BECHTELSVILLE, Pa. — Brett Kressley made it look easy on Saturday night at Grandview Speedway, as he sped his way to his second win of the season in the 30-lap T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modified feature event.
Starting 13th in the main event, it only took Kressley until a lap 12 restart pass of Mike Lisowski to take over the top position, then race home to his 23rd career Saturday night NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series win at the speedway on a night sponsored by A.D. Moyer Lumber Company.
In the companion 25-lap T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman main event, Logan Bauman started 11th, rode the outside lane of the speedway to the front of the pack, then secured the lead on a lap 11 restart from Zach Steffey to score his first win of the season and first since May of 2021.
On A.D. Moyer Lumber Company Night, the Wingless Super Sportsman were also on the card, with Cliff Brian Jr. scoring the 20-lap feature race win, after regaining the lead on lap 10 — a lead he had lost earlier in the race to Trent Yoder.
The T.P. Trailer Modified feature got off to a fast start, with Ray Swinehart darting out to the early lead, while the action behind him was very intense between Justin Grim, Chris Esposito, Mike Lisowski, Chris Gambler and Bobby Gunther-Walsh, who were all challenging for top five positions.
By the time a caution flag flew on lap nine, Kressley had already reached fifth position, with Craig Von Dohren just two spots behind. During the caution period, Justin Grim headed for the pits with a flat front tire, giving up his great second place run, and moving everyone else up one spot.
The restart saw a very strong running Lisowski out run Swinehart off of turn four to grab the lead, and take command of the main event, setting up a great four-car duel up front between himself, Kressley, Swinehart and Von Dohren.
The great racing was briefly slowed by Eddie Strada, who stopped with mechanical problems on lap 12. Following this restart, Kressley was able to motor past Lisowski and grab the lead he would never surrender the rest of the race.
A long stretch of green flag racing followed, allowing Kressley to build a big lead, leaving Lisowski, Von Dohren and a fast-closing Jeff Strunk to wage a battle for the top five spots, followed by Kevin Graver Jr. who was running a strong fifth. During this time, another entertaining race for position was happening between Swinehart, Kevin Hirthler, Doug Manmiller, and Jared Umbenhauer, who were attempting to reach the top five.
Kressley reached lapped traffic by lap 19, but it never slowed his pace, as he continued to march through the field, maintaining a comfortable lead. Von Dohren grabbed second briefly from Lisowski, only to have Lisowski regain the position.
Two late cautions on laps 24 and 29 reset the field giving everyone a shot at the leader, but Kressley was not to be stopped on this night. The last four laps did provide several pairs of battles to the end, with Lisowski, Strunk and Von Dohren, along with Manmiller and Hirthler challenging each other, swapping positions to the end.
The final lap dash after the lap 29 yellow, saw Kressley motor away from the pack and go on to score his second win of the year, while Strunk snuck under Lisowski through turns one and two to grab second down the back straightaway, followed by Von Dohren, who beat Lisowski off turn four to the checkered for third. Lisowski settled for fourth after what was a great night, followed by Manmiller in fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 were Bobby Trapper Jr. who charged forward in the final ten laps for sixth, Hirthler, Ryan Grim, Graver Jr. and Ryan Watt.