Grandview Modified Pit Notes 07/19/25 –  The Watts’ Win Again – This Time It’s Ryan Watt Winning

Last week it was Ryan’s son winning his first Grandview Modified feature with dad finishing 7^th.  This week the roles were reversed with dad winning the feature and Logan finished 6^th.  Nonetheless the father son tandem has posted back to back wins in a season that has seen 9 different winners and only one father and son both with wins.

Polesitter Darrin Schuler led the first ten laps again this week only to lose the lead to Ryan Watt on lap 12.  After a series of consecutive restarts, Watt pulled away from the field to nearly a 4 second margin of victory over 2^nd place  Cody Manmiller and hard charging Mike Gular in 3^rd place.

Heat race winners for the 36-car field were Ryan Beltz, Darrin Schuler, Eric Kormann and Justin Grim.

Consolation winners were Rick Laubach and Brett Kressley.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): 1. RYAN WATT(10), 2. Cody Manmiller (2), 3. Mike Gular (15), 4. Justin Grim (9), 5. Duane Howard (14), 6. Logan Watt (16), 7. Brett Kressley (22), 8. Jared Umbenhauer (13), 9. Craig Von Dohren (19), 10. Louden Reimert (24), 11. Doug Manmiller (12), 12. Jeff Strunk (19), 13. Tim Buckwalter (17), 14. Kyle Smith (28), 15. Eddie Strada (20), 16. Bobby Trapper Sr. (7), 17. Carroll Hine III (25), 18. Craig Whitmoyer (11), 19. Eric Biehn (4), 20. Brian Hirthler (27, 21. Darin Schuler (1), 22. Bobby Gunther-Walsh (2), 23. Ryan Beltz, (3) 24. Eric Kormann (6), 25. Rick Laubach (21), 26. Ryan Grim (23), 27. Jon Kellner (26), 28. Bobby Trapper Jr. (8)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Chris Gambler, Ray Swinehart, Logan Bauman, Clay Butler, Mike Laise, John Willman, Matt Yoder, Ron Haring Jr.

VP RACING FUELS HARD CHARGER: Brett Kressley +15

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 7/19/25

Ryan Watt took the win from his 10^th starting position and posted his first win of the season.  Ryan’s season has been up and down with the car being damaged in on track incidents and experimenting with right side setups.  One week Ryan elected to park his car for the consolation in order to be able to work on Logan’s car for the feature. Things started to turn around last week when Logan won, and Ryan posted a 7^th place finish which led to Ryan’s win this week and Logan’s 6th place finish.

In victory lane Ryan reflected “We have had a good car but no luck to speak of until tonight.  We have also been experimenting with different suspension setups for Logan’s car.

“The track was plenty wide and racy in the feature with room to move around.  I used the bottom on restarts and to get the lead on lap 12.”

Back at the trailer Ryan noted “I have been in the Bicknell this season at Grandview.  We have struggled with rainy, wet and inconsistent track conditions early this season and I have also been experimenting with suspension setups on my car that we can use on Logan’s car.  We have also had our share of bad luck getting caught up in some wrecks early in the season and I sat out the feature one week because we had unsafe break issues after damage.”

“We didn’t get any hot laps but that’s no big deal for us.  In the heat race we started 5^th and finished 4^th.  That one spot was huge since it put us in the invert and 10^th instead of starting 20^th.  The heat was hard to pass in because the track was narrow and had no width yet.”

“In the feature the car was good from the start, and I had to go forward early because all the points leaders were on their way to the front.  When the track widened out and I could run anywhere I wanted to.  This was the best care we have had all year.”   

Cody Manmiller finished 2^nd from his 5^th starting position.  Cody made a strong move passing Justine Grim in the final laps of the feature to secure his 2^nd place finish and posted his best finish of the season.

Cody stated “Last night was easily the best I’ve felt in the car this year.  We’ve been fighting setup demons and were way better from start to finish last night.  Ryan got by me on the one restart when the front row got all scrambled up, but he was really good.  I had a good battle with Grim for 2nd and then once I cleared him on the bottom I was able to separate and open up my entry more. Overall, a great night.”

Mike Gular finished 3^rd from 15^th starting position.  Mike made the invert from the back of the heat race earning a mid-pack starting position in the feature. He also moved into the points lead by 2 points over Brett Kressley with 8 points races remaining.

Mike reflected “In the heat the track was good from top to bottom. I went from starting 9th to 4th and got what we wanted making the invert. We had a good run in the feature just needed a break in the traffic to be able to go after the win but still a good night.”

Justin Grim finished 4^th from his 9^th starting position turning around 3 weeks of DNQ finishes.

Justin commented “We have been working at this car all season with limited success to show for it.  Last week we were slow and didn’t qualify.  With help from Ron Seltman of Fast Four Shocks, we completely changed the entire suspension setup, which was much improved this week.  We had a smooth trouble-free night that was welcomed after the struggles of the past few weeks.  I’m very thankful for all the support from my family, crew and sponsors.”

Duane Howard continues to rumble through the field for the past 8 weeks and posted his 8^th consecutive top 5 / 10 with a 5^th place finish from his 14^th starting position.

Duane reflected “We were trapped at the start of the race with cars 2 by 2 by 2 which slowed our progress early.  Such hard racing early in the feature and the right-side pan bar has made cars more even with everyone running the same speed made it more difficult to move around in the feature.” 

“The consistency we have had in the last eight races is awesome.  My goal now is to be the first modified repeat winner this season.”

Next up on Saturday, July 26 will be Modifieds, Sportsman & Vintage with hot laps at 6:15 and racing at  7:30 pm.