Snyder back in action at Grandview Speedway
When NASCAR Late Model stock car racing returns to Grandview Speedway Danny Snyder will be part of the racing action.
The veteran racer has not been a regular at the Bechtelsville clay oval for the last few years as he went off to challenge racers at other tracks, moving up to Super Late Model racing with his familyfunded Rhoads Brothers Livestock Hauling racer.
This season the 30-year-old racing talent will be taking on the Late Model talents at Grandview driving a car, the KAM Fueled Racing No. 44, owned by Ernie Saxton
Steve Bartorillo. Last season the very same car was driven by Andy Cassell who has moved on to other endeavors.
What is neat about driving the KAM Fueled entry, according to the Green Lane resident, is that despite not being the owner he has been told he can race it the way he wants. He can do it his way and do it the right way.
“Grandview has good competition every week. Honestly though, it is a pressure cooker at Grandview. When we left before I was just not happy there anymore. We decided to move up to Super Late Models and travel to a lot of other places. Out on the road we didn’t worry about points. We just showed up wherever we wanted to race,” said Snyder. “All the tracks were much more relaxed, laid back and they’d run four or five different divisions in a single night.
“We will still be out on the road on Friday nights running our own family car. We’ll get out to Bedford (PA) and see how things go. If it rains at Grandview we could still tow out to Selinsgrove or Port Royal or whatever.”
With all the travel to different tracks Snyder has gained a lot of experience and that will bode well for him when he comes up against the tough competition on the one-third-mile, banked clay track on Saturday nights as he tries for a Late Model championship.
Help for Snyder will come from three guys that work in the shop. Frank Hoffman and Duane Beitler along with his dad (Terry), a former racer at Grandview, make up the pit crew.
Snyder pointed out that the KAM Fueled ride is ready to go racing.
He is also OK with the relatively new timed dashes that he feels are used to speed up the shows.
“Racing can be a huge waste of money if things aren’t done right. I do things my way. We’ve been successful and it’s much more fun and enjoyable when you are happy with the way everything’s being done,” said Snyder. “I’m very thankful to be involved with Steve Bartorillo and the fact that he thinks enough of me to call and give me an opportunity in his car. It’s all new to me. I like the track. I enjoyed racing at Grandview. I just needed a change of scenery back when we left before. I was approached back at the end of December about the ride and it didn’t take me long to accept. I’d like it to be a good year.”
Danny has a lot of experience to fall back on going back to Quarter Midgets and then moving into Late Models in 2004. Both his father, Terry, and his sister, Kelly, have raced in the Late Models and offer support of his racing efforts. His father was the winner of seven feature races at Grandview while Danny managed to grab nine wins and is looking to add to that number during this season.
Snyder will be going up against some talented regulars at Grandview including multi-time champion Chuck Schutz, Wayne Pfeil, Brian Shuey, Bryon Sipe, Steve Todorow and a host
of others.
The Green Lane, PA racer should be plenty busy in 2018 with a full slate of Saturday night racing at the popular Bechtelsville speed facility and then traveling to different tracks on Friday nights.
The first race of the 2018 season for the Late Models is Saturday, April 14th when the first tripleheader show of the season is presented at Grandview. This will be the first show of the season when NASCAR and track points count toward the lucrative championships for Late Models, TP Trailers Modifieds and Sportsman stock cars. That Saturday night show will get started at 7 p.m.
However, Snyder and all those planning to race at Grandview in a number of different divisions are invited to participate in the traditional free-to-thepublic practice season set for noon on Saturday, July 31st. Racers get to test and tune their new equipment for the new season and fans get to see what racers are planning to be racing in 2018, the 56th consecutive season of racing at the Rogers Family operated auto racing facility.
Getting a huge amoount of interest is the First Annual VP Racing Fuels Bruce Rogers Memorial Money Maker Classic scheduled for Saturday, April 7th. The $7,500 to win 50-lapper, featuring Small Block and Big Block Modifieds pitted against each other, is expected to attract many well-known names in dirt track modified racing to take part in the race that will be honoring the late track owner who passed away in March of last year.