Grandview Modified Pit Notes 08/02/25 – Justin Grim Posts Career First Modified Win at Grandview

Justin Grim methodically moved through the field from his 6^th starting position to take the lead from Ron Haring Jr on lap 23 and then held off a late charge by Eddie Strada to take his first trip to Grandview’s victory lane – “A dream come true.”

Polesitter Ron Haring Jr opened a sizeable gap on Ray Swinehart in second place until cautions on lap 18 & 19 re-racked the field.  On lap 23 Justin Grim made his move to take over the lead from Haring.  On lap 25 Eddie Strada moved into 2^nd to challenge for the win, but it was Justin Grim taking the checkered flag and driving into victory lane.

Heat race winners for the 37-car field were Duane Howard from 9^th, Mike Laise, Rick Laubach from 5^th and Ron Haring Jr.

Consolation winners were Brett Kressley and Ryan Grim.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): 1. JUSTIN GRIM (6), 2. Eddie Strada (11), 3. Ron Haring Jr. (1), 4. Cody Manmiller (4), 5. Mike Gular (14), 6. Bobby Trapper Jr. (5), 7. Craig Von Dohren (17), 8. Doug Manmiller (10), 9. Mike Laise (3), 10. Ryan Watt (11), 11. Rick Laubach (9), 12. Jared Umbenhauer (20), 13. Brett Kressley (21), 14. Duane Howard (15), 15. Logan Watt (13), 16. Louden Reimert (18), 17. Kyle Smith (28), 18. Clay Butler (4), 19. Brian Hirthler (27), 20. Ryan Grim (22) , 21. Carroll Hine III (23), 22. Craig Whitmoyer (25), 23. Jeff Strunk (16), 24. Ray Swinehart (2), 25. Chris Esposito (8), 26. Jon Kellner (26), 27. John Willman (24), 28. Eric Kormann (19)

DID NOT QUALIFY: Eric Biehn, Chris Gambler, Darin Schuler, Kenny Bock, Bobby Trapper Sr., Tim Buckwalter, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Glenn Owens, Matt Yoder

HARD CHARGER: Eddie Strada + 10

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 8/02/25

Justin Grim posted his first win from his 6^th starting position.  For the last month Justin has been on the Grandview roller coaster with two DNQ’s, a 4^th and then another DNQ last week.  But then Ron Seltmann of Fast Four shocks steps in and Justin has his career first trip to victory lane.

In victory lane Justin recalled “We have been up and down all season long.  At Grandview your car can be good, and things still don’t go your way.  Tonight, I was good on the bottom but then had to roll the middle for 4 side by side laps with Ron Haring to get the lead and then returned to the bottom to hold off Eddie Strada.”

“I’m a hammer down run the top kind of guy that wins his first race running the bottom. Hard to believe.  It’s been a long road to get here.”

Back at the trailer Justin noted “We were not very good in the heat race, but things played out and I was able to maintain 4th for the feature handicap which was obviously a key factor to our night.”

“Ron Seltmann gave me a big swing of adjustments and they completely turned the car around.  The car was on a rail in the feature especially through turn 3 and coming off turn 4.  I can say for sure that without Ron’s help we don’t get this win.  The engine is from Nick’s Precision Machine and was perfect tonight. The driver was finally able to put one together too.  Thank you to my family, crew, and sponsors for everything they’ve done for me.”

Eddie Strada finished 2^nd from his 12^th starting position posting his best finish of the season.  Eddie moved forward as a +10 hard charger on a night when it was difficult for most of the top ten points leaders to move forward from back to the front.

Eddie stated “We just fine tuning on what we found from last week and started to dial in on it better. Finally, the changes we’ve been making are paying off for us.  We got in the handicap through the heat which is crucial to the features at Grandview now since the track has been so fast in recent weeks. We came from 7^th to 3rd in a heat without a caution.”

In the feature got some breaks, restarted on the top on the last caution which helped us get into 2^nd place but just ran out of time.  Justin had a good restart, so he got a good lead on us.  Congrats to Justin and the 61 team, they earned it with a great car and Justin did a great job.”

“Thanks to my crew and sponsors and all the fans that stick behind me every week.  Hopefully our luck has changed a little and we’re onto something.  We ran a 50 and it seemed to help us on that long green flag run, but the tire did seal over on the last restart after the long cautions on lap 18-19.  We are very happy with a 2nd at a place that’s been tough every week and excited we got some good runs going.”

Ron Haring finished 3^rd from his pole starting position and led for 22 laps until being passed by Justin Grim for the lead after two late restarts.

Ron reflected “We hurt a motor a few weeks ago so this is my Grandview car with the Big Diamond motor.  I’m just happy to finish a feature without a mechanical failure or a wreck.  This was the first race that I finished and took the checkered flag all year.  We are getting close and just need to keep working on what adjustments to make for the track conditions.”

Cody Manmiller finished 4^th from his 7^th starting position and posted his 3^rd top five finish of the season.  Cody’s season has been hit or miss but he has now posted a 2^nd and a 4^th in his last three outings showing some consistency and momentum.

Cody commented “We went Friday to the enduro night to practice and try some new things.  We started Saturday how we finished Friday and were better when it’s slippery.  Still need a bit more, but we are in a good spot right now.  Making the invert will make or break your night so that’s the most important thing.”

“I was ok in the heat race and good enough to finish top 4 making the invert.  Car still wasn’t awesome in the feature. I was really searching for the first half of the race for where my car was most comfortable, but I was really good in the final 5 to7 laps.  Probably needed a lap or two more for 3rd, but second top 5 in three weeks, I’ll take it.”

Mike Gular finished 5th from his 14th starting position and improved his position in the points standings moving back into second place behind Brett Kressley.

Mike stated “We had a solid heat race going from 8^th to 3^rd with no cautions.  In the feature the track was tricky and dirty early, and I was struggling on where to be and really going nowhere until we got cautions on lap 18 & 19.  On the restarts I found the bottom and started to quickly move forward.  If we had one more yellow after getting in 5^th I think I could have won.  We have a big one next week and extra laps to get it done.”

Bobby Trapper finished 6^th from his 5^th starting position to post his best finish of what has been a tough season to date.

Bobby recalled “Season as a whole has just been a disaster with just one problem or issue after another. I think we qualified for every race but one but haven’t finished a feature in months.  We’ve been trying small things with the car each week trying to find a good balance with the right side Panhard but still haven’t gotten it perfected yet.  The track was good as always, and just fortunate to stay in the top ten after sliding heavily on the lap 19 restart.  Hoping to say it’s something to build off.”

Mike Laise finished 9^th from his 3^rd starting position posting his second top ten finish of the season.

Mike noted “Tonight the car just felt as good as it has all year. all night long. I got the lead in the heat and with the track fast on top, I knew I just had to hit my marks and put together 12 good laps.  I figured out this week that the MSD box was bad and it was the source of my struggles over the past 3 or 4 weeks.  In all my racing I have never had an MSD box go bad before.”

“I didn’t change anything from the heat race to the feature. I put a 50 on the RR and that hurt me. I could never run good with them and after the last restart on lap 19 it never felt like it came back in.  Last night gave me my confidence back. We have 6 weeks left to make something happen for pops. I want to get pops in victory lane this year.”

Next up on Saturday, August 9 will be the Forrest Rogers Memorial paying $10,000 to the Modified winner of a 50-lap feature along with a 25-lap sportsman feature. Hot laps at 6:15 and racing at 7:30 pm.