Column By: TOM WENNER / RPW – BECHTELSVILLE, PA – Dylan Hoch is the ‘22 Grandview Speedway Sportsman Point Leader and on Saturday night he showed exactly why the Hoch Motorsports #35 is consistently at the front of the field every week.
Dylan drove from his 15th starting spot into the top 10 in 4 laps. 6 Laps later and Dylan was in the top 5 and took the lead by lap 14. Hoch scored the win and fought off a solid challenge by Cole Stangle & Kyle Smith for the win.
To date Dylan has finished 4th – 4 times this season, has an 8th to go along with it. All top tens and a 70+ point advantage heading into the nights racing action.
Zane Roth and Mark Gaugler led the T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman 25 car field to the green.
Mark Gaugler took the early lead with Roth, Matt Clay, Mike Myers, Anthony Raisner, Adrianna Delliponti, Joey Vaccaro and Jesse Landis in tow.
On Lap 2 the caution lights were turned on. Ryan Graver and Mike Stofflet tangled in turns 3 & 4. Also included in the accident were Wayne Rotenberger, Jimmy Leiby, Logan Bauman, Mike Schneck, and Chris Esposito.
Mark Gaugler remained the leader, Roth, Clay, Myers and Raisner all followed after 2 down. Stofflet, Rotenberger, and Bauman all rejoined the field.
The Sportsman field was restacked and back to green flag racing. Mark Gaugler set the command once again. Zane Roth chasing from 2nd, Matt Clay was 3rd, Mike Myers 4th, Anthony Raisner rounding out the top 5. Dylan Hoch was on a drive from his 15th starting spot cracking the top 10 in 7th. Cole Stangle was 6th from his 14th starting spot.
The yellow was waving on lap 10. Jesse Hirthler was spun in turn 3 after contact with Jimmy Leiby. Wayne Rotenberger 69x was collected as well. Mark Gaugler remained the man at the point. Zane Roth was 2nd, Matt Clay 3rd, Dylan Hoch now 4th, and Cole Stangle 5th. Wayne Rotenberger and Jesse Hirthler rejoined the field.
The goes back to green for lap 11, Gaugler continues to control the pace. Dylan Hoch now moves into 2nd and Zane Roth slides back to 3rd. Cole Stangle is also on the move in 4th and Matt Clay and Kyle Smith are close by in the 5th and 6th. Brian Hirthler is 10th from his 19th starting spot on lap 13.
On the 14th lap, Dylan Hoch moves past Mark Gaugler for the lead. As the field was moving to score lap 15 the Red Flag was displayed as Anthony Raisner and Hunter Iatalese had a nasty front stetch accident that saw the Raisner #99r sustain heavy damage. Raisner and Iatalese were not injured. Iatalese returned to action.
With 11 to go the track was cleaned up and the field restacked. Dylan Hoch was in full control at the front of the pack now, Cole Stangle 2nd, Kyle Smith 3rd, Mark Gaugler 4th and Zane Roth 5th.
The field goes back to green and Dylan Hoch, Stangle and Smith begin to break away from the field and make this a 3 car race. On lap 17 Brian Hirthler moved into the 5 spot from 19th.
At the lap 20 mark with 5 to go, Dylan Hoch has full control of the lead, Stangle is 2nd and Smith is 3rd. Gaugler, Clay and Hirthler make up the balance of the top 5.
The balance of the race goes uncontested for Dylan Hoch in scoring his 1st Grandview Speedway Sportsman victory of the 2022 season. Cole Stangle finishes in 2nd, Kyle Smith secures 3rd, Brian Hirthler with an outstanding drive from 19th spot to 4th, and Mark Gaugler finishes in 5th. Matt Clay was 6th, Jesse Landis 7th, Zane Roth 8th, Joey Vaccaro 9th, and Dakota Kohler wraps up the top 10.