Friesen first in inaugural Bruce Rogers Memorial at Grandview
BECHTELSVILLE » Mother Nature finally cooperated with the racing community on Saturday night and produced beautiful weather and the 56th racing season at Grandview Speedway got underway in front of a very large turnout of fans. Close to 50 small and big block Modifieds lined the pits to participate in the events leading up to the first annual Bruce Rogers Memorial Money Maker 50-lap race sponsored by VP Racing Fuels. The race was run in honor of the late Bruce Rogers, who passed away last March. Bruce, along with his father Forrest, built the track close to 60 years ago.
Three laps shy of a victory in the prestigious memorial event, Stewart Friesen wrestled the lead away from Mike Gular as the front runners had to deal with lapped traffic. Friesen held on and went on to collect the $7,500 top prize money along with beautiful hardware signifying the victory. In 2014 Friesen, now a regular in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition, won the season opener along with the rich Freedom 76 Classic.
Kevin Hirthler, doing double duty in the Modified and Sportsman divisions, took the lead when leader Ryan Lilick dropped out of action and chalked up the victory in the 25-lap Sportsman feature.
The official season of TP Trailers NASCAR Modifieds, Late Models and Sportsman will kick off on Saturday, April 21 all getting underway at 7:00 p.m. An added attraction will be the Blast from the Past Vintage Racers. Spectator gates will open at 5 p.m. VP RACING FUELS Bruce Rogers Memorial Money Maker (50-Laps): 1. Stewart Friesen, 2. Mike Gular, 3. Craig Von Dohren, 4. Ryan Watt, 5. Frank Cozze, 6. Duane Howard, 7. Meme DeSantis, 8. Rick Laubach, 9. Billy Pauch, 10. Mike Mahaney,
11. Matt Sheppard, 12. Jordan Henn, 13. Kyle Weiss, 14. Brett Kressley, 15. Louden Reimert, 16. Don Norris Jr., 17. Kevin Hirthler, 18. Justin Grim,
19. Mike Lisowski, 20. Tim Buckwalter, 21. Brian Hirthler, 22. Kenny Gilmore, 23. Jordan Umbenhauer, 24. Ryan Grim. DNQ: Danny Erb, Ron Myers, Ray Swinehart, Dan Waisempacher, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Brett Gilmore, Chris Esposito, Joe Fanelli, Mark Kratz, Jeff Strunk, Mike Kellner, Bobby Trapper, John Willman, Tommy Scheetz, Brian Krummel, Chris Gambler, Clay Butler, Doug Manmiller, Steve Swinehart, Eric Biehn, Briggs Danner, Bobby Trapper Jr., Ron Kline. Sportsman Feature (25 Laps): 1. Kevin Hirthler, 2. Brad Grim, 3. Brian Hirthler, 4. Dylan Swinehart,
5. Mark Kemmerer, 6. Jim Housworth, 7. Jack Butler, 8. Mike Lisowski, 9. Ryan Higgs, 10. Kurt BeItler, 11. Kenny Bock, 12. Dennis Smith, 13. John McGovern, 14. Andy Kemmerer, 15. Joe Funk III,
16. Jesse Landis, 17. Brad Arnold, 18. Lex Shive,
19. Craig Whitmoyer, 20. Richard Emel, 21. Ryan Lilick, 22. Mike Mammana, 23. Nathan Mohr, 24. Gary Wagner. DNQ: B.J. Joly, Paul Houseknecht, Andrew Kreis, Bobby Delson, Ryan Beltz and Nicholas Flammer.
COMING EVENTS: Sunday, April 15th, 1 pm, Outlaw Enduros and Blast from the Past Vintage Car racing.
Saturday, April 21st, 7 p.m. Start of NASCAR and Track Point Championship Chase featuring T.P.Trailers 358 Modifieds, Late Models and Sportsman stock cars plus Blast from the Past Vintage Cars.
Saturday, April 28th, 7 p.m. NASCAR T.P.Trailers 358 Modifieds, Late Models and Sportsman stock cars.
Saturday, May 5, 7:30 p.m. (new starting time) NASCAR T.P.Trailers 358 Modifieds, Late Model and Sportsman
Big Diamond
It was unbelievably warm spring night up inGod’s Country asBigDiamondpresented its 47th seasonopener on April 13. Standing tallin victory lane on “SchaeffersMotorsports Night” and tak-ing top honors were Billy PauchJr. after a terrific battle withrival Ryan Godown in the Mat-tera’s Electrical andGeneralCon-tracting 358 Modfieds featurerace. Youngster Alex Yankowskiwas the USS AcheySportsmanwinner with Kris Ney tak-ing the Savage 61 Roadrunnersmain event and Elvis Brennan IIIwinning the No Sweat ServiceGroup Street Stock feature.
A great crowdwas on hand as the cars tookthe track for the evening. Despite all of the harsh weather we’ve had over the past few weeks the track was in pretty good condition for a season opener with both an inside and outside groove available for the racers to choose from.
The first feature of the 2018 season to hit the track was for the Savage 61 Roadrunners and it didn’t disappoint as Kris Ney, Mike Reichert and Shawn Mulhall put on a terrific three-car battle for the win. Richert and Mulhall tried to get by Ney but to no avail as Kris Ney stood tall in the seat to win his first feature of the year. Reichert held on for second with Mulhall in third. Steve Gromis and Matt Ney rounded out the top five.
Next up on the docket was the 30-lap, $4,000 to win season opener for the mighty Mattera’s Electrical and General Contracting 358 Modifieds. Billy Pauch Jr. battled arch-rival Ryan Godown tooth and nail for the last portion of the race to grab the win. For Pauch it was a well-earned victory and the New Jersey driver was happy to get the season started off in a big way.
April 13th Results:
The Matteras Electrical Modified Division $4,000 – 1. Billy Pauch Jr. 2. Ryan Godown 3. Craig VonDohren 4. Jeff Strunk 5. Duane Howard 6. Ryan Watt 7. Rick Laubach 8. Kevin Beach 9. Erick Rudolph 10. Gary Hager 11. Doug Manmiller 12. Ryan Krachun 13. Jimmy Reppert 14. Grant Hilfiger 15. Andy Burkhart 16. Meme Desantis 17. Frank Yankowski 18. Kris Graver. Did not finish were Mike Lisowski, Brett Kressley, Frank Cozze, Frank Porreca, Bobby Trapper and Ray Swinehart. Did not qualify were John Willman, Billy Lasko, Jim Bobbitt, Heath Metzger, Scott Albert, Skyler Sheriff, Cliff Quinn and Shawn Fitzpatrick. Modified heats were won by Pauch, Beach and VonDohren. The modified consolation was won by Reppert.
The USS Achey Sportsman division was won by Alex Yankowski followed by Ken Eckert Jr., Craig Whitmoyer, Dave Dissinger, Wayne Witmer, Nathan Mohr, Matt Clay, Glenn Rowan, Mike Schneck, Nate Klinger, Mike Loney and Dylan Smith. Did not finish were Dean Bachman, Harry Landis, Kris Lilick, TJ Fitzpatrick, Dakota Kohler, Chris Brennan, Doug Hendricks, Daryl Dissinger, Shawn Light, Michael Burrows, Kevin Brady and Ed Mrchko. Did not qualify were Kyle and Blake Reber and Gary Grim.
Sportsman heats were won by Whitmoyer, Yankowski and Dissinger. The consolation was won by Burrows.
The Savage 61 Road Runner division was won by Kris Ney followed by Mike Reichert, Shawn Mulhall, Steve Gromis, Matt Ney, Shon Elk and Cory Lindenmuth. Did not finish were Terry Kramer Jr., Devin Trexler, Jim Kost, Chris Holland, Jon Schlauch, Cory Baver and Fred Everly.
Road Runner heats were won by Gromis and Kramer Jr.
The No Sweat Service Group Street Stock division was won by Elvin Brennan III followed by Chris Heller, Mark Berzowski, Dean Hine, Robin Wagner, Mike Radocha and Joey Brennan. Did not finish were Eric Tripp and Jesse Krasnitsky. The single Street Stock heat was won by Heller.