Freedom 38er Sportsman Pit Notes 9/20/24 – Logan Watt Wins Freedom 38er From Green to Checkered

Logan Watt led all 38 laps holding off a late closing Jesse Hirthler for his first win of the Freedom 38er.

Polesitter Logan Watt took the lead and held a 3 second advantage over Mikey Schneck and the field until a huge crash off of the 4^th restart resulted in a twelve-car tangle in turn 3 involving nearly the entire back half of the field.  Kenny Bock was turned upside down and Nick DeSantis had a brief fire.  On the 5th and final restart on lap 32 Logan resumed the lead and held off a hard charging Jesse Hirthler to take his first Freedom 38er win.  

T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FREEDOM 38 FEATURE FINISH (38 laps): 1. LOGAN WATT ($3487) (1), 2.Jesse Hirthler (12), 3. Adrianna Delliponti (4), 4. Joe Toth (13), 5. Colin Cox (6), 6. Nate Horn (5), 7. Ryan Graver (20), 8. Dylan Swinehart (18), 9. Brad Brightbill (9), 10. Bryce Bashore (30), 11. Jax Yohn (14), 12. Dakota Kohler (29), 13. TJ Mayberry (21), 14. Steve Young (24), 15. Addison Meitzler (15), 16. Ryan Higgs (11), 17. Logan Bauman (19), 18. Gavyn Krupp (16), 19. Brian Hirthler (26), 20. Kenny Bock (22), 21. Nick DeSantis (28), 22. Mike Schneck Jr. (3), 23. Jordan Henn (7), 24. Mike Toth (17), 25. Brett Grim (23), 26. Jared LaBagh (18), 27. Brett Gilmore (8), 28. Nathan Mohr (25), 29. Brad Arnold (27), 30. Tom Miller Sr. (2)

COLONIAL CLASH B MAIN – Top 8 Transfer to feature (20 laps): 1. BRETT GRIM, 2. Steve Young, 3. Nathan Mohr, 4. Brian Hirthler, 5. Brad Arnold, 6. Nick DeSantis, 7. Dakota Kohler, 8. Bryce Bashore, Matt Martino, Matt Peck, Anthony Raisner, Decker Swinehart, Teague Miller, Parker Guldin, BJ Joly III, Ryan Conrad, Kyle Hartzell, Stephen Laubach, Lawson Szerencits, Mark Gaugler, Jesse Landis, Tyler James, DNS – Brian Krummel

DID NOT QUALIFY: Matt Martino, Matt Peck, Anthony Raisner, Decker Swinehart, Teague Miller, Parker Guldin, BJ Joly III, Ryan  Conrad, Kyle Hartzell, Stephen Laubach, Lawson Szerencits, Mark Gaugler, Jesse Landis, Tyler James, Brian Krummel, Ryan Lilick, Mark Mohr, Shannon Slaughter, Chase Gular, Talan Carter, Nicholas Hamm, Dallas Breidenbach, Zach Steffey, Xavier Sprague, Tyler Vidal, Ronnie Solomon, Troy Bollinger, Joey Vaccaro, Stephen Smith III, Brayden Shelton, Kaitlyn Bailey, Colton Perry, Kyle Borror, Brandon Banos, Nick Faust, John McGeoy, Ebby Ridge

HEAT WINNERS: Jordan Henn, Addison Meitzler, Adrianna Delliponti, Mike Toth, Joe Toth, Dylan Swinehart, Jax Yohn

CONSI WINNERS: Decker Swinehart, Ryan Conrad, Matt Peck

HARD CHARGER: Bryce Bashore +20

9/20/24 FREEDOM 38er – SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES

Logan Watt took his first Freedom 38er win from the pole position.  Logan was able to qualify with his guaranteed starter for being the 2024 track champion and then he drew the pole position in the 22-car redraw. 

In victory lane Logan reflected “I was also running modified in practice for the 76er which was great preparation for driving the crate. With the modified being faster it makes driving the crate motor seem in slow motion and easier to react to.  We had a good car and were able to run laps at the back of the field in the heat race.  The guaranteed starter made a huge difference keeping us out of the heats and consolations.  Then we went out and drew the pole position for the 38er.  Can’t get off to a better start to the night then that.” 

“I started the feature from the pole and immediately started searching all the lanes.  Both lanes were even at the beginning of the race.  The lapped traffic was side by side so I couldn’t get through and it broke my momentum. I just had to be patient, and the cautions were welcome to clear the lapped traffic.  By the end of the race, the track was rubbering up on the bottom which is the reason I moved to the bottom on the last restart with about 7 laps to go.  I ran the final seven laps on the bottom to protect from Jesse Hirthler and was able to win my first Freedom 38er with a green to checkered run.”

Jesse Hirthler finished 2^nd from his 12^th starting position and completed a straight month of top five and top ten finishes at Grandview.  Jesse started 4^th in his heat and finished 3^rd in the last qualifying position for the 38er.  In the feature Jesse went nowhere but forward for another strong run into 2^nd place just a second behind winner Logan Watt.

Jesse Hirthler stated “There is really nothing you can do with Logan Watt.  We had a battle with Adie and Jordan Henn, and no one touched each other.  That’s what I like about Grandview is that you can race clean and it’s a drivers track.”

Adrianna Delliponti finished 3^rd from her 4^th starting position. 

Andrianna started 1^st in the heat and 4^th in the feature which was a pleasant change for her from her usual 8th or 9^th starting position in the heat and then her 14^th or further back starting position in the feature during the regular weekly points season.  Adrianna selected the pole in her heat and then redrew 4^th for the feature.

Adrianna commented “Picking the pole position was a breath of fresh air after running handicapped to the back of the heats at every Saturday points race.  It was also nice to be watching heats and consolations.  The clean air at the front of the field made a big difference for our car’s performance rather than being mired in traffic like we are during our Saturday weekly racing at Grandview.”

“In the heat race I was able to run by myself and just cruise to the win.  It was very enjoyable racing that I haven’t had for a while and the heat alone made my night.”

In the feature we drew 4^th we went right up to 3^rd on the start.  We battled with Jordan Henn until he broke and dropped out.  Our car got better as the race went on until a late restart when Mikey Schneck broke in front of us and he didn’t fire. I had to push him down out of the way, and in doing so we broke our shock which let all the air out of our shock.  For the final seven laps, the car was difficult to turn due to the broken shock and I was just hanging on for dear life.  I didn’t know the rubber was on the bottom until I saw Jesse drop down and I followed him to the bottom.  It was great to be able to overcome the steering problem and hang on for a 3^rd place finish.  It’s been a tough last half of the season for us and to have a great run like this with 66 cars in the pits couldn’t come at a better time for us.”

Joe Toth finished 4^th from his 13^th position driving the backup Hirthler family 117 car.  

Joe noted “We had solid run at Grandview for the Freedom 38er in the Hirthler 117T. We were able to win the heat from the pole and our teammate Jesse Hirthler was able to drive to 3rd from 4th and both of us to make the redraw from the same heat.  In the redraw I would draw 13 and Jesse drew 12.  We both started making our way up through the field.  I was a little loose from the start but was still able to make ground up to the top 5.  At the end of the race Jesse was able to finish a close 2nd and I was able to get 4^th and was pushing 3rd across the line.  I think if we had a caution at the end, we both could have had a chance for the win.  I can’t thank the Hirthler Family and their supporters enough for the opportunity to race their car.  I hope we can work together again in the future!  Also, congrats to Kevin on a solid 2nd in the 76er on Saturday.”

Colin Cox finished 5^th from his 6^th starting position.

Colin stated, “We finished 2^nd from our 2^nd starting position in the heat race to qualify for the 22-car redraw which we were fortunate enough to draw 6^th for the 38er.”

“In the feature we started 6^th but quickly fell back to 8^th.  We were able to use restarts and move back up to 4^th as the race progresse4d but late in the race lost 4^th to Joe Toth and ended up with a 5^th place finish.  We had our tires seal up during the red flag for the pile-up.  I ran the top until Toth went by on the bottom and then knew the bottom had rubbered up.”

Nate Horn finished 6^th from his 5^th starting position.  Nate noted “We drew 2^nd for the heat and finished 2^nd .  In the feature we ran around the top 5 & 10 for the entire race and held down a 6^th place finish at the end of the night.  I would like to thank Lynn Peters for the opportunity to drive this car.”

Ryan Graver finished 7^th from his 20^th starting position.  Ryan Graver posted his fourth consecutive top ten finish and has finished the season with newfound consistency that he has been looking for all season long.

Ryan reflected “From the beginning of the night it felt like we were bound to have a bad night. We started off by pulling pill 8 out of 10 in the first heat race.  It’s hard to pass in the late heat races, let alone the first one so my goal was to try and get to 5th and hopefully make it to the B main.  However, in the heat race we had some luck with getting to 5th by the 1st lap and eventually picked off 4th and then 3rd putting us right in the show straight from the heat race.”

 “I thought my luck would turn around with the draw, but unfortunately, I was wrong and drew pill number 20 out of 22.  After that we honestly made close to no changes for the feature as we felt like my car was going to be good for the feature after feeling pretty tight in the heat race.”

“In the 38er it was just a lot of hard driving and putting myself in the right spots at the right time.  I think this was the best car I’ve had all season and my best driving of the season. This whole year has been a struggle, but in the last couple of weeks we finally seemed to piece together a decent setup with the car we have and finally caught up with some luck.  Now we are prepping for Bridgeport for the end of the season.  After that we hopefully will have some good upgrades coming on for the next season, which we are still trying to determine what we will be doing next year.”

Dylan Swinehart finished 8^th from his 18^th starting position.  Dylan returned to his #38 for the 38er after his run for the points championship in Decker’s #83 came up a scant 54 points short to Logan Watt.

Dylan won his heat race from the pole position to make the redraw.  Dylan started 18^th and in his usual fashion drove from 18^th to 8^th for another top ten finish this season.

Brad Brightbill made his second Grandview appearance this season and posted a 9^th place finish from his 19^th starting position.  

Bryce Bashore finished 10^th from his 30^th starting position.

Bryce noted “I drew 7th for my heat and slipped through for a 5th and that had put me starting 9th in the minute man.  I was riding around most of the race and then with 5 to go my tires really came in and I was able to really catch up to the final transfer quickly and get it on the last lap.”

“In the feature I started dead last in 30th and my plan was just to ride around and try and pick them off later.  Early on I was able to get up on the top and pass a few and was up to around 16th just by working my way through.  The single file restart was when all chaos broke loose with the big pile up.  It was right in front of me, and I tried to sneak through and find a hole, but I quickly had to go to plan B and get on the binders as there was nowhere to go.  After that I picked up 2 more spots and ended up 10th in the feature.  We got there the long way, running 68 laps between the heat, B and 38er with a great car that was moving forward all night long.”

Mikey Schneck had a good car all night long and was in 2^nd with seven laps to go when contact with a lapped car ended his night.

Jordan Henn was running in 5^th when a mechanical issue ended his night also with seven laps to go.