Mike Gular Captures Second Win of Season After Classic Grandview Duel with Von Dohren and Kressley on Saturday Night
Brian Carber Scores Mass Sprint Car Win After Charging From Eleventh to First
BECHTELSVILLE, PA. – Mike Gular of Boyertown, Pa. used a lot of hard work, hard-driving, and some racing luck to score his second win of the season in the 30-lap T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modified feature Saturday night at Grandview Speedway.
Gular was running in third position on lap twelve when race leaders Ron Haring Jr. of Alburtis, Pa., and Craig Whitmoyer of Hamburg, Pa. tangled with lapped traffic, taking them out of contention. Gular then had to fend off the challenges of Brett Kressley of Orefield, Pa. for six laps, followed by the repeated challenges from Craig Von Dohren of Oley, Pa. in the final five laps to score his eighth career Saturday night NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Grandview Speedway feature win.
Gular received a $300 bonus for his win from T.P. Trailers and Truck Equipment of Limerick, Pa., sponsors of the division at Grandview Speedway.
Brian Carber of Pipersville, Pa. was also a winner on Saturday night, capturing the companion 25-lap Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series main event after starting from eleventh position, catching, and passing race leader Buddy Schweibinz of Petersburg, N.J. in lapped traffic on lap 16, then motoring on to his second series win of the year, and first ever at Grandview Speedway.
The T.P. Trailer Modified feature saw Darrin Schuler of Stroudsburg, Pa. grab the lead at the drop of the green and set the pace for the first three laps before Ron Haring Jr. would make a pass for the lead entering turn three on lap four.
Craig Whitmoyer who started ninth, was on the move taking second spot by lap five, followed by Gular (13th starting spot) who quickly moved into third by lap eight, and Brett Kressley (15th starting spot) who grabbed fourth position by lap eleven.
The feature race had a dramatic change on lap twelve, as leader Haring Jr. had just caught the back of the pack and was about to begin working lapped traffic, when two lapped cars tangled right in front of him entering turn three. With no place to go Haring Jr. slid into the accident with them, taking him out of the lead, while Whitmoyer made contact with one of the cars but kept moving.
Officials displayed the red flag to clean up the mess, and under the stoppage checked out Whitmoyer’s car, deeming it necessary for him to pit with the damage received, giving third-place driver Gular the number one position.
Following the restart, Gular took off with the lead, with Kressley right behind applying pressure. Doug Manmiller of Shoemakersville, Pa. had just moved into fifth spot prior to the red flag, and joined in the battle up front along with Craig Von Dohren, making for a crowd-pleasing duel, as Von Dohren and Manmiller would battle it out for several laps until Von Dohren moved into third on lap sixteen.
Von Dohren would then move in and battle with Kressley for second spot, with Gular out front, leaving Manmiller to battle for positions with Ray Swinehart of Perkiomenville, Pa., and Louden Reimert of Oley, Pa., who was on the move from 21st starting spot.
One final caution flag flew on lap eighteen for Reimert, who had his great effort end with a flat tire sending him to the pits.
The restart saw Gular hang on to the lead, as Kressley put on a move to grab the lead, but the effort was stopped by Gular, while Von Dohren threw in a challenge as well. Von Dohren worked the outside groove and was able to grab second from Kressley on lap nineteen.
The final ten laps saw a lot of action for position, as Kressley, Swinehart, Manmiller, last week’s winner Jared Umbenhauer of Richland, Pa, were all battling for the top five positions.
With five laps to go Von Dohren really turned on the pressure, and the battle for the lead was intense, as several times Von Dohren would put his racer down low alongside of Gular in the corners, including the final turns, but Gular held firm in the top spot and motored home to his second win of the season (his first win was Opening Day).
At the checkered flag, the finish was Gular, Von Dohren, Kressley, Swinehart, Umbenhauer, Manmiller, Jeff Strunk of Boyertown, Pa., Ryan Grim of Laurys Station, Pa., Mike Lisowski of Minersville, Pa., and Jimmy Leiby of West Milford, N.J. who entered the race as an alternate and raced home with a top ten finish.
Qualifying heats for the 36 cars on hand were won by Strunk, Manmiller, Haring Jr., and Bobby Trapper Jr. of Scranton, Pa. with Reimert and Eddie Strada of Lake Ariel, Pa. winning the consolations.
The Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series was making their first start at Grandview since the 2019 season on Saturday night and arrived with a solid 27-car field. The feature event got off to a bit of a choppy start with several cautions dotting the early laps, and defending series champion Buddy Schweibinz set the pace early on.
With Schweibinz out front, Jeff Paulson of Honeybrook, Pa., Brian Carber (11th starting spot), and Tim Iulg of Bridgeton, N.J. (19th starting spot) were quickly moving through the field.
Following a lap eight restart several battles developed between Aidan Borden of Jackson, N.J., and Carber for second, Phil Meisner Jr. of Chesterfield, N.J. and Tim Tanner Jr. of Warminster, Pa. for fourth, and Paulson and Iulg for sixth position.
Schweibinz had built up a fairly comfortable lead when he reached lapped traffic on lap fourteen, and Carber, who had just taken second from Borden a couple laps prior, was able to catch Schweibinz and make the winning pass in lapped traffic down the front straight away to score lap sixteen.
The race was not yet over as Schweibinz would try everything he could in lapped traffic to regain the lead, staying within striking distance of Carber, but Carber worked lapped traffic to perfection never giving up the lead.
A caution with one lap to go would give everyone one last chance at Carber, but he powered away on the restart to score his second series win of the 2023 season, and first-ever win at Grandview Speedway.
The final run down at the checkered was Carber, Schweibinz, Paulson, Borden, Iulg, Meisner Jr., Scott Frack of Gilbertsville, Pa., Dale Eggert of Tuckerton, N.J., DJ Tanner of Warminster, Pa., and Tim Tanner Jr.
Qualifying heats for the 27 cars on hand were won by Larry McVay of Bordentown, N.J., Carber, and Schweibinz.
Grandview Speedway will be presenting another NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series program next Saturday featuring the T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds and the T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman along with the Outlaw Racing Series Vintage cars starting at 7:30 pm.
The show on Saturday, July 22 will include qualifying events leading into the 30-lap T.P. Trailer Modified feature, the 25-lap T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman feature, the Vintage cars will run a 15-lap main event, and the show will include the fourth Trivia night of the year.
It will be 90’s night, and the highlight of the night will be the rollback of the grandstand admission to 1990’s pricing, as fans will pay just $10 for a complete night of NASCAR Modified and Sportsman competition.
Grandstand admission is $10, while children ages 9 and under are admitted free of charge. Pit admission is $35 for NASCAR members and $45 for non-members.
Pit gates will open at 4 pm. with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm. warm-ups starting at 6:15 pm. and the first race of the evening getting the green flag at 7:30 pm.
The Thunder on the Hill Racing Series will be presenting a special event on Tuesday, July 25, when the High Limit 410 Sprint Car Series, which was created by and is run by NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and World of Outlaws champion Brad Sweet, will be arriving for a stand-alone 410 Sprint only program paying $23, 023 to the winner!
Advance tickets for this event are available on TicketHoss, or at the track on race day. Adult general admission tickets (no reserved seating) will be $40, children 6-11 are $20, while ages 5 and under are admitted free. The pit fee will be $45, and sold only on race day at the pit gate.
Since the 1960s, Grandview Speedway has been presenting exciting wheel-to-wheel NASCAR stock car racing every Saturday Night starting in April and running through October, plus special events. Grandview Speedway is located at 43 Passmore Road, Bechtelsville, Pa. 19505, just off Route 100, ten miles north of Pottstown, Pa.
Information is always available at www.grandviewspeedway.com or on Facebook, or by telephone at 610.754.7688.
T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): MIKE GULAR, Craig Von Dohren, Brett Kressley, Ray Swinehart, Jared Umbenhauer, Doug Manmiller, Jeff Strunk, Ryan Grim, Mike Lisowski, Jimmy Leiby, Kevin Graver Jr., Bobby Trapper Jr., Jesse Leiby, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Mark Kratz, Eric Biehn, Louden Reimert, Darrin Schuler, Tim Buckwalter, Ron Haring Jr., Craig Whitmoyer, Eddie Strada, Justin Grim, Eric Kormann, Chris Esposito, John Willman, Kevin Hirthler, Ryan Watt, DNS – Carroll Hine III
DID NOT QUALIFY: Ryan Beltz, Dave Dissinger, Nate Brinker, Brian Hirthler, Joe Funk, Logan Bauman, Lex Shive
MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES SPRINT CAR FEATURE FINISH (25 laps): BRIAN CARBER, Buddy Schweibinz, Jeff Paulson, Aidan Borden, Tim Iulg, Phil Meisner Jr., Scott Frack, Dale Eggert, DJ Tanner, Tim Tanner Jr., Dylan Smith, Cory Hunsberger, Larry McVay, Jonathan Swift, Darren Cox, Kenny Laureno, David Luther, Ben Miklos, Dirk Rimrott, Keith Anderson, Ben Wisdo, Cory Cornell, Danny Buccafuscsa, Jon Brennfleck, Shelby Kelly
DID NOT QUALIFY: Cody West, RJ Panella
UPCOMING EVENTS –
Saturday, July 22 – BACK TO THE 90’S NIGHT – $10 GRANDSTAND ADMISSION – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, TRIVIA NIGHT – 7:30 pm. – T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT NIGHT
Tuesday, July 25 – THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES – High Limit Sprint Car Series – $23,023 to win 410 Sprints – 7:30 pm – RICH MAR FLORIST PRESENTS THE HIGH LIMIT SPRINT CAR SERIES POWERED BY LEVAN MACHINE AND TRUCK EQUIPMENT
Saturday, July 29 – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman – 7:30 pm.
Friday, August 4 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro, Outlaw Racing Series Vintage, Xcel 600 Modifieds – 7 pm.
Saturday, August 5 – HALL OF FAME NIGHT – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman – 7:30 pm.
Saturday, August 12 – 53rd annual FORREST ROGERS MEMORIAL – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds 50-laps, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman, TRIVIA NIGHT – 7:30 pm.
Sources: Jeff Ahlum/Grandview Speedway PR