Danny Takes Fast Lane to 270 Victory; Bellinger, Coen, & Manotti Also Triumph
by Barry Angstadt
Newmanstown, PA - A pair of win streaks stayed alive on Saturday night at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, while another streak ended and a new one began in the five division program at the Newmanstown, Pa. oval.
A Saturday night drive kept one win streak alive - at five - as Kyle Spence once again proved he is currently the man to beat in the Hyper Racing 600's. Mike Rutherford's four-race win streak in the Viper Chassis 270cc Class was halted by Dan Lane Jr. and Cameron Bellinger captured his second consecutive victory in the Sportsman Class.
Mike Coen recorded his third win of the season in the HammerDown Engines 250cc Four-Stroke division, and William Manotti registered his sixth straight triumph in the 125cc Micros.
During the evening, a helmet drive was conducted for Guy Griffin, the Ohio driver who was severely injured in a 600cc crash at Path Valley Speedway on Sunday, July 2nd. Saturday's collection raised $875 that will be turned over to help Griffiin's family and assist with his mounting medical expenses.
Zach Light set the pace for the first half of the 25-lap Hyper Racing 600 feature, as seventh starting Kyle Spence methodically worked his way forward. Spence was up to third, trailing Light and runner-up Corry Roth, when the third caution period of the race occurred for a flipping Jim Radney with 11 tours in the books.
On the restart, Spence, from Bear, DE, went low and slipped past Roth for second. For the next three circuits, Spence and Light traded slide jobs - and the lead - at both ends of the speedway. On lap 14, Spence finally prevented Light from crossing over and re-passing him and, in the process, claimed the lead for good.
Spence went on to win his fifth consecutive 600cc feature at the Clyde. His streak includes four winged victories and one wingless triumph, and three of the wins have come in his family owned No. 25k while the other two were in Gary Hunter's No. 7H.
Bradley Brown passed Light for the runner-up position on lap 19 and narrowly held off Heath Hehnly for second place pay as they crossed under the checkered flag. Light wound up fourth and Roth finished fifth.
Ryan Groff started 24th - last - but climbed to sixth at the finish and 23rd starting Mike Rutherford wound up seventh.
Heats for the 33 car field were won by Spence, Brown, and Roth. Chris Gerhart was the consolation race winner.
Elverson's Dan Lane Jr. has had a season's worth of bad luck in the first half of the 2017 campaign. Lane finally shook the "misfortune monkey" off his back on Saturday, leading all 25 trips around the clay in the Viper Chassis 270cc main event.
Ninth-starter Nick Skias passed strong running Dallas Schott for the runner-up spot at the halfway point and Billy Logeman got by Schott for third a few laps later. Logeman and Skias battled side by side for the runner-up position for much of the second half of the 25-lapper, allowing Lane to maintain a three to four car length advantage out front.
At the finish, it was Lane cashing in for his first win of the year, with Skias holding off Logeman for second place money. Point leader Mike Rutherford wound up fourth as his win streak was halted at four. Andrew Dietrich crossed the line in fifth for his best effort of the season.
John Ruoss, Heath Hehnly, and Jarid Kunkle won the 270 heat races as 28 entries entered the night's program. Curtis R. Miller won the 270cc consolation race.
Sportsman point leader Cameron Bellinger, from Middletown, DE, won his second straight 25-lap feature on Saturday. Bellinger started 11th and quickly charged to third behind runner-up Sheena Schaefer and leader Curtis R. Miller by the time lap three was scored.
On a restart with six revolutions complete, Bellinger moved to the runner-up spot and two laps later Mike Rutherford took over third place. Just seconds later, as he headed towards turn one, Miller slowed with mechanical gremlins, handing the lead to Bellinger as he coasted to a stop on the backstretch.
Bellinger went on to win his third Sportsman feature of the season over Rutherford, with Nick Skias ending up third. Tenth-starter Jason Swavely finished fourth and 12th starting Jarid Kunkle completed the top five.
With 23 Sportsman competitors on hand, heat race victories went to Miller, Kunkle, and Bellinger.
In the HammerDown Engines 250cc Four-Stroke main event, Aidan Jones emerged from a side-by-side battle with Zak Vickers to lead lap five by inches. When the yellow flag waved seconds later, Jones restarted on the pole and 12th starting Mike Coen, from Shamokin, PA, moved into the runner-up spot when the green reappeared.
Jones pulled out to a comfortable lead over the next six circuits, but the second (and final) caution flag, with 11 laps complete, proved to be his undoing.
On the restart, Jones hopped over one of the large tires that mark the infield in turns three and four. Coen took advantage of Jones' bobble, blasting by to take the lead.
Coen drove to his third win of the year, with Jones a disappointed runner-up. Vickers raced home in third, while Cliff Brian Jr. and Eddie Nocera finished fourth and fifth.
Four-Stroke heat winners included Zachary Young and Brian.
Lancaster's William Manotti ran his winning streak to six in the 125cc feature. As Austin Graby set the pace, Manotti (who started ninth) zipped through traffic to run third as lap three was scored. He went to second on a restart with five tours complete. Another restart, with eight laps down, allowed Manotti to make the winning pass on Graby. He went on to lap all but the top four finishers by the time the checkered flag dropped after 25 laps.
Graby chased Manotti to the finish line, with Kody Hibshman finishing a career-best third. Kyle Hehnly and Nate Gibble rounded out the top five.
Manotti and Hehnly won heat races for the 125cc competitors.
Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway swings back into action this Saturday, July 15, with warm-ups beginning at 6 p.m. and the first heat race goes green at 7:00.
The Hyper Racing 600's, the Viper Chassis 270's, Sportsman, 125cc, and HammerDown Engines 250cc Four-Stroke Micros will battle in qualifying heats, consolations, and 25-lap features.
Adult General Admission is just $8.00, with discounts for Senior Citizens and Students. Tickets for youth between the ages of six and 12 are only $2.00, and children under the age of six are free.
Come on out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
RESULTS:
Hyper Racing 600 Micro-Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Kyle Spence, 2.Bradley Brown, 3.Heath Hehnly, 4.Zach Light, 5.Corry Roth, 6.Ryan Groff, 7.Mike Rutherford, 8.Ryan Hook, 9.Shaun Brandel, 10.Brent Ely, 11.Tyler Devault, 12.Steve Whary, 13.Chris Oraschin, 14.Will Urkuski, 15.Taylor Troxel, 16.Rebecca LaMothe, 17.Chris Gerhart, 18.Scott Meyers, 19.Jim Radney, 20.Dan Souder, 21.Hunter James, 22.Jarid Kunkle, 23.Austin Quick, 24.Nash Ely.
DNQ: Don Hess, Kassidy Michael, Patrick Ely, Austin Graby, Amber Oraschin, Sam LaMothe, Greg Stevens, Jered Hook, Kelby Stauffer.
Viper Chassis 270 Micro-Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Dan Lane Jr., 2.Nick Skias, 3.Billy Logeman, 4.Mike Rutherford, 5.Andrew Dietrich, 6.Devin Adams, 7.Toby Blumenshine, 8.Justin Harrington, 9.Christi Sweigart, 10.Jarrett Imler, 11.Dylan Adams, 12.Brian Sholley, 13.Jarid Kunkle, 14.John Ruoss, 15.Dana LaMothe, 16.Mark Miller, 17.Dallas Schott, 18.Curtis R. Miller, 19.Corey Schmuck Jr., 20.Heath Hehnly, 21.Anthony Yerger, 22.Josh Stoyer, 23.Todd Martin, 24.Kyle Spence.
DNQ: Mike Glass, Melvin Bainbridge, Jimmy Wampole, Brian Boyer.
Sportsman Micro-Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Cameron Bellinger, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.Nick Skias, 4.Jason Swavely, 5.Jarid Kunkle, 6.David Schroeder, 7.Sheena Schaefer, 8.Ricky Sechrist, 9.Michael Kreiser, 10.Clinton Hauser, 11.Brian Kramer, 12.Patrick Kirn, 13.Alan Durham, 14.Mike Skias, 15.Jason Conover, 16.Robert Shanaman, 17.Austin Graby, 18.Charles Hellinger, 19.Kane Rogers, 20.Dan Lane Jr., 21.Curtis R. Miller, 22.Samuel Borger, 23.Steve Smith Sr.
HammerDown Engines 250cc Four-Stroke Micro-Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Mike Coen, 2.Aidan Jones, 3.Zak Vickers, 4.Cliff Brian Jr., 5.Eddie Nocera, 6.Tom Phipps Jr., 7.Donna Geib, 8.Riley Simmons, 9.Ron Zimmerman, 10.Dylan Yeingst, 11.Ron Wechter, 12.Zachary Young.
125cc Micro-Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.William Manotti, 2.Austin Graby, 3.Kody Hibshman, 4.Kyle Hehnly, 5.Nate Gibble, 6.Brandon Gibble, 7.Holden Eckman, 8.Corey Schmuck Jr., 9.Noah Merkey, 10.Brandon Stuck, 11.Ryan Swavely, 12.Gary Ellex, 13.Matthew Donley, 14.Ron Zimmerman, 15.Jimmy Wampole, 16.Tyler Hershey, 17.Kerry Lengle, 18.Mike Glass.
DNS: Richard Stuck.
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