Snyder wins third Firecracker 40

BECHTELSVILLE » Craig Von Dohren collected his second T.P. Trailers 30-lap NASCAR Modified feature victory of the season by holding off the hard-charging run of Mike Gular, the current Mod point leader, who was closing in during the final stages through the aid of the lapped cars. The Saturday night win didn’t come easy for Von Dohren, the ten-time and defending champion since twice he went through the middle of lapped traffic. He commented in victory lane that he knew they were racing for positions on the track that was getting slick for them as well as the others in the final event of the night. Von Dohren also thanked his crew and many sponsors who he realizes he wouldn’t be where he is without them.

Danny Snyder won his third Firecracker 40-lap Late Model NASCAR feature with defending point champion Chuck Schutz right behind. Snyder, the current point leader won the event back-to-back in 2012 and 2013.

In the 25-lap NASCAR Sportsman feature Brad Arnold, who was a spectator last week when mechanical problems sidelined him from the feature, finally had Lady Luck on his side and claimed his second feature victory of the year.

Events were broadcast by RCN-TV, Allentown and providing feature winners met the necessary requirements, they received monetary awards from T.P. Trailers and also product certificates from VP Fuels. They also were the Dan’s Deli ½-way hoagie award winners.

Modified action saw Eric Biehn overtake Chris Gambler for the lead on the second lap to become the new pacesetter.

While Biehn showed the way around the 1/3-mile oval, Gambler and Ryan Grim put on quite a dual for second with Jared Umbenhauer, Ray Swinehart and Von Dohren in pursuit.

Once Grim moved into second and erased the margin Biehn built up, he ran the bottom lane in an attempt to pass Biehn, who chose the high lane to keep the lead.

Ron Kline stopped in the second turn to bring out the only race caution on the ninth lap. It was still Biehn first on the restart, but by this time, 12th-place starter Von Dohren was in the challenging position.

The 13th lap was a lucky one for Von Dohren when he motored his self-owned, Nick Gatto powered No. 1C into the number one spot.

Umbenhauer advanced to second on the 16th circuit and took chase after Von Dohren who had somewhat of a slight margin built up.

RICK KEPNER - FOR DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Danny Snyder is joined by his young son in victory lane after winning the Firecracker 40 Late Model race at Grandview Speedway on July 7.