By Kasey Kreider
Some things were old, some things were new, and some things simply stayed the same on a full night of racing from the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. But when the dust settled over Newmanstown on Saturday night, a half-dozen deserving winners had taken their well-earned places in victory lane. Justin Harrington and Nick Skias picked up their second wins on the season in the 125/4 Stroke and Hyper Racing 600 classes, respectively. Mike Rutherford and Andrew Dietrich took their first wins of 2021 in the 270 division, while Bret Cronrath added a victory in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman class. Meanwhile, it was Matt Fernsler who finally broke through to get his first Lanco win in the second 125/4 Stroke feature of the evening.
The night of racing started with makeup features from April 24th, beginning with the 125/4 Stroke division. Holden Eckman was the quickest driver in the evening’s warmup session and would start from pole position with Don Hess alongside. Alex Lukacs and Justin Harrington, who entered the evening just five points apart at the top of the standings with the latter driver having the edge, would start 10th and 11th, respectively.
Eckman would get away cleanly off the start and would establish himself as the clear leader early on, despite having to endure several early cautions. Those caution periods, however, gave Harrington and Lukacs the opportunity to carve their way through the field in the opening laps, with the No. 76 machine making the most inroads. After moving from 5th to 3rd on an early restart, Harrington was eventually able to bypass Mike Coen for the runner-up position, and would set his sights on Eckman for the top spot.
Eckman had gotten away to a sizeable advantage, however, and seemed to be on his way to his first win of 2021. But a caution with eight laps to go would erase the more than 1.5-second lead that Eckman had built up, and would close Harrington right to the back bumper. It was on this single file restart that Harrington would make the move for the win, getting a great run off of turn 4 and powering through on the inside through turns 1 and 2. Another caution one lap later would give Eckman a chance to get back to him, but Harrington was able to set sail with his car in clean air, and the Manheim, PA native would take the checkered flag 1.353 seconds in front of Eckman to become the first repeat winner of the season for the 125/4 Strokes.
Eckman turned the race’s fastest lap with a time of 11.592 seconds and would come across the line in front of Coen, Matt Fernsler, and Lukacs, who made up ground early but could never get higher than fifth, to round out the top five.
Justin Harrington came from 11th starting position to win his second feature of the season in the 125/4 Stroke division. (Photo Courtesy of Brandon Worthington/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The 270s would be next to the track for their makeup feature, as Anthony Yerger would start from pole position with Mike Skias to his outside. Mike Rutherford, who similarly to Harrington was looking to follow up a Friday night win at Linda’s with a Saturday night win at the Clyde, would roll off third. Point leader T. J. Greve, who was also fastest in warmups, would roll off seventh.
Nick Skias started his bid for three-in-a-row from the 12th position, but the bid would wind up being short-lived, as Skias pulled to the infield with a mechanical issue before the first green flag lap was completed. Issues would continue to befall some heavy hitters early in the race. Pete Skias was involved in three separate incidents, the last of which was a wild ride down the backstretch that left him not only out of the race, but done for the remainder of the evening. Greve, meanwhile, had suffered an issue at the conclusion of his warmup session, and that issue reared its head again on lap 10, as he came to a stop on the track. The issue would prove to be terminal for Greve as well, and would end his night in the 270s entirely.
While all that was going on in the early laps, it was Yerger who had gotten away to the point and led what was going to be a pretty apparent three-car battle for the win between he, Rutherford, and Jason Swavely. The three would battle and run nose-to-tail through several early restarts, with Rutherford applying heavy pressure to the back bumper of the No. 5a.
The defining moment of the race would come on lap 14 as the leaders approached the lapped car of Walt Wampole, Jr. Yerger would get boxed in off of turn 2 behind the slower car, and wound up spinning Wampole, Jr. in the desperate effort to get past. Race officials deemed that the contact was avoidable, and that Yerger would have to go to the rear of the field for the incident. That would open the door for Rutherford to inherit the lead, and Swavely would not be able to challenge over the 12-lap green flag run to the checkers.
Rutherford would pick up his first Lanco win of 2021 with a margin of victory of 1.438 seconds over Swavely, with Mike Skias, Heath Hehnly, and Toby Blumenshine completing the top five. Rutherford was also responsible for the race’s fastest lap, with a time of 11.546 seconds.
Mike Rutherford inherited the lead on lap 14 and drove away to pick up his first Lanco win of the season in the 270s. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
With all of the makeup features in the books, the attention turned to the regular slate of racing, beginning with the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division. Dave Williams, Corey Schmuck, Jr., and Charles Hellinger took wins in the heat races, but would start 5th through 7th following an inversion pill of 7. Jamie Flickinger would start from pole position with David Ravel alongside. Josh Stoyer, Bret Cronrath, and point leader Toby Blumenshine would start 10th through 12th as the handicap cars, although Stoyer would drop to the rear after not having a scoring transponder on his car when he came out for the feature. Shannon Slaughter was the quickest car in warmups, but had issues during the heat race and would start the feature from 22nd.
Flickinger would lead through the race’s early stages, which included a red flag after Stoyer and Michael Spadafora had gotten stuck together following an incident on the frontstretch. Schmuck, Jr. would fall in line in second and work to get past Flickinger on some early restarts. Schmuck, Jr. would make the pass once, but a spin by Blumenshine would negate the move, and Flickinger would retain the lead on the next restart. It would be Cronrath though who would work his way from 10th up to third, and who would be right there to challenge the two front runners as they approached lapped traffic.
With eight laps to go, Flickinger, Schmuck, Jr., and Cronrath were all running under a blanket exiting turn 2 when Flickinger bobbled and lost momentum. Schmuck, Jr. would get checked up as well, and Cronrath was able to shoot past both cars on the inside and take the lead entering turn 3. Cronrath would pull away from there, and although he had to endure a green-white-checkered restart, Flickinger and Schmuck, Jr. were not able to mount a challenge to the Blandon, PA driver, as he came across with a 1.233-second margin of victory.
Flickinger would come home in second, also setting the fastest lap at 11.363 seconds, with Schmuck, Jr. completing the podium. Blumenshine rebounded from two separate incidents to finish fourth and maintain an unofficial 91-point lead over Cronrath in the point standings. Mike Kreiser would complete the top five.
Bret Cronrath passed Jamie Flickinger and Corey Schmuck, Jr. with eight laps to go to win the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The Hyper Racing 600s would come next for their feature event. Heat race winners Bradley Brown, Ryan Groff, and Jayden Wolf would all start in the front three positions, with Heath Hehnly, Nick Skias, and Jason Swavely completing the first three rows. Steven Snyder, Jr., the fast timer in warmups, would come from 14th. Point leader and most recent race winner T. J. Greve had to come through the consi, and although he won it, he would still have to start 19th on the grid.
What came on the initial start may go down as an early candidate for start of the year, as from the inside of row 3, Skias kept his car hooked right next to the infield tires through the first two sets of corners. He would work inside of Hehnly, Wolf, and Groff down the frontstretch and off to turns 1 and 2, and then would move inside and blow past Brown entering turn 3 to take the lead before the field even came around to complete lap 1. The blinding start would serve as a sign of things to come, as Skias would pull away and dominate the early portion of the race. Wolf would slot into the second spot, but his run would come to an end on lap 12 after getting up and into the wall in turns 1 and 2. Skias had built more than a three-second advantage prior to that caution, and was able to build it up once again on the ensuing restart.
However, the closing laps of the race would turn out to be fascinating, as Skias would catch lapped traffic and Jarid Kunkle, who had come from 15th to 2nd, would try to close in. The gap was more than 2.5 seconds between the leaders with less than five laps to go, but Skias would stay committed to the bottom, unable to get past the lapped car of Holden Eckman. This allowed Kunkle to close in at a rapid pace, taking nearly a second per lap out of Skias’ advantage. The gap was down to four car lengths as the leaders took the white flag, and although Kunkle was able to close to Skias’ bumper coming off of turn 4 and to the checkers, it was just too little, too late. Skias held on for his second win of the season in the Hyper Racing 600s and fourth win overall.
The Wernersville, PA driver came home officially 0.254 seconds in front of Kunkle for the win. Skias had the race’s fastest lap with a time of 10.507 seconds. Brown, Brent Ely, and Swavely would complete the top five. Despite an 11th-place finish, T. J. Greve was able to retain the points lead, unofficially 34 points in front of Swavely, with Skias another 10 points back in third.
Nick Skias took the lead from fifth on the opening lap and dominated to win the Hyper Racing 600 feature. (Photo Courtesy of Brandon Worthington/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The second 125/4 Stroke feature of the night would feature heat race winners Mike Coen and Matt Fernsler on the front row, with Don Hess and Holden Eckman completing the first two rows. Justin Harrington, winner from earlier in the night, would start in 10th, with the other heat race winner and the winner from two weeks ago, Chase Layser, starting in 12th.
Coen and Fernsler would break away early as the two dominant cars, with the latter driver not letting the leader get away. Unlike in the first feature, Harrington was not able to work through the field nearly as easily, and he along with Layser and Lukacs would be mired around the fifth spot for most of the race. The race for the win would be between the front two, and it was on lap 13 where Fernsler pounced, making a power move on the inside through turns 3 and 4. The first caution would fly on lap 16, and although three more would follow that one, Fernsler was able to nail each and every restart. The last one with two laps to go would seal the deal for Fernsler, as he would come home to take his first win at Lanco in the 125/4 Stroke class.
Fernsler would finish 0.956 seconds in front of Coen, who turned the race’s fastest lap of 11.738 seconds. Austin Graby would finish in the third spot, with Eckman and Harrington completing the top five. Unofficially, Harrington was able to grow his points lead to 33 over Lukacs, who finished seventh, with Fernsler now third in points, 60 back of the lead.
Matt Fernsler took over the lead on lap 13 and held on through late restarts to win his first Lanco feature in the 125/4 Stroke division. (Photo Courtesy of Brandon Worthington/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The final feature of the night would be the second feature for the 270s. An inversion pill of 6 would put Christi Sweigart on pole and Chase Walker alongside. Andrew Dietrich would roll off third, with heat race winners Billy Logeman, Mike Rutherford, and Heath Hehnly completing the first three rows.
Sweigart would get away and hold the lead for the first couple of laps, but a lap 3 caution and an ensuing restart would see Dietrich take over the top spot. It wouldn’t take long for Rutherford, this time behind the wheel of the No. 45o, to get to second, with Hehnly following through to third. Rutherford and Hehnly would wage an intense battle for second, which Hehnly eventually won, while Dietrich continued to pace the field. Meanwhile, Jason Swavely, Nick Skias, and Bradley Brown were all attempting to work their way through the field after starting 17th, 20th, and 22nd, respectively. The charge through the field for Skias came to a head on lap 9, when he made contact with another car in turn 2 and spun in front of the pack, triggering a nine-car pileup. Skias would once again fall out of the race with an issue shortly thereafter.
It would be Dietrich and Hehnly up front, but the battle for third would be intense between Rutherford and Swavely. The two would battle for a few laps before Swavely completed the pass. As Rutherford tried to come back and get under Swavely in turn 1, the two made contact, sending Rutherford around and setting up a restart with four laps to go. Dietrich saw his 1.7-second lead erased and would have to hold off Hehnly and Swavely on a single-file restart to get the win. That wound up being no big deal for the pilot of the No. 88d machine, as Dietrich would break away on the start and not look back en route to the victory, his first of 2021 at the Clyde.
Dietrich came across 0.905 seconds in front of Hehnly, and also clocked the fastest lap of the race at 11.516 seconds. Swavely would finish third and take over the points lead, unofficially 51 points ahead of Rutherford, who rallied to finish sixth. In between those two would be Logeman and Brown, who rounded out the top five.
Andrew Dietrich led from lap 3 to the finish to take home the victory in the second 270 feature of the night. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Next Saturday, May 22nd will be Scout’s Night at the Clyde. All scouts in uniform will receive free general admission for the evening. There will also be a bicycle giveaway for the kids in advance of the bike races on May 29th. Racing will return to its regularly scheduled time, with gates opening at 4:30 and racing slated to begin at 6:00. Be sure to bring your scout uniforms and come out next Saturday to LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
Results:
125/4 Stroke A-Main (Makeup From 4/24/2021) (25 Laps):
1. 76-Justin Harrington
2. 11h-Holden Eckman
3. 26c-Mike Coen
4. 19-Matt Fernsler
5. 44x-Alex Lukacs
6. 29-Brandon Shearer
7. 16c-Don Hess
8. 04-Sam Borger
9. 57k-Blaire Schoenly (-1L)
10. 17-Masen Stapleton (-2L)
11. 82-John Maurer (DNF)
12. 3x-Kenny Bushey (DNF)
13. 78c-Charles Hellinger (DNF)
14. 81-Dylan Holmes (DNF)
15. 112-Dylan Yeingst (DNF)
16. 26-Tyler Martin (DNF)
17. 44-Riley Simmons (DNF)
18. 78-Jarrid Hellinger (DNF)
19. 7L-Chase Layser (DNF)
20. 15-Alyssa Holmes (DNF)
21. 32-Mike Hoffmaster (DNF)
DNS: 99-Cliff Brian, Jr.
DNS: 1st-Jared St. John
DNS: 53n-Ben Newmaster
270 A-Main (Makeup From 4/24/2021) (25 Laps):
1. 27o-Mike Rutherford
2. 92-Jason Swavely
3. 8s-Mike Skias
4. 82-Heath Hehnly
5. 21-Toby Blumenshine
6. 34-Christi Sweigart
7. 27-Darren Schott
8. 21d-Dave Williams
9. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr.
10. 5a-Anthony Yerger
11. 11m-Chelsey Moore (-1L)
12. 59j-Walt Wampole, Jr. (-4L)
13. 23-Bradley Brown (DNF)
14. 52T-T. J. Greve (DNF)
15. 91-Jack Redcay (DNF)
16. 3-Pete Skias (DNF)
17. 1L-Dave Labe (DNF)
18. 22j-Josh Ohlinger (DNF)
19. 55x-Jimmy Wampole (DNF)
20. 3s-Nick Skias (DNF)
DNS: 96w-Chase Walker
DNS: 48-Jonah Meck
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 5-Bret Cronrath
2. 9g-Jamie Flickinger
3. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr.
4. 21-Toby Blumenshine
5. 77-Mike Kreiser
6. 13s-Charles Hellinger
7. 21d-Dave Williams
8. 3s-Josh Stoyer
9. 15-Robert Shanaman
10. 13b-Matt Yoh, II
11. 53s-Shannon Slaughter
12. 23k-Courtney Kupp
13. 128-Princess Paige
14. 14m-Chelsey Moore
15. 53-Jared St. John (DNF)
16. 22s-Brett Sculley (DNF)
17. 21v-David Ravel (DNF)
18. 14-Danny Wright (DNF)
19. 36s-Steve Smith, Sr. (DNF)
20. 99k-Chad Kreiser (DNF)
21. 22-Clinton Hauser (DNF)
22. 5a-Anthony Yerger (DNF)
23. 8-Michael Spadafora (DNF)
24. 16-Brianne Cronrath-Witmer (DNF)
Hyper Racing 600 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 7-Nick Skias
2. 75k-Jarid Kunkle
3. 23-Bradley Brown
4. 17-Brent Ely
5. 14-Jason Swavely
6. 15p-Chris Panczner
7. 3-Jesse Maurer
8. 5-Heath Hehnly
9. 2s-Mike Rutherford
10. 21s-Steven Snyder, Jr.
11. 24t-T. J. Greve
12. 71-Brian Kramer
13. 11z-Zach Light
14. 46-B. J. Antonio
15. 03-Ryan Groff
16. 42u-Tyler Ulrich
17. 11h-Holden Eckman
18. 98-Keith Blumenstein, Jr.
19. 16t-Joe Timmins (DNF)
20. 39-Olivia Thayer (DNF)
21. 7w-Jayden Wolf (DNF)
22. 51-Chris Gerhart (DNF)
23. 1-Will Urkuski (DNF)
24. 1e-Aaron Espenshade (DNF)
125/4 Stroke A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 19-Matt Fernsler
2. 26c-Mike Coen
3. 76b-Austin Graby
4. 11h-Holden Eckman
5. 76-Justin Harrington
6. 7L-Chase Layser
7. 44x-Alex Lukacs
8. 16c-Don Hess
9. 28-Kyle Lindsey
10. 44-Riley Simmons
11. 04-Sam Borger
12. 17-Masen Stapleton (-1L)
13. 5-Terry Ellex (-1L)
14. 112-Dylan Yeingst (-1L)
15. 26-Tyler Martin (DNF)
16. 78c-Brandon Shearer (DNF)
17. 82-John Maurer (DNF)
18. 7d-Chris Dolan (DNF)
19. 78-Jarrid Hellinger (DNF)
20. 1st-Steve Simmons (DNF)
21. 57k-Blaire Schoenly (DNF)
270 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 88d-Andrew Dietrich
2. 82-Heath Hehnly
3. 92-Jason Swavely
4. 27o-Billy Logeman
5. 23-Bradley Brown
6. 45o-Mike Rutherford
7. 8s-Mike Skias
8. 21d-Dave Williams
9. 77-Isaac Graby
10. 96w-Chase Walker
11. 34-Christi Sweigart (DNF)
12. 3s-Nick Skias (DNF)
13. 91-Jack Redcay (DNF)
14. 29-Brandon Shearer (DNF)
15. 1L-Dave Labe (DNF)
16. 5a-Anthony Yerger (DNF)
17. 53n-Ben Newmaster (DNF)
18. 59j-Walt Wampole, Jr. (DNF)
19. 72-Jonathan John (DNF)
20. 22j-Josh Ohlinger (DNF)
21. 27-Darren Schott (DNF)
22. 4k-Trent Eberhart (DNF)
23. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr. (DNF)
Point Standings (UNOFFICIAL):
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 21-Toby Blumenshine (470)
2. 5-Bret Cronrath (-91)
3. 21d-Dave Williams (-116)
4. 15-Robert Shanaman (-125)
5. 9g-Jamie Flickinger (-131)
6. 3s-Josh Stoyer (-142)
7. 22-Clinton Hauser (-150)
8. 77-Mike Kreiser (-150)
9. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr. (-153)
10. 99k-Chad Kreiser (-196)
Hyper Racing 600 Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 24t-T. J. Greve (393)
2. 14-Jason Swavely (-34)
3. 7-Nick Skias (-44)
4. 15p-Chris Panczner (-63)
5. 5-Heath Hehnly (-68)
6. 2s-Mike Rutherford (-72)
7. 75k-Jarid Kunkle (-81)
8. 3-Jesse Maurer (-82)
9. 71-Brian Kramer (-109)
10. 17-Brent Ely (-120)
125/4 Stroke Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 76-Justin Harrington (465)
2. 44x-Alex Lukacs (-33)
3. 19-Matt Fernsler (-60)
4. 7L-Chase Layser (-88)
5. 11h-Holden Eckman (-111)
6. 26c-Mike Coen (-172)
7. 32-Mike Hoffmaster (-202)
8. 26-Tyler Martin (-212)
9. 04-Sam Borger (-218)
10. 17-Masen Stapleton (-241)
270 Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 92-Jason Swavely (455)
2. 45o-Mike Rutherford (-51)
3. 82-Heath Hehnly (-58)
4. 3s-Nick Skias (-95)
5. 8s-Mike Skias (-103)
6. 52t-T. J. Greve (-104)
7. 23-Bradley Brown (-131)
8. 5a-Anthony Yerger (-152)
9. 21d-Dave Williams (-172)
10. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr. (-183)