Hehnly (600's), & Rutherford (270's) Clinch Titles In Points Finale

Newmanstown, PA (Saturday, 9/14) -  Saturday's regular season finale at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway was a very busy evening as the Newmanstown oval celebrated an early Halloween, treated some lucky fans to free, specially made t-shirts, hosted the Restricted 600's one more time in 2019, and ended the program with the second annual Wheelie Contest. Oh, and there was the matter of settling a pair of point championships and the final five regular season features, too!

  At the conclusion of an action-packed night, Birdsboro's Aaron Bollinger picked up his fifth win of the year in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, Bradley Brown did everything he needed to do in order to catch Mike Rutherford in the Viper Chassis 270 standings by winning his fifth feature of the season, and Clinton Hauser (finally) earned his very first triumph in the Sportsman Class. Marty Brian capped his phenomonal season with a tenth victory in the 250cc Four-Stroke Class, and Justin Harrington kicked in the door to victory lane at long last to score his first 125cc win of the season. Ben Maier made it two in a row in the Restricted 600 Sprint 15-lap main event.

  There were two point titles still up for grabs on Saturday night (actually three, but Kerry Lengle clinched the 125cc crown just by taking the green flag in warm-ups). Heath Hehnly secured his eighth track title in the Hyper Racing 600's when Mike Rutherford fell out with nine laps complete and finished 15th while Hehnly ran a steady race, placing fifth at the checkered. The championship is also Hehnly's fourth straight in the Clyde's 600 Sprint division. 

  Rutherford did clinch his ninth (and an incredible eighth consecutive) point title in the Viper Chassis 270 Sprints, even though Brown won the feature. Rutherford, who had to qualify through the consolation race, soldiered to a ninth place finish and that was enough for him to claim the championship by 23 points (unofficial tally).

  Mike Kreiser (Sportsman), and Marty Brian (250cc Four-Strokes) wrapped up their first Lanco championships on September 7, while Lengle clinched the 125cc crown when he was pushed off for hot laps on Saturday.

  Bollinger started sixth in Saturday's 25-lapper for the Hyper Racing 600's, weaved his way through traffic in the early stages, then slipped into the runner-up spot on lap ten. Pole sitter Bradley Brown was setting the pace while Bollinger, Jarid Kunkle, and Ryan Hook diced for second place. Bollinger emerged from that scrap with the bridesmaid's spot and began to track down the race leader. He caught Brown at the halfway point, then looked for the opportunity to execute a slide job as Brown held serve at the head of the field. Bollinger saw his chance as they entered turn one on the 17th revolution, throwing the slider and taking the lead. Brown attempted to return the favor in three and four, but a lapped car blocked his slider and his momentum carried the No. 23 to the top of the banking, bouncing hard off the outside guardrail. Brown lost two more positions as he recovered from his joust with the steel barrier as Ryan Hook and Kunkle zipped past him.

  Bollinger dashed away, winning by more than three-seconds over Hook, who held off Kunkle for runner-up honors. Brown and Hehnly completed the top five.

  Mike Rutherford, R. Hook, and Brown were heat race winners for the 24-car field of 600's.

  Nick Skias led the early laps of the Viper Chassis 270 main with Brown and Mike Skias waging a side-by-side tussle for second. The pair battled furiously for the first half of the 25-lap affair before Brown eventually claimed the spot and went after the leader. A yellow with ten to go aided his cause as it wiped out N. Skias' big lead. Brown used his outside, front row spot on the restart to ease past N. Skias (who had a right-rear tire slowly deflating on his No. 3s) and take a lead that he would not relinquish. Mike Skias passed his brother for second and Corey Schmuck Jr. worked by Nick to take over third position with eight laps remaining. Brown went on to win his second straight and fifth of the year by 2.5-seconds over Mike Skias and Schmuck Jr. Andrew Dietrich got by Nick Skias for fourth and Nick hung on for fifth-place money.

  A 30-car field entered the 270cc points-paying finale on Saturday, with heat race wins going to Brown, N. Skias, and Dietrich. Rutherford won the consolation, then finished ninth in the feature to win his ninth point championship.

  Clinton Hauser makes a long drive from northeast Pennsylvania to compete in the Sportsman Class at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway each week. He's been knocking on the door to victory lane for the past two seasons, and it finally opened for him on Saturday night.

  Hauser started on the pole and led all the way, although Anthony Yerger closed to within two-tenths of a second at the end. Yerger and Nick Skias waged a highly entertaining duel for second place for much of the second half of the 25-lapper before Yerger pulled ahead and narrowed the gap between Hauser and him. At the finish, it was Hauser (who finished second in Sportsman points) with Yerger coming up a few car lengths short in second. Nick Skias wound up third and Patrick Kirn raced home in fourth. Brandon Gibble finished fifth.

  Sportsman heat race winners included Yerger and N. Skias.

  Ephrata's Marty Brian already had the 250cc Four-Stroke point title locked up when that division's 25-lap feature went green on Saturday. But Brian was also seeking his tenth win of the season in Four-Stroke competition and he got it, grabbing the top spot at the start (he rolled off second on the grid) and leading all the way. Brian won handily over his good buddy Tommy Phipps Jr. and Zachary Young took the checkered with a career-best third place finish. Dylan Yeingst and Jessica Moore rounded out the top five.

  Zachary Young and M. Brian won the Four-Stroke heat races.

  York's Justin Harrington has been oh-so-close to winning a 125cc feature since returning to the driver's seat earlier in the summer. He finally broke through and sealed the deal on Saturday, darting from his pole position to lead all 25-laps. Cliff Brian Jr. made a nifty move to thread the needle between his younger brother Marty and Mike Glass to snare third place, then wrestled second away from Brandon Gibble on lap 17. A late race restart did not deter Harrington's run to victory, though, as C. Brian was not able to muster a serious challenge over the final three trips around the clay. Harrington recorded the triumph with C. Brian Jr. finishing second and Glass earning third place pay. Marty Brian was fourth and Chase Layser took the checkers in fifth.

  Layser and Kerry Lengle captured the 125cc heat races. Lengle then celebrated his first Lanco championship with a sixth-place finish in the feature.

  Maryland's Ben Maier may have led all 15 laps of the Restricted 600 Sprint feature but he had to work for the win, his second of the season at Clyde Martin. Logan Rumsey tried everything he could think of to unseat Maier from the top spot, nearly squeezing through a keyhole sized opening between the leader and fence on several occasions. But Maier held him off to register the narrow victory.

  Kenny Beinhower crossed the line in third while Jude Siegel and Ryan Schultz finished fourth and fifth. The 15-lapper went clean and green for the entire distance.

  Rumsey won the Restricted 600 heat race.

  Corey Schmuck Jr. was declared the winner of the Wheelie Contest, earning $200 in the process. Bradley Brown, in Toby Blumenshine's No. 21, was runner-up and Mike Skias placed third. Brown and Skias earned $100 and $50, respectively. Prize money for the Wheelie Contest was posted by Joe Kepple, Ken and Janet Boyce, and Mike Knappenberger Photos.

  The season is not quite over at the Clyde...this Saturday, September 21st, is the annual Post Season Test n' Tune & Flea Market. And then, on Saturday, September 28, Richie Hartman Promotions presents the Weber's Landscaping Firecracker 40. On the menu will be wingless 600 Sprints, winged 270's, All Star Slingshots, and combined 125cc/Four-Strokes (with wings). Gates will open at 3:30 on the 28th, with warm-ups scheduled for 5 p.m. The first heat race goes green at 6:00. The winners of the wingless 600 and winged 270 mains will pocket a cool $2,000 (guaranteed), while the Slingshots will run for $750 to win.

  Just one more chance to come on out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!     

RESULTS:

Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Aaron Bollinger, 2.Ryan Hook, 3.Jarid Kunkle, 4.Bradley Brown, 5.Heath Hehnly, 6.Austin Quick, 7.Brian Kramer, 8.Steve Schultz, 9.Jesse Maurer, 10.Chris Good, 11.Mark Yoder, 12.Will Urkuski, 13.Dan Lane Jr., 14.Chelsey Moore, 15.Mike Rutherford, 16.Zach Light, 17.Jesse Snyder, 18.Ryan Groff, 19.Chris Panczner, 20.Kassidy Michael, 21.Holden Eckman, 22.Jered Hook.  DNS: Kyler Heiney, Walt Wampole.

Viper Chassis 270 Sprints, 25 Laps: 1.Bradley Brown, 2.Mike Skias, 3.Corey Schmuck Jr., 4.Andrew Dietrich, 5.Nick Skias, 6.Austin Graby, 7.Toby Blumenshine, 8.Kyler Heiney, 9.Mike Rutherford, 10.Patrick Kirn, 11.Trent Eberhart, 12.Heath Hehnly, 13.Matt Fernsler, 14.Cameron Smith, 15.Zak Vickers, 16.Brian Kramer, 17.Dave Labe, 18.Christi Sweigart, 19.Jonah Meck, 20.Anthony Yerger, 21.Jarrett Imler, 22.Zack Hollinger, 23.Isaac Graby, 24.Brittany Zeller. DNS: Dan Lane Jr.

DNQ: Raymond Ohlinger, Chase Walker, Tajae Adams, Josh Ohlinger, Mike Uhrich.

Sportsman Feature, 25 Laps: 1.Clinton Hauser, 2.Anthony Yerger, 3.Nick Skias, 4.Patrick Kirn, 5.Brandon Gibble, 6.Mike Kreiser, 7.Robert Shanaman, 8.Courtney Kupp, 9.Nate Gibble, 10.Jamie Flickinger, 11.Steve Smith Sr., 12.Sam Borger, 13.Kyle Henninger, 14.Michael Spadafora, 15.Dennis Fenstermacher, 16.Bret Cronrath, 17.Charles Hellinger.

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

125cc Feature, 25 Laps: 1.Justin Harrington, 2.Cliff Brian Jr., 3.Mike Glass, 4.Marty Brian, 5.Chase Layser, 6.Kerry Lengle, 7.Kenny Bushey, 8.Tyler Martin, 9.Logan Rhoad, 10.Nathan Weidman, 11.Jimmy Wampole, 12.Brandon Gibble, 13.AJ Gerhart, 14.Kayla Fetter. DNS: Holden Eckman.

Restricted 600 Sprints, 15 Laps: 1.Ben Maier, 2.Logan Rumsey, 3.Kenny Beinhower, 4.Jude Siegel, 5.Ryan Schultz. 

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