Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 7/13/24 – Jesse Landis Wins Sportsmen Firecracker 40

Jesse Landis passed Jared LaBagh on a lap 18 restart and held off Dakota Kohler on a final lap restart to take the biggest win of his career as he drove into the Firecracker 40 victory lane.

At the green polesitter Alex Bartorillo took the early lead. On lap 3 New Yorker Jared LaBagh moved into the lead. The first caution flew on lap 7 for a multi car tangle that ended the night for Logan Watt, Ryan Graver, Zach Steffey and Ronnie Solomon. Jesse Landis moved from his 13th starting position into 2nd on lap 15 and then took over the lead on a lap 19 after the 3rd restart of the day. The 6th caution flew on lap 39 for a fire on board the F-10 of Mark Kemmerer but on the final circuit Jesse Landis held the point over Dakota Kohler to take the biggest win of his career.

Heat race winners for the 44-car sportsman field were Jared LaBagh, BJ Joly, Mark Kemmerer, and Gavyn Krupp.

The consolation races were won by Brett Gilmore and Brian Hirthler.

7/13/24 SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (40 laps): 1. JESSE LANDIS (13), 2. Dakota Kohler (14), 3. Jared LaBagh (4), 4. Addison Meitzler (28), 5. Jesse Hirthler (15), 6. Brett Gilmore (21), 7. Mike Schneck Jr. (29), 8. Dylan Swinehart (24), 9. Zane Roth (12), 10. Joey Vaccaro (17), 11. Adrianna Delliponti (31), 12. Lawson Szerencits (6), 13. Mark Gaugler (8), 14. Logan Bauman (23), 15. Troy Bollinger (3), 16. Alex Bartorillo (1), 17. BJ Joly III (5), 18. Mark Kemmerer (9), 19. Brian Hirthler (22), 20. Gavyn Krupp (10), 21. Stephen Laubach (2), 22. Brad Brightbill (19), 23. Kyle Hartzell (7), 24. Tyler James (11), 25. TJ Mayberry(20) , 26. Zach Steffey (16), 27. Logan Watt (27), 28. Ronnie Solomon (18),  29. Ryan Graver (30), 30. Brett Grim (26), 31. Parker Guldin (25)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Teague Miller, Kaitlyn Bailey, Kenny Bock, Nate Horn, Stephen Smith III, Mike Stofflet, Nathan Mohr, Mark Mohr, Shannon Slaughter, Steve Young, Colton Perry, Bastian Miller, Brayden Shelton

HARD CHARGER: Addison Meitzler +24

7/13/24 Race # 11 – SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES

Jesse Landis took the win from his 13^th starting position and headed to victory lane for his 2^nd career win at Grandview.  His last win came in May of 2020.

In victory lane Jesse reflected “I found the top first tonight.  You know it’s coming in and you just have to be the first one to get to it.  I probably had a home track advantage when LaBagh chose the bottom on the lap 18 restart and giving me the top which was just what I wanted.” 

Back at the trailer Jesse noted “This year has been a really challenging year and I’ve never had so many parts failures in all my racing career.  About a month ago I broke the cam in the motor, and it junked the motor.  Not having a backup, I had to go out and find a new good motor.  Took a week off to get everything back together.  While running in the heat last week I went from 5th to the lead in 2 laps but then just blew the rear up.  Both of those failures were really costly and there was nothing I could have done differently to prevent them.  We had to replace the rear this week before the “Firecracker” and was hoping for the best.”

“The rule changes this winter moving crates from sails to windows really helped me get the car to rotate which was something I consistently battled to get the car to turn.”  

“Saturday I was able to go 5th to 3rd in the heat. The car felt really good and once I got into 3rd I just kind of rode it out.  I was just happy to get it all 10 laps without anything breaking at this point.  Once I saw I was starting 13th, I wasn’t really thinking we had much of a chance to win.  Maybe that’s the wrong way to think, but there were so many good cars that to make it to the front from that far back and to keep the higher point guys behind you for 40 laps looked to be nearly impossible on paper.”

“At the start of the race, the car was pretty good on the bottom. I was able to pass a few cars getting up to 10th by the first caution. On two restarts in one lap, I got bottled up with cars getting together and had to check up and felt like I was getting fright trained.  I went from 10th to 15th but on lap 10 finally got to open track and then to the top side. I passed 7 cars in 2 laps on the outside and I was just the first guy up front to really get the top to work.  After getting back to 8th place I knew from that point that I had a legit shot to make something happen tonight.  I was up to 6th by the lap 13 caution and was able to restart on the outside and again. I had the outside lane and used it again to my advantage moving into second by lap 15.  Caution came out again on lap 18, and the leader LaBagh gave me the outside on the restart and was able to get the lead off of 2 and ran as hard as I could.  The car felt really good up top, and I knew I was making good speed up there and I wasn’t too worried about the bottom lane being faster.  There were restarts on lap 28 and 30 and once I got a lap in and back into a rhythm, I was just counting the laps down.  Coming to take the checkers I then see the red lights come on was something I wasn’t looking forward to seeing. Thankfully Mark Kemmerer was OK after a fire, but the clean-up gave me time to think about what to do on one last one lap shoot out.  I have always been 2nd or 3rd in those spots but after watching Brian Hilther so many times as the leader, I remembered how he’d restarted in 3 and 4 and seemed to be able to pull a gap right away.  So, I tried that, and the car felt good off the bottom of 4, held it to the floor going into 1 and no one was beside me in 1 and 2. This win means a ton to me, more so today than on Saturday. “

“I rushed to get the rear back together just because it was the firecracker 40.  Not because I thought I had a chance to win, but just because it’s the night for the sportsman cars.  Just walking across the stage for introductions was worth getting the car back together.  But now as the 54th winner of the Firecracker 40 with my name on a t-shirt every year; rest assured that night will be 40 laps of racing that I will never forget.”

Dakota Kohler finished 2^nd from his 14^th starting position and posted his best finish of the season in a new car that he debuted at Grandview last week.  Dakota has struggled with parts failure, attrition and just plain bad luck all season long until all that changed for the better this week.  

This is the second race I’ve been in this coil car, so it does act a little different from what I’m used to.  In hot laps I didn’t think we were very good but came in and found out I was the quickest in my group and that was a good start to our night.  In the heat race we were OK, but I felt like I was a little on the loose side and was just riding in 5th when Young and Grim got together.  Honestly, I was waiting for that to happen after Young just about parked Grim in the fence on the restart and after that I ended up 3rd in the heat race. “

“Feature was really good and probably should have started with the car a little tighter. As the race went on, I was definitely too loose by halfway point since I think we didn’t cut the RR correctly so the tires over heated during the longer runs. On the last restart, I was just hoping to keep my nose clean and wait for an opening if Landis and LaBagh started racing hard and maybe messed up each other coming to the checkered, but that didn’t happen.  I honestly think we were only a 3rd to 5th place car and Jared definitely had the car to either win or run 2nd but his panhard broke on the last lap restart.”

Jared LaBagh finished 3^rd from his 4^th starting position and the Middletown New York driver has made his presence known in 4 short weeks at Grandview.  Jared led for 15 laps and lost the lead to Jesse Landis on the lap 18 restart when he chose the bottom and opted to give Jesse the top lane which he used to take the lead that he never gave back.

“We came to Grandview to see what all the hype is all about and it’s been some awesome and intense racing.  It suits my driving style very well.  We race at Accord Speedway every Friday and currently have two wins and are leading their points.”

“In warmups we knew we needed to make a few adjustments since we came to the track with the Accord setup from last night still in the car.  We went in the right direction and won the heat race.”

“We made minimal adjustments for the feature, and we had a bad fast Teo Pro car and it showed. Unfortunately, we broke the hiem on the rear panhard with one lap to go and gave up 2^nd on the final lap to Dakota Kohler.”

“During the race I chose the bottom on a restart because in the last few weeks I’ve seen it work best on restarts.  I held off every previous challenger on the bottom, but it got too slick, and my gut told me to go to the outside but unfortunately, I didn’t listen and that was my fatal mistake to lose the race.  Outside was the groove to be in with the moisture and cushion which I migrated to later.”

“I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made in the last few weeks at Grandview. They know we are here, and it brings me a lot of confidence knowing we will be a top contender.  I’ve raced all over this year and it’s already made me a better driver and the results are going to start showing that. Grandview is a different animal, you have to be up on the wheel and aggressive, otherwise you’re going to be bullied out of position. But it’s super racy and an awesome track layout. I will definitely consider running for points next season at Grandview.”

Addison Meitzler finished 4^th from his provisional 28^th starting position.  The defending Firecracker 40 champion made the best of his provisional and was the hard charger of the night at +24.

Addison was able to make up some significant ground in the points standings this week with his 4^th place finish while Watt had a DNF. Addison now sits in 2nd place only 151 points behind points leader Logan Watt.

Addison commented “Our chances to repeat as Firecracker champion pretty much ended in our heat race.  We passed a few cars and then encountered a rolling roadblock and jumped his right rear which effectively end our night.  If we qualified from the heat, we would probably have won this race for the 2^nd year in a row.  We had to come from 28^th starting position and just ran out of laps and ended up 4th.”

Jesse Hirthler finished 5^th from his 15^th starting position and continues a streak of top 5 & 10 finishes for about the last month which has propelled Jesse into the 5^th place in the mid-season point standings.

Jesse commented “Heat race I got very lucky and was able to make the handicap starting deep in the field. Started 9th and finished 4th. I was able to avoid the wrecks and keep the car clean to get it in the show.”

“In the feature I started 15^th, and I was a little too patient for most of the race.  Most of the fast cars passed me and by that point I was worried I was running out of time to get to the front.  I think I was only racing hard for about the last 15 laps of the race.  On one of the last restarts with about 10 to go, I was 6th and got around one car and was working to get two more but I was able to throw a slider to make things interesting, but I got ran into which broke my speed off the corner.  From there I was kind of lurking in 6^th and seeing what I could get but I ended up 5th at the line.

“Overall, I had a very fast car once again and if I wasn’t so patient at the beginning, I think we would’ve had a car to compete for the top spots. I had another consistent finish in the top 5/10 again which is all that matters, and we will shift gears and see what we can do this week.”

Brett Gilmore finished 6^th from his 21^st starting position and continues his streak of top ten or better finishes.

Brett stated “I always look forward to the long races and feel confident going into them. In warmups the car was fast, and it was 3 laps on the floor with one hand. Heat race I started a DEEP 9^th and made it to 6th with on fast lane on the bottom.  Went out in the consolation and launched and took an early lead.

In the feature I moved up to the top after a couple laps and knew it was going to be a one lane racetrack.  Early in the feature the top was very fast.  Started 21st in the feature and slowly picked up spots watching guys miss the grip and drive over each other.  Just kept my nose clean and waited until I got to the top 5 to really run hard.  Got to 3rd and then at about lap 25-30 I started losing power. Our battery started to die, and I could just feel I wasn’t as fast.  Lost 3rd to Dakota (always great racing with him) then 4th to Addison which he’s just plain fast. Disappointing because I knew the battery wasn’t the best and since I don’t run an alternator it’s on me.  The car was really fast all night, but unfortunately it was the same as last year with the battery started to go around lap 25.  Oh well I still had fun.”

Mikey Schneck finished 7^th from a Provisional 29^th starting position and continues with his 3^rd consecutive top five/ten finish (4^th, 4^th and 7^th) which puts him 3^rd in the mid-season points standings.

Mikey stated “Hot laps were good, and car felt good going into heats. Passed a couple cars off the start and then got run over and spun backwards into the wall.  Came back up to 6th and the two cars in front of me slowed on the final straight away so I slowed and then two cars got around me right at the finish. In the Consolation I only passed two cars and didn’t qualify.  It was very tough to pass in the heat and consolation. I believe the Top 5 cars in points all had to use Provisionals to get in.”

“Feature started off great, it just seemed the seas parted ways at the right time, and I could go. Jason Hernley and my dad had the car great it just went forward.  Normally I get some spots off cautions but tonight I passed 22 cars. I thought the track was good, and we didn’t burn tires up like we normally do when starting last. The cautions all worked out for me except the last two which I just couldn’t go forward on. After starting deep in the back, I’m very happy with a 7^th by using my provisional.  Glad to see drivers were OK in the big pile up in 1-2 and Kemmerer after his car caught fire.”

Dylan Swinehart finished 8^th from his 24^th starting position to post his second top ten finish this season in his brother Decker’s 83 car.

Dylan noted “Decker had a health issue, and his motor is just better than mine.  The car was good but got in a wreck on lap 7 and bent the front axle back an inch and bent the RR tub. Wish that didn’t happen as might have been a win tonight.”

Zane Roth finished 9^th from his 12^th starting position.

Zane reflected “The night started off great with us being 2nd quick in hot laps going into the night with a fast car.  In the heat race we passed a car right in the beginning to get into a handicap spot but as the race went on our tire grew too much leading us to be loose halfway into the race, but we held on to a 4^th and made the invert for the feature.”

“In the feature we started 12^th but fell back to around 16^th.  After the first caution, we drove up to 10th then up to 6th, but got into an incident on lap 30. After that the car didn’t feel right, so I rode around and held on for the last ten laps and scored a 9th place finish.

Joey Vaccaro finished 10^th from his 17^th starting position.

Joey stated “The past couple of races I feel like we’ve been pretty good and at least a solid top 10 car every week.  I think we’re just missing that extra little bit yet which we hopefully will be figuring out very soon.  Started 7th in our heat, quickly got to a qualifying spot and held onto it so that started us off 17th for the feature.”

“In the feature I felt good the whole race, I lost a few spots in the beginning when the high lane was good but as the race went on, we kept picking off spots and ended up 10th.  I wish I would have made a little extra change before the feature, but we brought it home straight after 40 laps and got a 10th from 17th so all in all a good night!”

The Firecracker 40 was a difficult field to make let alone to win the race.  Five drivers leading the points all used Provisionals – Watt (1); Meitzler (2); Schneck (3);  Delliponti (4) and Graver (7).   Addison Meitzler and Mikey Schneck cashed in with top ten runs and Adrianna Delliponti finished 11^th while Logan Watt and Ryan Graver were involved in wrecks and posted DNF’s.

Andrianna Delliponti finished 11^th from her 31^st Provisional starting position posting her best finish in the last several weeks.  After not qualifying in the heat and consolation Andrianna made the decision to use her Provisional which took her from the 31^st and last starting position to a +20 run forward run and an 11^th place finish.

Logan Watt had a rough night starting with a broken front end on lap zero of his heat and being towed in as an DNF in the heat.  In the consolation he went from 11^th to 6^th but only 3 qualified. In the feature he opted to use his provisional, but he was in another wreck on lap 7 of the feature with heavily damaged to the 4m for the second time in the night.  He retired on the hook to the pits and did not return.

Last week’s winner Zach Steffey was also involved in the same wreck as Logan Watt.  Unfortunately, Steffey had front end damage and lost brakes, so the car drifted down the track into traffic and took heavy damage to end his night on lap 7.

On lap 39 Mark Kemmerer had an ugly oil fire that drew the 6^th & final yellow of the night which turned into a red flag.  Mark was uninjured but the car did have heavy fire damage.

Next up on Saturday, July 20 will be a two-division program and 6-29 modified makeup consolations and feature 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 the 6/29/24 makeup race and qualifying races leading up to the 25-lap Sportsman and 30-lap Modified main events.  Pit gates open at 4:00 and Spectator gates at 5:00 with hot laps at 6:00 and racing at 7:30.