Moneymaker Modified Pit Notes – Brian Hirthler Wins the Bruce Rogers Memorial Money Maker at Grandview Season Opener

Brian Hirthler’s night started off slow with the draw of a 10^th starting position in his heat race; but from there on out everything improved for Brian starting with a 10^th to 5^th  run in his heat and then the draw of the 2^nd starting position in the feature race.  In the feature, Brian ran second for only one lap and then he led the remaining 49 laps with Mike Gular, Brett Kressley, Logan Watt and Jaed Umbenhauer rounding out the top 5.

Despite 7 cautions during the 50 lap feature; Brian  was able to put an exclamation point on his win while taking the checkered flag with his bigging lead of the race at nearly 2.4 seconds over 2^nd place Mike Gular.

Heat race winners for the 46 car modified field were Logan Watt ( from 5th), Timmy Buckwalter (from 2nd), Jeff Strunk (from 2^nd), and Alex Yankowski (from 6^th) .

 Eric Korrman (from 2nd) and Logan Baumann (from 1^st) won the consolation races.

VP RACING FUELS BRUCE ROGERS MEMORIAL MONEY MAKER T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (50 laps):

1.) BRIAN HIRTHLER (2), 2. Mike Gular (3), 3. Brett Kressley (12), 4. Logan Watt (13) , 5. Jared Umbenhauer (5), 6. Craig Von Dohren (11), 7. Danny Bouc (22), 8. Ryan Godown (15), 9. Louden Reimert (alt 24), 10. Jeff Strunk (14) ,11.  Kyle Smith (19), 12. Bobby Trapper Jr. (16), 13. Matt Stangle (10) ,14. Ryan Watt (6), 15. Craig Whitmoyer (7), 16. Ryan Grim (5), 17. Alex Yankowski (4) , 18. Eric Kormann (20) , 19. John Willman (9), 20. Jon Kellner (18), 21. Doug Manmiller (23), 22. Tim Buckwalter (1), 23. Anthony Perrego (17), 24.  Logan Bauman (21), DNS: Mike Laise

DID NOT QUALIFY: Kevin Graver Jr., Eric Biehn, Darrin Schuler, Ron Haring Jr., Justin Grim, Ray Swinehart, WB James, Ryan Beltz, Nick DeSantis, Glenn Owens, Eddie Strada, Duane Howard, Carroll Hine III, Cody Manmiller, Chris Esposito, Chris Gambler, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Nate Brinker, Clay Butler, Tanner Van Doren, Tommy Sheetz III

Brian Hirthler’s night started off on the downside drawing a 10^th starting position a 12-car heat race but he was able to race forward to the 5^th and final qualifying position in his heat race.  He redrew the outside pole position for the feature in a draw that included all 20 drivers that qualified through the heat races

In the feature Brian took little time to pass Timmy Buckwalter for the lead on lap 2 and that is where he stayed through 7 restarts many which were for flat tires.  The 4* car was at its best and ran to the checkered flag with 2.4 seconds advantage which was his biggest lead of the day to take the win of the Bruce Rogers Memorial Moneymaker.

In victory lane Brian stated “You never know what to do with the car when there is a change in the surface plus a new rules package on opening night.  I’m speechless and that doesn’t happen very often.  We didn’t start out too well and were in the middle of the pack in warmups.  I was able to drive forward in the heat race from 10^th to 5^th.  I think we got a little help from Bruce and the rain above that provided a good top line and that’s where I went, and it took me to victory lane.”

Back at the trailer Brian commented “I would say my biggest two issues during the night was warmups where the car didn’t really feel all that great and then we managed to draw 50 out of 60.  We didn’t change much today, I felt confident that the changes we made on practice day would work and that the track would come to us.  Then the rain came and kind of through us a curve ball and I was not sure which direction to go with our setup, so we just stayed with the status quo setup and picked some tires and hoped for the best.”

“The funny story behind “wins are won at the shop” was that I was so busy over the offseason with wraps for customers that I never got to do my own car.  Matter of fact, I only got to start working on my car in the last week of March.  After practice day, I found a few cracks in the frame that my brother welded up and when we had the car up on the lift in his shop, he found it was time for new U joints since have been in since 2021.  Kevin replaced them and adjusted the valves.  We wanted to test one more time but got rained out, so the car sat for two weeks until the opener tonight.”

“Shout out to Kevin Hirthler, Red Beard, the twins and Pure Grip race shocks for the much-needed assistance for maintaining grip with the new rules in place.”

Mike Gular had a good night with his draws and started on the pole of his heat race and then in 3^rd position in the feature.  Mike was able to keep the pressure on Brian Hirthler until the final 5 laps when Hirthler increased his lead to 2.4 seconds at the checkered flag.

Gular’s season is off to a great start as he leads the points at Big Diamond after two races and he is in 2^nd in the Grandview points standings.

Back at the trailer Mike commented “We had a solid night with two good draws.  Our car was good but just not quite good enough to get by the 4* car in the feature.  Both the heat and feature had a top dominant track.  We just couldn’t get it done in the feature, but we will take a solid P2 run every day of the week.” 

Mike Gular currently sits 2^nd in the Grandview points standing while he is the points leader in the Big Diamond modified points standings.

Brett Kressley finished 3^rd from his 12^th starting position.  Brett finished 2^nd in his heat race after being in a large 5 car tangle on lap 2 and still running from back to front into 2^nd place.

Brett noted “We had a pretty off nigh for sure.  The track and racing were very rough all night long.  We did not have any balance in the car, and we were off in the heat race.  I took some real big swings at it in the feature but went too far so we ended up in 3rd which was still great for our team.”

Brett had a good weekend with a 4^th at Big Diamond and then a 3^rd at Grandview Speedway and is off to a good start in both tracks in the points standings.

Logan Watt finished 4^th from his 13^th starting position to round out a top five doubleheader weekend with a 2^nd place finish at Big Diamond only .09 behind winner Louden Reimert at the checkered flag. 

Logan took the win in his heat race from his 5^th starting position.

In the feature Logan started 13^th and moved as high as 3^rd until finishing a competitive 4^th place in the 50-lap feature for his modified rookie season debut at Grandview.  The 2024 Grandview sportsman champion is now in pursuit of his first modified championship at both Grandview and Big Diamond in his modified rookie season.

Jared Umbenhauer finished 5^th from his 8^th starting position in the feature.

Jared reflected “We drew 11^th in our heat and the early laps were hectic which led to us coming in with a right rear flat.  I rolled to the top while most stayed on the bottom and was able to get back up to 3^rd in the heat race.”

“There were some big holes in 1 & 2 while it was choppy and rutty in 3 & 4 but is expected early in the season with a new surface.  In the feature I was watching closely and gauging the holes.  The bottom was too slow to run so everyone went to the middle or very top.  The surface was different tonight and we were able to avoid any flats in the 50 lap feature to post a solid 5^th place finish in a stellar field of cars.”

Moneymaker Pit Notes

Danny Bouc was involved in some early heat race tangles which sent him to the pits with a flat.  He started 10^th in his consolation, and he secured the 22^nd starting position in the feature which he used to post a strong 7^th place finish.

Mike Laise had an outstanding run in his qualifying heat with a 2^nd place finish only to have the cam break after taking the checkered flag.  Mike couldn’t make the call for the feature but hopes to return next week and finish what he started with a top ten finish.

With Laise, unable to make the feature call, that left an alternative position for either Louden Reimert or Eddie Strada who finished 3^rd in their respective heat races.  It came down to a $1,000 coin flip which Louden Reimert won keeping big money string going after his $20,000 Money in the Mountain win on Friday night at Big Diamond.

Reimert’s night started off with a lap 0 tangle and broken shock which ended his heat race in the pits with an 11^th place finish.  Reimert started 12^th in the consolation and finished 3^rd which was one place from qualifying, but he got a 2^nd life and $1,000 feature start from the 24^th starting position by winning the above forementioned coin flip.

Louden made the best of his 2^nd chance in the feature and went from 24^th to 9^th place.

Defending 2024 defending Grandview modified champion started 14^th and worked his way up to 3^rd only to have a flat take him to the back of the field on lap 37.  Jeff worked his way back to a 10^th place finish.

Kyle Smith continued his string of qualifying in every Moneymaker he has entered and posted his best finish ever with an 11th place finish from his 19^th starting position.

Modified rookie Logan Baumann made the $1,000 to start feature in his first modified points race.

Many drivers had their night end early with Tim Buckwalter (flat), Alex Yankowski (motor); and Ryan Grim (front end damage) all dropping out while making strong runs in the top five.

Next up on Saturday, April 26 will be a two-division program 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 qualifying races leading up to the 30-lap Modified and 25-lap Sportsman main events with hot laps at 5:00 PM and racing at 6:00 PM.