BECHTELSVILLE, Pa. – Brett Kressley became the first repeat winner of the new season on Saturday night at Grandview Speedway in the TP Trailers 358 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series 30-lap Modified feature.
Biehn jumped out in front on the initial start of the Modified feature and led three laps before misfortune struck. After three laps were completed Richie Hitzler spun to bring out the yellow.
The restart was void as rookie Jack Butler and Brad Arnold tangled on the homestretch. On the next attempt Biehn drifted up in front of two of the cars behind and there was a scramble. Biehn ended up with a flat tire and out of contention. When things cleared, the original polesitter and rookie Nate Brinker was the new leader.
Brinker stayed in front until the seventh lap when Justin Grim and Dillon Steuer got past him for first and second as he fell to third. Behind them Kyle Weiss and Kressley completed the top five.
J. Grim and Steuer diced for the top spot until Kressley took over second to pressure Grim.
Grim ran the outside trek while Kressley stayed down low even though he made some daring outside moves to get to the front.
After a brief battle Kressley, the 16th-place starter, powered the Kressley Auto & Truck Sales No. 19K mount into first in quest of making it two-in-a-row.
Umbenhauer was on the move from his 15th starting grid and by the 20th lap he was second and set his sights on Kressley and as the laps dwindled down he was closing the margin.
Umbenhauer came within striking distance the last two laps, but Kressley kept him at bay to pull in victory lane for consecutive triumphs. Claiming a close second was Umbenhauer trailed by Steuer, Bruce Rogers memorial winner Duane Howard, who was involved in an early lap skirmish second him to the back of the pack, but he still came through and J. Grim, who also received the Dan’s Deli half-way hoagie award.
The T.P. Truck Equipment 25-lap Sportsman feature saw newcomer Dylan Hoch overpower Ebby Ridge for the lead on the 17th lap and go on to score his first win running a 602 crate engine.
The third division of the night was the 602 Sportsman crate class where many regular sportsman drivers pulled double-duty. Former modified driver Glenn Strunk, who last drove in 2019, hopped in the Jimmy Leiby No. 9L and won the 25-lap feature. He dedicated the win to his dad Bobby Strunk, who is currently in the hospital with COVID-19.