Saturday, August 24, was PINK OUT NIGHT at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway...a night on which money was raised to support the Breast Cancer Research program at Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center. The track was honored and privileged to work with Kim’s Kreations, Terri Bucks, and T.T.’s Troops to raise funds for this most worthwhile and very significant program. 

  On the track, Birdsboro’s Aaron Bollinger racked up his third straight (and fourth overall) win in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, while Nick Skias came back after flipping in his heat race to score the victory in the Viper Chassis 270 Sprint main. Mike Rutherford won the Sportsman feature and Marty Brian moved closer to his first track title by recording his eighth triumph of the season in the 250cc Four-Stroke feature. His older brother, Cliff Brian Jr., notched his sixth win of the year in the 25-lap main for the 125cc racers. 

  This weekend it’s the annual racing/party of the year...the Labor Day Shootout! It’s a two-day extravaganza of fun and great racing, with a different menu of high speed adventure scheduled for each night. On Saturday, August 31, it’s a six-division Wing-Ding featuring the Hyper Racing 600 and Viper Chassis 270 Sprints, the Sportsman (250cc Stock),  and the Restricted 600 Sprints. The 125cc and 250cc Four-Strokes will run as one class in a winged 125/Four-Stroke Challenge. 

  On Sunday, September 1, the wings come off as the 600’s, 270’s, and 125/Four-Strokes battle in wingless fashion on the progressively banked oval. Joining them will be the All Star Slingshots. 

  The time schedule is the same for both days: gates open at 1:30 p.m., with warm-ups getting underway at 3:45. Racing begins at 4:30. Full details, along with camping information, are available at www.clydemartinspeedway.com. 

  Saturday’s 25-lapper for the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints had point leader Mike Rutherford jump into the early lead from his pole starting spot. Aaron Bollinger, who’s been white-hot over the past five weeks, quickly moved from seventh to second and began to pressure Rutherford. Bollinger threw a couple of slide jobs on Rutherford, but the leader simply crossed him over and went back in front each time. On lap five, though, Bollinger made his slider stick, grabbing the top spot and dashing away to a big lead. Laps two through 22 went clean and green with Bollinger cruising out front and Rutherford battling Ryan Groff, then Heath Hehnly for the runner-up position. On the white flag lap, Hehnly slipped past Rutherford for second. Rutherford’s No. 2s slowed on the final lap and he faded back to seventh at the checkered, allowing Hehnly to make a drastic gain in the point chase. 

  At the finish, it was Bollinger cashing in for his fourth win in the past five weeks (and his third in a row), with Hehnly, Groff, Jesse Snyder, and Zach Light completing the top five. 

  Bollinger, Hehnly, and Bradley Brown won heat races for the 600’s on Saturday. 

  The Viper Chassis 270 main had great difficulty in getting started. A nine-car pile up occurred on the first attempt and the second effort produced a nasty tumble by Josh Stoyer and Jarrett Imler. Stoyer was carefully removed from his mount and transported to a local medical facility for further examination. He was awake and alert and communicating with the track’s safety crew as they removed him from his mangled race car. On Sunday, a Facebook message from a family member reported that Josh was okay, just very sore and bruised up from the incident. 

  Billy Logeman darted from his pole starting spot to lead the early laps while Bradley Brown got by Mike Skias for second. Nick Skias, who caught an infield tractor tire and flipped in his heat race, charged from 11th on the original start to run third during the first half of the 25-lap affair. Brown caught Logeman in lapped traffic, then ducked under him going into turn three with 13 circuits complete. The duo got together entering the corner and Logeman did a half-spin to bring out the yellow. Lanco officials sent Brown to the rear for his role in the mishap, handing the lead to Nick Skias. The Wernersville, PA resident took full advantage of the opportunity, racing to his second 270cc win of the season over Jason Swavely, Mike Skias, 22nd starter Brent Shearer, and Trent Eberhart.

  Heat winners included Brown, Mike Skias, and Logeman. 

  The key to Mike Rutherford’s Sportsman victory came on lap 14, when Rutherford threaded the needle between Patrick Kirn and Clinton Hauser to go from fourth to second. The yellow flag waved just after he was scored as the runner-up, permitting him to start on the outside of race leader Anthony Yerger when the race went green once again. 

  Rutherford, from Lebanon, PA, zipped in front on the restart, then went on to win his first Sportsman feature of the season. Kirn got by Yerger to finish second, with Yerger, Hauser, and Robert Shanaman rounding out the top five. 

  The two Sportsman heat races went to Hauser and Rutherford. 

  Ephrata’s Marty Brian blasted to the lead as the 250cc Four-Stroke feature went green, with Alex Lukacs chasing him into turn one. Brian would go on to lead all the way, with Lukacs hanging on for runner-up honors. Tommy Phipps Jr. and Cliff Brian Jr. battled for third for much of the race before Cliff finally secured the spot. Riley Simmons wound up fifth at the finish. 

  M. Brian and Lukacs were the Four-Stroke heat race winners.

  Marty’s older brother Cliff Brian Jr. drove to his sixth triumph of the year in the 125cc feature. Cliff ducked under Holden Eckman and early leader Isaac Graby to snatch the top spot on a restart with three laps in the books. C. Brian went on to win handily over Isaac Graby, with RJ Rossi notching his best-ever finish by placing third. Point leader Kerry Lengle finished fourth and Eckman completed the top five. 

  Cliff Brian Jr. and Kerry Lengle were 125cc heat race winners. 

RESULTS:

Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Aaron Bollinger, 2.Heath Hehnly, 3.Ryan Groff, 4.Jesse Snyder, 5.Zach Light, 6.Jarid Kunkle, 7.Mike Rutherford, 8.Jered Hook, 9.Holden Eckman, 10.Chris Panczner, 11.Austin Quick, 12.Will Urkuski, 13.Brian Kramer, 14.Rob Pajauis, 15.Jesse Maurer, 16.Chelsey Moore, 17.Steve Schultz, 18.Bradley Brown, 19.Ryan Kunkle, 20.Kassidy Michael, 21.Jimmy Wampole. DNS: BJ Antonio, Ryan Hook.

Viper Chassis 270 Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Nick Skias, 2.Jason Swavely, 3.Mike Skias, 4.Brent Shearer, 5.Trent Eberhart, 6.Corey Schmuck Jr., 7.Zak Vickers, 8.Bradley Brown, 9.Andrew Dietrich, 10.Christi Sweigart, 11.Dan Lane Jr., 12.Jonah Meck, 13.Patrick Kirn, 14.Anthony Yeager, 15.Heath Hehnly, 16.Toby Blumenshine, 17.Billy Logeman, 18.Pete Skias, 19.Austin Graby, 20.Josh Ohlinger, 21.Josh Stoyer, 22.Jarrett Imler, 23.Mike Rutherford, 24.Mike Uhrich.

Sportsman Feature, 25 Laps: 1.Mike Rutherford, 2.Patrick Kirn, 3.Anthony Yerger, 4.Clinton Hauser, 5.Robert Shanaman, 6.Isaac Graby, 7.Nate Gibble, 8.Dennis Fenstermacher, 9.Sam Borger, 10.Courtney Kupp, 11.Jamie Flickinger, 12.Mike Kreiser, 13.Jeremy Eisenhour, 14.Steve Smith Sr., 15.Charles Hellinger, 16.David Ravel.

250cc Four-Stroke Feature, 25 Laps: 1.Marty Brian, 2.Alex Lukacs, 3.Cliff Brian Jr., 4.Tommy Phipps Jr., 5.Riley Simmons, 6.Dylan Yeingst, 7.Ron Wechter, 8.Dick Huzzard, 9.Jeremy Eisenhour, 10.Jenna Heagy, 11.Jessica Moore, 12.Jared St. John.

125cc Feature, 25 Laps: 1.Cliff Brian Jr., 2.Isaac Graby, 3.RJ Rossi, 4.Kerry Lengle, 5.Holden Eckman, 6.Tyler Martin, 7.Kenny Bushey, 8.Barbie Eichorn, 9.Ben Layser, 10.Chase Layser, 11.Mike Glass, 12.Kassidy Michael, 13.Austin Graby, 14.Justin Harrington, 15.Jimmy Wampole, 16.Brandon Gibble, 17.AJ Gerhart, 18.Shane Davis.

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