Newmanstown, PA - Kyle Spence was a busy young man at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday. But he certainly made the most of his time, winning twice and finishing third in the three main events in which he competed on a very warm and muggy night in Newmanstown, Pa.
Spence, a resident of Bear, DE, captured his third victory of the season in the 600cc Micro-Sprint headliner, then triumphed again in the Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Stroke feature that culminated the five division program. He also finished third in an exciting 270cc main in which Ken Miller scored a narrow victory over Bradley Brown.
Former Class champion Curtis R. Miller claimed the Sportsman triumph while Zack Hollinger registered the win in the 125cc feature race.
Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway is back in action this Saturday, June 18, with another five division program of the most exciting winged Micro-Sprint racing in the northeast. The speedway is adhering to its Summer Time Schedule once again, with gates opening at 4:30 p.m. Warm-ups begin at 6:00 and the first heat race goes green at 7:00. The 600cc, 270cc, Sportsman, 125cc, and the Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Stroke Micros will battle in qualifying heats, consolations, and 25-lap main events.
Coming up on June 25 is Kim's Kreations Pink Out Night at the Clyde, when proceeds from special event T-shirts and a Chinese Auction will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Program at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Lanco's five weekly divisions will be joined by the All Star Slingshots as they compete in a National Tour event, the Slide at the Clyde IV. Gates will open at 4 p.m. on the 25th, with Slingshot warm-ups and heat races (a dual heat race format will be utilized for the Slinger's National Tour event) getting underway at 5:00. Micro-Sprint warm-ups and the remainder of the program will follow at 6 p.m.
Last Saturday's 600cc main was both thrilling and a bit bizarre. Kenny Miller III zipped out from his pole starting position to open up sizeable leads before yellow flags brought him back to the pack on a few occasions. The caution periods permitted Cameron Bellinger and then sixth-starting Kyle Spence to hound Miller for the top spot. Spence applied the most pressure when he caught Miller during the final third of the race as the leader wrestled with heavy lapped traffic. With five to go, Spence made an inside move in turns one and two. Miller, trying to fend off the challenge, gassed his No. 23m off the corner and between Nick Sweigart, who he was trying to put one lap down, and Spence, who was charging for the lead on the very bottom of the track. Miller and Sweigart made just enough contact to cause both cars to get out of shape, with Sweigart stopping on the backstretch after bouncing off the outside guardrail. He collected Patrick Ely, who had nowhere to go and clobbered Sweigart's No. 24, with his No. 55L sustaining considerable damage. Sweigart was able to continue but Ely, who took some time before exiting his wounded car, was knocked out of the race.
Miller, though passed by Spence, continued on and it appeared the ensuing caution flag saved him and would see him back in front for the restart. But track officials put Miller to the rear for his role in the incident, handing the top spot to Spence.
Spence went on to win by 2.5-seconds over Jack Conover and 19th-starting Heath Hehnly, the current 600cc point leader. Bradley Brown and Chris Panczner rounded out the top five.
600cc heat race winners included Cameron Bellinger, Miller, and Conover. Hehnly won the consolation race as 27 of the 600's took part in the evening's program.
In addition to his winner's payout, Spence also received the Lias Tire/ American Racer Tires Gift Certificate.
Nick Skias, already a two-time winner this season, blasted from the inside of the front row to lead as the 270cc main got underway. Ken Miller sliced his way from fifth to second by the time they reached turn two on the opening lap. Miller, from Birdsboro, Pa., quickly began his assault on Skias, executing slide jobs at both ends of the speedway, only to see Skias crank his steering wheel to the left and drive back under him to regain the top spot.
On the 11th trip around the clay, Miller threw a slider that worked, as he squeezed up in front of the No. 3s in turns one and two, forcing Skias to stab his brake pedal. That allowed Miller to blast off the corner with the race lead, but he would not simply waltz to his first win of the year.
Bradley Brown throttled past two cars with ten to go, moving from fourth to second as he got by Kyle Spence and Danny Lane Jr. The final laps turned into an exciting battle for the win, with Brown constantly ducking under Miller in the corners in attempts to steal the lead. Miller fought off each attack, and even a caution period with two to go did not alter the outcome. Miller held on to win by a scant 0.366-seconds over Brown, who felt he just needed another lap or two to switch positions with the winner.
Miller dedicated the win to his cousin who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in Maryland a few weeks earlier. Trailing Miller and Brown across the stripe were Spence, Lane, and Billy Logeman as two and three-wide competition from third through 12th positions highlighted the 25-lapper.
With 27 cars on hand, heat race victories went to Mike Skias, Mike Rutherford, and Richie Hartman. Brian Sholley was the consolation winner.
Mertztown's Curtis R. Miller, the 2014 Sportsman Class point champion, made a nifty move to duck under his cousin and race leader Anthony Yergerin turn one with the laps winding down on Saturday night. Miller, who started sixth, moved up steadily and battled for the runner-up spot with Patrick Kirn as the duo ripped around the banked oval right behind Yerger. Miller eventually secured second, then began his pursuit of Yerger, who had his best run of the year.
Once in front, Miller opened a slim but comfortable advantage over his cousin, who chased him to the checkered flag. Tyler Ulrich finished third while 12th-starter Cameron Bellinger wound up fourth and Dave Ravel raced home in the fifth position.
Curtis R. Miller, as did his dad's cousin Ken, dedicated his triumph to the family member who was fatally injured in the motorcycle accident a few weeks earlier.
Another nice field of 28 Sportsman Micros signed in for action on Saturday. Yerger, Bellinger, and Ulrich recorded heat race wins and Austin Graby claimed the consolation race victory.
Jarrett Imler, from Leola, Pa., jumped to the early lead in the 25-lap main for the Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Stroke Class. He soon had company at the head of the pack, as ninth-starting Kyle Spence flew into the runner-up slot by the fourth circuit. Spence, subbing for Donna Geib as she recovers from two broken ribs, tussled with Imler for several tours as he searched for a way to get by the swift running No. 17.
Spence was finally able to muscle his way to the inside of Imler in turns three and four, snatching the lead as they rumbled down the home stretch to complete lap 15. From there on, it was all Spence, as he wheeled the Gold Rush Trailer Sales/Hosler's Tire/Tents for You No. 82 to a convincing victory over Imler. It was the second straight Four-Stroke triumph for Spence and the first time he's captured two Clyde Martin feature wins on the same night.
Following Spence and Imler at the finish were Kassidy Michael, Aidan Jones in the best run of his short Micro-Sprint career, and Ronnie Rhoads.
Spence and Dick Huzzard were heat race winners for the 17-car Four-Stroke field.
Zack Hollinger, Lititz, slipped past Brandon Gibble to take the lead on the second revolution of the 125cc feature. Hollinger did a great job of navigating his way through lapped traffic and went on to score the win in a race that took just over six-minutes and 42-seconds.
Two-time winner Justin Harrington finished a distant second to Hollinger, while another two-time winner this season, William Manotti, earned third place money. Gibble wound up fourth and Austin Graby finished fifth.
Two heats were contested by the 18-car field, with victories going to Manotti and Tajae Adams.
RESULTS:
600cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Kyle Spence, 2.Jack Conover, 3.Heath Hehnly, 4.Bradley Brown, 5.Chris Panczner, 6.Jason Swavely, 7.Zach Light, 8.Ryan Hook, 9.Chris Gerhart, 10.Austin Bishop, 11.Mike Rutherford, 12.Shaun Brandel, 13.Brent Ely, 14.Ryan Groff, 15.Taylor Troxel, 16.Amber Oraschin, 17.Chris Oraschin, 18.Nick Sweigart, 19.Kenny Miller III, 20.Cameron Bellinger, 21.Kassidy Michael, 22.Patrick Ely, 23.Jarid Kunkle, 24.Will Urkuski.
DNQ: Rebecca LaMothe, Shaun Lawton, Kelby Stauffer.
270cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Ken Miller, 2.Bradley Brown, 3.Kyle Spence, 4.Dan Lane Jr., 5.Billy Logeman, 6.Toby Blumenshine, 7.Richie Hartman, 8.Kenny Miller III, 9.Nick Sweigart, 10.Dylan Adams, 11.Nick Skias, 12.Andrew Dietrich, 13.Jason Rhoades, 14.Jarrett Imler, 15.Christi Sweigart, 16.Tyler Ulrich, 17.Mike Rutherford, 18.Dustin Fox, 19.Jas Hehnly, 20.Brian Sholley, 21.Mike Skias, 22.Adam Minzer, 23.Mike Uhrich, 24.Daryl Davis.
DNQ: Brent Shearer, Christopher Steigerwalt, Bob Brubaker.
Sportsman Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Curtis R. Miller, 2.Anthony Yerger, 3.Tyler Ulrich, 4.Cameron Bellinger, 5.Dave Ravel, 6.Ava Bellinger, 7.Patrick Kirn, 8.Sheena Schaefer, 9.Sami Schenck, 10.Toby Blumenshine, 11.Dan Lane Jr., 12.Ken Miller, 13.Austin Graby, 14.Kane Rogers, 15.Alex Funari, 16.Dave Schroeder, 17.Robert Shanaman, 18.Nate Gibble, 19.Ken Davis, 20.Zak Vickers, 21.Ricky Sechrist, 22.Kerry Lengle, 23.Cody Sechrist, 24.Devin Adams.
DNQ: Dustin Adams, Brian Kramer, Katelin Vragovich, Dennis Fenstermacher.
Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Stroke Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Kyle Spence, 2.Jarrett Imler, 3.Kassidy Michael, 4.Aidan Jones, 5.Ronnie Rhoads, 6.Lewis Kepple Jr., 7.Zak Vickers, 8.Dick Huzzard, 9.Andrew Potts, 10.Cliff Brian Jr., 11.Justin Harrington, 12.Dave Ravel, 13.Ron Zimmerman, 14.Eddie Nocera, 15.Ron Wechter, 16.Mike Coen, 17.Zachary Young.
125cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Zack Hollinger, 2.Justin Harrington, 3.William Manotti, 4.Brandon Gibble, 5.Austin Graby, 6.Corey Schmuck Jr., 7.Tajae Adams, 8.Alexis Sheely, 9.Kyler Heiney, 10.Mark Yoder, 11.Shane Davis, 12.Noah Merkey, 13.Tyler Hershey, 14.Brandon Stuck, 15.Walt Wampole, 16.Jas Hehnly, 17.Jimmy Wampole, 18.Matthew Donley.