By Kasey Kreider

The dangling carrot hanging out in front of Hyper Racing 600 competitors had been growing larger and larger prior to Saturday night’s Race Chasing Night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The rollover bonus put up by race director Mike Knappenberger through his Race Chasing Award program had grown to $250 after not being won through the first six points races of the year. Thanks to further donations from Alan McDonald and Guy Smith, the prize stood at $400 for this special Race Chasing Night, and perhaps it was only fitting the prize would be won on this evening, as Steven Snyder, Jr. made it a clean sweep in the Hyper Racing Winged and Wingless 600 action, taking $500 from the Race Chasing Program alone, and allowing the program to award $1,050 on its special tribute night in its “Final Chapter” season.

In addition to Snyder, Jr.’s victories, Jason Swavely became the first repeat winner in 270 points-paying action, making it back-to-back victories in the division. Noah Martin held off Michael Hoffmaster and Masen Stapleton on a frantic green-white-checkered restart, as all three drivers were gunning for their first Lanco victories in the 125/4 Stroke class. And Corey Schmuck, Jr. took an improbable fourth win of the season in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans after Kyle Lindsey broke and slammed the wall while leading coming out of turn 4 on the final lap.

Over the past seven years, Mike Knappenberger and the Race Chasing Award Program has raised over $100,000 to help give back to local racers in the area. On Race Chasing Night, the program gave a total of $1,050 to drivers at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

New Jersey native Tommy Rinck was the pole sitter for the night’s first feature in the 270s, and broke away to lead on the start. But as the front runners all ran the bottom and middle lanes through the first couple of corners, Jason Swavely charged past on the top side of the speedway, moving all the way up from sixth to second on the first lap.

A restart on lap 2 then gave Swavely a point blank opportunity to take away the lead, and the Rocketman from Fleetwood was able to do so handily. Swavely pulled away prior to a caution on lap 7, and then opened up a 3.5-second gap on second place before the third and final caution of the race on lap 17.

While Swavely looked untouchable, the battling continued from second on back. Bradley Brown was a hard charger during the race’s middle stages, planting himself in the top five with some bold moves after starting the race in ninth. Brian Sholley ran second for most of the race but began to fade late on the bottom, allowing Corey Schmuck, Jr. to get past for the spot.

But all the battling was well behind Swavely, as he once again pulled away over the final green flag run and scooted to his second straight win in 270 competition, and his third straight at the speedway, also counting his Hyper Racing Winged 600 win from the week prior. This win came in Swavely’s own No. 14, and it proved to be a rocketship fit for the Rocketman.

Swavely beat Schmuck, Jr. to the line by just under 1.3 seconds, with Brown completing the podium while the top two in points, brothers Nick and Mike Skias, finished fourth and fifth in that order, allowing Nick to grow his points lead to 20 entering the month of July.

Heat races were won by Mike Skias and Jared St. John.

Jason Swavely made quick work driving through the field and picked up his second straight win in 270 competition. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Noah Martin entered the evening with the seventh-lowest point average of any driver in the 125/4 Stroke field. However, while the other six all had struggles in their heat races, Martin finished second and inside a handicap position, allowing him to start on pole for the night’s feature.

Martin led Andrew Rothermel, Masen Stapleton, and Michael Hoffmaster during the early laps of the event, and as things would turn out, those drivers would run as the top four for the remainder of the evening. All four drivers were in search of their first win at the Clyde, and it was Martin who had the upper hand.

However, Stapleton got past Rothermel following a lap 6 restart, and “The Bull” began setting his sights on Martin for the top spot. On a bottom-dominant track, Stapleton was able to close to the tail tank of Martin on a few separate occasions, but couldn’t find a way past, even in lapped traffic. Hoffmaster, meanwhile, got around Rothermel for third and seemed faster than the front two, but needed a caution to make something happen for the win.

Hoffmaster got his wish with two laps to go, when Chase Layser’s car broke in turn 4 and came to a stop, setting up a single-file, green-white-checkered shootout. Martin had shifter issues on the restart, meaning that he would have to make his car awfully wide in the corners to keep the two young guns behind him.

Hoffmaster was able to get around Stapleton on the restart and made his first dive for the lead into turn 3 on the second-to-last lap, with Martin shutting the door. By the next time they got to turn 3, Hoffmaster had a run again and shoved it to the bottom into the corner. The two drivers banged wheels as Martin tried to crowd him and Hoffmaster tried to move past. As the two drivers put the power down and drag raced to the line off turn 4, Stapleton pulled to the outside to make it a near-three-wide finish at the line. But it was Martin who was able to hold off Hoffmaster by half a car length in a hard fought, but still clean, battle for the win.

Martin joined Chris Dolan as the second first-time winner in the past three weeks in the division, while Hoffmaster equalled his career-best result of second and Stapleton made his first trip to victory lane as the third-place finisher. Rothermel hung on for fourth, while Steve Simmons completed the top five. Point leader Billy Logeman fought through a tumultuous night to rally for a seventh-place finish and maintain a 95-point lead.

Heat races were won by Rothermel and Dolan.

Noah Martin held off Michael Hoffmaster and Masen Stapleton in a great battle to take his first win at the Clyde in the 125/4 Strokes. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Chris Gerhart led a field of 16 Hyper Racing Winged 600 competitors to the green flag for their 25-lapper. Of those 16, six were chasing after the $400 bonus for any driver who could sweep both divisions. Gerhart led the first lap, but had Steven Snyder, Jr. breathing down his neck, as Snyder, Jr. made time around the bottom of the speedway and made the pass for the lead on the former track champ.

As Snyder, Jr. took the lead, birthday boy Nick Skias quickly found himself moving to second, as his Groff Motorsports No. 7 ripped right next to the wall on the high side. Snyder, Jr. stayed committed to the bottom, but Skias was quicker up top. As the veteran closed in, though, Snyder, Jr. moved up to the high side to take the line away, and began to stretch the gap back out.

The gap would seesaw back and forth throughout the race. Snyder, Jr. would move to the bottom, and Skias would close in. Once Snyder, Jr. got back to the top, the lead opened back up. The equation got complicated when the leaders hit lapped traffic, and both the front runners had to pick their way through. Skias got held up by a breaking lapped car off the exit of turn 2, and that gave Snyder, Jr. the cushion he needed to take control of the race. Third-place runner Christian Bruno was the fastest car on the track for the last few laps, but needed a caution. For the third straight week, the winged competitors never got one.

A feature that took four minutes and 50 seconds to complete saw Snyder, Jr. take the win and keep the opportunity for the $400 bonus alive. Skias held off Bruno for the runner-up spot, while Cody West and Jason Swavely completed the top five. Point leader Bradley Brown had an issue right from the very start of the feature and failed to finish, shrinking his advantage to 50 markers over Swavely.

Heat races were won by Gerhart and Jesse Maurer.

Steven Snyder, Jr. held off Nick Skias before pulling away in lapped traffic to make it two-for-two in Hyper Racing Winged 600 competition at the Clyde in 2022. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Michael Spadafora started on pole for the night’s Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature, and led the first eight laps of the event. However, as second-place runner Kyle Lindsey was closing in, Spadafora’s car lost power, and he pulled to the infield coming down the backstretch.

The lead was in the hands of Lindsey, as most of the leaders all ran around the bottom of the speedway. Lindsey had company though in the form of Ryan Heckman, who looked to keep his string of good runs going and perhaps notch his first win. Meanwhile, the two dominant drivers of the season, Corey Schmuck, Jr. and Bret Cronrath, came to the party as well, and found themselves in the top four when the first caution of the race flew with 10 laps to go.

A couple quick cautions led to a single-file restart, and Lindsey was able to hang on to the top spot. Another caution flew with eight laps remaining, and that one would set up the final run to the checkers.

On the restart, both Schmuck, Jr. and Cronrath were able to make their way past Heckman and into the top three. Then, the two drivers got to battling amongst themselves. Cronrath took second away momentarily, but Schmuck, Jr. was able to get back by shortly after. Running the bottom of the speedway, he set his sights on Lindsey, following right in his tire tracks and trying to find any way he could to get by. Lindsey had done yeoman’s work to hold on though, and although Schmuck, Jr. tried to set himself up for a big run off the final corner, it didn’t look like it was going to be enough.

But then, the unthinkable happened. As Lindsey was rounding the final corner with his first win in sight, something on the right front corner of the car broke. The right front wheel came off the car entirely, and Lindsey slammed into the frontstretch guardrail less than 100 feet from the finish. In a finish reminiscent of the 2011 Indy 500, Lindsey scrubbed against the outside wall while Schmuck, Jr. flashed by for an improbable fourth victory of the season. Lindsey grinded to a halt coming past the finish line after a career-best, yet agonizing third-place result.

For Schmuck, Jr., it was his fourth win in six races on the season, and it allowed him to open up a 26-point lead on second-place finisher Cronrath, while Lindsey completed the podium. Heckman and Anthony Yerger then completed the top five.

Heat races were won by Heckman and Dave Ravel.

Corey Schmuck, Jr. took advanatge of Kyle Lindsey’s last-corner misfortune to pick up his fourth victory in Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman competition in 2022. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Jared Lilly and Christian Bruno rolled off from the front row of the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main, with Steven Snyder, Jr., going for the $400 bonus, starting in the fifth spot. Bruno took the lead from Lilly off the start, but it wasn’t long before he had to deal with the Rising Sun, MD driver at the front, as Snyder, Jr. worked his way to second on the bottom, before moving up top to try and run Bruno down.

Early in the event, Snyder, Jr. got a big run off of turn 2, and as Bruno brushed the wall on the backstretch, Snyder, Jr. was able to pull the slider into turn 3 and take over the top spot, beginning to set his sights on the large chunk of change waiting for him in the winner’s circle.

Bruno tried his best to keep him honest though, as the two renewed their battle from last year’s 4th of July Sunday Funday classic. Bruno tried to build a run for a turn 1 slide job attempt on a couple of occasions, but never could make the move stick, allowing Snyder, Jr. to pull away.

With seven laps to go, the win looked to be in hand, but Snyder, Jr. had a gaggle of lapped traffic to negotiate through, and in turn 3, he saw the $400 bonus flash right before his eyes. Pat Bealer went for a spin entering the corner, causing a stack up that sent Jacob Bierman, James Fries, and Nathan Miller up the racetrack, with Miller flipping up onto his side. Snyder, Jr. dodged Miller’s flipping car to the outside before weaving to the inside of Fries’ spinning machine, and somehow came out of the melee unscathed.

From there, it was smooth sailing for Snyder, Jr., as he held on through the final restart and sealed the deal to sweep the 600 features and take home the resulting cash prize. In total Snyder, Jr. gathered $500 from the Race Chasing Award Program through his wins, as he received $50 apiece from Mike Knappenberger for each feature win in addition to the $400 bonus. Bruno was forced to settle for second, while points leader Bradley Brown came home in third and Ryan Groff and Shjon Dove completed the top five.

Heat races were won by Snyder, Jr. and Bruno.

Steven Snyder, Jr. picked up the win in the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s and took home the $400 bonus from Mike Knappenberger, Alan McDonald, and Guy Smith for sweeping both 600 features. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Next Sunday, July 3rd will be the Sunday Funday/4th of July Spectacular at the Clyde. The track will be quiet on the usual Saturday evening, but will roar to life for a Sunday night special. The Hyper Racing Wingless 600s will have their tune-up for Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek, and will utilize the Speedweek format for the evening. In addition, the 270s will be action, winged, and will be joined by the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans for their first ever wingless event. Finally, the Stage 1 Modifieds will make their first of three appearances at the Clyde in 2022 following their wildly successful debut last season. All micro sprint divisions will pay $1,000 to win if there are at least 35 cars. Gates will open for the open show at 4:30, with warmups and racing set to begin at 6:00. After a dramatic and exciting 4th of July event last year, you won’t want to miss your opportunity on Sunday to come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!

Results:

270 A-Main (25 Laps):

1. 14-Jason Swavely[6]; 2. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[5]; 3. 82-Bradley Brown[9]; 4. 3S-Nick Skias[11]; 5. 8S-Mike Skias[8]; 6. 11R-Tommy Rinck[1]; 7. 02-Josh Patterson[12]; 8. 34-Christi Sweigart[3]; 9. 4-Dylan Pence[18]; 10. 21D-Dave Williams[14]; 11. 23K-Courtney Kupp[13]; 12. 30-Ryan Heckman[15]; 13. 11-Mike Uhrich[7]; 14. 53-Jared St John[2]; 15. 27-Darren Schott[17]; 16. 91-Jack Redcay[16]; 17. 95-Bennett Skelton[20]; 18. 28S-Brian Sholley[4]; 19. 48-Jonah Meck[10]; 20. 3-Pete Skias[21]; 21. 39A-Austin Mieczkowski[19]; 22. 27O-Mike Rutherford[22]

125/4 Stroke A-Main (25 Laps):

1. 9M-Noah Martin[1]; 2. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[6]; 3. 17-Masen Stapleton[3]; 4. 73-Andrew Rothermel[2]; 5. 16-Steve Simmons[8]; 6. 7D-Chris Dolan[9]; 7. 76B-Billy Logeman[20]; 8. 76-Justin Harrington[21]; 9. 20J-Jarrid Hellinger[4]; 10. 15H-Don Hess[7]; 11. 15-Alyssa Holmes[14]; 12. 19-Matt Fernsler[11]; 13. 14-Seth Gregory[15]; 14. 6X-Chance Thomas[17]; 15. 81-Dylan Holmes[16]; 16. 112-Dylan Yeingst[19]; 17. 78C-Sara Borror[13]; 18. 7L-Chase Layser[10]; 19. 44-Riley Simmons[5]; 20. 5-Terry Ellex[18]; 21. 04-Sam Borger[12]

Hyper Racing Winged 600 A-Main (25 Laps):

1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[3]; 2. 7-Nick Skias[4]; 3. 5-Christian Bruno[5]; 4. 117-Cody West[8]; 5. 14-Jason Swavely[6]; 6. 3-Jesse Maurer[7]; 7. 51-Chris Gerhart[1]; 8. 11Z-Zachary Light[9]; 9. 5A-Anthony Yerger[10]; 10. 2K-Nathan Miller[13]; 11. 15J-Joshua Bortz[11]; 12. 25-Mary Earley[15]; 13. 2S-Zachery Bealer[12]; 14. 1-Will Urkuski[14]; 15. 23-Bradley Brown[2]; 16. 11H-Holden Eckman[16]

Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main (25 Laps):

1. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[12]; 2. 5-Bret Cronrath[8]; 3. 28-Kyle Lindsey[4]; 4. 30-Ryan Heckman[3]; 5. 5A-Anthony Yerger[10]; 6. 23K-Courtney Kupp[14]; 7. 21D-Dave Williams[7]; 8. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[5]; 9. 31-Tyler Martin[6]; 10. 20-Max Fasnacht[9]; 11. 53-Jared St John[2]; 12. 11-Dustin Geib[16]; 13. 21V-David Ravel[11]; 14. 11S-Drew Swinehart[15]; 15. 8-Michael Spadafora[1]; 16. 22-Clinton Hauser[13]; 17. 16P-Patrick Kirn[17]

Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main (25 Laps):

1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[5]; 2. 5-Christian Bruno[2]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[6]; 4. 03-Ryan Groff[3]; 5. 3D-Shjon Dove[4]; 6. 16-Marty Brian[7]; 7. 42C-Zachery Bealer[10]; 8. 420-Pat Bealer[9]; 9. 76-Jacob Bierman[13]; 10. 1F-James Fries[14]; 11. 18-Jared Lilly[1]; 12. $30-Dominic Foster[11]; 13. 2K-Nathan Miller[8]; 14. 12-Dylan Kontra[15]; 15. 117-Cody West[12]; 16. 73-Andrew Rothermel[16]; 17. (DNS) 16X-Noah Smith

Points:

270 Point Standings (Top 5):

1. 3S-Nick Skias[540]; 2. 8S-Mike Skias[-20]; 3. 82-Bradley Brown[-57]; 4. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-65]; 5. 34-Christi Sweigart[-66]

125/4 Stroke Point Standings (Top 5):

1. 76B-Billy Logeman[765]; 2. 76-Justin Harrington[-95]; 3. 19-Matt Fernsler[-102]; 4. 7D-Chris Dolan[-128]; 5. 16-Steve Simmons[-142]

Hyper Racing Winged 600 Point Standings (Top 5):

1. 23-Bradley Brown[572]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[-50]; 3. 3-Jesse Maurer[-65]; 4. 11H-Holden Eckman[-73]; 5. 51-Chris Gerhart[-95]

Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman Point Standings (Top 5):

1. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[697]; 2. 5-Bret Cronrath[-26]; 3. 20-Max Fasnacht[-58]; 4. 21D-Dave Williams[-91]; 5. 31-Tyler Martin[-134]

Hyper Racing Wingless 600 Point Standings (Top 5):

1. 23-Bradley Brown[630]; 2. 5B-Bobby Butler[-194]; 3. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[-198]; 4. 1F-James Fries[-235]; 5. 3D-Shjon Dove[-266]