Grandview Modified Pit Notes 8/24/24 – Doug Manmiller Collects First Win of Season

Doug Manmiller took the lead on lap 24 with a late race pass of Bobby Trapper Jr and went on for his first victory of the season.

The early lead went to outside polesitter Chris Esposito until Bobby Trapper Jr. took over the lead on a lap 10 restart.   Doug Manmiller moved into 2^nd and chased a sputtering Trapper down on lap 24. Jeff Strunk moved into 2^nd on lap 25 and closed the gap on Manmiller every lap but ran out of laps.  Doug Manmiller took his first win of the season in the 2 caution 30 lap Modified feature with the final 20 laps going green to the checkered flag.

The first caution on lap 3 of the feature was for a multi-car tangle that knocked both Ryan Watt and Brett Kressley out for the night.

Heat races for the 39-car modified field were won by Chris Esposito, Ray Swinehart, Jared Umbenhauer (8^th to 1^st), and Jeff Strunk who ran from 9^th to 1^st.

Consolation races were won by Louden Reimert and Duane Howard.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): 1.DOUG MANMILLER (13), 2. Jeff Strunk (16) , 3. Jared Umbenhauer (15), 4. Bobby Trapper Jr. (4), 5. Craig Von Dohren (28), 6. Louden Reimert (21), 7. Chris Esposito (2), 8. Ron Haring Jr. (6), 9. Tim Buckwalter 12), 10. Frank Yankowski (7), 11. Mike Gular (18), 12. Jon Kellner (9), 13. Eddie Strada (23), 14. Eric Kormann (8), 15. Joe Funk (17), 16. Eric Biehn (5), 17. Carroll Hine III (29A), 18. Ryan Beltz (20), 19. Cody Manmiller (24), 20. Kyle Smith (25), 21. Duane Howard (22), 22. John Willman (10), 23. Glenn Owens (1), 24. Ray Swinehart (3), 25. Justin Grim (26) , 26. Brett Kressley (14), 27. Ryan Watt (27), 28. Jimmy Leiby (19), 29. DNS – Ryan Grim

DID NOT QUALIFY: Kevin Hirthler, Lex Shive, Brian Hirthler, Mike Laise, Chris Gambler, Bryan Rhoads, Darrin Schuler, Mike Lisowski, Sean Weiss, Kevin Graver Jr.

HARD CHARGER: Craig Von Dohren +19

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 8/24/24 Regular Points Race # 15

Doug Manmiller posted his first win of the season from his 13^th starting position.  Doug quickly moved through the field and on lap 12 found himself in 2^nd right behind leader Bobby Trapper Jr.  On lap 24 Doug took the lead from Trapper Jr. whose car began to sputter. In the final five laps Manmiller had to fend off a hard charging Jeff Strunk in lapped traffic to take his first win of the season.

Back at the trailer Doug reflected “We damaged our 2024 car and have been running our 2023 backup car for the past 4 weeks.  They are identical setups, and I look at them as one and one A instead of a primary and a backup. I have great confidence in either car.  We have had a good car that could win every week this season, but just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time until tonight.”

“The heat race was a typical tough race and with four laps to go it looked like we were not even going to qualify as we were stuck in 6^th, but then a late caution gave us a reprieve and we managed to pull out to a 2^nd place finish after the restart and final a lap to get into the handicap which was the key to our night and subsequent win.”

“In the feature we went from 13^th to 3^rd in ten laps and that was a result of choosing the right lane and being able to take advantage of a couple of bobbles in the other lane. I was simply in the right place at the right time again tonight.”

“After the 2^nd and final restart on lap 10, we quickly moved into 2^nd, and I started to run Trapper down for the lead.  On lap 24 Trapper’s motor laid down and I almost ran him over as he rode up to get out of the way.  I went to his inside and took the lead with six laps to go.  I looked up and saw 57 on the board and knew Jeff was right back there.  I just paced myself through the lapped cars and didn’t have any problem getting to the checkered flag for our first win of the season.” 

Jeff Strunk finished 2^nd from his 16^th starting position.  Jeff has finished 2^nd in the last two races and continues to lead in the Grandview season points standings by 351 points over 2^nd place Craig Von Dohren.

Jeff noted “Another good night for us.  We had a fast car and luck on our side which shows in our results this week.  The track was faster than in recent weeks but still racy.  We were fortunate to be where we were on early restarts and gain some positions.  Congratulations to Doug, Jason and their entire team on their win.  Thanks to the Grandview fans for their continuing support.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 3^rd from his 15^th starting position.  Jared has finished 3^rd in the last two races and currently sits a solid 5^th in the Grandview season points standings with three races to go. 

Jared stated “Early in the heat everyone went to the top and I just stayed on the bottom and moved right up to 3^rd in 3 laps.  I just continued to roll the bottom and took the win in the heat race which was one of our best heat races of the season.”

“In the feature it started with tight racing battling for every spot, and my car was too tight early but after the track blew off the car came in and I started picking cars off.  I was fortunate to avoid the wreck on lap 3.  My car got better and faster as the race went on and I was gaining on the leaders every lap.  We are very happy to post 3^rd in consecutive weeks and hope to be getting dialed in for the 76er weekend.” 

Bobby Trapper Jr finished 4^th from his 4^th starting position and led for thirteen laps.  Bobby took the lead on lap 11 but developed motor issues on lap 16 and held the lead until lap 23 when both Manmiller and Strunk went by for the lead.  Bobby was able to nurse the car home to a 4^th place finish despite a sputtering motor for the 2^nd half of the race.

Bobby commented “Yes, another chaotic night on the hill.  We started our night out with an oil leak when we started the car up to go out for hot laps and had to rush around to fix it just to get out for hot laps. The car was good in the beginning of the heat race. We ended up having a right rear tire go flat on us by the checkered and got lucky to hold on for a handicap spot.”

“Car was phenomenal in the feature.  Up until about lap 16 the car felt perfect.  After that the motor started sputtering and shutting down in a major way.  The motor was near stalling several times and I eventually moved down low getting ready to pull it off the track.  I kept trying to get it to clear up and realized we were still leading so I was trying to do whatever I could just to salvage a finish. We were lucky to hold on for the whole second half of the race with the motor issues we had.  I’m still not sure what was going on, but it seems it was a carb/fuel issue. Hopefully we get it corrected for next week and have continued success.  I was fortunate to be able to hang for a 4^th place.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 5^th from his 28^th starting position.   In his heat race Craig got stuck together with another car for his first caution of the night and then tangled with the same car for his 2^nd caution of the heat race and he ultimately ended up with a DNF in his heat.

In the consolation Craig was able to qualify for the feature in the 28^th and final starting position.  A couple of cars elected to the move to the back which moved Craig up to 26^th starting position.

In the feature Von Dohren methodically moved through the field to a 5^th place finish and earned the modified hard charger of the night. Craig turned a rough night of qualifying into a back to front top five feature finish and showing a return to consistency with a 6th and 5th in the past two weeks.

Louden Reimert finished 6^th from 21^st starting position.

Louden noted “Car was fast all night and we just had a tough heat in first race of the night without any cautions.  Won the consolation.  In the feature we were able to work hard and rally to a good finish.”

Chris Esposito finished 7^th from his 2^nd starting position to post his best finish of the season.

Chris reflected “This is the best finish of the year we just got to keep things going in the right direction. It is nice to know we have a car that we can race with and get good results. The crew has been working really hard on our maintenance program and that’s why we are doing well.  I am glad we are getting good finishes for the sponsors and DB Motorsports as they have been with us all along the way and deserve this!”

“We made very few changes from heat to feature and ended up a little tight in the feature. I wasn’t able to hold on in the end, but I was fast enough to stay in the top ten for the feature.  I’m proud of the crew and our sponsors who really deserve this.  I hope we keep the ball rolling and keep getting better each week.”

Ron Haring Jr finished 9^th from his 6^th starting position to post his 2^nd consecutive top ten finish.

Ron reflected “Decent heat race with everyone was running the top so there was not much passing but we did make the handicap for the feature.”

“In the feature I got up to 3^rd at one point, but then fall back to finish 8^th and in one piece.  The cushion up top was very tricky but it was the same for everyone.  A back-to-back 5^th and 8^th is something I’ll take that every time.”

Tim Buckwalter finished 9^th from his 12^th starting position. 

Tim reflected “We destroyed a car at Big Diamond two weeks ago and with everyone working and vacations we put this car together starting at 5:00 AM on Thursday after we got it back from Bobby Strunk’s shop who front halved the car.”

“In the heat we got the car in the show and stayed out of the consolation. Before the feature we changed the ignition but still had a bind or carburetor problem.  8 or 9 is not where we want to be, but we are happy to roll a top ten & straight car into the trailer.”

Frank Yankowski finished 10^th from his 7^th starting position to post his 2^nd top ten finish of the season.  Frank went from two weeks of DNQ’s to a top ten finish, so he’s heading in the right direction for the final three races of the season.

There were only two cautions in the feature and lap 3 had the only tangle which ended the night for Ryan Watt and Brett Kressley.

Next up on Saturday, August 31 is a two-division program of modified and sportsman racing.  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.