Hirthler, Miller, Lilick reach victory lane at Grandview
Kevin Hirthler tallied up his third 30-lap T.P. Trailers Modified NASCAR Advance Auto Parts feature win of the season on Saturday night at Grandview Speedway when he passed his father-in-law Ray Swinehart on the 21st lap and was able to hold off ten time track champion Jeff Strunk and then runner-up Dillon Steuer for the win. Even though Hirthler has won features this year he has struggled with mechanical and other issues and he assured the fans in victory lane that he has not been “sandbagging” or wrecking just to get a better starting spot.
Tom Miller has been close on numerous occasions to win a 25lap T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman feature, but was never able to find his way to the winner’s circle for one reason or another. He finally turned the tables around and held off the challenges of Kyle Smith for the last ten laps of the event for his first win of the year.
The 22-lap Hard Charger Challenge feature, a special event for racers who had not won a Modified feature race at Grandview before or were not in the top 15 spots in the Modified point standings was won by Ryan Lilick earning the young racer $1,022. The event was put together by former car owner and driver Joe “Geezer” Fanelli. In addition to the Joey Adams custom created check Lilick was given the opportunity to start the 30-lap Modified feature in last or to try for a better spot in a heat race. Lilick, a Sportsman regular, chose to run in a qualifying heat and won giving him a better feature starting spot.
Saturday, September 12 will have the final NASCAR Track championship event pf the season being presented. Currently at the top of the leader board in the Modified division is ten-time champion Craig Von Dohren while former Sportsman champion Brian Hirthler leads the way in that class. The Hope Mortgage Team, which sponsors Sportsman drivers B.J. Joly and Lex Shive will present an extra $1,000 to the Modified and Sportsman feature winners. Both classes will have a Cash Dash, a Hard Charger and Hard Luck recipient with action set to get underway at 7:30 p.m. Adult admission is $15 while youngsters under 12 are admitted free.
T. P. Trailers Modified Feature (30-laps): 1. Kevin Hirthler, 2. Dillon Steuer, 3. Jeff Strunk, 4. Craig Von Dohren, 5. Craig Whitmoyer, 6. Mike Gular, 7. Justin Grim, 8. Jared Umbenhauer, 9. Ryan Grim (provisional), 10. Duane Howard, 11. Ryan Lilick, 12. Brad Brightbill, 13. Ron Kline, 14. Carroll Hine III, 15. Ron Haring Jr., 16. Bob Trapper, 17. Ray Swinehart, 18. Louden Reimert, 19. Rick Laubach, 20. Kyle Weiss, 21. Mike Lisowski, 22. Kenny Gilmore, 23. Dylan Swinehart, 24. Brett Gilmore, 25. Bobby Trapper, 26. Dan Waisempacher, 27. Doug Manmiller, 28. Brett Kressley, 29. Richie Hitzler. DNQ: Eric Biehn, Mark Levy Jr., Mark Kratz, Joe Funk III, Brad Grim, Darrin Schuler, Ron Myers, Colt Harris, Bobby Gunther Walsh and John Willman. T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman Feature (25 laps): 1. Tom Miller, 2. Kyle Smith, 3. Cole Stangle, 4. Nate Brinker, 5. Brad Arnold, 6. Kyle Lilick, 7. Brian Hirthler, 8. Ryan Beltz, 9. Mark Kemmerer, 10. Nathan Mohr, 11. Parker Guldin, 12. Kenny Bock, 13. Scott Kohler, 14. Derrick Smith, 15. Jack Butler, 16. John McGovern, 176. Jesse Leiby, 18. Chris Esposito, 19. Chuck Eckert, 20. Decker Swinehart, 21. Jimmy Leiby, 22. Mike Laise, 23. Dakota Kohler, 24. Steve Young. DNQ: B. J. Joly, Brianna Jones, Tommy Scheetz III and Bryan Rhoads. Hard Charger Challenge Modified Feature (22laps): 1. Ryan Lilick, 2. Richie Hitzler, 3. Dan Waisempacher, 4. Eric Biehn, 5. Bobby Gunther Walsh, 6. Mark Kratz, 7. Mark Levy, 8. Darrin Schuler, 9. Joe Funk III, 10. Ron Haring Jr., 11. Brad Grim, 12. Ron Myers, 13. Brett Gilmore, 14. Ron Kline, 15. Bobby Trapper Jr.
Big Diamond
Under picture perfect weather condition, the Coalcracker weekend at Big Diamond Speedway got underway with the running of the Coalcracker 40 Open Sportsman race on Fire Management and Control night. Once again it was Brad Brightbill leading the way and winning his fourth feature of the year taking home the $1,600 first-place prize. Ronnie Suhr Jr. won his first career feature in the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner division while Jason Geesaman was back on top taking the Hellers Gas Street Stock feature. Billy Workman Jr was the winner of the Central PA Legends feature.
“Man, I hope we can keep this going to the end of the year,” said an excited Brightbill in the tech shed after the big win. “The car was good tonight, we tightened the car up a little more tonight because of the longer distance and the longer the race went, the better the car got. I was really looking forward to racing with Brandon (Edgar) tonight, he is a good hard racer but unfortunately for him it didn’t work out. I actually clipped my left front in that wreck and I thought I broke the steering rod because the whole steering wheel got rearranged on me but I wiggled the car going down the back stretch and it felt good so I kept going.
Brightbill who is the son of the legendary Kenny Brightbill was proud to get a win on Coalcracker weekend like his father had done in the past.
“Anytime you can get a Coalcracker be it in a modified or in a sportsman is a big deal,” cited Brightbill. “To have my family here with me along with so many friends and my crew is just great. I ‘ve been trying to win one of these for about 16 years and this year we finally did it!”
U.S.S. Achey, Inc. Open Sportsman - Coalcracker 40 - The feature was won by Brad Brightbill and followed by Tim Fitzpatrick, Kyle Lilick,
Chuck Eckert, Ray Woodall Jr, Scott Kohler, Cole Stangle, Doug Hendricks, Wayne Witmer, Mike Schneck, Daryl Dissinger, Mike Toth, Glenn Rowan, Brandon Auman, Mike Burrows, Bob Lineman Jr, Marc Berzowski, Blake Reber, Tyler Reber, Ken Eckert Jr, Brandon Edgar, Jeremy Hertzog and Eddie Strada. The Open Sportsman Heat Races were won by Tim Fitzpatrick and Scott Kohler. Ultra Shield Hard Charger Award - Doug Hendricks GME Steering 9th Place Award - Wayne Witmer Rod End Supply 4th Place Award - Chuck Eckert Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Winner Award - Brad Brightbill Gene Latta Ford Central PA Legends - The feature was won by Billy Workman Jr and followed by Scott Houdeshell, Seth Kearchner, Joe Ryan Osborne, Austin Bellemare, Jonathan Robinson, Charles Dell Jr, Quinn Trimmer, Brent Marquis, Shawn Groft, Dwayne Holder, Logan Carbaugh, Cory Phillips, Zach Baxter, Eric Hurst, Scott Mussleman, Cody Atland, Jaiden Reyna, Aaron Updegraff, Jeremy Ott, Bill Diehl, Tyler Garreston and Nikita Johnson. The Central PA Legend Heat Races were won by Billy Workman Jr and Joe Ryan Osborne. Ultra Shield Hard Charger Award - Quinn Trimmer Red, White & Blue Auto’s Roadrunners – The feature was won by Ronny Suhr Jr and followed by Chris Holland, Alex Schoffstall, TJ Fitzpatrick, Matt Ney, Kris Ney, Jim Kost, Seth Reichert, Kevin Holland, Jon Schlauch, Tod Roth Jr, Ronny Suhr Sr, Chris Natale, Tonya Lance, Samantha Zipp, Ray Gara, Alex Ditzler and Joe Bassininsky. Roadrunner Heat Races were won by Jon Schlauch and TJ Fitzpatrick. Murphy’s Fabrication Hard Charger Award - Chris Holland Ultra Shield 4th Place Award - TJ Fitzpatrick Heller’s Gas Street Stocks - The feature was won by Jasen Geesaman and followed by Kody Sites, Ryan Smith, John McGeoy, Dean Hine, Robin Wagner, Elvin Brennan III, Jeff Haag and Jim Somers Jr. The Street Stock Heat Race was won by Jasen Geesaman. Murphy’s Fabrication Hard Charger Award - Dean Hine