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BECHTELSVILLE, PA. – The 64th anniversary season of auto racing action at Grandview Speedway moves into the 56th annual Freedom 76 race weekend, the biggest, most prestigious, and most lucrative racing event of the year for both competitors and fans.
The Freedom 76 weekend begins on Friday, September 18 with the 13th annual T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Freedom 38 Sportsman Championship. The race program will include qualifying heats, consolations, Roy Miller II of Keller Williams Real Estate $500 to win cash dash, the Patriot 20, all leading up to the 38-lap Championship feature event that will pay $2064 to win plus bonuses, plus practice time for 358 Modified drivers wishing to participate in the Freedom 76.
Friday’s program is also known as Fans for Five Friday as the grandstand admission is just $5, while children ages 9 and under will be free of charge. Pit admission on Friday is $40, and no license is required. There is no rain date for the Friday event.
On Friday, pit gates open at 3 pm, with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm, drivers meeting at 5:30 pm, with the pill draw following the drivers meeting. Warmups are at 6:15 pm, and racing will start at 7:30 pm.
Saturday, September 19, will feature the 56th annual Freedom 76 in honor of Theresa Rogers for the T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment 358 Modifieds. The program includes qualifying heats, consolations, GT Radiator Repair $1000 to win cash dash, and the Schaeffer’s Motorsports Minuteman 20, all leading up to the 76-lap Championship main event that will pay $35,531 plus bonuses to the winner.
On Saturday pit gates open at 9 am, for car inspections, fans will be able to enter the Grandstand areas between 9 am, and 12 Noon to reserve seats with blankets, with grandstand ticket windows opening at 3 pm. Pill draw for position is at 4:30 pm, with the drivers meeting at 5 pm, warm-ups are at 6 pm, with racing starting at 7 pm.
Adult Grandstand tickets on Saturday will be $40, students 10-15 with ID are $20, while children ages 9 and under are admitted free of charge. Pit admission will be $45, and no license is required. There will be no advanced tickets sold for this event, and the rain date is Saturday, September 26.
Drivers are reminded that rules and procedures as well as entry forms for the 56th annual Freedom 76 are available on the Grandview Speedway website at www.grandviewspeedway.com under the Freedom 76 tab.
For the Freedom 76 & Freedom 38, the tire rules for the event are as follows, American Racer tires, 48 or 50 on the right rear, and it must be the Grandview Speedway tread pattern. Drivers are reminded that all cars must be using the RIGHT SIDE pan hard bar suspension set up. All Grandview engine and body rules apply, please check the website for details or any questions please call Cliff Quinn 484-357-2587 or Ed Scott 610-298-2408.
All race teams are reminded that, as has been the case all season, there is no fuel truck on site so plan accordingly. American Racer tires will be available at the racetrack this weekend.
This year’s 56th annual race saluting late track owner Theresa Rogers will be paying the race winner $35,531, with the number 531 signifying Theresa Rogers May 31st birthday.
With Grandview Speedway being a member of the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts, drivers who will be competing in this season’s T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified Freedom 76 will be racing for bonus money courtesy of the NASCAR Local Racing Series.
*On Saturday, September 19 the winner of the Freedom 76 will receive a $1000 bonus from the NASCAR Local Racing Series increasing the winner’s take to a cool $36,531, and if the driver competed in all the Saturday NASCAR point races at the track this season, an additional bonus of $1000 will be awarded, plus Victory Auto Glass has posted a $300 bonus if the winner starts 12th or further back in the feature, plus a Bob Hilbert Sportswear Gift Certificate of $150 to the winner, making it possible for a driver to win $37,981 in this year’s Freedom 76!
The list of drivers that have picked up a win in the Freedom 76 is long and varied, with the names on the list a who’s who in northeast Modified racing. All time there have been 29 different drivers in the 55 events to date that have reached the hallowed ground of Freedom 76 Victory Lane. Of the 29 different drivers, only eight of those drivers have scored more than one victory in the classic event.
Jeff Strunk is the man to beat in Freedom 76 competition, winning the prestigious event more than any other driver, scoring the Freedom 76 victory eight times. Strunk’s wins have been in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2012 (Grandview’s 50th season of operation), 2013, 2016, 2017, and most recently in the race’s 50th anniversary running in 2020.
There are two drivers with the second most wins in the Freedom 76 with six each, a tie between Craig Von Dohren and Billy Pauch.
Von Dohren, the track’s all-time leading feature winner, scored his first Freedom 76 win in 1985, but did not get the second win until sixteen years later in 2001. Additional wins followed in 2006, 2008, 2015, and his most recent was the 2022 championship event.
Billy Pauch is a driver who was only a Grandview regular for a short time in his career, with Pauch picking up his Freedom 76 wins in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, and his final victory was in 2000.
Third most in Freedom 76 wins is Duane Howard with five Freedom 76 checkered flags. For Howard, a seven-time track champion, his wins have also been spread out over a period of time, with the first Freedom win coming in 1993, followed with wins in 1997, 1999, 2011, and his most recent in 2018.
The very first race in 1971 saw track champion Ed Mumford score the win in what was at the time the longest race in track history. It was Mumford’s 13th win of the fourteen he would win that season on his way to the point title. Mumford would come back in 1975 to claim his second and final Freedom win.
Other multi-time winners of the event include Meme DeSantis who is a three-time winner, with wins coming in 2002, 2009, and 2010. Sprint Car Hall of Famer Fred Rahmer also scored two Freedom wins early in his career, with wins in 1981 and 1983.
Ryan Godown joined the multi-time winners club, with his Freedom 76 wins coming in the 2023 event after picking up his first 76er victory in the 2021 race event.
Drivers that have recorded one precious win in a Freedom 76 include Glenn Fitzcharles in 1972, Roger Knappenberger in 1973, Mike Erb in 1974, Pete Damiani in 1976, Doug Carlyle in 1977, Bobby Hauer in 1978, and John Blackley in 1979 completing the decade of the 1970’s.
Single winners in the 1980’s include Paul Lotier in 1980, Smokey Warren in 1982, Doug Hoffman in 1984, Tom Mayberry in 1986, Davey Wenger in 1987, and Billy Schinkel in 1989.
Moving to the single winners in the 1990’s, the drivers to win include Kenny Brightbill in 1990, Chip Slocum in 1994, and Donny Erb in 1995.
More recent winners of one Freedom 76 in the 2000’s include Ray Swinehart in 2005, Stewart Friesen in 2014, Mike Gular in 2019, Alex Yankowski in 2024, and last year’s first time winner Eddie Strada scoring the biggest win of his young career.
Competition has been fierce this season in the T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modified division, and entering this Saturday’s Freedom 76, eleven different drivers have reached victory lane led by Craig Von Dohren, Brett Kressley, Louden Reimert and Jeff Strunk (which includes a Thunder on the Hill series win) all with three wins, with Jared Umbenhauer having two feature wins, while Duane Howard, Ryan Watt, Anthony Perrego, Tim Buckwalter, Billy Pauch Jr. (Thunder Series win), and newly crowned Track Champion Logan Watt all having a single victory.
Last season nearly 60 drivers competed in the Freedom 76, so action should be intense between the nearly four dozen regulars and numerous invaders planning to attend.
For the latest updates, check in with the Grandview Speedway Facebook page.
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.
UPCOMING EVENTS –
Friday, September 18 – 13th annual FREEDOM 38 SPORTSMAN CHAMPIONSHIP – T.P. Trailer & Truck Equipment Sportsman 38 laps, Modified Practice for Freedom 76 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 19 – 56th annual FREEDOM 76 MODIFIED CLASSIC – Modifieds 76 laps – 7 pm (Rain date September 26)
Saturday, September 26 – TIM PAUCH MEMORIAL – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, Keystone Sport Compact Series, Xcel 600 Modifieds, Atlantic Coast Old Timers, Halloween for the Kids – 5 pm (Rain date October 3)
FREEDOM 76 WINNER’S LIST
2025 – Eddie Strada
2024 – Alex Yankowski
2023– Ryan Godown
2022 – Craig Von Dohren
2021 – Ryan Godown
2020 – Jeff Strunk
2019 – Mike Gular
2018 – Duane Howard
2017 – Jeff Strunk
2016 – Jeff Strunk
2015 – Craig Von Dohren
2014 – Stewart Friesen
2013 – Jeff Strunk
2012 – Jeff Strunk
2011 – Duane Howard
2010 – Meme DeSantis
2009 – Meme DeSantis
2008 – Craig Von Dohren
2007 – Jeff Strunk
2006 – Craig Von Dohren
2005 – Ray Swinehart
2004 – Jeff Strunk
2003 – Jeff Strunk
2002 – Meme DeSantis
2001 – Craig Von Dohren
2000 – Billy Pauch
1999 – Duane Howard
1998 – Billy Pauch
1997 – Duane Howard
1996 – Billy Pauch
1995 – Donny Erb
1994 – Chip Slocum
1993 – Duane Howard
1992 – Billy Pauch
1991 – Billy Pauch
1990 – Kenny Brightbill
1989 – Billy Schinkel
1988 – Billy Pauch
1987 – Davey Wenger
1986 – Tom Mayberry
1985 – Craig Von Dohren
1984 – Doug Hoffman
1983 – Fred Rahmer
1982 – Smokey Warren
1981 – Fred Rahmer
1980 – Paul Lotier
1979 – John Blackley
1978 – Bobby Hauer
1977 – Doug Carlyle
1976 – Pete Damiani
1975 – Eddie Mumford
1974 – Mike Erb
1973 – Roger Knappenberger
1972 – Glenn Fitzcharles
1971 – Eddie Mumford
