Grandview Modified Pit Notes 8/31/24 – Eric Kormann Claims Nonstop Modified Win

On lap 16 in lapped traffic Eric Kormann passed Brian Hirthler for the lead which he took to the checkered flag the slim margin of .126 over Brian Hirthler to take the win of the nonstop green to checked feature.

Brian Hirthler took the early lead over Eric Kormann and on lap 10 entered lapped traffic. On lap 16 Hirthler slid up and Kormann slipped into the lead.  Hirthler continued to via for the lead while Craig Von Dohren and Brett Kressley joined the leaders in a four-car break-away from the field.  Eric Kormann took the checker flag by a car length and posted his career first Saturday points race win of at Grandview.  The nonstop green to checkered feature was run in 7 minutes and 42 seconds.

 Heat races for the 34-car modified field were won by Ron Haring Jr, Bobby Trapper Jr and Justin Grim.

The consolation race was won by Kyle Smith.

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

DID NOT QUALIFY: Ray Swinehart, Eric Biehn, Craig Whitmoyer, Chris Gambler, Carroll Hine III

HARD CHARGER: Jeff Strunk +13

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 8/31/24 Regular Points Race # 16

Eric Kormann took the win from his 5^th starting position.  Eric has been battling mechanical failures early in the season and recently has been struggling putting together, a good heat with a complete run in the feature.  Tonight, the Bailey 81 put together a their first complete night with a 3^rd in the heat which handicapped to 5^th in the feature. In the feature Eric ran 2nd until moving into the lead on lap 16 and driving into victory lane for his first Saturday points race win of the season.

In victory lane Eric stated “I raced a lot of places in my career and this place is by far the toughest place that I have ever raced. To get this win with Chico is awesome.  The lap traffic didn’t slow me down and actually the 2^nd place car has advantage in lapped traffic.  I saw Brian get tight in the corner and I got to the bottom and took the lead. This car has unbelievable drive coming out of the corner.  This race was 30 laps of nonstop hard racing.  I do have one more goal here at Grandview and that is to qualify for the 76er which has always been my dream.  Got to thank everyone who helps us on this car and Logan Watt who helped me with my shocks. The kid is like a son to me.”

Back at the trailer Eric reflected “The night just went smoothly.  Nothing popped up to deal with and nothing concerned us.  After the heat race Chico asked me what I was thinking about the feature. I told him I wasn’t thinking much and trying to not to over think it which is what we have been doing lately. Recently the car has been much better and have found some speed with some setup help from our friends, and everything has seemed to finally come together for us. Winning a weekly event at Grandview is like winning a crown jewel event. The intensity of that place is felt the moment you get your wristband at the gate.”

“Winning for a team that has deep roots at Grandview made this win all the more special.  Chico and his family have been through a lot with losing Mike several years back then recently with Randy’s passing.  I don’t know how he still has the passion for the sport, but he does and it’s contagious. I want to do the best I can for him because he deserves it, and I could not have been prouder to hand him that checkered flag.”

“As far as the race, I felt like we had a good car right from the drop of the green and got to 2nd quickly in the feature.  Once I got to second, I just was trying to pace myself with Brian because we were really clicking off the laps as the track was very fast.  I didn’t want to burn my tires up and wear my car out trying to catch him because I figured either a yellow would come out or we would get into lap traffic which would bring him back to me.  Once we caught the lapped cars I closed in quickly and was able to pick the right lane at the right time and made the pass for the lead it just worked out perfectly.  I set a pace that I felt was good and watching the video seemed to be good but looks like I could have picked it up just a little.”

“The finish came down to a very close one, but I just over thought the last lap when I saw Brian out of the corner of my eye on the bottom on the final lap. I thought crap maybe the bottom took rubber so when I came off turn 2, I switched from the top lane to the bottom trying to break Brian’s momentum and win the race but all I did was break my momentum and almost cost me the race.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t screw up bad enough to lose the race and cane home with a huge win for our team.  I know it meant a lot to the entire Bailey family and I could not have been prouder and happier for them. This sport is the most humbling and emotional thing anyone can do in life, so when we have moments like this you need to really enjoy them.  I can’t thank Chico enough for his confidence in me and the opportunity to drive this car to a win at Grandview.”

Brian Hirthler finished 2^nd from his 2^nd starting position and led the first 15 laps until he jumped the cushion to drop to 2^nd on lap 16 when Eric Kormann moved into the lead.  Brian posted his second 2^nd place finish of the season in modified and also has a win with his sportsman car this season.

Brian reflected “The weekend really started for me on Friday night at practice. We took the car to Friday night Enduro race to test and make sure the steering issues from last week were fixed. While we were there, I decided to test a few things that I’ve been thinking about. I ran all 4 sessions improving the feel in the car every time. The testing paid off big time Saturday as the track conditions were identical in the heat race.  I made the handicap for the first time in what seemed like 2 months as I’ve been running both sportsman and mods and have been out of the modified invert for quite a while. For the feature, I made some changes and right before I went on the track. When I found out I was starting 2nd, I knew that probably meant there weren’t going to be many slower cars up front so I would have to get to the front early.”

“I took the lead at the start and was feeling the car out, ran down lap traffic in about 10 laps which was fine since I have plenty of experience with lapped traffic from sportsman.  The track stayed heavier for longer than I thought it would and that was both good and bad with the track being more narrow than normal while the lap traffic as a whole was listening to the move over flag & the in-car radio. One car decided to run the middle for 2 laps while I was behind him. After Eric passed me for the lead on lap 16 that lap car immediately pulled over and let him by.  Bad timing for me, great for him.  Still had 14 laps to go so that only cost me the lead not the win. After a few laps, I was back on the bumper of the leader (Eric), and we passed a few more lapped cars with ease, but I once again bobbled in turn 3 on entry which cost myself some ground to the leader.  That is what resulted in me not winning, as on the next lap the leader bobbled in 1 & 2, and I wasn’t close enough to capitalize.  I reeled him back in closing from .9 with 6 laps to go to .126 at the line. I’ll take some notes from this and try to improve in the future. I was a bit rusty from not racing enough, with two rain outs and back-to-back DNQ’s I haven’t raced in a feature for over a month and probably made a few bad decisions during the green to checkered nonstop race.”

“Also happy to see one of my long-time customers Dennis & Joanne Bailey #81 picking up a win. I know what it takes for us small teams to compete, let alone pick up a win.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 3^rd from his 14^th starting position and posted a strong run forward in a nonstop green flag 30 lap feature.  Earlier this season Craig finished 2^nd from a 22^nd starting position and was one more lap away from his first win of the season. 

Craig continues to hold 2^nd in the season points standings 272 points behind leader Jeff Strunk with two points events remaining.

Brett Kressley finished 4^th from his 13^th starting position.  By midrace Brett was up to 5^th and he continued forward to 3^rd by lap 19 but in the final ten laps he leveled off for a 4^th place finish in the nonstop green to checkered 30 lap feature.

Brett noted “The heat races were tough this week with eleven cars in only three heat races.  We were very lucky to make the handicap and get set for the feature.  In the feature we just missed the setup a bit for the last ten laps but was happy with the results considering the nonstop green to checkered run.”

John Williman finished 5^th from his 7^th starting position posting his best finish since his win earlier in the season.

John commented “We have been going forward in the heats every week but falling flat and struggling in the features every week.  We broke the motor that we won with earlier this season, so this motor is tired and has a lot of laps on it.”

“Tonight, we took a big swing and went in a different direction with our setup, and it looks like it worked for us as we got to the front quickly and caught the leaders before entering lapped traffic.  Car got tight and lost a few spots but still manager a 5^th place finish.”

Ryan Watt finished 6^th from his 11^th starting position.  Ryan debuted a new Troyer car and right out of the box got good results in his heat race going from 8^th to 5^th and qualifying for the feature in a handicapped spot.  In the nonstop green to checkered feature Ryan posted a strong 6^th place finish.

Mike Gular finished 7^th from his 17^th starting position in the 7 minute 42 second nonstop feature.

Mike reflected “The heat was top dominate and the top was dominate all night long.  These 11 car heats are brutal, and you find yourself getting struck in the back racing with top ten cars and not moving forward at all.”

“We didn’t have any penalties this week in the feature which was a good start tonight since we got a penalty last week for something that happened behind us? For a green to checkered race, I’m happy with a 7^th place finish from 17^th in 7 minutes.  We had a good car tonight and will have a fresh motor in for the 76er.” 

Kevin Hirthler finished 8^th from his 10^th starting position rebounding from a DNQ last week.  Kevin continues to be on an up and down rollercoaster this season but has posted two early season 2^nd place finishes and has finished in the top ten in 3 of his last 4 races.

Kevin recalled “Track surface had some more grip this week due to the overcast skies which made for a fast race surface for qualifying.  We made our way from the back of the heat up to 3rd to make the handicap. Car felt good this week, was balanced well for conditions and could be maneuverable, high or low.  Made only a few minor adjustments for the feature as we thought the surface would still be tacky and fast.

Slated to start in 12th position and on the outside, I was ready to hit the lip and move to the front.  As we went to go green the 85 car broke which caused the field to cross over, putting me in the lower groove.  As we took the green there was some less then experienced drivers in the lower lane that caused a log jam going into the first turn and before I could make a clean move to the outside, I lost some important positions to guys that would be very difficult to pass later in the race.  I did what I could and finished off 8th with a decent car.  I feel as though I would have been able to start in my original outside position, we could have made a bid at the top 5. All in all, a great night with all three of us having a good top 5/10 run and leaving with straight equipment.”

Ryan Grim finished 9^th from his 10^th starting position with a loaner motor after damaging his primary motor last week. 

Ryan stated “I damaged my motor last week and Aleia broke the cam in her Big Diamond car.  On Friday night we put her sheet metal and shock package on my car so she could run the final point race of the season.  Aleia ended up 4 laps away from her first Big Diamond win and posted her second 2^nd place finish of the season at Big Diamond.” 

“We switched back to my shock package and sheet metal this morning and we were back at Grandview with the same car that got a 2^nd last night at Big Diamond.”

“The car handled well in the heat. I got stuck behind some cars and fell back a few sports in the nonstop feature, but we still managed to get back up to 9^th place finish.  Maybe we made a step back in the right direction and we will have to wait until next week to find out.”    

Jeff Strunk finished 10^th from his 24^th starting position.  After two consecutive weeks of his best heat race runs of the season with a 2^nd and a heat race win last week, Jeff fell back to earth this week starting 12^th in a 12-car heat.  Jeff finished 9^th but was two positions off qualifying in the heat race sending him to the consolation race.

In the feature Jeff started 24^th but was able to move forward 14 positions to 10^th without a caution flag in the 7 minute and 42 seconds the nonstop green to checkered feature.

Jeff continues to lead Craig Von Dohren by 272 in the Grandview points standings with two races remaining before the 2024 points champion is crowned.

Next up on Saturday, August 31 is a two-division program of modified and sportsman racing along with the Outlaw Racing Vintage Series.  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.