The second end of the weekend twin bill at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway saw the wings come off for three of the regular divisions, as the Hyper Racing 600’s, 270’s, and 125/4 Stroke divisions would be in action and joined by the Slingshots. Alex Bright and Christian Bruno would lead the field to green in the opening feature for the 600’s. The first yellow would fly before the leaders hit the back stretch, as the single car spin of Mitchell Bard would slow the field. Brendan Bright would have an issue which sent him to the rear of the field as well. After a short green flag run, Sam LaMothe spun in turn four bringing out the second caution. Joey Jarowicz would also have an issue under the yellow. As the top handful of cars would begin to stretch their lead, good battles would go on through the back half of the field. Preston Lattimus and Steven Drevicki would put on a nice battle for the fourth position, along with Collin White. The restart saw Slide Job City return to Newmanstown, and ultimately wound up with Nick Groff flipping hard into turn one. Groff would be ok, but the car was done for the night. The restart was furious at the front, with Bruno throwing a couple of big sliders at the race leader. Jumping the cushion in turn four, Bruno would fall back into the clutches of White for second position. Kyle Spence would continue to charge forward, battling with Logan Rumsey and Jesse Maurer as the yellow came out. White was able to clear Bruno before the caution, setting up a restart alongside Bright. The final ten laps would be a repeat of the first twenty, with nobody being in the same zip code as race winner Alex Bright. Collin White and Christian Bruno would round out the podium.
The Slingshots would take to the speedway next, with Josh Weiant and Dave Carraghan on the front row. Third place starter Taylor Mills would grab the early lead as Weiant slid high in turn four. James Hendricks spun to bring out the caution flag with one lap completed. The restart was jumbled quickly leading to a single file restart. A bout of caution fever would grip the raceway, as four yellows would fly within two completed laps. Race control shortened the race distance to 25 laps after the sixth caution occurred only on lap three. Following three laps of green flag running, the seventh caution would fly for the broken machine of Chuck Whary. The first long green flag run settled in just past the halfway point. With little more than half of the field remaining in the running, Scott Neary went to work catching race leader Mills. Dylan Hoch also was in line with the top pair as the caution flew with five laps remaining. Hoch dove inside of Neary to claim second with four laps to go. The gap would settle in at three car lengths, and Taylor Mills claimed the win over Hoch and Neary.
The final feature race to run n the night would be the 270’s, as the 125/4 Stroke finale was cancelled due to the curfew in place at the Speedway. Mike Rutherford and Toby Blumenshine would pace the field. Rutherford grabbed the early lead, as the caution flag would fly for a spin in turn one. The restart saw Toby Blumenshine battle with Brandon Heist before Chase Layser flipped in turn four. The driver was ok, but the night would end for the pilot of the 7L. On the restart, the field jumbled and Cody Siegel claimed the high flyer award for the division. On the restart, Nick Skias ended up close and personal with Corey Schmuck Jr, as Aidan Svanda would also be involved. A short green flag run saw Rutherford storm out to the lead, as contact back in the pack sent Andrew Dietrich around on the front stretch. Rutherford would again lead as Jesse Maurer and Heist battled for the second position. Kyle Spence would flip in turn one bringing out the sixth caution flag. The rinse and repeat cycle was on with each restart, as Rutherford was able to use clean air to his benefit and get away from the rest of the field. An intense battle for second between Bradley Brown, Jesse Maurer and Dan Lane would end with Maurer spun around in turn one and Lane sent to the rear for contact with Maurer. The restart with three to go saw Rutherford and Brown battling for the win. Brown was unable to make any ground on Rutherford, and would claim the victory over Brown and Heist.
The Lanco Micro-Midget Racing Club would like to thank all of the participants and fans for their support this past weekend. A record number of cars, along with issues both within the Club’s control and some which were not, lead to a racing program which went far too long. The Club plans to look at changes to be made to the Labor Day Shootout to help shorten the event going forward.
Coming up this weekend is the First Responders and Military & Veterans Appreciation night presented by Mongoose Chassis. The four regular divisions return to the Newmanstown high banks, or the normal race weekend schedule.