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ANOTHER FIRST – MATTHEW LAUBACH SCORES FIRST CAREER WIN IN NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE EVENT
Photo SDS Photography
BECHTELSVILLE, PA. – It was another highly entertaining and action packed night of NASCAR stock racing, with a repeat winner and another driver earning their first career victory Saturday night at Grandview Speedway.
When the checkered flag dropped, known as “The Threat” Brett Kressley of Orefield, Pa. was standing in victory lane for the third time in the last four T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment NASCAR Modified feature events.
Kressley stormed forward from his eleventh starting spot, taking the lead from Tim Buckwalter of Douglassville, Pa. on lap ten, then perfectly worked through late race lapped traffic to score the feature victory.
Matthew Laubach of Quakertown, Pa. secured the lead on lap thirteen after a side-by-side battle with Xavier Sprague of Bath, Pa., then survived two late race restarts with Jordan Henn of Kutztown, Pa. and Brad Brightbill of Sinking Spring, Pa. hot on his heels, to score his first career T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman feature win in his first year of competition at Grandview Speedway.
Laubach became the twelfth different winner in the division, and the sixth driver to score his first career win at the track this season in T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman competition.
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.
The T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment 30-lap Modified feature got off to a wild start, with Darrin Schuler of Stroudsburg, Pa. taking the early lead, only to see Schuler and Bobby Trapper Jr. of Scranton, Pa. getting together on a lap one restart, with Schuler spinning, bringing out a second caution on lap one to again reset the field.
Trapper never stopped and was able to continue as the new leader when the green flag returned, with ninth starting Tim Buckwalter in hot pursuit, while Eric Biehn of Barto, Pa. a quick moving Brett Kressley, and tenth starting Jared Umbenhauer of Richland, Pa. were all holding down the first five spots.
Logan Watt of Boyertown, Pa. was really flying, mostly in the outside lane of the track, and reached the top five from fifteenth starting spot by the time the third and final caution would wave on lap eight for leader Trapper Jr., who suffered a flat tire, forcing him pit side and out of contention for the win.
Just before the caution, a great battle for position was continuing between thirteenth starting Rick Laubach of Quakertown, Pa., Mike Gular of Harleysville, Pa., Louden Reimert of Oley, Pa. and Jeff Strunk of Bechtelsville, Pa. for the top ten positions.
The lap eight restart set up two intense laps of side-by-side racing for the lead, with Buckwalter and Kressley battling hard, with Buckwalter running the outside and Kressley down low, with Kressley grabbing the lead with a low groove move off of turn four to score lap ten as the new leader.
With action running caution free from this point to the end of the race, Kressley would slowly build up a safe lead, while Buckwalter, Logan Watt and Laubach would hook up in a great battle for the second spot, followed by Biehn, Umbenhauer, Gular, Reimert, Ryan Watt of Boyertown, Pa. and Strunk, still fighting it out for positions in the top ten.
Kressley would reach lapped traffic by lap seventeen, but perfectly worked his way through, running the high outside lane, while the lapped cars pretty much stayed down low, allowing the leader to continue moving forward without any troubles.
By lap twenty-two, Buckwalter and Logan Watt were really duking it out for second, with Laubach, Gular and Umbenhauer in hot pursuit, followed by more action between Biehn, Ryan Watt, Reimert, and Strunk, along with Eddie Strada of Lake Ariel, Pa. and Anthony Perrego of Montgomery, N.Y. who were still moving forward through the field.
Buckwalter and Logan Watt would continue their fight for second to the end, allowing Kressley to motor through traffic without any challenges in the closing laps, to race home with his third win of the season, 33rd career Saturday night NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts feature win, and (counting Thunder on the Hill Series wins), his 36th overall Grandview Speedway victory.
Following Kressley to the finish were Tim Buckwalter, Logan Watt, Rick Laubach, Mike Gular, Jared Umbenhauer, Eric Biehn for his best run of the season, Ryan Watt, Jeff Strunk, and VP Fuels Hard Charger award winner Anthony Perrego.
Qualifying heats for the 42 cars on hand were won by Darrin Schuler, Rick Laubach, Chris Esposito of Telford, Pa., and Eric Biehn while Nathan Mohr of Kutztown, Pa. and Alex Yankowski of Covington Township, Pa. in the Ryan Graver driven 101 car, won the consolations.
The 25-lap T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman feature was filled with great action throughout, as well as having several caution flags sprinkled in between the entertaining action, with Xavier Sprague taking the early lead on the drop of the green flag, while Colton Perry of Topton, Pa., Matthew Laubach, Brad Brightbill, and Gavyn Krupp of Barto, Pa. were all battling for the top positions.
Laubach would quickly advance to the front, moving by Graber for second on lap seven, before moving in to challenge Sprague for the lead.
The top two drivers battled hard for the lead, with Sprague and Laubach running side-by-side for the lead at times, with Laubach taking the lead just before another caution on lap thirteen.
Laubach would continue as the leader following the restart, with Sprague chasing, while thirteenth starting Jordan Henn would move into contention, followed by a battle between Brightbill, Nick Van Wickle of Springfield, N.J. up from sixteenth starting sport, and Mark Mohr of Gilbertsville, Pa.
Hot and heavy action was also going on for top ten spots between Addison Meitzler of Kempton, Pa. moving up from fourteenth starting spot, along with Joey Vaccaro of Reading, Pa., Teague Miller of Barto, Pa., Gavyn Krupp, and Joe Toth of Upper Makefield, Pa. moving forward from nineteenth starting spot.
A lap nineteen restart set up a possible opportunity for Sprague to again challenge Laubach for the lead, however the top two drivers made contact exiting turn four, with Sprague glancing off the home stretch wall and causing some front end damage to end his great run way too early.
Laubach would have Henn and Brightbill right behind him on the restart, but the rookie driver took off, quickly building a safe lead in the closing laps to score his first career NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Sportsman feature win.
At the finish Laubach would pick up the win followed by Jordan Henn, Brad Brightbill, Nick Van Wickle for his best Grandview run, Addison Meitzler, Mark Mohr, Teague Miller, Joe Toth, Nate Brinker of Allentown, Pa., and Joey Vaccaro.
Qualifying heats for the 37 cars on hand were won by Kaitlyn Bailey of Alburtis, Pa., Matthew Laubach, Brett Grim of Coplay, Pa. and Jordan Henn while Mike Schneck Jr. of Pine Grove, Pa. and Bryce Bayshore of Bethel, Pa. 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 Keystone Sport Compact Series Four Cylinders.
The show on Saturday, August 29, sponsored by A.D. Moyer Lumber Company, will include qualifying events leading into a 30-lap T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified feature and 25-lap features for the T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman and Keystone Sport Compact Series Four Cylinders.
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.
As the month of August continues to march forward, attention will now build to the Freedom 76 weekend of racing featuring the 13th annual T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Freedom 38 Sportsman Championship on September 18, and the 56th annual T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Freedom 76 Modified championship race on September 19.
Lap sponsorships at $20 per lap are now available by contacting Tina Rogers, Tommy Kramer, Justin Steigerwalt or Jeff Ahlum at the track on race night, or email at www.jeffreyahlum@gmail.com or www.grandviewspeedway1963@
Lap sponsorships are a great way to wish your favorite driver good luck or advertise a business during the big Championship race weekend on September 18-19.
Lap sponsorships are read on the public address system at the track and posted on social media each week leading up to the big event, and on championship race weekend.
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): BRETT KRESSLEY, Tim Buckwalter, Logan Watt, Rick Laubach, Mike Gular, Jared Umbenhauer, Eric Biehn, Ryan Watt, Jeff Strunk, Anthony Perrego, Louden Reimert, Eddie Strada, Alex Yankowski, Jax Yohn, Kyle Smith, Ryan Grim, Duane Howard, Carroll Hine III, Nathan Mohr, Bobby Gunther Walsh, Kenny Bock, Darrin Schuler, Chris Esposito, Jim Housworth, John Willman, Bobby Trapper Jr., Brian Hirthler, Craig Whitmoyer
DID NOT QUALIFY: Adrianna Delliponti, Ryan Beltz, Cody Manmiller, Mark Gaugler, Jack Butler, Eric Kormann, Ryan Graver, Chris Gambler, Mike Lisowski, Dylan Swinehart, Justin Grim, Bobby Trapper Sr., Ron Haring Jr., Jesse Leiby
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT WINNER’S BONUS ($300): Brett Kressley
VP RACING FUELS HARD CHARGER: Anthony Perrego +15
PENSKE RACING SHOCKS CERTIFICATES: Brett Kressley ($75), Tim Buckwalter ($50), Logan Watt ($25)
DAN’S DELI HALFWAY LEADER GIFT CERTIFICATE: Brett Kressley
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps): MATTHEW LAUBACH, Jordan Henn, Brad Brightbill, Nick Van Wickle, Addison Meitzler, Mark Mohr, Teague Miller, Joe Toth, Nate Brinker, Joey Vaccaro, Bryce Bashore, Colin Cox, Jesse Landis, Brett Grim, Mike Schneck Jr., Steve Hughes, Chase Gular, Decker Swinehart, Brayden Shelton, Kaitlyn Bailey, Xavier Sprague, Gavyn Krupp, Jason Graber, Brett Gilmore, TJ Mayberry, Colton Perry, DNS – Jimmy Leiby
DID NOT QUALIFY: Kenny Gilmore, Johnny Fugelo, Mike Toth, Mark Behm, Kyle Hartzell, Steve Young, Shannon Slaughter, Alex Bartorillo, Del Howell, Josh Mittman
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT WINNER’S BONUS ($200): Matthew Laubach
GRANDVIEW $100 HARD CHARGER: Nick Van Wickle +12
PENSKE RACING SHOCKS CERTIFICATES: Matthew Laubach ($75), Jordan Henn ($50), Brad Brightbill ($25)
DAN’S DELI HALFWAY LEADER GIFT CERTIFICATE: Matthew Laubach
DRIVEN RACE OIL/JOHN WILLMAN MOTORSPORTS OIL & FILTER KIT 7th PLACE: Teague Miller
UPCOMING EVENTS –
Saturday, August 29 – A.D. MOYER LUMBER COMPANY NIGHT – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds & Sportsman, Keystone Sport Compact Series – 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 5 – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds & Sportsman – 7 pm
Saturday, September 12 – CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds & Sportsman, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage – 7 pm
Friday, September 18 – 13th annual FREEDOM 38 SPORTSMAN CHAMPIONSHIP – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman 38 laps, Modified Practice for Freedom 76 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 19 – 56th annual FREEDOM 76 MODIFIED CLASSIC – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds 76 laps – 7 pm
