Lehighton’s Kris Graver is Mahoning Valley Speedway Modified Champion for 2014
COMING EVENTS: Opening Night, April 11, 2015
Lehighton’s Kris Graver is Mahoning Valley Speedway Modified Champion for 2014
By DINO OBERTO
(LEHIGHTON, PA 11-29-14) Mahoning Valley Speedway 2014 Modified champion Kris Graver can easily be considered a small fish in a big pond. Graver is the first to tell you that his team cannot compare to those he raced and beat in terms of both money and equipment. Yet that is just what he did, winning the division crown in just his second season of Modified racing.
“I don’t think anyone expected me to come out and do what I did this season. I just figured it out and did what I had to. I was shooting for a top five in the points because I finished sixth last year and I definitely overshot my expectations.” said Graver, who hails from Lehighton.
“Last year I raced conservatively and it came back and bit me because I was concerned about wrecking the car. This year I knew I couldn’t think about that stuff. I had to go out and run as hard as I could and get the best results.
“I really woke up this year because we work so hard in the garage and I felt that I wasn’t giving back the results that we should have been capable of. I wasn’t doing the best I could for my pap and uncle and everyone who came to help us. So this year I tried to improve every week and give 100%, which I did.”
It’s basically a three man operation and everything is hands-on with this team from building the motor to doing all other maintenance. They continue to work out of the same basement garage where they produced their first race car some 42 years ago. Aside from Kris there is Kevin Graver Sr., and Jr. Graver Sr., who is Kris’ grandfather, co-owns the car.
“We try to save every penny we could. Believe or not half the parts that were on the car came from Nevin George’s shop. Some of the parts we used were obsolete. We don’t have as many nice things compared to everyone else and I think that just makes winning this championship sweeter, being we are an underdog,” said Graver.
“I would hope this inspires some people to come out and this will give them optimism to show that if you really keep up with the work and maintain the car then you can be just as competitive as all the guys who have better equipment.”
At 21 years old, Graver becomes the youngest driver to win a Modified championship at Mahoning Valley Speedway. It was just the second season in which he drove a Modified yet he showed how capable of handling himself against a select group of seasoned Modified stars he really was.
He had a season high 13 top five feature finishes that included three wins which came within a four week span. That was also when he took control of the point lead which occurred at mid-season.
“That really was the pinnacle point of the year and a real turn around for us. We had wrecked the week before our first win and when we went over the car we found a few other things that needed our attention and got that all taken care of. After that we got it all pointed in the right direction and from there on I was determined to go out and do well. Money was low by that point so I really had no other choice but to race for wins,” said Graver.
“Those couple of weeks of winning helped out a ton money-wise and it also boosted my confidence and the team’s. After getting the point lead we felt if we win it great and if we don’t that’s fine too because to be a little team fighting for a title against some of these better funded guys, that in itself is a huge accomplishment.”
Graver also won the Opening Night 50-lap Dirt Modified feature and pulled off a stunning upset when he strapped into a USAC SpeedSTR in June and despite never having driving such a car, went on to defeat a star-studded field. He won again with the SpeedSTR in the season finale with an exciting last lap pass over Ryan Smith.
In just seven years he has risen to become one of the all-time leaders at Mahoning Valley. Along with this year’s Modified crown he has also notched a Pro 4 title and back-to-back Dirt Mod championships. He has 36 career feature wins between four different classes, 30 of those coming by age 20. He has won at least one feature each year since 2007.
“This is but far the best one (championship). I feel that this year was one of the toughest Modified fields in recent years. You had Eric Beers and Nevin George who raced on the (NASCAR) Whelen Tour along with all the other guys like Earl Paules, Don Wagner, Chip Santee and Johnny Markovic plus you had Matt Hirschman who is a star on the RoC Tour,” explained Graver.
“I think I did a good job of keeping up with all of them and just to be able to win against guys like that let alone win a championship, it’s a quite a surreal deal for me. When you compare yourself to those other guys you really have to be on top of your game each and every week. You have to be 100% committed to doing this.
“I’m also lucky to have my family behind me. They have been doing this since 1972 and we pretty much won everywhere we went. From Big Diamond to Grandview to Mahoning to Evergreen. We’ve always stayed with the philosophy of hard work and dedication in the garage and at the race track and that makes a huge difference.”
