Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 7/12/25 – Joey Vaccaro Turns his Season Around with Career First Win at Firecracker 40

Joey Vaccaro led all 40 laps of the Firecracker 40 to post a career first sportsman win.  Joey faced challenges from Ryan Graver, Addison Meitzler and Colin Cox but prevailed for his career first trip to the sportsman victory lane at Grandview.

Joey stayed the course and completely flipped the script of his season to drive into victory lane mere weeks after coming off two major front stretch opening lap incidents which left him on his lid with one car destroyed and his winning car heavily. 

Heat race winners for the 41 car sportsman field were Kaitlyn Bailey, Joey Vaccaro, and Lawson Szerencits.

Consolation winners were Kyle Hartzell and Dakota Kohler.

 SPORTSMAN FIRECRACKER 40 FEATURE FINISH (40 laps): 1. JOEY VACCARO (2), 2.Ryan Graver (6), 3. Colin Cox (16), 4. Addison Meitzler (13), 5. Chase Gular (8), 6. Brett Gilmore (20), 7. Kenny Gilmore (19), 8. TJ Mayberry (23), 9. Teague Miller (14), 10. Mike Schneck Jr. (17), 11. Mark Gaugler (4), 12. Lawson Szerencits (9), 13. Dylan Swinehart (27P), 14. Kyle Hartzell (21), 15. Nathan Mohr (15), 16. Kenny Bock (11), 17. Adrianna Delliponti (12), 18. Kaitlyn Bailey (5), 19. Tom Miller Sr. (1), 20. Dakota Kohler (22), 21. Zach Steffey (3), 22. Colton Perry (10), 23. Decker Swinehart (25), 24.Gavyn Krupp (26), 25. Ebby Ridge (7), 26. Jesse Landis (24), 27. Mark Mohr (18)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Parker Guldin, Jason Graber, Nate Horn, Mike Stofflet, Tom Miller Jr., Taylor Kramer, Brad Brightbill, Brett Grim, BJ Joy III, Alex Bartorillo, Brayden Shelton, Shannon Slaughter, Dennis Graber, Mark Behm

HARD CHARGER: TJ Mayberry + 15

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES – 7/5/25

Joey Vaccaro finished first from his 2nd starting position and lead all 40 laps picking the perfect day to park it in victory lane for his career first sportsman win at Grandview’s Firecracker 40.

Joey’s season has been trying, difficult, expensive with two weeks of back to back multi car tangles resulting in Joey flipping down the front stretch both times in the opening heat race lap 1.  The first incident destroyed Joey’s chassis which was then replaced by a 2023 Bicknell purchased from Butch Getz.  The following week the new car flipped, which required the frame to be straightened and other repairs once again.  In only his second outing on the new chassis, Joey got on track and shook down the new car which set the stage for his winning performance this week at the firecracker 40.

In victory lane Joey reflected “There is no way to describe what we have been through in the past couple of weeks.  A lot of effort and help from great people all came together to win the Firecracker 40 for my career first win.

“I can’t thank Ryan enough for running me clean in the end of the race while I was having issues running the bottom of the track which was where I had to be.  I knew the bottom would come in and this car liked the middle which allowed me to cut off the bottom.  This place doesn’t always like me but I’m here in victory lane now.”

Back at the trailer Joey noted “Lots of long nights & lots of great people. That’s really the only way we got here. We’ve all put in so much work to get here I’m so glad I could park it.”

“With the race being 40 laps; I knew if I could at least get out front & control the race that we would have a good chance. Watching the consolation races for the Sportsman & Modifieds really helped us be able to tell what the track was going to do & in my opinion we read it perfectly.”

“In  the first half or so of the race I could get through the middle pretty decent with good drive, but it was only a matter of time before the rubber came in around the bottom.  Normally the yellows/ reds seem to screw me when I’m leading races but this time I had one help me.  When I came up on the lapped cars, I knew I had to do something, but it was hard to determine what because the bottom was so dominant at that point.  Then we got a yellow & grouped everyone back together again & from there the rest was history.”

“The top five was filled with some of Grandview’s best drivers. Both Ryan Graver & Colin Cox made it known they were there.  They could have just driven through me but raced hard instead and that respect goes a long way.”

“ We had a 48 tire on which was a tough decision. Tire temps after the consolation were pretty high & definitely in range for a 50; but with some track prep & starting up front I would rather burn off a 48 than have a 50 seal over. We had some tire wear, but the RR isn’t junk & I’ll probably run it in a heat race next week.  Alot of guys junked RR tires so I think I preserved my tire pretty well all things considered.”

“This was realistically our first full race on this car since we got it from Duane and Butch.  I truly can’t thank everyone enough for everything they have done – my family, crew, sponsors, the Getz crew and everyone else helping with getting us on track.  It’s amazing how fast things can change in this sport.”

Ryan Graver finished 2^nd from his 6^th starting position to post his best finish of the season.

Ryan reflected “This year has not been what we expected at all.  We broke a gas pedal, blew a u joint in the driveshaft, and got pushed into wrecks that we should have missed when others just didn’t slow down in time. Last week we headed out to big diamond on Friday night and tried to work out any other gremlins or bugs that be hiding in the car.”

We felt solid right out of the box for the firecracker 40.  In the heat race I made a few small changes to just stay on top of the racetrack with it slicking off right away, which ended up with us being really good and allowed us to cleanly qualify right into the feature.”

“We only have one feature finish at Grandview this year, so our notebook is really lacking when compared to a lot of other guys. I had some ideas on what I wanted to do and got some advice from Ron Seltman at Fast Four about what changes to make.”

“I didn’t have any new tires to put on for the feature so early on I was just trying to conserve tires. Once I got to second,  I tried to save my tires for the end of the race.  I finally started moving around and found the top and still was trying to conserve tires while reeling in Joey.  Next thing I see is Cox sliding underneath me. Once you see him you know you can’t save anymore, it’s time to go, so Cox and I started racing hard.  I think we ran side by side for almost 15 laps, and all while doing so we’re on Joey’s bumper.  It was unfortunate lap traffic didn’t become a factor, because I think we would have been really good through it but just how things go sometimes.  While racing hard, Collin and I got together and I ended up in the backstretch wall and I think both of us came out with some wounds, but it was just good hard racing and a lot of fun for sure.  For a while it really felt like I was going to get Joey, but I just ended up fading away at the end and Joey ran away with it and got a well-deserved win.  Joey and I have a mutual respect for one another.  We both raced each other clean. We both have had a lot of problems this year.  If I was going to lose that race, I wouldn’t have wanted to lose it to anyone else but Joey.”

Colin Cox finished 3^rd from his 16^th starting position and continued his streak of back to front runs and all top five and ten runs as he leads the current points standings by over 400 points

The car was good all night. The track was a little drier than normal and it’s been getting wide and slick quicker too, which I believe makes the racing better all around.  Made the handicap in heat and start 16th in the feature.  I just had to stay patient and lookout in front to make sure I miss the wrecks.  Got up to 3rd and it became a really good three car battle for the lead.  Got up to 2nd but stayed on the bottom for half a lap too long and Graver was able to get back around me.  After that my car seemed to fade and lose side bite, with a mix of the top getting too far around and the bottom starting to take rubber which makes it hard to pass after that.  All in all, a good night and another very good points night.

Addison Meitzler finished 4^th from his 13 starting position.

Addison commented “Track was already a dry sheet of ice in warmups.  Made some changes for the heat race to make sure the car was tight enough.  The car was great in heat and went 6th to 1st.”

“On feature lap 1 I bounced through a wreck and messed up the steering box.  I could only turn the wheel a 1/4 turn to the right for the rest of the race, so I had to watch how sideways I got because I couldn’t turn a whole look to correct it which forced me to drive a little more cautious.  I felt like the bottom started taking rubber and the top was getting way too high. The long way around just got too long.”

Chase Gular finished 5^th from his 8^th starting position.

We were good in hot laps and definitely not expecting it to be that slick in hot laps already.  In the heat we started 4^th and quickly got to 3rd on lap 2 and that’s were I stayed.

“We tightened up for the feature, so I struggled a little bit early on but as the race went on we got better and by lap 20-30 I felt like I had the best car on the track. The yellow on lap 30 kind of ruined my shot, I think because the top 5 was all there and we were going into lap traffic in another lap which would have made it so much fun. Wore out my tires pretty good but they did survive under me for 40.”

Next up on Saturday, July 19 will be Modifieds & Sportsman featuring $10 Grandstand General Admission – Hot laps at 6:15 and racing at  7:30 pm.