By Kasey Kreider
On a warm and somewhat humid Scout Night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, four drivers were able to withstand both the heat and the competition to take victories on Saturday night. Zach Light picked up his first Lanco win of 2021 in the Hyper Racing 600s, just one night after accomplishing the same feat at Linda’s Speedway. Billy Logeman hopped in the Harrington’s No. 76b machine and took it straight to victory lane in the 125/4 Stroke class. Mike Rutherford picked up his second victory in as many weekends in the 270s. Last on the evening, Toby Blumenshine would continue his early season dominance of the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division with his fourth win in the first six races.
With no more makeup features on the docket, the night of feature racing would begin with the Hyper Racing 600s. Jesse Maurer and Nick Skias would make it a Groff Motorsports sweep of the two heat races, but an inversion pill of 10 would force Maurer to roll off from seventh for the feature, while Skias would have to start 12th after winning last weekend. It would be Chris Panczner starting from pole position, with Zach Light starting on his outside. The outside pole starting position was notable for Light, as that was the same position he had started and won the feature from at Linda’s Speedway on the previous night. Jarid Kunkle was the fastest car in warmups, but would have to start 15th for the second weekend in a row. In addition, it seemed that there would likely be a new points leader by the end of the evening, as T. J. Greve was not in the field. Jason Swavely entered as the next highest driver in points, and would roll off 11th in the A-Main.
Unlike the prior evening, Light wouldn’t take the lead on the initial start of the race, as Panczner got away cleanly and would lead the race’s first two laps. Olivia Thayer’s tip over in turn 3 would put the field under caution on the third lap and gave Light the opportunity to make his move. Panczner, who cited a missed shift in his post-race interview, wouldn’t be able to clear Light through turns 3 and 4 on the restart, and gave the pilot of the No. 11z the opportunity to roll the high-side momentum and take over the race lead.
Light would pull out to a comfortable advantage, and although Panczner would have one more opportunity on a lap 8 restart, he wouldn’t be able to bypass the Lebanon, PA native for the race lead. The battle would rage on for the third spot, as Logan Rumsey would try to work the middle line to get past Brent Ely on a bottom-dominant racetrack. Rumsey would take over the spot and tried to catch Panczner in the closing laps, but wouldn’t be able to make a move. Light, in the meantime, had been able to cruise away while having minimal lapped traffic to deal with. He would hold a pretty wheel over the final laps and cruise to a 1.042-second victory, completing his weekend sweep while also setting the fastest lap of the race at 10.761 seconds.
Panczner would hold off Rumsey to finish second, and in the process close in on the new point leader, Swavely, who finished fourth. Swavely and Panczner will enter next weekend unofficially separated by 19 points at the top of the standings. Ely would hang on after being passed by Rumsey and Swavely for the final spot in the top five.
Zach Light took the lead from the outside of the front row on a lap 3 restart and took his second victory of the weekend in the Hyper Racing 600 feature. (Photo Courtesy of Brandon Worthington/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The 125/4 Stroke feature would be next up on the evening. Billy Logeman seemed in position to win his heat race after being the quickest car in warmups, but a slight issue on the final lap allowed Mike Miller to bypass the No. 76b for the win, as Logeman would hang on to finish second. Perhaps that would turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Reinholds, PA driver, as the inversion pill of 5 would see him start on the pole for the feature. Cliff Brian, Jr. would join Logeman on the front row, followed by heat winners Justin Harrington, Miller, and Chase Layser.
Logeman would break away to the lead on the initial start, but the early battle would be between Harrington and Layser. The two would make contact in turn 3 in the early laps, causing both drivers to lose several spots. The two would express their displeasure with each other under the next caution period, but cooler heads would prevail as they would try to work their way back to the front two. Miller, Layser, Harrington, and Alex Lukacs would engage in an entertaining battle for the third spot over the race’s middle stages, with Layser eventually coming out on top of that tussle. Still, no one would have anything for Logeman in front or Brian, Jr. in second, even as the leaders would work through lapped traffic. A caution would fly with six laps to go following an issue for Masen Stapleton and would set the stage for the finish with Logeman and Brian, Jr. on row 1, and Layser and Harrington restarting from row 2.
On the restart, Layser would try to poke a nose inside of Brian, Jr. for second, but the hole closed quickly. The two made contact, sending Layser’s car sideways in front of the field and creating a pileup that collected Miller and put him out of the race. Harrington would also suffer substantial wing damage in the melee, but was able to continue in third. The final restart would see Logeman do what he had done all night, which was pull away to a substantial advantage and not look back from there. Logeman would go wire-to-wire and take the win by 1.730 seconds over Brian, Jr., while also setting the race’s fastest lap of 11.413 seconds.
Logeman would join Brent Shearer as the second driver to win in the No. 76b this season, and would be the fifth different winner in six points races in the 125/4 Stroke class. Harrington would hang on to finish third and grow his points lead slightly over Lukacs, who would follow him home to fourth. Brandon Shearer would make an impressive rally from 15th starting position to complete the top five.
Billy Logeman started on pole and led all 25 laps to win the 125/4 Stroke feature. (Photo Courtesy of Brandon Worthington/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
An inversion pill of 7 for the 270 feature would see Mike Rutherford start from pole position. Rutherford, who had won last weekend in the No. 27o, was also the fastest driver in warmups earlier in the evening. Chase Walker and Nick Skias would start second and third, respectively. Heat race winners Trent Eberhart, Anthony Yerger, and Nick Walton would complete the first three rows. Points leader Jason Swavely would have to come all the way from 21st on the grid after having issues in his heat race.
It would be Rutherford and Skias, winners of three of the last four 270 features, who would wage the early battle for the lead. Rutherford would get out to a comfortable margin before the first caution of the race on lap 7. The restart would see a seven-car pileup that started when Darren Schott got turned sideways. Among those collected were Swavely and Heath Hehnly, who entered the night third in points, but both drivers were able to continue. Cautions, however, would be a theme for the remainder of the race, as drivers all tried to jockey for position behind the leaders. Skias would apply the pressure on Rutherford on a few restarts, but wouldn’t be able to make the pass before Alex Swift, who started 13th, would make his way into third.
Heath Hehnly (82), Mike Miller (2), and Jason Swavely (92) were among seven cars caught up in a lap 7 pileup. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Rutherford, Skias, and Swift would run 1-2-3 prior to a caution with five laps to go when Bradley Brown and Andrew Dietrich tangled on the backstretch. The caution would be the first of seven to fly over the race’s final five laps. Each restart would be single file, however, and Rutherford was able to get just enough breathing room to the point where Skias and Swift were unable to pounce. The closest either driver got to taking the lead away was Swift on a restart with two laps to go, where on the final lap, Swift rolled to outside of Skias and appeared to have momentum building to try to make a move on Rutherford off to turns 3 and 4. However, the 12th and final caution of the race would come out as that was unfolding, as Nate Gibble’s car came to a stop in turn 4. Rutherford would hold off Skias and Swift on the final restart to take his second victory of the season in the 270s.
Rutherford’s final margin of victory was 0.349 seconds, or about two car lengths, over Skias, as Swift would follow to finish in third. Rutherford also had the race’s fastest lap with a time of 11.091 seconds. Pete Skias would follow Swift across the line for fourth after Walton had an issue on the final lap. Swavely would rebound from the poor starting position and early incident to complete the top five and maintain, unofficially, a 31-point lead over Rutherford at the top of the championship standings.
Mike Rutherford picked up his second victory in the last three 270 feature races. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The final race of the evening would be in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division and would feature Brianne Cronrath-Witmer on the pole position, with Chad Kreiser alongside. Points leader Toby Blumenshine would roll off third, with heat winners Josh Stoyer, Nate Gibble, and Anthony Yerger completing the first three rows. Patrick Kirn had the quickest car in warmups, but would have to come from 16th starting spot in the feature.
Cronrath-Witmer would lead the race’s opening lap and retain the spot through a few quick cautions, but it only took until a restart on the second lap for Blumenshine to take the lead and put his No. 21 machine out in the wind. Blumenshine would take command throughout the course of the race, opening up large leads on the new second-place runner Stoyer after each restart. The battle to watch late in the race would be the one for second, as Yerger and Kirn would apply the pressure on Stoyer for the runner-up position. It would be on the final green flag run with less than ten laps to go where Yerger and Kirn would each get past the No. 3s, but neither driver could catch Reinholds, PA driver Blumenshine en route to his fourth win of the season in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division.
Blumenshine’s final margin of victory over Yerger would be 1.465 seconds, and he also ran the race’s fastest lap of 11.381 seconds. Kirn would follow Yerger across the line for third, making up 13 positions from where he started, while Stoyer and last week’s winner Bret Cronrath would complete the top five. Unofficially, Blumenshine will take a 111-point lead over Cronrath into next weekend’s event.
Toby Blumenshine turned in another dominating performance to pick up his fourth victory of the season in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Next Saturday, May 29th will be Bike Night at the Clyde. With thanks to Kim’s Kreations and MKG Racing, there will be bicycle races for the kids during intermission. In addition, there will be a special bike race at intermission featuring some of the drivers. Signups for the bike races will be at the Kim’s Kreations Novelty Stand. All participants in the bike race will need to provide their own bike, as well as wear a helmet. All four of the regular classes will be back in action next weekend, with gates opening at 4:30 and racing slated to start at 6:00. With one more weekend of racing before the off week, be sure to come out to LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
Results:
Hyper Racing 600 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 11z-Zach Light
2. 15p-Chris Panczner
3. 41-Logan Rumsey
4. 14-Jason Swavely
5. 17-Brent Ely
6. 3-Jesse Maurer
7. 75k-Jarid Kunkle
8. 5-Heath Hehnly
9. 23-Bradley Brown
10. 46-B. J. Antonio
11. 2s-Mike Rutherford
12. 7-Nick Skias
13. 15-Marty Brian
14. 11h-Holden Eckman
15. 9-Richie Hartman
16. 98-Keith Blumenstein, Jr. (-1L)
17. 1-Will Urkuski (DNF)
18. 71-Brian Kramer (DNF)
19. 99-Brandon Heist (DNF)
20. 39-Olivia Thayer (DNF)
125/4 Stroke A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 76b-Billy Logeman
2. 99-Cliff Brian, Jr.
3. 76-Justin Harrington
4. 44x-Alex Lukacs
5. 78c-Brandon Shearer
6. 16c-Don Hess
7. 26-Tyler Martin
8. 28-Kyle Lindsey
9. 7L-Chase Layser
10. 7d-Chris Dolan
11. 81-Dylan Holmes
12. 1st-Steve Simmons
13. 82-John Maurer
14. 04-Sam Borger
15. 15-Alyssa Holmes (-1L)
16. 57k-Blaire Schoenly (-1L)
17. 17-Masen Stapleton (-1L)
18. 112-Dylan Yeingst (-1L)
19. 3-Mike Miller (DNF)
20. 56-Dick Huzzard (DNF)
21. 44-Riley Simmons (DNF)
22. 78-Jarrid Hellinger (DNF)
23. 19-Matt Fernsler (DNF)
270 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 27o-Mike Rutherford
2. 3s-Nick Skias
3. 15-Alex Swift
4. 3-Pete Skias
5. 92-Jason Swavely
6. 11x-Brandon Heist
7. 82-Heath Hehnly
8. 1L-Dave Labe
9. 5a-Anthony Yerger
10. 21d-Dave Williams
11. 16t-Nick Walton (DNF)
12. N8-Nate Gibble (DNF)
13. 29-Brandon Shearer (DNF)
14. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr. (DNF)
15. 27-Darren Schott (DNF)
16. 23-Bradley Brown (DNF)
17. 88d-Andrew Dietrich (DNF)
18. 2-Mike Miller (DNF)
19. 59j-Walt Wampole, Jr. (DNF)
20. 8s-Mike Skias (DNF)
21. 4k-Trent Eberhart (DNF)
22. 96w-Chase Walker (DNF)
23. 34-Christi Sweigart (DNF)
24. 91-Jack Redcay (DNF)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 21-Toby Blumenshine
2. 5a-Anthony Yerger
3. 16p-Patrick Kirn
4. 3s-Josh Stoyer
5. 5-Bret Cronrath
6. 11g-Nate Gibble
7. 77-Mike Kreiser
8. 13s-Charles Hellinger
9. 99k-Chad Kreiser
10. 22-Clinton Hauser
11. 16-Brianne Cronrath-Witmer
12. 9g-Jamie Flickinger
13. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr.
14. 8-Michael Spadafora
15. 4-Broc Emery
16. 13b-Matt Yoh, II
17. 15-Robert Shanaman
18. 26b-Tyler Martin
19. 53-Jared St. John
20. 30-Ryan Heckman
21. 21d-Dave Williams
22. 20-Max Fasnacht
23. 14m-Chelsey Moore (DNF)
24. 53s-Shannon Slaughter (DNF)
Point Standings (UNOFFICIAL):
Hyper Racing 600 Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 14-Jason Swavely (444)
2. 15p-Chris Panczner (-19)
3. 7-Nick Skias (-41)
T4. 5-Heath Hehnly (-51)
T4. 24t-T. J. Greve (-51)
6. 3-Jesse Maurer (-57)
7. 75k-Jarid Kunkle (-60)
8. 2s-Mike Rutherford (-66)
9. 17-Brent Ely (-91)
10. 23-Bradley Brown (-107)
125/4 Stroke Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 76-Justin Harrington (555)
2. 44x-Alex Lukacs (-38)
3. 7L-Chase Layser (-114)
4. 19-Matt Fernsler (-122)
5. 11h-Holden Eckman (-180)
6. 26-Tyler Martin (-230)
7. 04-Sam Borger (-260)
8. 26c-Mike Coen (-262)
9. 28-Kyle Lindsey (-264)
10. 32-Mike Hoffmaster (-271)
270 Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 92-Jason Swavely (535)
2. 27o-Mike Rutherford (-31)
3. 82-Heath Hehnly (-66)
4. 3s-Nick Skias (-80)
5. 8s-Mike Skias (-149)
6. 5a-Anthony Yerger (-168)
7. 23-Bradley Brown (-169)
8. 52T-T. J. Greve (-184)
9. 21d-Dave Williams (-192)
T10. 3-Pete Skias (-215)
T10. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr. (-215)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 21-Toby Blumenshine (570)
2. 5-Bret Cronrath (-111)
3. 3s-Josh Stoyer (-157)
4. 9g-Jamie Flickinger (-177)
5. 77-Mike Kreiser (-178)
6. 21d-Dave Williams (-184)
7. 15-Robert Shanaman (-185)
8. 22-Clinton Hauser (-190)
9. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr. (-202)
10. 99k-Chad Kreiser (-232)