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By: Ernie Saxton
BECHTELSVILLE, PA JUNE 24, 2007 . . . There was a fantastic three car battle during the final laps that resulted in a fantastic finish that had Craig VonDohren winning the 30-lap Hatfield Quality Meats NASCAR Whelen All American Modified feature race by just the narrowest of margin on Saturday night at Grandview Speedway.
In the 20-lap main event for the NASCAR Late Models Bryon Sipe rode to the first feature victory of his career and Kyle Gardner won the 20-lap Mangold Excavating 600 Modified feature.
Randy Bailey went to the front at the drop of the green for the NASCAR Modifieds and the veteran Kutztown racer set the pace for the first five laps. A red flag brought a halt to action when a fan fell in the grandstands but was
found to be not injured. On the restart VonDohren was able to put the Mike Harvey/Stauffer Construction No. 1c in front the 29 car feature field.
Bailey and John Tschudy proved to be tough competition for VonDohren up to the 15th lap when Jeff Strunk, coming from 11th, dropped in behind VonDohren and put some pressure on for first place.
At 19 laps Randy Bailey went to the pits and now the three car race was on with VonDohren in front followed by Strunk and now Duane Howard who had come up from 12th start position.
The balance of the 30-lapper had Strunk and Howard going side-by-side battling for the runner-up position and VonDohren loving every minute of that as it kept them from challenging him. In the final couple laps Howard managed to get by Strunk and proceeded to ride right on VonDohren’s bumper to the finish.
Oley based VonDohren earned his second win of the season worth $2,200. Howard, also from Oley, winner of four features this season settled for second followed by Jeff Strunk (Mohnton), Mike Gular (East Greenville) and Tommy Sheetz Jr. (Boyertown).
In victory lane VonDohren told the crowd that he stuck to the top of the track and cut the corners in his winning effort.
Leesport’s Bryon Sipe brought his Haus Automotive/Georgio Mushroom sponsored No. 33 home first in the 20-lapper for Late Models leading all the laps. Though it may seem like he had a easy time of it on the way to his first ever feature win he had his hands full with Rick Todorow and Kyle Merkel. Both racers kept the pressure on the leader for the entire 20-lap race. And with just a few laps left Randy Stoudt was able to come up to challenge the leaders.
At the finish Sipe had a comfortable lead over Rick Todorow (Quakertown) to grab the victory. Third spot went to Kyle Merkel (Gilbertsville) followed by Pottstown’s Randy Stoudt and Chuck Schutz.
The 20-lap main event for the Xcel 600 Modifieds saw Brian Mady and Scott Washburn swap the lead early. Washburn crashed putting him out of action and giving the top spot to Kyle Gardner. The Wind Gap, PA racer help on to the top spot for all of the final 10 laps to win the biggest check of his career, $1,000, for taking the victory in the Mangold Excavating sponsored event. Second spot went to Brian Mady followed by George Loux, Mike Pychink and Curt Amey.
Qualifying heat races for the 600 Modifieds went to Adam Ressler and Kevin Gruber. In the Late Models the preliminaries were won by Dean Stoudt, Chuck Schutz and Rick Todorow.
Modified qualifying event victories were earned by Brad Missimer, Kyle Weiss, Duane Howard and Randy Bailey. The consolation races were won by Mike Gular and Kerry Kratz.
The Cornerstone Auto Sales of Fleetwood, PA Hard Charger Awards went to Mike Gular in the NASCAR Modifieds, for the second week in a row, charging from 21st to 4th gaining 17 spots in the feature. In the Late Models it was Ron Kline going from 23rd to 8th for a gain of 15 spots.
Lucky fan Bruce Erb will receive a check for $500 from the Maverick’s Motorcycle Club for picking the top three finishers in the correct order of finish in the NASCAR Modified feature. Erb is the first winner of the season in the Maverick’s Motorcycle Club Pick 3 Contest found in the track magazine, the Grandview Groove.
On Saturday, June 30th, Allstate Insurance Co. will sponsor the doubleheader show of NASCAR Modifieds and Late Models starting at 7:30 p.m.
Coming up on Tuesday, July 3rd is the Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek 410 sprint races plus 358 Modifieds in action. Racing starts at 7:30 p.m.
FIREWORKS will be a big attraction at Grandview Speedway on Saturday, July 7th as part of Norris Mechanical Contractors Night. The Firecracker 40 Late Model Championship will be topping the racing program along with the NASCAR Modifieds. The show gets the green at 7:30 p.m.
Fans now have the opportunity to win a chance to be the official starter during the NASCAR Modified warm up sessions each Saturday night.
Fans are reminded that they are free to visit with the racers in the pits after the racing action has been completed to collect autographs, take pictures and see the race cars up close. Many of the race teams do have FREE photo cards for fans and also offer t-shirts and other souvenir items for sale.
Grandview Speedway is located on Passmore Road, just off Route 100, in Bechtelsville, PA, 10 miles north of Pottstown. For race information telephone 610.754.7688 or visit their website at www.grandviewspeedway.com.
HATFIELD QUALITY MEANTS NIGHT NASCAR ALL AMERICAN SERIES MODIFIEDS (30 LAPS): 1. Craig VonDohren 2. Duane Howard 3. Jeff Strunk 4. Mike Gular 5. Tommy Sheetz Jr. 6. John Tschudy 7. Terry Meitzler 8. Ryan Watt 9. Kerry Kratz 10. Don Norris 11. Kyle Weiss 12. Ryan Beltz 13. John Willman 14. Shawn Reimer 15. Brad Missimer 16. Jeremy Banos 17. Donny Erb 18. Todd Smith 19. Glenn Owens 20. Rick Schaffer 21. Mark Kratz 22. Randy Bailey 23. Kevin Hirthler 24. Danny Erb 25. Larry Solomon 26. Doug Manmiller 27. Todd Marburger 28. Mike Laise 29. Jason Hamilton
HATFIELD QUALITY MEATS NIGHT LATE MODEL FEATURE (20 LAPS): 1. Bryon Sipe 2. Rick Todorow 3. Kyle Merkel 4. Randy Stoudt 5. Chuck Schutz 6. Brian Shuey 7. Jon Kellner Sr. 8. Ron Kline 9. Bill Henning 10. Mike Kellner 11. Harry Neiman 12. Buddy Wharton 13. Dean Schaeffer 14. Greg Hoffmaster 15. Dean Stoudt 16. Eric Kauffman 17. Chad Rae 18. Dallas Breidenbach 19. Wayne Pfeil 20. Mike Myers 21. Carl Mertz 22. D.D.Keely 23. Billy Graham 24. Jamie Undercoffler 25. John Giesler.
MANGOLD EXCAVATING 600 MODIFIED FEATURE (20 LAPS): 1. Kyle Gardner 2. Brian Mady 3. George Loux 4. Mike Pychink 5. Curt Amey
UNOFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS FOR NASCAR MODIFIEDS
AS OF JUNE 23, 2007
1. Duane Howard, Oley, PA #114/4 2348****
2. Jeff Strunk, Mohnton, PA #126 2214*
3. Shawn Reimert, Oley, PA #41 1834
4. Terry Meitzler, Kutztown, PA #81 1805
5. Doug Manmiller, Wyomissing, PA #14 1795
6. John Willman, Birdsboro, PA #74W 1688
7. Danny Erb, Boyertown, PA #44 1680
8. Mike Gular, Harleysville, PA #53 1616
9. Kyle Weiss, Hamburg, PA #21K 1578
10. Meme DeSantis, Temple, PA #11 1479
11. Rick Schaffer, Woxall, PA #357 1462
12. Kevin Hirthler, Green Lane, PA #117 1454
13. Craig VonDohren, Oley, PA #1C 1417**
14. Jason Hamilton, Erwinna, PA #16 1396
15. Kerry Kratz, Bechtelsville, PA #87 1379
16. Ryan Watt, Phoenixville, PA #14W 1361
17. Todd Smith, Hatfield, PA #39 1089
18. Tom Umbenhauer, Richland, PA #19U 1036
19. Don Norris, Douglassville, PA #976 1025
20. Jon Kellner Jr., Lansdale, PA #67 1007
Also Feature Winners, Sean Merkel, Tommy Sheetz Jr.
UNOFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS FOR NASCAR LATE MODELS
AS OF JUNE 23, 2007
1. Mike Kellner, Lansdale, PA #57 2141**
1. Brian Shuey, Shoemakersville, PA #5X 2131
3. Randy Stoudt, Pottstown, PA #10 2111**
4. Ron Kline, Salfordville, PA #3 1992**
5. Chuck Schutz, Pottstown, PA #ONE 1923*
6. Dean Stoudt, East Greenville, PA #5 1791
7. Wayne Pfeil Jr., Mohnton, PA #72 1708
8. Buddy Wharton, Birdsboro, PA #7B 1686
9. Rick Todorow, Quakertown, PA #93 1667
10. Kyle Merkel, Gilbertsville, PA #117 1629
11. Dean Schaeffer, Douglassville, PA #39 1604
12. D.D. Keely, Linfield, PA #707 1552
13. Bryan Sipe, Leesport, PA #33 1517*
14. John Giesler, Aston, PA #ZT1 1488
15. Jamie Undercoffler. Pennsburg, PA #1J 1381
16. Bill Henning, Lansdale, PA #80 1163
17. Eric Kauffman #307 1145
18. Greg Hoffmaster, Pottstown, PA #69 1141
19. Chad Rea #8 1115
20. Mike Meyers, Alburtis, PA #7 1099
* denotes feature win
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