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5/20/09

Grandview Speedway

Bechtelsville, PA

Keystone Cup

29 cars

Stevie Smtih (21^st car out to time) set quick time on the 3/8 mile at 12.272 seconds. Greg Hodnett (17^th car out) was second quick, followed by Justin Henderson (12^th), Daryn Pittman (22^nd), Brian Leppo (16^th), Chad Layton (11^th), Brooke Tatnell (25^th), Mark Smith (3^rd), Jesse Hockett (29^th) and Alan Krimes (23^rd).

Heat one (started): 1. Cody Darrah 89 (2) 2. Tatnell 21AU (4) 3. S. Smith 1 (6) 4. Curt Michael 27 (1) 5. Pittman 25 (5) 6. Krimes 87 (3) / 7. Fred Rahmer 51 (7) 8. Pat Cannon 17 (8) 9. Brent Marks 19m (10) 10. Todd Rittenhouse Jr. 23 (9)

Darrah led all 10 laps. Tatnell hounded him in the late stages falling just short of the win. S. Smith looked like the fastest car on the track in third. Rahmer challenged for the final transfer in the middle stages, but Krimes pulled away late using the high side.

Heat two (started): 1. Josh Weller 63 (2) 2. Lance Dewease 30c (3) 3. Hodnett 22 (6) 4. Alan Cole 35 (1) 5. M. Smith 7m (4) 6. Todd Shaffer 88 (7) / 7. Leppo 71 (5) 8. Dave Hahn 2H (8) 9. Keith Kauffman 7 (9) 10. Steve Petry 8 (10)

Weller led every lap, despite two cautions for a spun Petry. Dewease and Cole battled for second for much of the race. Hodnett came on late for third. Kauffman moved his way into a transfer before slowing and exiting on lap three. Leppo hit the wall on lap two, and restarted at the tail ending any chance he had at the final transfer.

Heat three (started): 1. Brian Montieth 21 (2) 2. Hockett 13 (4) 3. Doug Esh 39 (3) 4. Aaron Ott 25o (7) 5. Davey Sammons 79 (1) 6. Henderson 22z (6) / 7. Layton 55 (5) 8. Nick Schlauch Jr. 38n (8) 9. Mark Bitner 15 (9)

Montieth rode the rim to lead flag to flag with Hockett in tow. There was great racing from fourth back to seventh. Layton was in the mix until getting loose high atop turn two on lap four. Ott surged into a transfer before relinquishing it. Later on, he took off on the bottom, passing three cars to end up fourth.

B main (started): 1. Layton (2) 2. Rahmer (3) 3. Leppo (1) 4. Hahn (5) 5. Kauffman (8) 6. Bitner (9) / 7. Cannon (4) 8. Marks (10) 9. Schlauch (6) 10. Rittenhouse (9) 11. Petry (11)

Leppo led the 10-lapper early on, before Layton took the point on lap two. Petry spun on lap three, bringing the only caution. At the time, Layton led Leppo, Rahmer, Cannon, Hahn and Kauffman. Kauffman used the low side to advance to fifth past Cannon, and Bitner used a late surge to take the final transfer.

A main (started): 1. Pittman (1) 2. S. Smith (4) 3. Hodnett (3) 4. Esh (12) 5. Tatnell (5) 6. Layton (10) 7. M. Smith (6) 8. Leppo (9) 9. Krimes (8) 10. Darrah (13) 11. Dewease (11) 12. Henderson (2) 13. Rahmer (19) 14. Montieth (15) 15. Cole (17) 16. Weller (14) 17. Michael (16) 18. Kauffman (23) 19. Shaffer (20) 20. Bitner (24) 21. Hahn (22) 22. Ott (21) 23. Sammons (18) 24. Hockett (7)

The invert for the feature was six, but the format moved the fast cars up one row when two quick qualifiers didn't make it through the heats. Henderson led early, with Pittman and Smith hot on his heels for the first five laps. The three dueled until lap five, when Pittman slid under Henderson to take the lead in the 35-lapper. Five laps later, Hockett shot above the cushion in turn one, backed into the wall, and tipped over. He was unhurt, but an open red ensued. The restart saw Pittman ahead of S. Smith, who had been applying pressure for the lead, Hodnett, Henderson and Pittman. Pittman shot away from the field, while Esh was the mover, gaining several spots using the high side of the track. With 10 laps remaining, the track became rubber down and it was a freight train to the end. S. Smith was on the leader's nerf bar, but the mistake he was waiting for never happened. Pittman earned $5,000 for his first win in Pennsylvania this season. Esh was the hard-charger, moving up eight spots.

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Wow, a Bill W race report from PA. Great stuff. I realize that is it just splitting hairs, but Grandview is a 1/3 mile, not a 3/8. At least that is how it has been billed forever. Awesome report, as usual.

I just fired up google earth and measured the place, and right you are. 1/3 'tis.

What's the banking like there, out of curiosity?

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Come on, now. You doubted me? Just kidding. That is the track closest to my house -- 12 miles. I went there weekly for probably 15 years. It is extremely high-banked in the corners, but in all the years I went there weekly, I never heard an exact number given for the track's banking. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, Grandview on Saturday nights was absolutely amazing. Back in Fred Rahmer's Modified days, he used to start 20th every night and get to the front.

Grandview is still a wild place to watch a race. The track's big Modified race is the Freedom 76. It pays $20,000 to win, $10,000 for second and usually starts 38-40 cars in the feature on a third-mile. The thing that makes the race wild is that everyone in the feature other than the three qualifiers from the last chance race draws for a feature starting spot. You can win your heat and draw 35th for the feature. Billy Pauch has won the race six times, and on two of those occasions, he started in the 30s.

But the place is really becoming run-down. Housing developments have all but swallowed the place up. Grandview is such a dustbowl every time I go there anymore. I don't think there has been a penny spent on improvements or upkeep since the 1980s. That's is the reason I don't go there so much anymore. The dust is ridicuous most nights, and the place wasn't always like that.

Nah lol......... I didn't doubt you. It's just a habit for me I guess because all of the track modeling that I've been doing for racing games over the last few years. I hear about a place and I hafta track it down on the satelites and take a look at it. I usualy take special interest in 1/3 mile tracks because thats what my home tracks are over here and I love bullrings.

Bad news on the housing deal. Unfortunately, we all know to well what that tends to lead to recently.

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The rumors have been out there for at least the past four or five winters. At least one time during each of the past several seasons, the speedway has called a pre-race pit meeting to let teams know that the rumors of the track's sale are not true. I suspect it is sort of like a Silver Spring deal. Alan Kreitzer repeatedly denied the place was for sale for several years, even though the rumors were all around. Eventually, the rumors did come true

4 former Outlaws in the top 5. Some of those guys should be back on the tour.