RPW Exclusive: Jesse Landis Rides High to Sportsman Win at Grandview Speedway – Quotes & Notes
RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Mark Hackett – RACE PRO WEEKLY – BECHTELSVILLE, PA – Jesse Landis finds the top on lap 6 and proceeds to run away from the field for his first win of the 2026 season at Grandview Speedway.
Polesitter Jason Graber took the early lead for five laps only to have Jesse Landis ride the top to take over the lead on lap 6 which he held through 5 cautions to drive into victory lane.
Heat race winners for the 44-car field were Shannon Slaughter, Brad Force, Brad Brightbill, and Lawson Szerencits.
Consolation Winners: Matthew Laubach & TJ Mayberry
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps): 1. JESSE LANDIS, 2. Colton Perry, 3. Nick Van Wickle, 4. Teague Miller, 5. Matthew Laubach, 6. Joe Toth, 7. Addison Meitzler, 8. Lawson Szerencits, 9. Jimmy Leiby (P), 10. Chase Gular, 11. Brett Gilmore, 12. Shannon Slaughter, 13. Colin Cox, 14. Jason Graber, 15. Mark Mohr, 16. Ebby Ridge, 17. Brayden Shelton, 18. Brad Force, 19. Gavyn Krupp, 20. Johnny Fugelo, 21/ Brad Brightbill, 22. Kaitlyn Bailey, 23. TJ Mayberry, 24. Brett Grim, 25. Joey Vaccaro, 26. Dakota Kohler, 27. Kenny Gilmore
T.P. TRAILERS & TRUCK EQUIPMENT WINNER’S BONUS ($200): Jesse Landis
HARD CHARGER: Joe Toth +17
Jesse Landis took his first win of the season from his 6th starting position and used to the top lane to a commanding 2.5 second win over 2nd place Colton Perry.
In victory lane Jesse Landis recalled “My car was good on the bottom but once the top was open that is where I went as soon as I could get there. I know a lot of people can’t get me when I run on the top. I didn’t want to see any yellows but was able to handle a late lap 20 caution.”
Back at the trailer Jesse Landis stated “This season before Saturday was pretty disappointing. After spending most of last year in the top 5 in points, I had hopes to start the year off being a contender most nights for wins and strong finishes. But after the first few races, just qualifying for the feature was a weekly challenge that led me to make a bunch of changes for this week’s race.”
Heat race was caution filled; I was trying to learn how the car was going to react and figure out what it did well. I still wasn’t sure how the car was going to handle in the feature.
From my 6th starting position in feature, I tried to pick my forward and once I got to 4th that’s when the top opened up for me and I was able to take the lead on lap 6. Wasn’t very happy about 4 restarts while leading, but on the final restart I was extremely comfortable and confident with running the top.”
“They prepped the track before our feature, and I always like when the track is prepped before the sportsman feature. I feel like the track goes through a big transition from the start of the feature to the finish which makes better for the drivers and the fans. Some nights without the track prep, you go out there and know it’s going to be a fight for the bottom but for me, I just have a comfort going to the top. I can see where I think the grip will be and how to get my car to it.”
Colton Perry finished 2nd from his 3rd starting position. Colton also had his best finish of the season after struggling with qualifying this spring.
Colton stated, “We have been struggling qualifying so went to our notes and pulled out a base setup from a few years ago for this week and it worked like a charm this week. We only made a few adjustments to tighten the car to track conditions”
“In the feature I may have been a bit too patient on passing guys in front of me. Once I made the pass the car felt a lot better running my line of choice. I knew once Jesse got out in front that it was going to be pretty much over unless there was a very late caution and we got a late chance to sprint to the checkered flag, but it didn’t happen.”
Nick Van Winkle finished 3rd from his 11th starting position for his best finish of the season.
Nick reflected “So this season we set out to qualify every race at our new Saturday home track – Grandview. So far, we have qualified for all 5 races this season. It’s common knowledge of how competitive & difficult racing at Grandview is on a weekly basis. We have been able to keep our nose clean which has allowed us to finish every feature race this season besides one with a parts failure 2 weeks ago. I am really enjoying racing at Grandview as it’s a very technical track with a surface that either changes drastically or does not change at all.”
“In the heat race we started 5th and made it to second and after a couple restarts felt we had something for the leader but with being in a handicap spot there was no point in pushing the issue.”
“Started the feature in 11th and quickly made it to 6th, then kind of just stalled out but then made some driving changes and found my way to 3rd closing on second.”
“Finally, after 5 weeks I feel like I am figuring out how to get around Grandview pretty good. I hope we can keep the momentum going and put together more good runs this season.”
SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES – 5/30/26
Teague Miller finished 4th from his 13th starting position posting his 2nd top 5 finish in a row and moving into seventh in the season points standings.
Teague noted “From the beginning of the night we felt very comfortable and the car was fast. We started 6th in the heat and were able to move up when a racing deal happened in front of us and almost spun us out. Luckily, we held on and fought our way up to the last handicap spot. That put us 13th starting position in the feature.”
“Going out for the feature we made our normal adjustments to the car and kept our same mindset of keeping our nose clean. We came across the line with a 4th place finish and were very happy with another top 5. After struggling early in the season; we are heading in the right direction now. The turning point was going back to our old setup notes which brought the car back to life.”
Matthew Laubach finished 5th from his 21st starting position and ran from back to front for the 2nd week in a row. Matthew made a late adjustment to his line on the top that rocketed him past 7 cars in the final 7 laps moving him from 12th to 5th.”
Matthew noted “We were overall QuickTime in warmups which gave us confidence going into the night. We started in the back of the heat race and got in a battle with Brightbill and Decker Swinehart ending up 7th and missing the field.”
“Started 4th in the consolation and was able to hold off Meitzler to take the win. Meitzler has been one of the stronger cars in the class this season and I wanted the win and got it.”
“Started 21st and just avoided the wrecks. In hindsight we made an adjustment right before the feature that made us too tight. But we learn from our mistakes; and I adjusted my driving to the setup we had in the car. Avoided several wrecks and got up to 5th by the end of the feature.”
Joe Toth finished 6th from his 24th starting position, which pushed him into the lead in the Grandview championship points chase. Joe has won three Crate points championships at New Egypt; one at Bridgeport; four at Georgetown; one at Delaware International as well as three STSS South titles and one STSS North title. So this season Joe has set his sights on adding a Crate points championship in Pennsylvania to his resume to complete a tri-state trifecta of championships.
Jimmy Leiby finished 9th from his 27th provisional starting position and turned a rough day into a strong points day that pushed him into 3rd in the points standings.
Jimmy commented “In the heat race we got tangled with a spin in front of us and the car wasn’t completed repaired when we had to go out for the consolation, so we just tested for driveline or steering issues in consolation. We used a provisional for the feature and then used every inch of the track to make passes and pick our way through to a +18 run into a 9th place finish and a good points night from a provisional position.”
Jason Graber finished 14th from the pole position and was in the top 3 for twenty laps until he got out of line on a caution restart and he got freight trained back to 14th. Nonetheless Jason posted his best 20 laps of his career and finish of the season.
Jason commented “ The track got slicker and I got a little out of line and couldn’t find a way back into the line.”
The top 5 in the Crate points standing all started in 21st to 27th position which indicates they all qualified through the consolation except for Jimmy Leiby who used a provisional. Last year Colin Cox and Dylan Swinehart were two cars who ran from the back to the front consistently in the feature. This year there are five cars running from back to front on a weekly basis – Joe Toth, Colin Cox, Jimmy Leiby, Matthew Laubach and Addison Meitzler.
UPCOMING EVENTS –
Saturday, June 6 – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds, T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman – 7:30 pm
Friday, June 12 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro & Vintage, Xcel 600 Modifieds – 7 pm
Saturday, June 13 – T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Modifieds, T.P. Trailers & Truck Equipment Sportsman – 7:30 pm
Tuesday, June 16 – THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES –JESSE HOCKETT CLASSIC EASTERN STORM – USAC National Sprint Tour, 358 Modifieds* – 7:30 pm
