Grandview Modified Pit Notes 06/28/25 – Duane Howard Back in Victory Lane at Grandview

Duane Howard broke through and collected his first win of 2025 at Grandview Speedway.

Duane has been consistent in the past four races with a 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 7^th and now adds his long awaited return to victory lane at Grandview.

Duane quickly moved from his 12^th starting position into 2^nd by lap 8 and then passed leader Bobby Trapper Sr for the lead on lap 11.  Duane negotiated lapped traffic for the final 5 laps and held off the familiar faces of Jeff Strunk in second and Mike Gular in 3^rd to return to victory lane at Grandview.

Heat race winners for the 38 car field were Clay Butler, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Ryan Watt & Eric Kormann.

Consolation winners were Louden Reimert and Rick Laubach.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): 1. DUANE HOWARD (12), 2. Jeff Strunk (9), 3. Mike Gular (15), 4. Eddie Strada (11), 5. Brett Kressley (23), 6. Bobby Trapper Sr. (2), 7. Louden Reimert (21), 8. Eric Kormann (5), 9. Ryan Watt (7), 10. Tim Buckwalter (8), 11. Logan Bauman (6), 12. Ryan Grim (18), 13. Kyle Smith (19), 14. Jared Umbenhauer (14), 15. Craig Whitmoyer (28), 16. John Willman (16), 17. Clay Butler (3), 18. Bobby Gunther-Walsh (4), 19. Cody Manmiller (25), 20. Bobby Trapper Jr. (27), 21. Mike Laise (26), 22. Rick Laubach (22), 23. Chris Gambler (1), 24. Craig Von Dohren (13), 25. Carroll Hine III (17), 26. Logan Watt (29P), 27. Doug Manmiller (30P), 28. Justin Grim (10), 29. Darrin Schuler (24), 30. Eric Biehn (20)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Matt Yoder, Ryan Beltz, Ray Swinehart, Brad Force, Jon Kellner, Brian Hirthler, Chris Esposito, Ron Haring Jr.

VP RACING FUELS HARD CHARGER: Brett Kressley +18

MODIFIED PIT NOTES  – 6/28/25

Duane Howard put it all together and posted the win from his 12^th starting position.  After a slow start opening night with a DNQ he has since posted been on a tear with a 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 7^th and a win tonight.

Duane Noted “We had great starting positions that I felt we should win from on the 3^rd and 4^th place finishes during the twin 25 race.  We maintained good finishes from good starting positions but just couldn’t move forward with the top three cars.  So, we switched to the black car at the next race and have been able to move forward better ever since culminating with a 12 to 1^st run tonight.”

“We have had a very responsive car ever since we brought out the black Bicknell with DIG shocks.  Our Scotto engine seems to really like Grandview, and we have been pretty darn good.  Our finishes have been good barring the opening night draw show.  We are sitting OK in points, but man if we just had that one night back would be great but that’s racing.”

“I look forward to what is ahead this season.  We have a very strong race car able to maneuver from the drop of the green.  This is the second feature that the track got slick and had a ledge that you could race on so I’m really looking forward to the Thunder on the Hill” race this Tuesday.”

“Tonight, the car rotated on the top and I could also make passes on the bottom.  I was able to get to the front in 10 laps and set the pace but really had to since the top five was a very fast & strong group.”

Jeff Strunk finished 2^nd from his 9^th starting position. Jeff was looking for his 2nd win of the season, but Duane Howard was over a second better tonight.  Jeff’s season got off to a rough start breaking a motor on the first lap during the first twin 25 features with no backup car on grounds and effectively ending his chance to defend his 2024 Grandview track championship in 2025 at the second race of the season.

Jeff reflected “It was a good solid run for us.  We are still searching for a little more speed and chasing the car with the right side Panhard rules.  We did get a little bit better this week but not where I want to be yet.  It’s always a race to the front and the rain during the night made the track a  little bit faster.”

This time Duane got to the front first. Was hoping to start 4^th and on the outside after the red flag but the 121 dropped out putting us from 4^th to 3^rd on the inside and giving Duane 4^th the preferred outside for the restart.”

“Hats off to Grandview for not giving up and getting this one in through the raindrops.”

Mike Gular finished 3^rd from his 15^th starting position and is currently second in the points standing behind Brett Kressley.  Mike has posted 4 top five finishes and 1 top ten in 6 races.

Mike had a strong heat race coming from 10^th and going to 5^th by lap 1 and cruising into the 4^th and final invert position on the 2^nd lap and cruising into a 3^rd place finish in the heat race.

In the feature Mike again moved forward quickly from 15^th to 7^th by lap 7.  Mike moved into 3^rd on lap 17 but couldn’t find a way around Strunk and Howard finished a solid 3^rd and gaining two positions on points leader Brett Kressley.

Mike recalled “We had a good night. We found a few problems with the car from last week that seemed to make a big difference. Track groove was predominantly up top but the bottom was still good enough to get through the field.”

Eddie Strada finished 4^th from his 11^th starting position.  Eddie reflected “In the heat the car was very good, we started 8th and on the opening lap got to the front fast but then got caught in a wreck and the damage done. We still were able to continue and came from last to 3^rd and made the invert.”

“Started 11th in the feature and was around 7th for four restarts. We got killed starting every one of the restarts on the bottom and just couldn’t get to the dominant lane on the top fast enough but picked our way thru to 4th and was reeling in the top 3 just needed a caution to make anything happen.  A great group of drivers in the top 5 and was just happy to be a part of it finishing in 4th. Thank you to the sponsors and especially my crew that worked endless on the car from heat to feature to get it looking somewhat straight again.”

Brett Kressley finished 5^th from his 23^rd starting position and used the high line to earn the hard charger for a +18 run in the feature.  Brett has been nearly perfect this season with 3 top five finishes including a win and 3 top ten finishes in 6 starts.

In the heat race Brett struggled on a fast surface to move forward and finished 7^th using the consolation to qualify 23^rd for the feature.

In the feature Brett was able to use several early restarts to quickly move into the top ten on lap 12.  From there Brett moved forward to a solid 5^th place finish.

Bobby Trapper Sr finished 6^th from his 2nd starting position and posted his best finish in recent years.  Bobby Sr. started the season with 3 DNQ’S and then qualified for a feature and finished 19^th.   Tonight, Bobby stepped forward and led the field for ten laps and fell back to 6^th place after a series of restarts but still posted his best finish of the season.

Unfortunately, the “big one” was on lap 6 resulting in a red flag and ending the night for Craig Von Dohren, Carroll Hine, Logan Watt and Doug Manmiller. 

Next up on Tuesday July 1^st is the Thunder on the Hill 410 Sprint cars & 358 Modified for PA Speed week.  Then next Saturday, July 5 will be T.P. Trailer & Truck Equipment Night with a NASCAR double-header featuring the T.P. Trailer Modifieds & T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman starting at 7:30 pm.