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JEFF STRUNK SCORES THRILLING FINAL LAP NASCAR MODIFIED WIN OVER BRETT KRESSLEY
ADDISON MEITZLER & BRETT GRIM CAPTURE SPORTSMAN TWIN 20 LAP FEATURE WINS
BECHTELSVILLE, PA. – It was a roller coaster night of emotions Saturday night at Grandview Speedway, from a tremendous pre-race tribute to thrilling racing action, it was another night to remember.
When all was said and done, Jeff Strunk of Bechtelsville, Pa. made a white flag lap pass of race leader Brett Kressley of Orefield, Pa. to score the win in the 30-lap T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified main event, putting a thrilling end to a competitive feature event.
For Strunk it was a milestone win, his 100th overall at Grandview, which included combining his Saturday night NASCAR (82), Thunder on the Hill Series (12), and Big Block Modified (6) wins to reach the career record achievement.
The T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman ran Twin 20-lap feature events with Addison Meitzler of Kempton, Pa. grabbing his first win of the season in feature one, while Brett Grim of Coplay, Pa. was able to score his first career win in the second main event.
The winners received bonus money (Modified $300, Sportsman $200) from T.P. Trailers and Truck Equipment of Limerick, Pa., sponsors of the two divisions at Grandview Speedway in a race program run under the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts banner.
Before the racing program began Saturday night, the Rogers Family paid tribute to track owner Theresa Rogers who passed away on Thursday, just two days prior to the racing program after she had been battling an illness for the last couple of months. Track staff, officials, and race drivers gathered in victory lane surrounding a restored 1980’s era pace car that Theresa used to drive, while a tribute was read about her life and importance to her family and the Speedway.
The T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified main event saw Mark Gaugler of Boyertown, Pa. grab the early lead followed closely by Ryan Beltz of Barto, Pa. and Ron Haring Jr. of Alburtis, Pa., with tenth starting Brett Kressley quickly moving into the top five by lap four.
A quick caution on lap nine regrouped the field, with Beltz taking the lead away from Gaugler on the ensuing restart, which then created a fantastic five car battle for the lead, with Beltz in front closely followed by Gaugler, Kressley, fast moving fourteenth starting Louden Reimert of Oley, Pa. and sixteenth starting Jeff Strunk who reached the top five by lap eleven.
The top five circled the track practically under a blanket fighting for the lead, with Kressley moving into the top spot with a low groove move off turn two on lap fifteen, with Reimert soon to follow into second on lap seventeen, and Strunk into third on lap eighteen.
The top three then began a fight for the lead with ten laps to go, while Beltz and Gaugler continued their great runs in the top five, while Ryan Watt of Boyertown, Pa., Mike Gular of Harleysville, Pa., John Willman of Birdsboro, Pa., Tim Buckwalter of Douglasville, Pa., and Eddie Strada of Lake Ariel, Pa. were locked into a fight for top ten positions.
With five to go the leaders reached lapped traffic setting up a tough scenario for leader Kressley, who would have to find a path through the thick traffic with Reimert and Strunk glued to his bumper, however only the second caution of the race for a stopped car with three laps to go that would set up one final restart.
Strunk would go to work on the single file restart on the drop of the green, sweeping to the outside lane picking off Reimert for second as the leaders took the two-to-go signal.
Strunk kept his foot to the floor and continued in the outside lane down the backstretch pulling alongside Kressley, who then powered hard into the turn and slide up into the outside lane to block Strunk, only to have Strunk crossover and power past Kressley down low exiting turn four to take the lead and the white flag and lead the final lap to the thrilling milestone, and emotional win.
Winner Strunk had many people to thank and several people to whom he dedicated his exciting win to, especially Theresa Rogers in a very emotional victory lane post-race interview.
Following Strunk to the finish were Kressley and Reimert who put on a great show for the fans, Beltz for his best run of the year, Ryan Watt, Gaugler for his best career Modified run, Buckwalter, Gular, Strada, and Anthony Perrego of Montgomery, N.Y.
Qualifying heats for the 41 cars on hand were won by Bobby Butler of Phillipsburg, N.J., Brett Kressley, Jeff Strunk and Ryan Beltz while Kyle Smith of Fleetwood, Pa. and Jared Umbenhauer of Richland, Pa. won the consolations.
The T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman ran a Twin 20-lap feature program for only the second time in track history, with feature one getting off to a terrible start, with two red flags in the first two laps really shuffling the running order.
Brad Force of Sellersville, Pa. led early before Addison Meitzler, who almost got caught up in an early crash but escaped, ran the outside lane of the track to the front and took the lead off turn four to score lap five.
By the half-way mark Meitzler still led, while Force, Jason Graber of Boyertown, Pa., Joe Toth of Upper Makefield, Pa., and Adrianna Delliponti of Norristown, Pa. were all fighting for the top five positions.
A restart on lap thirteen would put Toth alongside Meitzler, setting up a battle for the lead for several laps, with Meitzler slowly able to pull away in the final couple of laps for the win.
Meitzler took the checkered for his sixth career Saturday night NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts feature win, dedicating the win to Theresa Rogers and thanking the Rogers family.
Meitzler was followed by Joe Toth for his best Grandview finish, Adrianna Delliponti, Teague Miller of Barto, Pa., Brett Grim, Jordan Henn of Kutztown, Pa., Colin Cox of Perkasie, Pa., Brett Gilmore of Kutztown, Pa., Nate Brinker of Macungie, Pa., and Jesse Landis of Gilbertsville, Pa.
Amazingly only three alternates were needed for T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman feature number two, after the wild action in feature number one, with Shannon Slaughter of Lititz, Pa. taking the early lead, battling closely with Chase Gular of Pennsburg, Pa. and fourth starting Brett Grim.
Grim was able to roll the top lane of the Speedway and move past Slaughter and into the lead off of turn two on lap three to become the new leader, leaving Slaughter and Gular to battle for second while another battle developed between Delliponti and Henn for fourth.
Only two cautions slowed feature number two, with the second one falling on lap eleven giving Gular another chance to challenge Grim for the lead for several laps, before Grim was able to slowly pull away and build up a safe lead once again.
With Grim leading there was plenty of action behind him for top ten positions between Gular, Slaughter, Jesse Landis, Teague Miller, Nate Brinker, Colin Cox, Decker Swinehart of Fleetwood, Pa., Addision Meitzler, and TJ Mayberry of Sellersville, Pa.
Grim ran the final laps to perfection, allowing the fourth generation driver to score his first career Grandview Speedway victory, which he also dedicated to Mrs. Rogers.
Following Grim to the finish were Chase Gular for his best run, Jordan Henn for two top ten runs, Shannon Slaughter, Jesse Landis, Adrianna Delliponti, Nate Brinker, and Teague Miller who all had two top ten finishes, Decker Swinehart, and Joe Toth who also had two finishes in the top ten.
Qualifying heats for the 44 cars on hand were won by Taylor Kramer of Coopersburg, Pa., Dylan Hoch of Mertztown, Pa., Brad Brightbill of Sinking Spring, Pa., and Brett Grim while Nick Van Wickle of Springfield, N.J. and Shannon Slaughter won the consolations.
Grandview Speedway will be presenting another NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts program next week featuring the T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment NASCAR Modifieds and Sportsman plus the Low Down Throw Down one-on-one Modified Match races.
The show on Saturday, August 1 will include qualifying events for both classes leading into a 30-lap T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified feature and a 25-lap feature for the T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman.
There will also be one-on-one T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified match races presented by Low Down Entertainment, which will see the top seven drivers in T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified points plus the three fastest cars timed through that evening’s hot lap session that are not in the top seven in points participating in the match races.
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.
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.
The mid-summer classic for the T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds, the 56th annual Forrest Rogers Memorial, will be the following week on Saturday, August 8, with the Modifieds running a 50-lap $10,000 to win Championship event, along with the T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment sportsman starting 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. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): JEFF STRUNK, Brett Kressley, Louden Reimert, Ryan Beltz, Ryan Watt, Mark Gaugler, Tim Buckwalter, Mike Gular, Eddie Strada, Anthony Perrego, Eric Kormann, Logan Watt, Jared Umbenhauer, Rick Laubach, Mike Liosowski, Dylan Swinehart, Craig Von Dohren, Ryan Grim, Nathan Mohr, Ryan Graver, Kyle Smith, John Willman, Duane Howard, Brian Hirthler, Jim Housworth, Ron Haring Jr., Justin Grim, Bobby Butler
DID NOT QUALIFY: Matt Yoder, Eric Biehn, Kenny Bock, Chris Gambler, Darrin Schuler, Jon Kellner, Bobby Trapper Jr., Cody Manmiller, Jax Yohn, Carroll Hine III, Chris Esposito, Bobby Gunther Walsh, Mike Laise
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT WINNER’S BONUS ($300): Jeff Strunk
VP RACING FUELS HARD CHARGER: Jeff Strunk +15
PENSKE RACING SHOCKS CERTIFICATES: Jeff Strunk ($75), Brett Kressley ($50), Louden Reimert ($25)
DAN’S DELI HALFWAY LEADER GIFT CERTIFICATE: Ryan Beltz
FIRST T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 laps): ADDISON MEITZLER, Joe Toth, Adrianna Delliponti, Teague Miller, Brett Grim, Jordan Henn, Colin Cox, Brett Gilmore, Nate Brinker, Jesse Landis, TJ Mayberry, Brad Force, Chase Gular, Shannon Slaughter, Jason Graber, Decker Swinehart, Mark Behm, Mark Mohr, Dylan Hoch, Brayden Shelton, Ebby Ridge, Mike Toth, Nick Van Wickle, Stephen Laubach, Taylor Kramer, Steve Hughes, Brad Brightbill, Steve Young, Gavin Krupp, DNS – Joey Vaccaro
DID NOT QUALIFY: Jimmy Leiby, Matt Martino, Colton Perry, Parker Guldin, Paul Houseknecht, Josh Mittman, Bryan Rhoads, Johnny Fugelo, Anthony Raisner, Alex Bartorillo, Kaitlyn Bailey, Dallas Breidenbach, Lawson Szerencits, Matthew Laubach
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT WINNER’S BONUS ($200): Addison Meitzler
GRANDVIEW $100 HARD CHARGER: Jordan Henn +23
PENSKE RACING SHOCKS CERTIFICATES: Addison Meitzler ($75), Joe Toth ($50), Adrianna Delliponti ($25)
DAN’S DELI HALFWAY LEADER GIFT CERTIFICATE: Addison Meitzler
DRIVEN RACE OIL/JOHN WILLMAN MOTORSPORTS OIL & FILTER KIT 7th PLACE: Colin Cox
SECOND T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 laps): BRETT GRIM, Chase Gular, Jordan Henn, Shannon Slaughter, Jesse Landis, Adrianna Delliponti, Nate Brinker, Teague Miller, Decker Swinehart, Joe Toth, TJ Mayberry, Brayden Shelton, Addison Meitzler, Joey Vaccaro, Nick Van Wickle, Colin Cox, Matt Martino, Jimmy Leiby, Steve Hughes, Ebby Ridge, Gavyn Krupp, Stephen Laubach, Mark Behm, Brett Gilmore, Taylor Kramer, Brad Force, Mark Mohr, Mike Toth, Jason Graber, DNS – Steve Young, Brad Brightbill, Dylan Hoch
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT WINNER’S BONUS ($200): Brett Grim
GRANDVIEW $100 HARD CHARGER: Joey Vaccaro +9
PENSKE RACING SHOCKS CERTIFICATES: Brett Grim ($75), Chase Gular ($50), Jordan Henn ($25)
DAN’S DELI HALFWAY LEADER GIFT CERTIFICATE: Brett Grim
DRIVEN RACE OIL/JOHN WILLMAN MOTORSPORTS OIL & FILTER KIT 7th PLACE: Nate Brinker
UPCOMING EVENTS –
Saturday, August 1 – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds & Sportsman, LDE Modified Match races – 7:30 pm
Saturday, August 8 – 56th annual FORREST ROGERS MEMORIAL – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds 50-laps $10,000 to WIN, T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman – 7:30 pm (Rain date 8/15)
Saturday, August 15 – T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT NIGHT – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds & Sportsman, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, KIDS MONEY SCRAMBLE, BACK TO THE 90’s NIGHT $10 GRANDSTAND ADMISSION – 7:30 pm
Friday, August 21 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro & Vintage, Xcel 600 Modifieds – 7 pm
Saturday, August 22 – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds & Sportsman, TRIVIA NIGHT – 7:30 pm (Possible rain date if needed)
Saturday, August 29 – A.D. MOYER LUMBER COMPANY NIGHT – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds & Sportsman, Keystone Sport Compact Series – 7:30 pm
