Grandview Modified Pit Notes – 7/20/24 – Nate Brinker and Brett Kressley Win Twin Modified Features

Polesitter Nate Brinker led 27 of 30 laps of the make-up feature, battled Tim Buckwalter side by side for ten laps and then Duane Howard in the final five laps to take his first win of the season.

Nate Brinker took the early lead with Timmy Buckwalter moving into 2^nd on lap 6 and then both drivers battled side by side for the lead until a lap 17 caution.  On the restart Brinker retook the point position and opened a car length advantage on Buckwalter.  On lap 23 Duane Howard moved into 2^nd as Buckwalter fell back to 3^rd.  Caution 3 came out on lap 26 but Brinker was able to maintain a half second margin on Duane Howard and drive into victory lane for his first win of the 2024 season and his 2^nd career modified win at Grandview.

Heat race winners for 38 car modified field were Ryan Watt, Nate Brinker, Joe Funk and Duane Howard.

Consolation races were won by Jon Kellner and Eric Kormann.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED (HELD-OVER JUNE 29) FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): 1. NATE BRINKER (1), 2. Duane Howard (11) , 3. Tim Buckwalter (3), 4. Mike Gular (14), 5. Doug Manmiller (10), 6. Eddie Strada (13), 7. Craig Von Dohren (15), 8. Jared Umbenhauer (12) , 9. Craig Whitmoyer (2), 10. Jeff Strunk (17),11. Ryan Watt (6), 12. Ryan Grim (3), 13. Jimmy Leiby (25), 14. Louden Reimert (16), 15. Frank Yankowski (28), 16. Kyle Smith (23), 17. Joe Funk (19) , 18. Darrin Schuler (27), 19. Eric Kormann (22), 20. Brett Kressley, 21. Kevin Hirthler, 22. Cody Manmiller (18), 23. Mike Lisowski (5), 24. Ron Haring Jr.(24) , 25. John Willman (4), 26. Ray Swinehart (20), 27. Justin Grim (26), 28. Jon Kellner (21)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Kevin Graver Jr., Eric Biehn, Bobby Trapper Jr., Chris Esposito, Chris Gambler, Glenn Owens, Ryan Beltz, Bryan Rhoads, Mike Laise, Carroll Hine III

HARD CHARGER: Jimmy Leiby +11

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 7/20/24 Make-up Points Race # 11

Polesitter Nate Brinker led all but 3 laps of the 30-lap feature to take his first win of the season.  Nate weathered a 10-lap side by side battle with Tim Buckwalter and then held off Duane Howard in the final 5 laps to post his first win of the season.

In victory lane Nate Brinker noted “That was just hard racing with Timmy, and we didn’t touch once.  I’ve been schooled by Timmy before, and it was great to be able to stay with him for 12 laps.  Then Howard moves into 2nd behind you which is concerning to see the 15g back there diamonding corners but fortunately I never saw a nose from him.”

“We have really had an off and on year all season and was able to put this one together tonight which we really needed.  I’m gassed after that one and not sure how I’m going to do another heat and 30 laps later tonight.”

Back at the trailer Nate commented “The car was amazing in the feature, and I was able to find a good rhythm running the top.  Running side by side with Timmy for all those laps was a blast. That’s how the racing should be there, we didn’t touch and ran super hard like that. Dave had everything perfect for the make-up feature.”

“I would like to thank Dave Hoffman, Keith Hoffman, my dad, grandfather, Bryan, my fiancé Lauren, and everyone who works on the car week in and week out.  I would also like to thank all the sponsors that support us week in and week out to keep us going, including Hoffman Speed Supplies; Valley Auto Group; Ricks Towing; Jerry’s Coins; Sherwin Williams and many more.   Also, a shout out to my engine guys at BRY Cor Racing Engines and KB performance.”

“As for the second regular feature, we just didn’t change enough for the heat and consolation and were just a step behind the rest of the night.  We did have a victory hangover and didn’t really pay attention to the track as much as we should have.  But still all in all it was a great night with a win and the car is in one piece. It’s been a rough year, with some bad luck and a ton of bad situational racing but that’s out of our control.  Felt good to get the win for our team and for Hoffman’s as they give me an amazing car every single week.”

Duane Howard finished 2^nd from his 11^th starting position and then added a 3^rd place finish in the second feature to completely turnaround from last week’s result which was a DNQ due to a heat race wreck that severely damage the car and ended their night early.  Duane had the best overall night of any car in both features with 2nd and 3^rd place finish.

Duane stated “It was a real good night for the 15G in both features. In makeup heat race I knew we had to get to the lead quickly and jumped out to a good lead on the restart and then just held on from there.”

“In heat race number 2 we were able to roll around Von Dohren with two to go, which was critical in the lineup for the second feature. I’m really happy with the balance of the car right now and we were really good in all conditions early in the first feature when the track was biting. The crew chief and everybody involved made excellent changes tonight to keep up with the changing conditions of the racetrack from feature 1 to feature 2 so I really feel we are back now with something that we compete with the rest of the season.”

Timmy Buckwalter finished 3^rd from his 7^th starting position.  Timmy rocketed to the front and took the lead two separate times but then developed motor issues that had him hanging on for a 3^rd place podium finish and then would remove him from racing in the 2^nd feature of the night.  Last week it was a flat on the final lap of the heat race while leading and this week a motor issue while competing for the lead in the feature, but rest assured with any change in luck Buckwalter, and the 942 team will be looking for a trip to Grandview’s victory lane in the near feature.

Timmy noted “We had a good run going and then the motor laid down on us with 4 laps to go and I was able to nurse it to the checked flag but fell back to 3^rd.  It had a dead miss and a right-side valve train or a bottom end vibration.  We packed it up after the make-up and called it a day so as not take any chances with this motor and we can tear down the bottom end before we run it again.”

“We had a very fast piece but that’s the way the wave goes sometimes and someday it will turn the other way for us.  We have speed, the car, and backing, just need a little more time to put this whole puzzle together.”   

“We have been very good in heat races just need to work on putting together a good 30 lap feature.  About a month ago we bent the frame on Norm Saxson’s 23x and are rebuilding and regrouping for next year.  I can’t thank Dennis and Donna Weller enough for stepping in and giving me all the resources necessary to be able to continue racing at Grandview this season.”

Mike Gular finished 4^th from his 14^th starting position in the opening make-up feature.  In the nightcap and second feature Mike posted a last lap 2^nd place finish to post two top five finishes on the night and move into 2^nd in the point standings behind Jeff Strunk.

Mike reflected “In the first feature the track was hammer down, wide with decent passing and good to the end of the feature.  The track was slicked up from the first feature right into the heat race.  We have a good hot rod right now because our setup works good on both a heavy track as well as a slick track without any huge changes.  We are very happy with where we have the car at and will continue to work hard on the car every week.”  

Doug Manmiller finished 5^th from his 10^th starting position in the makeup feature.  In the second feature Doug had early motor problems and dropped out.

Doug commented “We wrecked this car last week, but Bobby Strunk fixed us up and had us ready to go with our primary car for this week.”

“The first feature was pretty good for us.  We were a little off but still able to run to a solid 5^th place finish.  Things continue decent as we made the invert for the second feature, and we were good at the start until a motor issue on lap 2 ended our night in the second feature.”

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 7/20/24 Regular Points Race # 12

The second feature was won by Brett Kressley who traded the lead with Louden Reimert and then pulled away from Duane Howard on the final restart to take his 4^th Grandview win of the season.  Brett was followed to the checkered flag by Mike Gular and Duane Howard to round out the podium.

Polesitter Glenn Owens held the point position until lap 8 when Brett Kressley took over the lead from his 10^th starting position.  Kressley opted for the bottom on the 2^nd restart and gave Louden Reimert the top which he used to take the lead to lap 23 when the 3^rd caution flew.  Louden took the top on the restart and Brett used the bottom lane to emerge back into the lead on lap 24 while Louden dropped to 3^rd and Duane Howard moved into 2^nd. From there Kressley opened a nearly 2 second gap holding off a late arriving Mike Gular in 2^nd place to drive into victory lane for his 4^th Grandview win of the season.

 Heat races for the 36-car modified field were won by Jon Kellner, Ryan Beltz, Brett Kressley and Ray Swinehart.

Consolation races were won by Eric Kormann & Cody Manmiller.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH – 7/20/24 (30 laps):

1.BRETT KRESSLEY (10), 2. Mike Gular (15), 3. Duane Howard (13), 4. Louden Reimert (11), 5. Mike Lisowski (8), 6. Jeff Strunk (16), 7. Craig Whitmoyer (9), 8. Eddie Strada (14), 9. Kevin Hirthler (24), 10. Jon Kellner (6), 11. Bryan Rhoads (2), 12. Craig Von Dohren (18), 13. Joe Funk (5), 14. Bobby Trapper Jr. (26), 15. Ryan Beltz (4), 16. Ryan Watt(27), 17. Glenn Owens (1), 18. Eric Kormann (21), 19. Cody Manmiller (22), 20. Ray Swinehart (3), 21. Brian Hirthler (28), 22. Jimmy Leiby (19), 23. Ryan Grim (23), 24. Jared Umbenhauer (20), 25. John Willman (17), 26. Kevin Graver Jr. (25), 27. Doug Manmiller(12), 28. Frank Yankowski (7)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Nate Brinker, Justin Grim, Darrin Schuler, Tim Buckwalter, Ron Haring Jr., Eric Biehn, Kyle Smith, Chris Esposito

HARD CHARGER: Kevin Hirthler +15

When Louden Reimert moved from New Egypt to Grandview for Saturday racing this season little did anyone know it would create a weekly battle on Fridays and Saturdays between Louden Reimert and Brett Kressley.

At Grandview Brett Kressley posted his 4^th win of the season while Louden has posted 3 Grandview wins in 2024.  Kressley took the win Saturday night which Reimert led for a while but then had tire fade drop him to a 4^th place finish.

At Big Diamond on Friday night Louden won the topless feature with Brett Kressley in 2^nd place.  Brett Kressley currently leads the Big Diamond points with Louden in second place and both drivers have two wins on the season at Big Diamond.

Brett Kressley took the win from his 10^th starting position.  Kressley quickly moved to the front and took the early lead on lap 8.  But Reimert moved through the field to take the lead on a lap 18 restart.  On the final lap 24 restart, Reimert took the top putting Kressley on the bottom lane which he was able to use to take lead and then moved to the top lane in turn 2 to drive away from the field for his 4^th win of the season at Grandview Speedway.

In victory lane Brett reflected “When the track locks down, you don’t know what lane you want to be in on restarts, so I try to pick the shortest way around and took the bottom on the lap 17 restart.  It is tough to have a perfect car all night.  We started good, struggled in the middle laps and then was good in the end. It’s always a pleasure to race with Loudey and I expect much more racing with him in the near future for sure.”

In the makeup feature Brett was up to 8^th but suddenly pulled off for a DNF finish.  Back at the trailer Bett noted “The first feature we had a rock, or some sort of debris hit the brake caliper and we lost brakes, so we had to pull in.”

“The heat was tough, and you had to make moves at the start, but we had a few and got our way to the front.  The track goes through so many stages in the feature you just have to be lucky enough to be in the right lane at the right time and we were there tonight.”

Mike Gular finished 2^nd from his 15^th starting position.  In typical Mike Gular fashion, he got better as the night wore on.  His 4^th place finish in the makeup feature improved to a charging 2^nd place finish in his second feature of the night.

Mike commented “We just needed five more laps to win this one.  We now have this hot rod where it is good on the heavy and good on slick with essentially the same setup and minimal changes. We are happy with a 2^nd and 4^th tonight .”

Duane Howard finished 3^rd  from his 13^th starting position adding to a 2^nd place finish in the makeup feature earlier in the night.

Duane noted “Just a really good overall night with good heat and feature finishes for both programs and a great start for us into the second half of the season after a forgettable week last week with a wreck in the heat race that ended our night.  We got the final handicap spot for the second feature from Craig which just shows how close the racing at Grandview is every week.  If we don’t make the invert we don’t run 3^rd in the second feature.  Everything matters and impacts your night the moment you hit the track at Grandview.”

Louden Reimert finished 4^th from his 11^th starting position.  Louden was in contention for the win and moved into the lead for 6 laps only to have Kressley take the lead back and Louden fell a few more spots to 4^th due to fading tires in the final feature of the night.

Louden stated, “Tough first feature for us, we managed to get to 8th but then had a flat tire and had to go in on lap 17 so ended up with a 14^th place finish in the makeup feature.”

“In the second feature it was good hard racing, and I just made the wrong choice on the right rear tire that lost us a few spots in the final laps.  All in all, an excellent weekend of racing.”

Mike Lisowski finished 5^th from his 8^th starting position to post his best Grandview finish of the season.

Mike stated, “In the first feature I had a RR tire go down pretty early on so that pulled us in early for a DNF finish.”

“In the heat I was able to catch a few breaks and qualify in the handicap. We still have some work to do but the changes we made tonight in the second feature has us going in the right direction at Grandview for the first time this season.”

Jeff Strunk finished 6^th from his 16^th starting position.  Jeff posted a 10^th place finish in the makeup to post two top ten finishes on the night from deep starting positions in both features.

Jeff reflected “We had two decent runs but still not what we want.  We have been searching with different setups to try to get the car all around better throughout the night.  I’ve been saying all year how hard it is to start 16^th on back every week and get good finishes and it just gets more difficult every week.”

Craig Whitmore finished 7^th from his 9^th starting position and posted two top ten finishes in one night after a 9^th place finish in the makeup feature.  Craig has gotten off to a rough start to the season, but this just may be the turning point to a brighter and more successful second half of the season.

Craig stated “In the first feature we made some changes but needed more.  In the heat we made a few changes and we improved by making the invert. For the 2nd feature we went further with changes and the car was even better.  We are learning what changes we need to make and getting better each time we run.  Jason Bashore has been helping us, and it’s starting to show.  This is our newer car we’ve been running the last few weeks after the earlier car was heavily damaged.”

Eddie Strada finished 8^th from his 14^th starting position in the final feature of the night.  In the earlier makeup feature he finished 6^th from his 13^th starting position to put together a solid top ten night in both features.

Eddie noted “In the first feature we got stuck in the wrong lanes and the car was too tight, so I was trying to adjust under caution.  Being tight crosses you up and makes the car too loose getting out of the turn.”

“In the second feature we were again in the wrong lane at the wrong time and behind Manmiller when he lost a motor.  The track was very fast tonight, and we were too tight to be on the bottom. We have been very consistent and always making laps, being patient and don’t break or wreck out in the feature.  In the heat tonight, one lucky break in one turn made our night happen and that is how close things are when racing at Grandview.”

Bryan Rhodes finished 11^th from his 2^nd starting position to post his best finish of the season.

Bryan commented “This season we’ve been struggling a lot with getting the car to stick to the track along finding the fastest line on the track which is a result of lack of modified experience on my part. Every week I’ve been changing one corner of the car to get it an inch better.  I feel like every week we have been getting a little better with our lap times.  We made a major change on the springs and gears this week, and I think we finally found a gear that works with our engine.”

“In the second feature we made the handicap, and I got a good starting spot on the outside pole.   The track was slick & racy, and I knew I needed to stay on top of things. We threw some newer tires on, moved some things around and kept moving more towards our slick setup.  I drove a nice line on the bottom early on and as the race went on things seemed to work out for us.  Lap 7 to 14 was tough for me when the car became too tight and would not drive into the corner or rotate well.  It was a great run overall for us and it’s a good feeling to run with all the guys in the top 15 at Grandview.”  

“I am still missing the X factor somewhere, and we have a lot of race car to work with.  I think one of the factors I’m missing is just 358 modified seat time but I’m hoping we are heading in the direction of getting our first win soon.”

“I would like to thank my sponsors:

Springfield Meats Co. -Fast Four Shocks -Limitless Auto -DKM Logistics -Rhoads Truck Service -Pork & Karen Rhoads -Four Star Lettering -Bry Cor Race Engines -Aiken & Sons Heating/Plumbing/AC -Green Lane William Penn -Willys Carb -Snyder Web Design -BFP Specialty – Bicknell Racing Products -Hoffman Speed Supply -The Tint Guy.”

“I would like to also thank Fast Four Shocks & The Hirthler Family for their guidance and continued support each week.”

Next up on Saturday, July 27 will be a two-division program of modified and sportsman racing along with a 15-lap vintage feature.  Modified and Sportsman will have 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.