Column By: TOM WENNER / RPW – BECHTELSVILLE, PA – Fleetwood, PA’s Kyle Smith drove to his first Sportsman victory of ’23 with a strong performance on Saturday Night.
Smith is the number 3 man in Sportsman points and is always in the thick of the battle at the front of the pack. On Saturday night, Smith pulled it all together and drove to a great feature win.
27 T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman took the green flag on Saturday Night. Brett Gilmore took a points provisional to gain entry in the feature.
Kenny Bock and Tom Miller Sr. led the 27 car Sportsman field to the green flag.
Kenny Bock took the early lead with Miller Sr, Zane Roth, Zach Steffy, Dakota Kohler and Nathan Mohr following.
With 3 down and the Sportsman field sorting itself out, Bock was in race control at the front of the pack. Miller Sr, Roth, Steffy, and Kohler followed. Kyle Smith was a man on the move early as he marched from P13 to 9th, and Logan Watt had gone P15 to 11th.
On lap 4 the caution lights were flashing as Cody Manmiller was spun to a stop. Mark Mohr was put to the rear for contact. Ronnie Soloman retired from the event during the caution. The field was reset with Kenny Bock the race leader, Miller Sr., Roth, Steffy, Kohler, Landis, Meitzler, Bauman, Smith, Mayberry, and Watt.
On lap 5 the caution lights were flashing again as the Jesse Landis 973 was smoking heavily. Landis exited the speedway to the infield. Jesse Landis was running in the Top 10 at the time.
The field was restacked and back to racing with Kenny Bock racing out front. Bock and Zane Roth were side by side for the race lead. Kyle Smith moved into 4th and Logan Bauman was mounting a charge as well.
With 8 laps down Kenny Bock is holding down the race lead. Zane Roth, Dakota Kohler, Kyle Smith, Logan Bauman, TJ Mayberry and Mark Kemmerer are not far behind.
As the field approaches the lap 10 mark of the race, the top 5 is all under a blanket – Kenny Bock has a freight train of cars on his back bumper. Zane Roth, Dakota Kohler, and Kyle Smith are 3 wide for 2-3-4. Logan Bauman and TJ Mayberry are flying after the pack as well.
At the lap 13 mark Kenny Bock remains the race leader, Dakota Kohler is chasing him for the race lead. Kyle Smith is 3rd and chasing after him, with Bauman, Mayberry, Roth, Kemmerer, Guldin and Brad Grim.
As the field hits the lap 15 and all racing is under green flag conditions, The field is locked down to the bottom. Kenny Bock remains in race control. Kohler, Smith, Bauman, and Mayberry are the Top 5.
On Lap 17, Kyle Smith gets around Dakota Kohler for 2nd. Bock is still the leader. Kohler, Bauman and Mayberry are the rest of the Top 5.
On Lap 20, with 5 to go Kyle Smith is side by side with Kenny Bock for the race lead. Kyle Smith goes to the race lead dropping Bock to 2nd. Dakota Kohler is now assaulting Bock for 2nd.
On Lap 21 Kyle Smith is in lap traffic, Dakota Kohler is now 2nd. Logan Bauman moves to 3rd, TJ Mayberry is now 4th, Kenny Bock falls to 5th, Zane Roth is 6th, Mark Kemmerer is 7th, and Brad Grim is 8th.
The last 4 laps to the checkered flag are uneventful as Kyle Smith drove away from the field to win, Dakota Kohler finished 2nd, Logan Bauman 3rd, TJ Mayberry 4th, Kenny Bock 5th, Zane Roth 6th, Mark Kemmerer 7th, Brad Grim 8th, Parker Guldin 9th, Addison Meitzler 10th.
Sportsman Notes:
Cody Manmiller and Hunter Iatalese got together in Sportsman Heat Race #1 and the contact resulted in Manmiller 00 flipping over multiple times. While the field was under red flag conditions, Brad Missimer walked over and paid a visit to the Iatalese race car and talked with Iatalese. After the red was removed, Iatalese was sent to the pits for the contact and did not return to race the rest of the night. Manmiller with the help friends from Ryan Watt and Ron Haring crews was able to make repairs and qualify in the consolation race. Cody finished 15th on the night. Molly Struss having another strong run in a qualifying race and was dumped. Struss did not make the cut in the consolation race. This is the 2nd week in a row for the young lady racing out of the Leiby Racing Team. Brett Gilmore who was entering the night 5th in Sportsman points used a points provisional to gain entry into the feature. Gilmore raced to a 13th place finish.
T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps): KYLE SMITH, Dakota Kohler, Logan Bauman, TJ Mayberry, Kenny Bock, Zane Roth, Mark Kemmerer, Brad Grim, Parker Guldin, Addison Meitzler, Logan Watt, Adrianna Delliponti, Brett Gilmore, Decker Swinehart, Cody Manmiller, Jesse Hirthler, Nathan Mohr, Brian Hirthler, Ryan Graver, Mark Mohr, Zach Steffey, Nicholas Hamm, Michael Burrows, Tom Miller Sr., Jesse Landis, Ronnie Solomon, Andy Ressler