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BECHTELSVILLE, PA. – In a wildly exciting main event, Mike Gular of Boyertown, Pa. out dueled Jared Umbenhauer of Richland, Pa., and Brett Kressley of Orefield, Pa., taking the lead with just six laps remaining, then went unchallenged the remaining laps to score his third win of the season in the 30-lap T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modified feature Saturday night at Grandview Speedway.
Umbenhauer and Kressley were locked in a tremendous battle for the lead, in and out of lapped traffic, which saw Kressley take the lead just before the only caution of the feature waved on lap 22. On the restart, Umbenhauer and Kressley went side by side into turn one and slid up high allowing Gular a chance to dive low, making a three wide battle for the lead.
Umbenhauer retook the lead following the restart, with Gular moving by Kressley for second. One lap later Gular caught Umbenhauer and made the winning pass down the back stretch to take a lead he would never surrender, going on to score his second straight win, and third of the season. It was also Gular’s ninth Saturday night NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series feature win.
In the T.P. Truck Equipment 25-lap Sportsman main event, Logan Watt of Boyertown, Pa. came out on top of a three-way battle for the top spot between long time race leader Joey Vaccaro of Reading, Pa. and Kyle Smith of Fleetwood, Pa. to score his second win of the season, becoming the first driver to score a repeat win this season.
The Outlaw Racing Series Vintage cars were on hand participating in the annual Dave Smith Memorial race, which saw Kevin Kuser score the win in the Modified division, and Sven Olson pick up the Sportsman victory.
The night’s race program was sponsored by T.P. Trailers and Truck Equipment of Limerick, Pa., who provide the feature winners with bonus money (Modified $300, Sportsman $200) every Saturday night throughout the season in a program that is run under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly series.
The T.P. Trailer Modified feature saw Darrin Schuler of Stroudsburg, Pa. take the lead on the opening green flag, while tenth starting Umbenhauer was on the gas early moving into the top five by three. It soon became a four-car battle for the lead between Schuler, Ray Swinehart of Perkiomenville, Pa., Ron Haring Jr. of Alburtis, Pa., along with Umbenhauer, all tightly grouped together trying to unseat Schuler for the lead.
Behind this great action was another super battle for position between Joe Funk of Coopersburg, Pa., Kressley on the move from 13th starting spot, Kevin Hirthler of Boyertown, Pa., Ryan Watt of Boyertown, Pa., Gular up from fifteenth starting spot and Jeff Strunk of Boyertown, Pa. who had quickly advanced from his 20th starting position.
Umbenhauer took third from Haring Jr. on lap eleven, and second from Swinehart one lap later, then went to work on leader Schuler. On lap fifteen, Umbenhauer was able to sweep around the outside of Schuler and grab the lead, with Kressley following into second one lap later, setting up their duel for the lead.
The two young stars then battled hard for the top spot in and out of lapped traffic, while Gular continued to advance reaching third by lap 18. The two drivers exited turn four to score lap 22 side by side rubbing wheels, with Kressley edging in front to be scored the leader just as the only caution of the feature waved for Swinehart who slowed to a stop in turn two.
The restart was the turning point of the race for Gular, as Umbenhauer and Kressley were concentrating on each other powering into turn one and sliding up the track leaving enough room for Gular to make a move down low, going three-wide for the lead.
Exiting the corner Umbenhauer had regained the lead, with Gular now second and Kressley third. Gular then put the pressure on Umbenhauer and was able to make the winning pass down the back straightaway one lap later, taking a lead he would not give up the remaining laps, pulling away to score the T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modified victory.
The final laps saw Umbenhauer and Kressley continue their battle, however for second, with Strunk and Craig Von Dohren of Oley, Pa. battling right behind them to the checkered.
At the checkered it was Gular taking the win followed by Umbenhauer, Kressley, Strunk, Craig Von Dohren who made a late charge for a top five, Doug Manmiller of Shoemakersville, Pa., Hirthler, Eddie Strada of Lake Ariel, Pa. up from 16th starting spot, Watt, and Ryan Grim of Laurys Station, Pa.
Qualifying heats for the 34 cars on hand were won by Ron Haring Jr., Von Dohren and Kevin Graver Jr. of Lehighton, Pa. with Ryan Grim winning the consolation.
The T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman main event saw Joey Vaccaro take off with the lead from the opening green flag and set the pace through several early caution periods.
By the half-way mark, Kyle Smith had reached second spot and began challenging Vaccaro for the lead. By lap 17 Logan Watt, who was quickly moving through the field from 15th starting position, had reached third, and joined the top two making for a three-car battle for the lead.
One lap later disaster struck, as Smith had his rear wheel break, allowing the car to dig into the soft clay track, sending the car into a flip and bringing out the red flag, ending the great race up front. Smith emerged okay, from the mishap.
Following the restart, Vaccaro and Watt raced side by side around the speedway, with Vaccaro high and Watt low, with Watt able to take the lead off of turn four scoring lap twenty one.
A final caution on lap 21 would give Vaccaro another shot at Watt, but the current point leader held off all challenges to score his second win of the season and become the first driver to score more than one win this season.
The final feature laps were hectic, as Addison Meitzler of Kempton, Pa. (21st starting spot), Logan Bauman of Bechtelsville, Pa. and Brian Hirthler of Green Lane, Pa. (14th starting spot) were having their own battle for third position.
At the finish it was Watt scoring the win followed by Vaccaro, Bauman, Meitzler, Cody Manmiller of Philadelphia, Pa. who also put on a late charge to the front, Hirthler, Kenny Bock of Oley, Pa., Adrianna Delliponti of Norristown, Pa., Brett Gilmore of Kutztown, Pa., and Nathan Mohr of Reading, Pa.
The theme of the night was Back to the 90’s, with the grandstand admission being rolled back to 1990’s pricing at just $10. Gilmore Motorsports and Hoffman Speed Supplies also challenged the Sportsman drivers to use a 1990’s era right side pan-hard bar set up in their cars, with the highest finishing driver receiving a $500 bonus. Seven drivers took the challenge, and Addison Meitzler picked up the bonus money.
Qualifying heats for the 42 cars on hand were won by Vaccaro, Smith, Tom Miller Sr. of Gilbertsville, Pa., and Watt, with Jordan Henn of Kutztown, Pa. and Meitzler winning the consolations.
The Outlaw Racing Series vintage drivers arrived with seventeen cars to participate in the Dave Smith Memorial event, honoring a former club member who passed away several years ago after being fatally injured while working for his local township’s highway department.
Kevin Kuser and Jr. Mikosz were the two drivers in contention for the Modifed victory, with Mikosz challenging Kuzer briefly as they reached lapped traffic late in the 15-lap feature, only to clip the inside wall and bend his front end and cause a caution with just three laps remaining.
Kuser then held off the challenges of Mike Stofflet to score the win followed by Andy Cassel, Richie Baker, and Wes Cassel. Sven Olson was the first Sportsman car across the line to take his class’s victory.
Grandview Speedway will be presenting another NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series program next Saturday featuring the T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds and the T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman starting at 7:30 pm.
The show on Saturday, July 29 will include qualifying events for both divisions leading into the 30-lap T.P. Trailer Modified feature and the 25-lap T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman feature.
Adult grandstand admission is $20, students 10-15 with ID are $10, while children ages 9 and under are admitted free of charge. Pit admission is $35 for NASCAR members and $45 for non-members.
Pit gates will open at 4 pm. with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm. warm-ups starting at 6:15 pm. and the first race of the evening getting the green flag at 7:30 pm.
The Thunder on the Hill Racing Series will be presenting a special event on Tuesday July 25 when the High Limit 410 Sprint Car Series will be arriving for a stand-alone 410 Sprint only program paying $23,023 to the winner!
Advance tickets for this event are available on TicketHoss, or at the track on race day. Adult general admission tickets (no reserved seating) will be $40, children 6-11 are $20, while ages 5 and under are admitted free. The pit fee will be $45 and sold only on race day at the pit gate.
Advanced ticket holders will be able to enter the grandstands at 4 pm. through the turn one gate, and general admission ticket windows and the main gate will open at 4:30 pm. with racing scheduled to start at 7:30 pm.
Since the 1960’s, Grandview Speedway has been presenting exciting wheel to wheel NASCAR stock car racing every Saturday Night starting in April and running through October, plus special events. Grandview Speedway is located at 43 Passmore Road, Bechtelsville, Pa. 19505, just off Route 100, ten miles north of Pottstown, Pa.
Information is always available at www.grandviewspeedway.com or on Facebook, or by telephone at 610.754.7688.
T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): MIKE GULAR, Jared Umbenhauer, Brett Kressley, Jeff Strunk, Craig Von Dohren, Doug Manmiller, Kevin Hirthler, Eddie Strada, Ryan Watt, Ryan Grim, Kevin Graver Jr., Joe Funk, Ron Haring Jr., Darrin Schuler, John Willman, Nate Brinker, Eric Kormann, Mike Lisowski, Ryan Beltz, Carroll Hine III, Ray Swinehart, Chris Esposito, Bobby Trapper Jr., Mark Kratz, Eric Biehn, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Chris Gambler, Tim Buckwalter, DNS – Jesse Leiby
DID NOT QUALIFY: Lex Shive, Jimmy Leiby, Craig Whitmoyer, Mark Malcolm, Justin Grim
T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps): LOGAN WATT, Joey Vaccaro, Logan Bauman, Addison Meitzler, Cody Manmiller, Brian Hirthler, Kenny Bock, Adrianna Delliponti, Brett Gilmore, Nathan Mohr, Jordan Henn, Jesse Landis, Ronnie Solomon, Zach Steffey, Jesse Hirthler, Molly Struss, Tom Miller Jr., Tom Miller Sr., Mark Mohr, Dakota Kohler, Nicholas Hamm, Kyle Smith, Colton Perry, Mike Schneck Jr., Brad Grim, Ryan Graver
DID NOT QUALIFY: Nathan Horn, Kaitlyn Bailey, Keith Haring, TJ Mayberry, Hunter Iatalese, BJ Joly, Dallas Breidenbach, Dylan Swinehart, Decker Swinehart, Parker Guldin, Kyle Hartzell, Mark Gaugler, Mike Stofflet, Zane Roth, Monte Pool, Tyler James
OUTLAW RACING SERIES VINTAGE DAVE SMITH MEMORIAL FEATURE FINISH (15 laps): KEVIN KUSER, Mike Stofflet, Andy Cassel, Richie Baker, Wes Cassel, Scott Schaeffer, SVEN OLSEN, Myron Haydt, Gage Phillips, Bill Gerhart, Stefan Zangari, Chris Reid, Tori Hall, Skip Smith, Jr. Mikosz, BJ Joly, Todd Marburger
UPCOMING EVENTS –
Tuesday, July 25 – THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES – High Limit Sprint Car Series – $23,023 to win 410 Sprints – 7:30 pm – RICH MAR FLORIST PRESENTS THE HIGH LIMIT SPRINT CAR SERIES POWERED BY LEVAN MACHINE AND TRUCK EQUIPMENT
Saturday, July 29 – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman – 7:30 pm.
Friday, August 4 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, Xcel 600 Modifieds – 7 pm.
Saturday, August 5 – HALL OF FAME NIGHT – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman – 7:30 pm.
Saturday, August 12 – 53rd annual FORREST ROGERS MEMORIAL – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds 50-laps, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman, TRIVIA NIGHT – 7:30 pm.
