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Thunder on the Hill
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MAY 11, 2019
CONTACT: BOB MILLER 443 513 4456
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES
AMSOIL USAC EASTERN STORM QUICKLY APPROACHES, THUNDER SERIES OPENS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY TUESDAY NIGHT, JUNE 11
BECHTELSVILLE, PA (MAY 11, 2019) – The stars of the Amsoil USAC Non-Wing Sprint National Tour only come east one time per year and it all kicks off on Tuesday night, June 11 at the Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, PA. The 13th Annual USAC Eastern Storm will invade “the hill” as the first event of the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series with the hefty $10,000 to win Jesse Hockett Classic. This eye catching first place prize is part of the 30th Anniversary celebration for the Thunder on the Hill Racing Series. Joining the USAC Non-Wing sprints are the popular NASCAR 358 Modifieds. Gates open at 5 PM with qualifying getting underway at 7:30 PM.
Advance tickets may be ordered for the Tuesday, June 11 USAC Sprints & Modified show by calling 443 513 4456. Please speak slowly and clearly when leaving a message and be sure to leave your name and number of tickets you will need. Feel free to leave your phone number as well. Tickets may be paid for and picked up at the WILL CALL Window on race night after 3:30 PM. These tickets will entitle you to enter the grandstands at 4:30. Adult admission tickets are $30, children 6 to 11 $10 and children five and under will be admitted for free.
If you have never seen the AMSOIL USAC Non-Wing sprints at Grandview, it’s a must see event. The non-wing USAC National Tour are just perfect for the one-third mile high banked oval nestled on top of the hill in Bechtelsville, PA. Even time trials are a thrill as the non-wing sprints show wheelies and use so much of the race track that they are bouncing off the outside boiler-plate wall.
This event is dedicated a “classic event” to honor all-time sprint car great Jesse Hockett. Many us remember that special night on the hill, when Jesse won both twin 20 lap USAC features, thrilling the Grandview fans in 2009. In 2010, just prior to the Eastern Storm, Hockett succumbed to injuries suffered in a race shop accident. Levi Jones won the first Jesse Hockett Classic in 2010.
The boys of Summer celebrate our great nation on Tuesday, July 2 with 410 Sprint Cars competing for $10,000 to win the twenty-fifth Grandview Speedway Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speed Week event. NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson has put the PA Posse in their place for two consecutive seasons, but a strong field of local competitors plans to keep that cash on home turf. Look for local favorite Ryan Smith to hunt down and capture that first career Thunder victory wheeling the Mike Heffner sprint car in the new season.
The debut of the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midgets takes place on Tuesday, July 30. For years fans have begged, bargained, and pleaded for the Midgets on the Bechtelsville high banks and there’s no better time than the 30th Anniversary season of Thunder on the Hill. Many of the same USAC Sprint Car stars will strap into midgets for this event like Brady Bacon and Kevin Thomas, Jr.
The 5th Annual Levan Machine Truck Equipment Thunder Cup event brings the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions to the one-third mile Grandview Speedway on Thursday, August 22. A highlight of the Thunder season, the All Star event will pay homage to the late Greg Hodnett, with a special memorial trophy.
The 358 Modifieds will co-headline all of the previously mentioned events, competing in 30 lap events for $3,000 to win and lucrative NASCAR points. Grandview’s premier weekly division always thrills the crowd with side-by-side action.
The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series concludes on Saturday, October 19 with the House of Thunder Halloween Party featuring the 22nd running of the Modified Traffic Jam – where Big-Blocks battle Small-Blocks in the Mods at the Madhouse. Alongside the Modifieds, the Sportsman, and MASS Sprint Cars will also be in action.
The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series is sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts, Levan Machine and Truck Equipment, and Galco Business Communications.
2019 NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series Schedule
Tuesday, June 11 USAC Non-Wing Sprints 40 laps & 358 Modifieds Jesse Hockett Classic $10,000 to Win!
Tuesday, July 2 PA Sprint Speed Week 410 Sprints $10,000 to win & 358 Modifieds
Tuesday, July 30 USAC Midgets 30 laps & 358 Modifieds
Thursday, August 22 All Star Sprints Smoke on the Hill Thunder Cup & 358 Modifieds
Saturday, October 19 House of Thunder Halloween Party, 22nd Annual Traffic Jam 40 laps Modifieds, Sportsman and MASS Sprints
Grandview Speedway Contact Information
GPS USERS: 43 Passmore Road, Bechtelsville, PA 19505
Located less than a mile off Route 100, 10 miles north of Pottstown, PA
Speedway Phone: 610-754-7688
Thunder on the Hill Racing Series Phone: 443-513-4456
Series Website: www.thunderonthehillracingseries.com
Track Website: www.grandviewspeedway.com
Twitter/Instagram: @TOTHRACING
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thunderonthehill
About Thunder on the Hill Racing Series
The brainchild of Grandview Speedway owner Bruce Rogers, special events promoter Bob Miller, and local driving star Dave Kelly, the Thunder on the Hill Racing Series celebrates 30 years of the most anticipated events of the racing calendar year after year. In 132 events, over $4.6 million dollars has been divvied up among the area's fastest racers. What started as a single 410 Sprint Car event in 1990 has blossomed to feature a variety of racing action including 358 Modifieds, USAC Wingless Sprints, All-Star Circuit of Champions, 360 & 410 Sprint Cars, Sportsman, Late Models, Midgets, Legend Cars, DIRTcar and ROC Modified events. The 2019 30th Anniversary Series of Thunder on the Hill is dedicated to Bruce Rogers.
About Grandview Speedway
Grandview Speedway is a high-banked one-third mile clay oval, celebrating their 57th Anniversary season in 2019. The facility offers free parking, quality food at reasonable prices (be sure to try the french fries), a program book, Grandview Speedway and Thunder on the Hill racewear and great viewing from every seat in the house. Race fans may take part in the Inside/Out promotion, where you can sign up (no charge) to watch warm-ups from inside turn four. Race fans are also invited to victory lane following the racing program and, race fans may enter the pits after the races to meet the drivers. Be ready to enjoy the spine-tingling fireworks salute on the feature event parade lap.
How To Apply Tear Offs
Posted by: | CommentsWALL STADIUM MAY 11 ADVANCE AUTO RACING RELEASE
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Wall Stadium
DATE OF EVENT: May 11, 2019
DATE OF RELEASE: May 6, 2019
CONTACT: Jeff Gravatt
MOMS TO BE HONORED AT WALL SPEEDWAY SATURDAY
WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. ~ Mothers will be in the spotlight at Wall Stadium Speedway this Saturday (May 11) evening as moms who enter the grandstand area will be rewarded with a discount admission price of just $10 and a flowering plant courtesy of John Gasko and Son Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe while supplies last. All of the fans who attend the evening’s events will be rewarded with high-speed auto racing action from four racing divisions on the high-banked third mile paved oval. Stars Wars Night, which suffered a postponement from bad weather on May 4, will also be celebrated during the evening with a trivia game, free light sabers while supplies last and a character look alike contest.
Grandstand seating will open this Saturday at 5:00 p.m., qualifying is set for 5:45 p.m. and main event racing will follow at 7:00 p.m.
The Modified 40-lap main event on the night is important in the race for the season-long driving title. Two-time champ Steven Reed of Jackson, early season winner Eric Mauriello of Howell and top racers Andrew Krause of Holmdel, Toms River's Derek Hopkinson and Tyler Truex of Mayetta are expected to be in the field.
Also on the card will be 25-lappers for the Mike's Performance Center Limited Late Models, the Surfside Collision 4 Cylinder Stocks and the O’Shea’s Auto Repair Factory Stocks.
Pit gates will open at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday; with practice starting at 3:00 p.m. Grandstands will open at 5:00 p.m., qualifying is then set for 5:45 p.m. with main events for all divisions to follow at 7:00 p.m.
Next up on Saturday night, May 18, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will invade the famous paved oval for a 150 lap championship event. Tickets and pit area passes are available now online. Tickets will also be available starting at 1:00 p.m. on the day of the event. On race day gates will open at 2:00 p.m. Practice will start at 2:15 p.m., with qualifying set at 5:45 p.m. and features starting at 7:00 p.m. The 150 lap Tour Modified main event and 25-lappers for the Sportsman cars, Factory Stocks and 4-Cylinder Stocks are on the May 18 agenda.
Wall Stadium presents professional motorsports events on Saturdays and Sundays through early October with special post-season races in October and November. The speedway is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, N.J., just one mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. The speedway hotline number is 732-681-6400, while CKMotorsports@aol.com is the track’s email address. More information is also available at www.wallspeedwayracing.com.
HAMLIN SPEEDWAY OPENS UP 2019 SEASON IN SPECTACULAR FASHION
Posted by: | CommentsHamlin, PA -Hamlin Speedway Opens Up 2019 Season In Spectacular Fashion
By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media
Hamlin Speedway Promoters Randy and Denise Smith welcomed in an energetic group of racers on Saturday evening as they hosted the start of their 2019 racing season at Hamlin Speedway. The racing was top notch all of the way in all divisions and a great crowd was on hand to kick off what will be a great season at the speedway. The Hamlin driving stars used all channels of the 1/5th mile clay cushioned attraction to keep the fans the fans on their feet throughout the evening of speed. With some additional dollars on the line for the Wingless 600 Sprint stars, a great field of entries assembled in the Pocono Mountains to place their marks on the "Pearl of the Poconos" racing facility. The high flying racing action was sponsored by the good folks at S&S Speedways Indoor Go Karts located in Stroudsburg, PA. (www.ssspeedways.com). Six smiling winners found their way to the RLE Towing and Recovery Winners Circle at the end of the evening of racing action. The six feature show was completed before the 11 PM curfew rolled around and the rain the weatherman was calling for hit the speedway.
The Saturday night action found "The Rockaway Rocket" Danny Buccafusca putting on a show stopping performance as he led all of the 20-lap feature in the All Star Slingshot feature headliner. "Thr Oxford Express" Dale Kober finshed third in the regular Slingshot event event but did two positions better as he captured the regular Super Slinger feature. The JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint finale went to Dennis Chamberlain. Chad Sandt, a former champion in the divsion at Hamlin, put the finishing touches on the great run to capture the Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless Sprint feature over a hard charging "Traveling Man" Mick D'Agostino. Kasey Hufcut captured the Junior Slingshot event with a great run to the checkered flag. Pat Van Varick put on a show as he captured a feature event for the first time in a couple of seasons in the Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified headliner with Adam Buchel tagging on to him with each turn of the wheel. Alex Reinsmith held on for a great run in the opening event for the 270 Sprint division.
In the All Star Slingshot feature, Danny Buccafusca wasted no time as he grabbed the lead at the start of the 20-lap main and in a matter of a few laps you could color him gone as he raced away from the field in the Gilroy Northeast Inc hot rod. The battle for runner-up honors was a dandy as CJ Fritz couldn't run with Buccafusca but held on to the runner-up slot over a trio of hot rod drivers named Dale Kober, Jared Silfee and Austin Silfee. Rookie in the division, Brian Smith held on for sixth place whiletrack champion form a season ago Scott Neary was seventh followed by aniother rookie in the classs James Benz, veteran Paul Ennes and newcomer and former Junior Slingshot champion Shelby McLaughlin.
The Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified headliner found Pat Van Varick jumping out front early but getting stiff pressure from Adam Buchel. Buchel quickly glued himsel;f to the Van Varick rear bumper as he challenged Van Varick for the top spot. Van Varick and Buchel ran one/two the remainder of the event and they had to dart and dodge some slower cars in the fast paced event. Chrobak,, made no mistakes on this night as he finished in thiird place and probably had the best seat in the house as he witnessed the battle royal before him. The returning Michael Samony and Jeff Hineline rolled into fourth and fifth posistions. Another Rookie Lawson Scenceritis headed up the second five with Tanner Van Doren, Joel Price, another rookie James Costlow, and Amnda Buchel rounding out the top ten.
The Super Slingshot feature event found David Guest unleashing the power on his hot rod and raced away from the field with impressive laps in his number 29 race car. Guest spun out on lap six and Richie VanOrden took over the point. Dale Kober rushed in quickly and grabbed the lead from VanOrden and won the race going away. Kober and Richie VanOrden, Paul Ennes, Wally Bell amd Mark Exetor kept it interesting for the fans as they waged a fierce battle for third place.
Aidan Elliot raced into the lead at the start and would receive early pressure from Doug Smith. Hufcut worked his way forward from a fifth starting position and quickly found the traffic more bearable at the top of the raceway and drove around Elliot and grabbed up the lead and walked away from the field from that point on. Hufcut would claim his first win of the season with Elliot in for runner-up honors and hard charging RJ Sherman third. Charlene Benz was fourth and Aiden Donaldson rounded out the top five. Heading up the second five were New Yorker Ashton DeWitt, with Jason Bierman, Doug Smith, James Hendricks and Isabella Van Orden following.
The JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint encounter found Dennis Chamberlain leading the way at the start of the event over Carmen Leggio Sr. The Whiz Kid" Jack Hanna found his way into second place near the end of the event with some good moves off of the bottom of the raceway. Jacob Eby was solid with a great run from eighth starting place. Carmen Leggio Sr was fourth with Tony Parlanti, Kyle Ferrucci and Cody Powell hustling to stay in the hunt. The new breed of stars into the division did well in their first attempt at handling the rigors of side by side racing
"Bad" Chad Sandt took the lead at the start of the Chad Wheeler Excavating 600 Sprint event and he would lead throughout with Mick D'Agostino matching each one of his moves to remain in the runner-up slot. Later laps would have "The Electric Man" Colin White join in and the three cars were like magic on the racetrack. Zack Weisenfluh, a champion last year in the rookies, began well with a fourth place finish and Scott Slater Jr returned to the speedway to nail down a fifth place finish. Like Schostkewitz, who has been away from the speedway for a coouple of years did well in his return to action capuring a sixxth place on opening night. 270 Winner Alex Reinsmith took a ride in a 600 and came away with a seventh place finish while "The Big Show" Joey Amantea wa eight, Paul Richards Jr ninth and Mack Brink rounding out the top ten.,
In the exciting 270 Sprint feature, Glenn Macomber led early on until Alex Reinsmith pulled off an inside move to get by him in the latter stages of the event. Macomber was the runner-up with newcomer Lucas Weirich in for a third place finish and newcomer Chad Riddle was fourth
PEARL JAMS:
Kudos to Randy Smith for an excellent track surface that once again found the drivers utilizing the many racing channels throughout the evening of competition. Additional time was taken to keep the track surface smooth and tacky throughout the evening of speed.
The Junior Slingshot heats found Kasey Hufcut and Chalrene Benz with wins. JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint heats were captured by Jack Hanna and Carmen Leggio Sr. Glenn Macomber won the lone 270 Sprint heat. Pat Van Varick and Adam Buchel were the heat winners in the Stage One Modifieds.
John Gilroy captured the Super Slinger time trialed event with a clocking of 14.902 seconds over Paul Ennes who times in at 15.110 seconds for his run. heat event. John Mirabelli captured the Stage One Modified heat run. Mick D'Agostino was the top man in the time trials for the 600 Sprints with a 12.662 clocking over Chad Sandt's and Colin White's time of 12.795
Lots of new faces and cars for the new season ahead at Hamlin. Announcer Steve Pados aplogized to the crowd early on letting everyone know he wasn't going to get all of the names correct on this opening event evening.
On behalf of the Smith Family and Staff, thank you all for being part of our Hamlin racing community.
RESULTS:
All Star Slingshots: Danny Buccafusca, CJ Fritz, Dale Kober, Jared Silfee, Austin Silfee, Brian Smith, Scott Neary, James Benz, Paul Ennes, Shelby McLuaghlin, Mikey Johannes, Andrew Turpin, Rich VanOrden, Ashley Kober, Ron Thoman, Dawson Harringer, Joey Kalafut, Rachel Dickinson, Wally bell
Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600cc Sprints: Chad Sandt, Mick D'Agostino, Colin White, Zack Weisenfluh, Scott Slater, Luke Schostkwitz, Alex Reinsmith, Joey Amantea, Paul Richards Jr, Mack Brink, Gerodan Marrero, Cody Smith, Noah Zielinski, Joseph Smith, Tony Parlanti, Ryan Lacoe, Danny Buccafusca (DNS)
Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: Pat Van Varick, Adam Buchel, Anthony Chrobak, Mike Samony, Jeff Hineline, Lawson Scerncitis, Tanner Van Doren, Joel Price, James Costlow, Amanda Buchel, Evan Civick, John Bachetti Jr, John Bachetti Sr, Cody Motto (DNF)
Junior Slingshots: Kasey Hufcut, Aiden Elliot, RJ Sherman, Charlene Benz, Aoden Donaldson, Ashton DeWitt, Jacob Berman, DougSmith ,James Hendricks, Isabella VanOrden, Chaes Zimmer, Connor Mirabelli, Jenna Amantea, Kylie Hendricks
Super Slingshots: Dale Kober, Richie VanOrden, Paul Ennes, Wally Bell, Mark Exeter, David Guest
JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: Dennis Chamberlain, Jack Hanna, Jacob Eby, Carmen Leggio Sr, Tony Parlanti, Kyle Ferrucci, Cody Powell, Richie Maguire, Ryan Lacoe, Justin Newhard, Victor Cleary, Brett Kern (DNS)
270 Sprints: Alex Reinsmith, Gleen Macomber, Lucas Weirich, Chad Riddle
Make sure to always check the Hamlin Speedway website or Facebook page for any additional information. Pit Gates open at the speedway at 3 PM; Drivers Meeting at 5:45; Hot Laps are at 6:00 and the racing begins at 7 PM sharp. Admission Prices for regular shows are: Adults $10.00; Senior Citizens $5.00 Children under 6 are Free
Please support the many great sponsors who assist in working and sponsoring the season long events at the speedway. Tilcon, Ron Brown Hauling, JPA Masonry, Chad Wheeler Excavating, RLE Towing and Recovery, RockAuto.com, S&S Speedways and Yankowski Enterprises are all part of the advertising family at the speedway and we graciously thank them for their support.
Hamlin Speedway is seeking additional marketing sponsors to join the speedway team for the 2019 racing season. For more information, contact Steve Pados at: 484-784-7756 or through email at: steveswp@ptd.net or Denise Smith at S&S Speedways at: 570-420-5500 or at: http://www.hamlinspeed.com/ or on facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/HamlinSpeed/ or
https://www.facebook.com/SSSpeedways/ and http://ssspeedways.com/
http://ssspeedways.com/
For photos of the great racing action at Hamlin Speedway, contact Tim
Krysiuk at: https://strictlydirtphotography.smugmug.com or
https://www.facebook.com/tim.krysiuk
Visit us often for a great night of racing action as.........................
The Hamlin Speedway Is The "Pearl" Of The Poconos
My First Race At Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway
Posted by: | CommentsGRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY SATURDAY NIGHT THREE DIVISION RESULTS AND COMING EVENTS
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Grandview Speedway
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NEWS FROM ROGERS FAMILY GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY, BECHTELSVILLE, PA—THE 57TH CONSECUTIVE SEASON OF RACING
Presenting Saturday night NASCAR stock car racing plus a variety of special events. Track office: 610.754.7688
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING: Ernie Saxton @ 215.752.7797: Email: Esaxton144@aol.com – Cell phone: 267.934.7286
Race results provided by Vicki Gehris
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VON DOHREN AND BRIGHTBILL REPEAT GRANDVIEW NASCAR WINNERS – UNDERCOFFLER AND GARRIS SR. WIN BLAST FROM THE PAST VINTAGE RACES
BECHTELSVILLE, PA – MAY 5, 2019 . . . Craig Von Dohren and Brad Brightbill became the first repeat winners of the season on Saturday night at Grandview Speedway when they each won the features in their respective classes and were also able to beat out the forecasted rain.
The Blast From The Past Vintage feature saw former late model/modified driver Jamie Undercoffler win the Modified portion while Mike Garris Sr. won the Vintage class.
The ironic part with Von Dohren and Brightbill is they both won their first features of the year on the same night in April and now shared their second victories on the same night.
Ten-time NASCAR Modified point champion Von Dohren piloted the Nick Gatto-powered No. 1C in front of leader Ryan Lilick at the Dan’s Deli ½-way hoagie segment of the 30-lap TP Trailers NASCAR 358 Modified feature and went on to chalk up his 107th Saturday night career win ahead of runner-up Doug Manmiller, who finally had a change of luck to post a decent finish.
Brightbill overtook Tom Miller, who returned to the racing wars after a two-year hiatus, on the 15th lap restart of the TP Truck Equipment 25-lap Sportsman NASCAR feature to garner his second victory which was his seventh career win at the track.
Providing all feature winners met the necessary requirements, the Modified and Sportsman feature winner received monetary awards from TP Trailers and a certificate from VP Fuels for product awards
Bobby Gunther Walsh set the pace for one lap of the Modified feature before the red flag was thrown for a backstretch incident. Bobby Trapper Jr.’s car suddenly slowed and he was trying to pull into the infield. Cars scrambled and were left with nowhere to go. For the second week in a row Jeff Strunk and Brett Kressley were victims of circumstances and eliminated from action as well as Alex Yankowski, Steve Swinehart and Danny Erb. When action went back to green again, Ryan Lilick was the new pacesetter trailed by Gunther Walsh, Dan Waisempacher, Jared Umbenhauer and Briggs Danner.
Duane Howard, last week’s feature winner who was in the backstretch skirmish earlier but rejoined the race, brought out the next yellow with three laps complete. A piece of sheet metal came off the car on the backstretch. Gunther Walsh regained the lead, but one lap later Lilick was back in front.
By the eighth lap Von Dohren, who started 14th, was on the move in second spot challenging Lilick for the lead, but the youngster kept the veteran behind him trailed by Manmiller, Waisempacher and Umbenhauer.
After battling with Lilick for seven laps, Von Dohren finally succeeded in passing him for the top spot.
Lapped traffic came into the picture by the 18th circuit as the front runners had to be [prepared.
Lilick’s stellar performance while running a solid second, ended when he came to a stop in the first turn out of contention with ten laps to go. Von Dohren was still the leader on the restart, but now Manmiller, Umbenhauer, Waisempacher and Danner completed the top five running order.
The second red flag of the event came out on the 24th lap after Umbenhauer’s throttle stuck and he hit the third turn wall with heavy impact. He was uninjured and actually drove the car back to the pit area. When action resumed Von Dohren continued to be stalked by Manmiller, Danner, Waisempacher and now Frank Cozze.
Manmiller and Danner battled fiercely for second which allowed Von Dohren to gain momentum and build up a slight edge.
Despite the fact Tim Buckwalter, running in the top ten, brought out the caution with two laps to go, Von Dohren still held the competition off and went on to the winner’s circle. Following him across the line to post their season best finishes were Manmiller, Danner, Waisempacher and Whitmoyer. Cozze received the Hard Charger coming from 28th to sixth, followed by Kenny Gilmore, driving his own car; Kevin Hirthler, Ray Swinehart, Cargo Trailers award recipient; and Kyle Weiss.
Qualifying heat winners were Gunther Walsh, Trapper Jr., Lilick and S. Swinehart. Alex Yankowski and Weiss won the consies.
Sportsman feature action saw Miller grab the early lead with pressure coming from rookie Joey Vaccaro, Nathan Mohr, Derrick Smith and Ryan Beltz.
Mohr advanced to second on the third lap restart needed after Brian Hirthler and Brad Arnold made contact in the second and Arnold spun and had to be towed off out of action.
At Dan’s Deli halfway hoagie mark the front five were comprised of Miller, Brightbill, Mohr, Butler and Mark Kemmerer.
Mohr’s night ended after Kemmerer and Mohr collided and Mohr ended up spinning into the field and had to be towed off. Brightbill motored away quickly in the Leindecker Racing Engines No. 19 with Butler now in a challenging position looking for this second win of the year. Butler made several attempts to pass Brightbill, but each attempt was void.
Once Brightbill had control he continued to show the way until he pulled in victory lane. Second through fifth were Butler, Kemmerer, Brad Grim and another rookie Kyle Smith.
Smith, Vaccaro and Brightbill won the heats. The consi went to B. Grim.
Vaccaro, who finished 12th, was the highest crate engine finisher and received an additional $100 bonus.
Todd Lapp led five laps of the Blast From the Past feature before he spun and Undercoffler inherited the lead with Andy Cassel taking over second to challenge as the yellow came out.
Undercoffler never gave up the top spot and went on the win the Modified portion followed by A. Cassel, Lapp, Bobby Hall and Henry Yeska. Seventh place finisher Mike Garris Jr. was the Vintage class winner.
T.P.Trailers NASCAR 358 Modifieds and T.P.Truck Equipment Sportsman make up an exciting doubleheader show set for Saturday, May 11th with a 7:30 p.m. starting time. The first 50 mothers through the gate will receive a gift courtesy of the speedway as part of the Mother’s Day celebration and the youngest and oldest mom will get a free pass for a future race event. In all the events run for the Modifieds and Sportsman so far this season there has been nearly 70 race cars on hand for the two NASCAR divisions of racing and this Saturday should be no different. Adult admission is $15 with youngsters under 12 admitted free. Pit admission is priced at $30. Active military with proper ID are admitted free.
And on Saturday, May 18th the Rapid Tire United States Auto Club (USAC) East Coast Wingless Sprint cars will make their first appearance at Grandview. Making up a tripleheader night of heart stopping action will be the Modifieds and Sportsman. Adult admission is $20, youngsters 6 through 11 will be admitted for just $5 and those under 6 are admitted free.
RACE RESULTS
T.P. Trailers Modified Feature (30-laps): 1. Craig Von Dohren, 2. Doug Manmiller, 3. Briggs Danner, 4. Dan Waisempacher, 5. Craig Whitmoyer, 6/ Frank Cozze, 7. Kenny Gilmore, 8. Kevin Hirthler, 9. Ray Swinehart, 10. Kyle Weiss, 11. Rick Laubach, 12. Ryan Grim, 13. Eric Biehn, 14. Brett Gilmore, 15. Bobby Gunther Walsh, 16. Tim Buckwalter, 17. Jared Umbenhauer, 18. Ryan Lilick, 19. Louden Reimert, 20. Duane Howard, 21. Mike Laise, 22. Alex Yankowski, 23. Bobby Trapper Jr., 24. Steve Swinehart, 25. Jeff Strunk, 26. Brett Kressley, 27. Danny Erb, 28. Justin Grim. Clay Butler (alternate) DNQ: Ron Kline, Steve Wilson, Mike Lisowski, Jordan Henn, Frank Yankowski, Mark Levy, Richie Hirthler, Mark Kratz, John Willman, Dylan Swinehart, Ron Seltmann Jr. and Ron Myers.
T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman Feature (25-laps): 1. Brad Brightbill, 2. Jack Butler, 3. Mark Kemmerer, 4. Brad Grim, 5. Kyle Smith, 6. Ryan Beltz, 7. Dean Bachman, 8. Andrew Kreis, 9. Lex Shive, 10. Brian Hirthler, 11. Nate Klinger, 12. Joey Vaccaro, 13. Aaron Bowes, 14. Andy Clemmer, 15. Tom Miller, 16. Josh Adam, 17. Brandon Edgar, 18. Nathan Mohr, 12. Nate Brinker, 20. Mike Mammana, 21. Derrick Smith, 22. Brad Arnold, 23. Jesse Landis, 24. Kyle Lilick. DNQ: Sean Weiss, Parker Guldin and Kenny Bock.
Blast From The Past Feature (15-laps): 1. Jamie Undercoffler, 2. Andy Cassel, 3. Todd Lapp, 4. Bobby Hall, 5. Henry Yeska, 6. Doug Stepanchuk, 7. Mike Garris Sr., 8. Wyatt Jacobus Sr., 9. Curt Neiman, 10. Wes Cassel, 11. Dominique Deglas, 12. Rich Decker, 13. Bill Gerhart, 14. Tom Orth, 15. Chris Reid, 16. Jay Garris, 17. Brock Jacobus.
HOLY TOLEDO! SWANSON WINS 4TH ROLLIE BEALE CLASSIC
Posted by: | Comments
The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Kody Swanson holds the check after winning Sunday's 'Rollie Beale Classic' at Toledo Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)
HOLY TOLEDO! SWANSON WINS 4TH ROLLIE BEALE CLASSIC
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Toledo, Ohio (April 28, 2019).........Mother Nature may have delayed Sunday's USAC Silver Crown race at Toledo Speedway by one day, but it still couldn't keep Kody Swanson out of victory lane as he wired all 100 laps to score his fourth career Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness "Rollie Beale Classic" victory, his record-extending 26th overall Silver Crown victory and second-straight in the series to begin the 2019 season.
Granted, any victory is difficult to come by. The Kingsburg, Calif. native always seems to make it look relatively easily, although the backstories certainly tell a different tale.
In the March Memphis opener, Swanson and Nolen Racing endured a number of mechanical issues that forced them to a backup car on raceday. The team went on to win their debut after starting from the pole. To onlookers, the story appeared to unfold much the same Sunday at Toledo, winning his 26th career pole position and leading all 100 laps to win his sixth-straight Silver Crown race on pavement, an all-time record.
However, as with most success stories in racing, chapter one begins "Once upon a time..." somewhere in the race shop, with a crew burning the midnight oil with hour-after-hour of tedious maintenance and improvements. Or, perhaps, on the road, the setting may become a parking lot, as it was with Swanson and Nolen.
"The Nolen Racing 20 and everybody that's involved is just digging harder and harder," Swanson explained. "Yesterday, we worked in the parking lot for six-and-a-half hours before the rain came to make sure we'd be ready. Whether we liked it or not at the time, it's the kind of stuff like that that gives you a chance to finish 100 laps and a chance to win on race day."
Just two days shy of Kody and his wife, and spotter, Jordan's eighth anniversary, Swanson was able to scoot out to the lead at the drop of the green, leading a three-car breakaway with outside front row starter Kyle Hamilton and Eric Gordon in tow.
On the 20th lap, second-running Hamilton encountered an issue and began to slow to bring out the yellow, ending a promising bid for a win after challenging Swanson in the early-going. An inadvertent yellow slotted him back to eighth on the ensuing restart where he was able to gather himself and race back to a sixth-place finish by race's end.
On lap 33, seventh-running C.J. Leary's car blew off a radiator hose in turn two. Chaos developed behind him as the oncoming drivers took evasive action. Justin Grant went right to avoid the spinning Leary. Kevin Thomas, Jr. had no place to go, ramping over Grant's right rear and slamming nose-first into the outside back straightaway wall, sending his car into a 360-degree, mid-air roundabout before landing on all fours. Hamilton was also caught up in the incident, spinning to the inside without contact. Hamilton restarted, but the incident marked the end of the day for both Leary and Thomas.
Following the cleanup, and through the mid-portion of the race, the man on the move was 2017 "Rollie Beale Classic" winner Bobby Santos. Santos started 11th, but before the yellow, was up to sixth before turning up the wick, using the high line to enter the top-five around the outside of 2016 series champ Chris Windom between turns three and four on lap 48.
Three laps later, he used the bottom to drive by David Byrne on the low line for fourth on the 51st lap, then took third on lap 54 when second-running Gordon fell off the pace with a driveline issue, then set forth toward Aaron Pierce for the runner-up position before two-time American LeMans Series champ Chris Dyson spun backward into the infield grass in turn three on lap 59.
In his addition to his 26th win Sunday at Toledo, Kody Swanson also picked up his 26th career USAC Silver Crown pole position. (Rich Forman Photo)
On the lap 67 restart, Windom entered the fray once again as a four-car battle for second ensued between Pierce in second, while Windom and Santos dueled side-by-side for third, with Grant trailing the herd in fifth. Santos finally cleared Windom with just a little more than a quarter of the race left in the tank and set forth once again toward Pierce for second.
In the meantime, Swanson had boosted his lead up to 2.5 seconds and growing while Pierce and Santos duked it out western saloon-style more than a half-straightaway back. Santos aimed low in turns three and four below Pierce on lap 90 of 100 to pull even off the exit of turn four. Santos had the run on Pierce into turn one. Pierce wound up wide in turn two, allowing Santos to breakaway with the runner-up spot. However, dwindling time and hope impeded Santos' opportunity to chase down Swanson who was, by then, more than four seconds ahead.
Swanson closed out yet another "Rollie Beale Classic" victory, following triumphs in 2011, 2015 and 2018. Swanson held the advantage by 4.121 seconds at the checkered over Santos, Pierce, Grant and Windom. Swanson now holds an 18-point lead over Santos, Grant, Hamilton and leading Rookie Joey Schmidt.
Of note, the relatively frosty afternoon got a bit heated between Santos and Pierce during the post-race ceremonies with Santos challenging Pierce to a boxing match on the front straightaway to the delight of the fans. Tempers were tempered, cooler heads prevailed and racing continued with an Auto Value Bumper-to-Bumper Super Sprint Car Series feature. Santos ended upside down after a scary-looking crash on lap four. Under the red flag, Pierce helped tip Santos' damaged ride back on its wheels before Pierce went on to score the 25-lap victory over fellow Silver Crown starters Grant, Schmidt and Russ Gamester.
Contingency award winners Sunday at Toledo Speedway were Kody Swanson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Austin Nemire (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Cody Gerhardt (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 28, 2019 - Toledo Speedway - Toledo, Ohio - Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness "Rollie Beale Classic"
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-14.856; 2. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-15.098; 3. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-15.129; 4. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-15.165; 5. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-15.201; 6. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-15.202; 7. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-15.220; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 11, DHR/Byrd-15.233; 9. Jason Conn, 88, DHR-15.324; 10. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-15.327; 11. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-15.363; 12. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-15.376; 13. Joey Schmidt, 25, Pierce-15.460; 14. Chris Dyson, 9, Dyson-15.476; 15. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-15.485; 16. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-15.552; 17. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-15.603; 18. Cody Gallogly, 81, Williams-15.624; 19. Brian Gerster, 94, Ram-15.647; 20. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-15.663; 21. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Gerhardt-15.710; 22. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-16.103; 23. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-NT; 24. Jim Anderson, 92, Kazmark-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (11), 3. Aaron Pierce (3), 4. Justin Grant (6), 5. Chris Windom (10), 6. Kyle Hamilton (2), 7. Austin Nemire (20), 8. Derek Bischak (12), 9. Joey Schmidt (13), 10. Brian Gerster (19), 11. Russ Gamester (16), 12. Mike Haggenbottom (22), 13. Cody Gerhardt (21), 14. Kyle Robbins (17), 15. Cody Gallogly (18), 16. Chris Dyson (14), 17. Matt Goodnight (15), 18. Eric Gordon (4), 19. David Byrne (7), 20. Jason Conn (9), 21. C.J. Leary (5), 22. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (8).
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Swanson.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Austin Nemire (20th to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Cody Gerhardt
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-152, 2-Santos-134, 3-Grant-125, 4-Hamilton-116, 5-Schmidt-104, 6-Bischak-98, 7-Pierce-91, 8-Nemire-85, 9-Windom-81, 10-Gordon-79.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: May 23, 2019 - Indiana State Fairgrounds - Indianapolis, Indiana - 64th "Hoosier Hundred"
