By Kasey Kreider
It was a special and significant night of racing at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, as first responders and victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were honored on First Responders Night Presented by Glick Fire Equipment, a night which just so happened to fall on the 20th anniversary of September 11th, 2001. During intermission, all first responders were recognized on the race track, with goodie bags and a hearty round of applause given to all of them in recognition and appreciation of all they do. But from an on-track perspective, the night was a significant one too, with it serving as the second to last points-paying race of the 2021 season for all four weekly divisions.
During intermission, all first responders in attendance were recognized on the track on First Responders Night Presented by Glick Fire Equipment at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
In the 270s, Nick Skias would rocket from sixth to first in the opening lap and score a commanding win in the midst of problems for Jason Swavely, allowing Skias to all but secure his second 270 championship at the Clyde. The Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature would see Bret Cronrath take the victory with Toby Blumenshine directly behind, setting up, essentially, a winner-take-all scenario for the season’s final points race. The Hyper Racing 600s would see a similar situation play out, as Jason Swavely picked up the victory with Heath Hehnly finishing fourth, making it a dead-tie atop the point standings entering Championship Night. In the 125/4 Strokes, Matt Fernsler would take his third win of the season, while Justin Harrington would finish in the third position and clinch his first track championship, joining his father, Jim, on the illustrious list of champions.
Jonah Meck and Toby Blumenshine would roll off from the front row for the 270 feature, while heat race winners Billy Logeman and T. J. Greve would roll off together on the fourth row, as Greve was also the fast-timer in warmups. Nick Skias and Jason Swavely, meanwhile, would roll off sixth and 12th, respectively, with Swavely needing to find a way to and past the No. 3s in order to close the 18-point deficit.
Problems would strike for Greve before the green flag even dropped, as his car would come to a stop and he would be pushed off the racetrack, ending his feature before it could even get started. With the field back in order, Meck and Blumenshine would lead the pack back to green flag. But as it turned out, neither driver would lead the first lap. Skias would jump up to the high side of turns 1 and 2 right away, allowing him to bypass Heath Hehnly, Chase Walker, and Anthony Yerger before pulling up to the back bumper of Blumenshine’s car with a full head of steam. As Skias entered turn 3, he would drive to the middle of the racetrack, splitting the front row, and drag race Blumenshine down the frontstretch before clearing him completely into turn 1. It was an unbelievable move to the lead, and one that instantly applied more pressure to Swavely as he would try to drive his way through the field.
But while running the high side of turns 1 and 2 on lap 5, Swavely would slap the wall with the right side of the car while trying to close in on the drivers ahead. While the contact wouldn’t damage the car itself, it would put a puncture in the right rear tire. The tire would deflate completely by the time Swavely got to turn 4, and as Swavely slowed to a stop, it seemed as if his championship hopes would be deflated as well.
Although Skias now seemed to be in a good position to close in on the championship, he would still have to battle for the race win, and that would be no easy task with Logeman driving up from seventh to second over the first five laps before the caution. On the restart, Skias and Logeman would both rip the top side, with Logeman not letting Skias get more than five or so car lengths away during the entire green flag run. However, Logeman would struggle to get much closer than that while running in dirty air. With Logeman unable to pass Skias right away on a few late restarts, that would prove to be the story of the race. Skias and Logeman seemed to be dead even in terms of pace, but Skias got to the clean air first, and he would keep it all the way to the checkered flag.
The Wernersville, PA driver would score his sixth total 270 win of the season by 0.456 seconds over Logeman, and would also turn the race’s fastest lap of 10.845 seconds. Nate Gibble would make a nice drive through the field to score a season-best third place result, with Toby Blumenshine and Mike Skias rounding out the top five. Swavely would be credited with a 14th-place result, and that would allow Nick Skias to balloon the gap to 70 points entering Championship Night. All Skias will need next Saturday is a finish of 21st or better to clinch his second 270 championship outright, regardless of where Swavely finishes.
Nick Skias carved through the field from sixth to lead the opening lap and never relinquished the top spot en route to winning the 270 feature and closing in on his second 270 championship at the Clyde. (Photo Courtesy of Brandon Worthington/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Shannon Slaughter would start from the pole position for the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature with Clinton Hauser on her outside. Max Fasnacht and Mike Kreiser won the heats and would start on row 3, and the two championship contenders, Toby Blumenshine and quick-timer of warmups Bret Cronrath, would start together on row 6 due to the handicap rule. With only one point separating the two entering the race, it would be crucial for both drivers to carve their way through the field, with every position being that much more valuable.
In the early laps, Slaughter would break away to the race lead, and she would hold a steady advantage while running the bottom of the racetrack as Anthony Yerger and T. J. Greve tried to chase her down up top. Slaughter’s impressive run at the head of the pack would last for the race’s first 11 circuits, but it would be on lap 12 where Yerger would make the pass for the lead after Slaughter got hung up in lapped traffic. The lapped traffic would cause an issue for Greve, as he would make heavy contact with a lapped car in turn 2, breaking something on the car and forcing him to come to stop after running third, bringing out the race’s first caution in the process.
The caution would give the race new life, as Yerger and Slaughter would start on the front row, but Cronrath and Blumenshine had joined the party. The two title contenders would start nose-to-tail on the inside lane behind the front row, with Cronrath in position to try and pounce for the lead. And pounce he would, as Cronrath would drive by Slaughter for second on the restart in turns 3 and 4. When the leaders came through that set of corners the next time by at full speed, Cronrath would go back to the bottom and power by Yerger to take over the race lead. A caution would slow the action shortly thereafter, but Cronrath had gotten to the front and gained control of the race. The question would become whether Blumenshine could get to second to minimize any damage in the points battle, and the answer to that would be yes, as Blumenshine would get past Yerger on the final restart.
But nobody would catch the Blandon, PA native en route to his fifth win of the 2021 season. Cronrath would finish 1.483 seconds in front of Blumenshine and would run the race’s fastest lap of 11.160 seconds. Yerger would hold on for third, as Kreiser and Charles Hellinger completed the top five. With the win, Cronrath would retake the points lead by four over Blumenshine. But with the top five positions all paying five points per spot, it will likely come down to whichever driver finishes higher next Saturday night in order to determine the 2021 Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman champion.
Bret Cronrath drove to the lead on a lap 14 restart and led the rest of the way to pick up his fifth Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman win of 2021. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Jason Swavely would need a win to try and take a big chunk out of the 15-point gap between he and Heath Hehnly entering Championship Night, and the fastest driver in warmups would have a good chance to do that by starting on the pole. Bradley Brown won his heat and would start from the outside of the front row, while Hehnly had won the other heat and would start directly behind his championship rival in third.
The driver to watch in the first lap of the race, however, would be fourth-place starter Jarid Kunkle, as he was able to shoot past Hehnly on the start and battled Brown for the second spot before the caution waved on lap 2 for a flip by Brian Kramer. Kunkle’s excellent start would put him on the front row, but he would have to go through the Rocketman from Fleetwood before he could even think about picking up his first win of the season. That would prove to be a near-impossible task on this night, as Swavely’s car was dominant while running up against the wall. Swavely would stretch the gap to over three seconds at one point, and seemed well on his way to victory. But a caution for debris with nine laps to go would give Kunkle and the field one more shot. On the restart, Kunkle would do a better job of hanging with Swavely, keeping him within about four car lengths and even closing a little bit in the late laps. But it would take a mistake for Kunkle to capitalize, and after making one in the 270s, Swavely wouldn’t make the same error again, and would bring it home for a clutch victory.
The win would be Swavely’s third winged 600 win of the season, as he would come home 0.751 seconds in front of Kunkle while setting the race’s quick lap of 10.379 seconds. Brown would finish third, holding off Hehnly for the final podium spot. Hehnly would come home in front of Brent Ely, as those drivers completed top five. But the fourth-place finish meant that Swavely had gained enough points to tie Hehnly for the championship lead entering the final points night of the season. As will likely be the case in the Sportsmans, the driver who finishes higher between those two next Saturday night will be the 2021 Hyper Racing 600 track champion.
Jason Swavely started on pole and led wire-to-wire to pick up the win and move into a tie for the points lead in the Hyper Racing 600s. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The final feature of the night would be the 125/4 Stroke main event, and Don Hess and Chris Dolan would be on the front row. Riley Simmons won a heat and would start sixth, while John Maurer won the other and would roll off 11th, with the quick-timer of warmups Holden Eckman starting beside him. In front of those two would be Justin Harrington, who was looking to clinch the 125/4 Stroke championship, his first at the track, with a finish of 14th or better.
The driver starting third, Matt Fernsler, was looking for his third win of the season, and would waste no time getting to the front, as he dove to the bottom of Hess and Dolan off the exit of turn 2 to make a three-wide pass for the lead on the opening lap. It stuck, and Fernsler had the advantage as the opening lap was completed. A few early cautions would slow the action, but in the midst of those, both Harrington and Eckman would charge their way into the top five. Eckman in particular seemed to have the pace to challenge for the win, as he would move up to third following a lap 6 restart. But the following lap, his car would slow to a stop with an issue, and the No. 11h would be out of the race.
Fernsler and Dolan would remain as the front two, and Fernsler would pull the gap to about a second over the race’s first long green flag run. Right as Fernsler was about to hit lapped traffic, the caution flew for a problem with Tyler Martin’s machine, taking away any opportunity for Dolan to potentially capitalize amongst the lapped cars. With Fernsler out in clean air after the restart, it would be difficult for Dolan to stay close enough to challenge Fernsler, much less find a way around. Despite the rookie’s best efforts, it would be all Fernsler, all the way to the checkered flag. The bold three-wide pass on the start paid dividends in the form of win number three on the season for car No. 19.
Fernsler would take the win over Dolan by 0.942 seconds, while setting the race’s fastest lap of 11.698 seconds in the process. But while Fernsler won the battle, Harrington would finish in third, winning the war by mathematically clinching the championship. The first champion of the combined 125/4 Stroke division would be the third-generation driver from Manheim, PA. Justin would join his father, Jim, who was a four-time champion at the speedway, in the record books with his first Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway title. Harrington will now be able to breathe easy entering the championship finale next week, knowing that no matter what happens, he will be a Lanco champion, as he came home in front of John Maurer and Chase Layser, who completed the top five.
A three-wide move on the start gave Matt Fernsler the lead, and he never looked back en route to picking up his third 125/4 Stroke win of the 2021 season. (Photo Courtesy of Brandon Worthington/Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Next Saturday, September 18th will be Championship Night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The four weekly divisions will compete in their final points race of the season, with three of the four divisions having point battles that are still yet to have been settled. If inclement weather would force next week’s event to be cancelled, the rain date for Championship Night will be Saturday, September 25th, as that event will otherwise be a non-points show. Gates will open at 4:30, with warmups and racing slated to begin at 6:00. With dramatic point battles on the docket for the championship finale, don’t miss out on the opportunity to come and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
Results:
270 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 3s-Nick Skias
2. 76b-Billy Logeman
3. N8-Nate Gibble
4. 45o-Toby Blumenshine
5. 8s-Mike Skias
6. 34-Christi Sweigart
7. 39-Austin Mieczkowski
8. 29-Brandon Shearer
9. 21d-Dave Williams (-1L)
10. 48-Jonah Meck (-1L)
11. 5a-Anthony Yerger (DNF)
12. 96w-Chase Walker (DNF)
13. 82-Heath Hehnly (DNF)
14. 92-Jason Swavely (DNF)
15. 52T-T. J. Greve (DNF)
16. 91-Jack Redcay (DNF)
DNS: 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr.
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 5-Bret Cronrath
2. 21-Toby Blumenshine
3. 5a-Anthony Yerger
4. 77-Mike Kreiser
5. 13s-Charles Hellinger
6. 3s-Josh Stoyer
7. 9g-Jamie Flickinger
8. 53s-Shannon Slaughter
9. 22-Clinton Hauser
10. 16-Brianne Cronrath-Wittmer
11. 20-Max Fasnacht
12. 28-Kyle Lindsey
13. 99k-Chad Kreiser
14. 21d-Dave Williams
15. 15-Robert Shanaman
16. 30-Ryan Heckman (-1L)
17. 26-Tyler Martin (-1L)
18. 19-Wes Fasnacht (-2L)
19. 8-Michael Spadafora (DNF)
20. 11g-Brandon Gibble (DNF)
21. 53-T. J. Greve (DNF)
22. 23k-Courtney Kupp (DNF)
Hyper Racing 600 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 14-Jason Swavely
2. 75k-Jarid Kunkle
3. 23-Bradley Brown
4. 5-Heath Hehnly
5. 17-Brent Ely
6. 3-Jesse Maurer
7. 11h-Holden Eckman
8. 03-Ryan Groff
9. 11z-Zach Light (-1L)
10. 15p-Chris Panczner (DNF)
11. 7-Nick Skias (DNF)
12. 71-Brian Kramer (DNF)
125/4 Stroke A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 19-Matt Fernsler
2. 7d-Chris Dolan
3. 76-Justin Harrington
4. 82-John Maurer
5. 7L-Chase Layser
6. 44x-Alex Lukacs
7. 78c-Charles Hellinger
8. 16c-Don Hess
9. 44-Riley Simmons
10. 04-Sam Borger
11. 78-Jarrid Hellinger
12. 112-Dylan Yeingst
13. 73-Andrew Rothermel
14. 7a-Noah Martin (DNF)
15. 26-Tyler Martin (DNF)
16. 81-Dylan Holmes (DNF)
17. 32-Michael Hoffmaster (DNF)
18. 1st-Steve Simmons (DNF)
19. 11h-Holden Eckman (DNF)
20. 17-Masen Stapleton (DNF)
21. 15-Alyssa Holmes (DNF)
Point Standings (UNOFFICIAL):
270 Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 3s-Nick Skias (1,371)
2. 92-Jason Swavely (-70)
3. 8s-Mike Skias (-210)
4. 82-Heath Hehnly (-323)
5. 3-Pete Skias (-359)
6. 23-Bradley Brown (-413)
7. 5a-Anthony Yerger (-417)
8. 34-Christi Sweigart (-437)
9. 21d-Dave Williams (-454)
10. 88d-Andrew Dietrich (-528)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 5-Bret Cronrath (1,401)
2. 21-Toby Blumenshine (-4)
3. 3s-Josh Stoyer (-218)
4. 22-Clinton Hauser (-302)
5. 77-Mike Kreiser (-350)
6. 26-Corey Schmuck, Jr. (-380)
7. 9g-Jamie Flickinger (-383)
8. 21d-Dave Williams (-408)
9. 15-Robert Shanaman (-508)
10. 13s-Charles Hellinger (-534)
Hyper Racing 600 Point Standings (Top 10):
T1. 5-Heath Hehnly (1,291)
T1. 14-Jason Swavely (1,291)
3. 23-Bradley Brown (-82)
4. 7-Nick Skias (-157)
5. 15p-Chris Panczner (-223)
6. 75k-Jarid Kunkle (-268)
T7. 3-Jesse Maurer (-276)
T7. 17-Brent Ely (-276)
9. 11z-Zach Light (-338)
10. 11h-Holden Eckman (-377)
125/4 Stroke Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 76-Justin Harrington (1,454)
2. 19-Matt Fernsler (-144)
3. 7L-Chase Layser (-195)
4. 44x-Alex Lukacs (-255)
5. 26c-Mike Coen (-433)
6. 11h-Holden Eckman (-464)
7. 7d-Chris Dolan (-495)
8. 44-Riley Simmons (-564)
9. 26-Tyler Martin (-579)
10. 82-John Maurer (-628)