BECHTELSVILLE, Pa. — Mike Gular 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. and Craig Whitmoyer tangled with lapped traffic, taking them out of contention. Gular then had to fend off the challenges of Brett Kressley for six laps, followed by the repeated challenges from Craig Von Dohren 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.
The T.P. Trailer Modified feature saw Darrin Schuler grab the lead at the drop of the green flag and set the pace for the first three laps before Haring would make a pass for the lead entering turn three on lap four.
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 Kressley (15th starting spot) who grabbed fourth position by lap eleven.
The feature race had a dramatic change on lap 12, as leader Haring 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 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 had just moved into fifth spot prior to the red flag, and joined in the battle up front along with 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 and Louden Reimert, who was on the move from 21st starting spot.
One final caution flag flew on lap 18 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 19.
The final 10 laps saw a lot of action for position, as Kressley, Swinehart, Manmiller and last week’s winner Jared Umbenhauer 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 along side 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).
Brian Carber 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 in lapped traffic on lap 16, then motoring on to his second series win of the year, and first ever at Grandview Speedway.
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