By Kasey Kreider
Memorial Day Weekend always provides our country with an opportunity to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the freedoms that we as a nation get to enjoy. It is important every day, but particularly on this weekend, to honor those brave men and women who gave up their lives so that we could continue living out the freedoms that our country was built upon.
As the page turned from a moment of silence and remembrance for those fallen heroes to the fast and furious action that filled the tight confines of the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, five drivers were able to take the checkered flag first on Checkered Flag Fan Club Night. Mike Skias and Brent Ely both snapped some lengthy winless streaks to take home victories in the 270 and Hyper Racing Winged 600 classes, respectively. Meanwhile, Bret Cronrath and Chase Layser each made it back-to-back wins in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans and 125/4 Strokes, respectively. And Bobby Butler concluded the evening by dominating to win the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main, his third victory of the 2022 season.
Maddie Boyd (No. 15B) had an early submission for save of the year after getting up on the fence and miraculously not going for a flip during Hyper Racing Wingless 600 heat race action. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)
Mike Skias had seen some potential great finishes go awry in the closing laps a couple of times in 2022, but he had a good opportunity to put together a good finish on this evening, as he shared the front row with Darren Schott for the feature.
The always wild 270s fanned out on the start, and Skias led the race’s early laps in front of his father, Pete, who ran just in front Lee Reinhardt and Schott. The younger Skias pulled away running the high side before hitting some heavy duty lapped traffic around lap 8. That allowed “Pistol Pete” to close in, and the two battled while weaving their way through traffic for the next several laps.
The race’s complexion changed greatly though on lap 13, when Pete Skias and the lapped car of Chase Walker got together in turn 1, causing both cars to slide sideways in the middle of the corner and, more importantly, in front of oncoming traffic. The two cars slid to the high side and collected Reinhardt, Mike Rutherford, Bradley Brown, and Nick Walton, all of whom were running inside the top seven. Reinhardt got the worst of the incident and would be forced to retire with a busted up front end, while the rest of the drivers were able to rejoin at the back of the field.
The pileup allowed Jason Swavely to move from sixth to second, and he and Skias would wage an epic battle for the lead on the restart. The two drivers traded sliders and bounced off each other several times, but both were able to keep things straight, with Skias fending off the challenge. Swavely would have bad luck of his own strike in the closing laps, as his car broke from second in turn 4 and brought out the caution with five laps to go.
Skias’ final challenger would be the Bridgeport regular Alex Swift, who had survived the chaos to move into second from his 12th starting position. Swift and Mike’s younger brother, Nick, tried to find a way past the No. 8s on the final few restarts. But it would come to no avail, as Mike Skias hung on over the final run to the checkers to pick up his first 270 win since 2018.
When the dust settled, all three Skias’ finished inside the top four, with Pete rallying back to third and Nick coming home fourth. Breaking up the family reunion at the front was Swift, who came home second, about three-quarters of a second behind Skias at the checkered flag. Brown rebounded from his involvement in the earlier pileup to round out the top five.
The heat races were won by Swift, Pete Skias, and Swavely.
Mike Skias outdueled Jason Swavely and held off Alex Swift to take his first Lanco win in 270 competition since 2018. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)
Kyle Lindsey would start on pole for the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main after original polesitter Robert Shanaman broke on the pace laps and was forced to drop out of the race. To Lindsey’s outside was Toby Blumenshine, and Blumenshine would jump to the lead on the start and through the first set of corners.
But fourth-place starter Bret Cronrath wasn’t going to let his main championship rival from 2021 get away without a fight, as he dove to the bottom in turns 3 and 4 on the opening lap and began a frantic battle for the lead over the race’s opening laps. The two drivers who combined for an astounding 13 Sportsman wins in 2021 traded the lead back and forth during their side-by-side slider battle. In fact, the first five laps of the feature saw a lead change each time, and those were just the ones recorded at the start-finish line.
A caution after those first five laps allowed things to calm down just a little bit, with Cronrath having the edge. The No. 5 began to stretch his legs on the next green flag run, amassing a lead of more than two seconds before another caution flew on lap 13.
As he had all season, Corey Schmuck, Jr. began to work his way into the picture after having to start ninth. Schmuck, Jr. was up to fourth by that caution and would eventually take third from Lindsey, who later fell out of the race after making contact with the wall. Schmuck, Jr. looked as if he may have had something to at least challenge Blumeshine, if not Cronrath as well, and he had one final shot to do so when the caution waved with two laps to go. But Cronrath’s car was too strong out in clean air on the restart, and the top three remained in that order over the final two circuits.
Cronrath answered Schmuck, Jr.’s two straight wins to start the season by recording back-to-back victories of his own, while Blumenshine finally made it to the finish for the first time all season and got rewarded with a second-place result. Schmuck, Jr.’s third-place finish made it four podiums in four races, while Dave Ravel drove impressively from 18th to fourth and Max Fasnacht rounded out the top five.
Heat races were won by Blumenshine, Schmuck, Jr., and Patrick Kirn.
After an early battle with Toby Blumenshine, Bret Cronrath took control to win his second straight Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)
The Hyper Racing Winged 600 A-Main would be led to green by Zach Light and Christian Bruno, with Light trying to improve upon his third-place finish from the week prior and Bruno being among the drivers who were going for the $175 bonus put up by race director Mike Knappenberger for any driver who could sweep both 600 features in the same night.
But despite Light leading the first few laps of the race, the dominant driver to watch seemed to be fifth-place starter Jarid Kunkle, who moved up to second in the first three laps before taking the lead away on an ensuing restart. As Kunkle led, the battle for second continued between Light and Bruno, a battle which ultimately came to a head in turn 4 on lap 8, when Bruno slid up and into Light coming through the corner, sending the No. 11z spinning. Both drivers saw any opportunity at the win go away, as Bruno was also sent to the tail for his role in the contact.
The incident moved Brent Ely and Brian Kramer into the top three, but Kramer’s stay there was short-lived after contact between he and Mike Rutherford on the restart broke the right front corner on Kramer’s car. Kramer wouldn’t be the last front-runner to have issues, as a hard-charging Chris Gerhart saw an oil line come off and end his night.
The biggest development though was under the caution for Gerhart, when Kunkle pulled to the infield, having run out of gas from the lead. Kunkle’s misfortune put Ely into the top spot and Rutherford to second, with last week’s winner Bradley Brown waiting in the wings in third.
On the final restart, the two veterans went at it, with Rutherford throwing sliders and Ely dealing a crossover each time. Eventually, Ely was able to break away from the challenge, as Brown moved into second and ran about three car lengths behind Ely for most of the final run. Ely, a driver known for running the bottom in most instances, was forced to step out of his comfort zone and run the high side in order to hold off “The Highsider.” Ely ran the top to perfection though, and Brown could never get closer than three car lengths behind Ely until the checkered flag fell.
The Sassamansville, PA native snapped a lengthy winless streak and went back to Lanco’s victory lane, with Brown and Rutherford completing the top three. Jesse Maurer avoided trouble to drive from 13th to fourth, and Light rebounded from the earlier spin to finish off the top five.
Ely and Brown were the two heat race winners on the evening.
Brent Ely took advantage of Jarid Kunkle’s misfortune and was able to break a long winless drought in the Hyper Racing Winged 600s. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)
Sara Borror rolled off from the pole of the evening’s 125/4 Stroke feature and was able to lead off of the green flag. Borror and Dylan Holmes would slot in one-two for the first lap and a half before chaos broke out behind them. Mike Coen and Noah Martin got together down the backstretch and would turn sideways in front of the field, leaving nowhere for oncoming traffic to go. Riley Simmons got the worst of the pileup, as her car flipped in the stack up and then got impacted hard in mid-air by the Dylan Yeingst machine. Thankfully, all drivers were okay, but Simmons and Yeingst each saw their nights come to a wild end.
Holmes found trouble under an early caution period, breaking from the second spot. That allowed Michael Hoffmaster to inherit the runner-up position, and he then grabbed the lead from Borror on the restart. Hoffmaster, who had a best finish of second in his rookie season in 2021, was looking for his first Lanco win, but he would have to hold off some fast cars and drivers to do it, as Chase Layser, Billy Logeman, and Justin Harrington all eventually found themselves running second through fourth.
Hoffmaster led the race past the 10-lap mark, but soon had Layser closing the gap in hot pursuit. As Hoffmaster reached the back of the field, Layser made a bold move, diving under both Hoffmaster and a lapped car to try and make the move for the lead. Layser’s move stuck, but not before both cars lost some of their momentum, allowing Logeman and Harrington to close the gap back in.
Logeman and Harrington each got past Hoffmaster, but neither driver was able to chase down Layser once he got to the front. The drama then came through lapped traffic, as the leaders worked through lapped cars for the remainder of the race. However, Layser’s lead only grew working through the traffic, as he could make moves both up high and down low.
Layser picked up his third total win at Lanco for the season and his second straight in points-paying action. Logeman once again came home second with Harrington finishing third. Hoffmaster came home fourth after leading early, and Chris Dolan drove from 21st, last, to complete the top five.
The twin heat races were won by Hoffmaster and Martin.
Chase Layser made a bold move on Michael Hoffmaster in lapped traffic to take over the lead and held on to win back-to-back 125/4 Stroke features. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)
The final feature belonged to the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s and saw Garyt Smith starting from the pole with Bradley Brown to his outside. The race’s early laps saw those two battle for the top spot before Bobby Butler threw his name into the hat as well. The three drivers all traded sliders amongst each other before Butler was able to make some hay, completing the pass on Brown and then getting past Smith for the lead just before a caution came on lap 8.
The race would have a little trouble getting into a rhythm from there, as several cautions peppered the remainder of the event. Brown got past Smith for second and worked to try and outuel Butler on the restarts that followed. Brown got a good run at Butler from the outside line on one of the restarts and was able to challenge, but Butler was able to hang on. After that, Butler changed things up, choosing to start on the outside lane for the next double-file restart.
While hard battling took place throughout the field, that restart would essentially mark the last challenge for Butler, as he would break away to the lead on the final double-file restart attempt and then pull away on each single-file attempt from there on out. Despite Brown’s best efforts, it was same song, second verse, as he just couldn’t close the gap to Butler in the race’s closing laps.
Butler picked up his third win of the season in the division, and the second in a points show, as he led Brown and Smith to complete the podium. Preston Lattomus ended his 2022 debut at the Clyde with a fourth-place finish, and rookie James Fries had his best run yet, coming home an impressive fifth.
Heat races were won by Christian Bruno and Shjon Dove.
Note: Post race inspection resulted in a disqualification of race winner, Bobby Butler.
Bobby Butler got past Bradley Brown and Garyt Smith to take home his third win of 2022 in Hyper Racing Wingless 600 competition. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)
Next Saturday, June 4th will be the only scheduled off week of the 2022 season at the Clyde. Racing will return to the speedway on Saturday, June 11th with Flag Day and Veterans/Armed Services Night at the Clyde. All veterans and active members of any branch of the Armed Services in attendance will receive free general admission to the evening’s events with proper identification. All five divisions will be back for a regular points show, with gates opening at 4:30 and warmups and racing beginning at 6:00. With the first two months of the season in the books, we can’t wait for you to come back in two weeks to LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
Results:
270 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 8S-Mike Skias[1]; 2. 15-Alex Swift[12]; 3. 3-Pete Skias[3]; 4. 3S-Nick Skias[11]; 5. 82-Bradley Brown[7]; 6. 11-Mike Uhrich[19]; 7. 16T-Nick Walton[5]; 8. 34-Christi Sweigart[18]; 9. 23K-Courtney Kupp[17]; 10. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[8]; 11. 48-Jonah Meck[14]; 12. 4-Dylan Pence[22]; 13. 27-Darren Schott[2]; 14. 45O-Mike Rutherford[6]; 15. 39A-Austin Mieczkowski[21]; 16. 92-Jason Swavely[9]; 17. 96W-Chase Walker[16]; 18. 91-Jack Redcay[15]; 19. 21D-Dave Williams[10]; 20. 4R-Reinhardt Lee[4]; 21. 53N-Ben Newmaster[13]; 22. 95-Bennett Skelton[23]; 23. 00-Daniel Jones[20]; 24. (DNS) 47X-Ernie Newmaster III
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 5-Bret Cronrath[6]; 2. 21-Toby Blumenshine[3]; 3. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[11]; 4. 21V-David Ravel[20]; 5. 20-Max Fasnacht[7]; 6. 22-Clinton Hauser[13]; 7. 21H-Matt Hoffman[15]; 8. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[16]; 9. 21D-Dave Williams[9]; 10. 53-Jared St John[14]; 11. 31-Tyler Martin[5]; 12. 11-Dustin Geib[23]; 13. 77-Michael Kreiser[8]; 14. 22X-Blake Eshlam[17]; 15. 28-Kyle Lindsey[2]; 16. 16P-Patrick Kirn[12]; 17. 30-Ryan Heckman[18]; 18. 19-Wes Fasnacht[19]; 19. 3S-Jeremy Eisenhour[10]; 20. 15-Robert Shannaman[1]; 21. 23K-Courtney Kupp[4]; 22. (DNS) 9G-Jamie Flickinger; 23. (DNS) 22S-Bret Sculley; 24. (DNS) 11S-Drew Swinehart
Hyper Racing Winged 600 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 17-Brent Ely[3]; 2. 23-Bradley Brown[10]; 3. 2S-Michael Rutherford[6]; 4. 3-Jesse Maurer[13]; 5. 11Z-Zachary Light[1]; 6. 1-Will Urkuski[12]; 7. 2K-Nathan Miller[14]; 8. 14-Jason Swavely[9]; 9. 5-Christian Bruno[2]; 10. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[5]; 11. 51-Chris Gerhart[11]; 12. 19-Timothy Horney[15]; 13. 71-Brian Kramer[7]; 14. 11H-Holden Eckman[8]; 15. 7-Nick Skias[16]; 16. 15P-Christopher Panczner[4]; 17. (DNS) 15J-Joshua Bortz
125/4 Stroke A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 7L-Chase Layser[5]; 2. 76B-Billy Logeman[12]; 3. 76-Justin Harrington[11]; 4. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[3]; 5. 7D-Chris Dolan[21]; 6. 16-Steve Simmons[8]; 7. 19-Matt Fernsler[10]; 8. 15H-Don Hess[7]; 9. 17-Masen Stapleton[15]; 10. 26C-Michael Coen[6]; 11. 20J-Jarrid Hellinger[9]; 12. 78C-Sara Borror[1]; 13. 14-Seth Gregory[19]; 14. 67-Cooper Schoenly[18]; 15. 04-Sam Borger[13]; 16. 3H-Corey Harting[20]; 17. 9M-Noah Martin[4]; 18. 81-Dylan Holmes[2]; 19. 44-Riley Simmons[14]; 20. 15-Alyssa Holmes[16]; 21. 112-Dylan Yeingst[17]
Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main (25 Laps):
1. 23-Bradley Brown[2]; 2. 2SX-Garyt Smith[1]; 3. 23B-Preston Lattomus[6]; 4. 1F-James Fries[14]; 5. 5A-Jason Swavely[17]; 6. 5-Christian Bruno[9]; 7. 5BX-Ryan Boyd[3]; 8. $30-Dominic Foster[7]; 9. 2K-Nathan Miller[11]; 10. 3D-Shjon Dove[4]; 11. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[18]; 12. 42U-Tyler Ulrich[10]; 13. 15T-Maddie Boyd[16]; 14. 22-Nate Prazenica[12]; 15. 68-Brenden Hires[8]; 16. 71-Brian Kramer[15]; 17. (DNS) 16T-Joseph Timmins; 18. (DNS) 21-Mason Beinhower 19. (DQ) 5B-Bobby Butler[5];