thanks to 7 cautions never had to encounter lapped traffic.”

“I knew I had good pace while I was leading, and it would take someone with a really good run to get around me for the lead.  After the big wreck, I did note that both Craig and Jeff got through the wreck and picked up a bunch of positions on me.”

John continued “I have never won a feature without any cautions before and this one had 7 of them but this race did have my longest green flag run of any of my feature wins with 10 green flag laps right at the end of the race.”

“The top and bottom evened out and by the end of the race there were two equal grooves.  Early in the race my car was tight but as the feature wore on my car was getting more comfortable and easier to drive.”

“I was really hoping for two feature wins in one night and a double sets of victory lane photos, but the weather man won the second feature again. We will have our victory lane photos and celebration next week. This will be the first time in victory lane for some of my guys so it’s real important for all my crew and sponsors.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 2^nd from his 20^th starting position.  Craig posted his strongest run of the season and was dominate on the top and just one more lap away from a win.  He currently sits 4^th in the early season points standings only 65 points behind current points leader Jeff Strunk.

Eddie Strada finished 3^rd place from his 13^th starting position and posted his best Grandview finish of the season.   Eddie is off to another fast start this season and currently sits 6^th on the early season points standings at Grandview and also has posted his first modified win at Big Diamond.

Eddie Strada noted “We had a good qualifying heat two weeks ago and we handicapped to 13^th starting position.  Early in the feature we made it through on better lanes and closed in on the leader Willman.  I could get close to John but then my car got tight, and I lost ground.”

“Quite honestly Craig Von Dohren and his #30 was the best car out there and he just ran out of time catching Willman who did a fantastic job leading 23 laps and picked up his well-deserved first win of the season. I love racing with both John and Craig. As a kid I grew up watching both of these guys race on videos.”

“We have been just clicking well on track this season and some extra seat time has been good with us running two nights at Big Diamond and Grandview which keeps me fresh with the steering wheel.”

Kevin Graver finished 4^th from his 7^th starting position and posted his best finish of the season.  Kevin’s car has been strong all season long but for the most part bad racing luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time has taken him out of the picture until this week.

Kevin stated “We had a good race car again tonight.  I didn’t know it until after the race, but the right quarter panel was rubbing the right rear tire and wore a big groove in it.  On that last restart, I was really trying to get the win.  I thought I was a little better than John in 3 and 4 and was trying to use that to my advantage but I just hit the corner wrong, and Eddie Strada got by me.”

“I probably should have made a few changes before the feature.  We were not as good as we were in the heat race a few weeks back.  We were just a few small changes away from having our night end completely different.  But in the end, we were happy with being competitive and getting our first top five of the season.  We now have something to build off for the rest of the season.  We have been working with Ron Seltman at Fast Four Shocks, and he’s definitely has us heading in the right direction.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 5^th from his 16^th starting position and posted his third consecutive top five finish at Grandview which currently has him sitting 5^th in the early season points standings.

Jared commented “My main goal was to finish the feature with minimal damage so we would be ready for the 2^nd feature which ultimately rained out.  Before I knew it, I was riding in the top 10.  We had a good battle with Kevin Hirthler, CVD, Graver, and Strunk.  In the end I think both lanes were pretty good on restarts.”

Kevin Hirthler finished 6^th from his 10^th starting position. Kevin’s last Grandview points race was a 2^nd place finish on 4/20/24.

Kevin noted “Our feature went ok despite having a setup that was somewhat off.  The car took off great at the start and started picking cars off one after another.  As the track cleaned off it got some rough patches and a narrow groove around the bottom.  My car did not like this surface as it transitioned.  I tried to hold the bottom and just ride but couldn’t utilize the outside as my car was too tight and wanted to push.  Restarts were not good for me as I got stuck behind cars that were off the pace and just had to stay patient until I could get low enough to make my way by traffic.  I made a great move to pick up some positions on one of the restarts and for some reason several cars had to pull high and then stop even after the entire field flies by them calling the restart back, if your done get off the track.  That restart I made my way from 5th to 2nd and the yellow came out.  Race may have played out differently for us if that yellow didn’t come out on that one.  All in all, not a bad night.  I am kicking myself for not making some changes after hot laps that in hindsight would have made the car better for the race.  It was the first time the track was like this all season, and we weren’t ready for it.  We will be better next time.  Also tire wear was not an issue tonight as the track was pretty tacky.”

Mike Gular finished 7^th from his 14^th starting position after driving back through the field due to an early flat tire.  Mike has shown on several occasions this season his relentless push forward week after week out which has already moved him into 2^nd place in the early season points standings and only 21 points behind points leader Jeff Strunk.

Duane Howard finished 8^th from his 28^th starting position and made good use of a provisional starting position to maintain his 3^rd position in the early season points standing.

Duane noted “We had the Diamond car out for hot laps, but the regular GV car felt better so kept using the blue car.  I really thought we had a chance to win with a good run from the back until we got collected in that jingle.  We still made it back up to eight by the checkered, so it was a good night and productive use of the provisional.  I think I must have passed 50 cars in two nights of racing.”

Timmy Buckwalter finished 9^th from his 13^th starting position despite an opening lap flat tire and trip to the pits.  Timmy has posted top ten finishes in the past two weeks and is showing consistency and momentum as he moves forward into 7^th in the early season standings.

Jeff Strunk finished 10^th from his 19^th starting position.  Jeff had worked his up to 6^th place on lap 25 but got shuffled back to 10^th in the final scramble for the checkered flag.  Jeff continues his consistency with all top five and top ten finishes this year and he also continues to lead the points standings.

Jeff noted “The level of competition is higher than it’s ever been.  It’s harder than it’s ever been to come from the back to the front no matter what the track conditions are so a 16th to 6th is a solid run . Consistency early in the season makes it so hard to win races because everyone’s equipment is fresh you have guys who have had a bad week or two starting towards the front. When racing to the front, you are racing with the best field that Grandview has ever had.  Great racing for the fans but a very difficult task for sure.  There is so many good quality drivers with a lot of experience racing at Grandview this year.”

Michael Storms finished 11th from an his 24^th starting position and he continues to post solid back to front finishes each week while working on improving his heat race performance and making the handicap while avoiding the consolation races.

Michael stated “It was a wild race, and you must always be looking ahead to be able to avoid as much attrition as possible.  I picked up a bunch of positions by missing the seven-car tangle on lap 12.  I’m still figuring out this new car more early week.”

Doug Manmiller had another good run going moving from 21^st to 6^th but then saw his night end early on lap 20 as he made contact with the wall and had to pull in. Doug commented “I have a good car and good runs every week, but the driver just needs to finish them out.”

Next up on Saturday, June 1 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 plus a Sportsman makeup feature. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to the 30-lap Modified and 25-lap Sportsman main events.  Pit gates open at 4:00 and Spectator gates at 5:30 with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:30.