NAPA AUTO PARTS THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES. . . . .

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JAKE SWANSON WINS FIRST THUNDER EVENT IN THE USAC NON-WING SPRINT CARS; STRUNK WINS MODIFIED FEATURE NUMBER SEVENTEEN AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY

BECHTELSVILLE, PA (June 13, 2023) – The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series kicked off the Amsoil National-touring USAC Non-Wing Sprint Car Series Eastern Storm on Tuesday night at Grandview Speedway in a spectacular double-header with the 358 Modifieds presented by Pioneer Pole Buildings.   The 40-lap USAC Jesse Hockett Classic was won by Jake Swanson collecting a $6,000 payday for his first Thunder on the Hill win, while the 358 Modified main event was won by Jeff Strunk claiming his 17^th Thunder Series victory in the special event series. Strunk, driving the Glenn and Bonita Hyneman #126 earned $3,000 for his win in the 30 lap main event. A total purse in excess of $45,000 was distributed with thirty-one USAC Sprints and thirty-two 358 Modifieds taking part in the big evening of racing. A well prepared racing surface delivered a great night action for both divisions.

Anaheim, California’s Jake Swanson kicked off the Eastern Storm at the top of the podium, picking up his first-ever win in the east coast swing of the series that started in 2007.

“I don’t even know what to say, I’m so pumped,” an excited Swanson said during Victory Lane ceremonies. “This has been a long time coming and we’ve worked really hard for this.”

Swanson dominated the early portion of the event taking control on the opening circuit with Thomas Meseraull close on his rear bumper. The caution flag flew for the first time on lap 18 for Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon – who raced up to the 9th position after qualifying in the semi-feature event.

On the restart, a 3-wide battle for the fourth position moved Emerson Axsom passed local favorite, Briggs Danner. Axsom would battle past Stockon into third, and then onto second-place with ten laps remaining.

The action stopped on lap 30 when Briggs Danner spun in turn two, collecting Matt Westfall who flipped bringing out the red flag.

Axsom challenged Swanson when the green flag flew again, riding around the inside of the race track, while Swanson rode almost against the outside wall of the famed one-third mile Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania oval.

The two pulled side-by-side with five laps remaining, but Jake Swanson would hold on to win the $6,000 Jesse Hockett Classic main event, Axsom settled for second position, Robert Ballou came home in third, Timmy Buckwalter in fourth, and Kyle Cummins rounded out the top five finishers.

Cummins, from Princeton, IN, started the evening with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series Quick Time presented by Clever Girl Winery racing a lap of 13.662. Heat races were won by Steven Drevicki, Mitchel Moles, Robert Ballou, and Emerson Axsom. The semi-feature was won by CJ Leary.

In the NASCAR 358 Modified event, Jeff Strunk went on to be the winner, but not without a few scary moments, a battle to take the lead, and, in the closing laps, he had to hold off a challenging Doug Manmiller.

Eddie Strada led the early portion of the event maintaining the top spot after a slew of early race accidents, the most heartbreaking coming on the 4th circuit when Justin Grim took the lead before making contact with an infield tire.   Both Strada and Grim were in the hunt for that $2,000 Pioneer Pole Building Bonus for any first time 358 Modified Thunder feature winner.

With Strada leading, Strunk and Doug Manmiller battled for the second position maintaining a rapid pace during the bulk of the 30-lap 358 Modified main event. While running the inside lane while approaching lapped traffic, Strunk made his move outside Strada taking over the lead. Manmiller followed into the second position and Mike Gular moved into third.

The caution flag flew two more times in the late stages of the event, but Strunk was able to keep Manmiller and Gular behind him. The three would finish in that order respectively, Danny Bouc finished in the fourth position and Brett Kressley finished in fifth.

GT Radiator Repair NASCAR 358 Modified Heats were won by Alex Yankowski, Doug Manmiller, and Jordan Watson earning a $100 bonus – Kyle Smith won the last-chance qualifier scoring $100 for his efforts.

The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series returns on Tuesday, June 27 for Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Car Speedweek presented by HVAC Distributors for the $10,000-to-win Greg Hodnett Cup. The 358 Modifieds are also on the schedule for this always popular mid-week doubleheader.

USAC National Sprint Car Series
Time Trials — 1. Kyle Cummins 13.662 2. Justin Grant 13.715 3. Chase Stockon 13.746 4. Matt Mitchell 13.776 5. Briggs Danner 13.813 6. Thomas Meseraull 13.895 7. Jake Swanson 13.932 8. Emerson Axsom 13.996 9. Timmy Buckwalter 14.052 10. CJ Leary 14.055 11. Matt Westfall 14.059 12. Shane Cottle 14.06 13. Brady Bacon 14.065 14. Daison Pursley 14.122 15. Carson Garrett 14.125 16. Logan Seavey 14.131 17. Steven Drevicki 14.147 18. Mitchel Moles 14.181 19. Robert Ballou 14.182 20. Anton Hernandez 14.195 21. Bobby Butler 14.217 22. Charles Davis Jr. 14.311 23. Alex Bright 14.329 24. Joey Amantea 14.405 25. Ricky Lewis 14.632 26. Patrick Chilmonik 14.684 27. Kyle Moody 14.706 28. Jason Cherry 15.817 NT- Max Adams, Isaac Chapple, Tom Harris

Heat 1 – 1. Steven Drevicki 2. Kyle Cummins 3. Timmy Buckwalter 4. Briggs Danner
Heat 2 – 1. Mitchel Moles 2. Thomas Meseraull 3. Justin Grant 5. Daison Pursley
Heat 3 – 1. Robert Ballou 2. Jake Swanson 3. Carson Garett 4. Chase Stockon
Heat 4 – 1. Emerson Axsom 2. Shane Cottle 3. Anton Hernandez 4. Logan Seavey
Semi-Feature – 1. CJ Leary 2. Brady Bacon 3. Bobby Butler 4. Matt Mitchell 5. Alex Bright 6. Matt Westfall
A-Main (40 Laps) – 1. Jake Swanson 2. Emerson Axsom 3. Robert Ballou 4. Timmy Buckwalter 5. Kyle Cummins 6. Daison Pursley 7. Thomas Meseraull 8. Shane Cottle 9. Chase Stockon 10. Alex Bright 11. Steven Drevicki 12. Carson Garrett 13. Matt Mitchell 14. Brady Bacon 15. CJ Leary 16. Justin Grant 17. Mitchel Moles 18. Anton Hernandez 19. Briggs Danner 20. Max Adams 21. Logan Seavey 22. Matt Westfall 23. Charles Davis Jr. 24. Bobby Butler

NASCAR 358 Modifieds
Heat 1 – 1. Alex Yankowski 2. Louden Reimert 3. Eddie Strada 4. Craig Whitmoyer 5. Adrianna Delliponti 6. Rick Laubach
Heat 2 – 1. Doug Manmiller 2. Mike Gular 3. Ryan Watt 4. Brett Kressley 5. Duane Howard 6. Jimmy Leiby
Heat 3 – 1. Jordan Watson 2. Jeff Strunk 3. Danny Bouc 4. Justin Grim 5. Logan Watt 6. Jared Umbenhauer
Consi – 1. Kyle Smith 2. Mike Lisowski 3. Bobby Trapper, Jr. 4. Brian Hirthler 5. Ray Swinehart 6. Eric Kormann
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. Jeff Strunk 2. Doug Manmiller 3. Mike Gular 4. Danny Bouc 5. Brett Kressley 6. Ryan Watt 7. Mike Lisowski 8. Kyle Smith 9. Eddie Strada 10. Jared Umbenhauer 11. Alex Yankowski 12. Adrianna Delliponti 13. Craig Whitmoyer 14. Duane Howard 15. Jimmy Leiby 16. Bobby Trapper 17. Eric Kormann 18. Brian Hrithler 19. Louden Reimert 20. Jordan Watson 21. Rick Laubach 22. Ray Swinehart 23. Justin Grim 24. Logan Watt