By Kasey Kreider
If the Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek Finale at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway has taught us one thing over the past three years, it’s to expect the unexpected. One night after a wild and wacky feature event that saw only six cars running at the finish, the drama only reached a higher level for the Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek Finale sponsored by Groff Trucking. Perhaps the best racing surface of the year greeted the 71 drivers who returned to chase the $8,000 payday that would go to the winner, and the action that the racers provided on track lived up to the hype.
For the second time in three years, “Big Money” Brian Carber proved why the nickname was so fitting, as he dueled one of the micro scene’s brightest young stars in Alex Ruppert over the duration of the 50-lap feature, and came out on top following a green-white-checkered shootout. In the battle for the $3,000-to-win championship, Steven Snyder, Jr. battled through adversity, and had a little bit of luck, to claim the Speedweek title, despite not even qualifying for the final A-Main.
Two flights of time trials kicked off the evening of racing, and for the second straight night, Bradley Brown protected his home turf by laying down the quickest lap of Flight A, stopping the clock with an 11.155-second lap time. However, that lap would once again be bested in Flight B, this time by Mooresville, NC’s Gavan Boschele, who laid down an eye-popping lap in warmups and backed it up when it mattered, clocking in with the overall quick time of 11.051 seconds.
Championship leader Steven Snyder, Jr. clocked in the sixth-fastest lap of Flight A, and Christian Bruno laid down the fourth-fastest time of Flight B. The big surprise was championship runner-up Tommy Kunsman, who could only manage the 26th-quickest time in Flight B, missing the invert by two positions. However, Kunsman was the only one of the three championship contenders who had a locked-in spot for the A-Main Finale, and he would start no worse than 18th regardless of what happened during heats or qualifiers.
Eight eight-lap heat races were next to the track, and went by in a hurry. Basehor, KS’s Talin Turner picked up the first heat race win, with Joey Kay taking the checkers of heat 2. Alex Ruppert turned in the first sixth-to-first run of the night, taking the win of heat 3. Colin White triumphed in heat 4, with Daniel Robinson taking heat 5 shortly thereafter. Jarid Kunkle and Aidan Turner won heats 6 and 7 from the pole, and Alex Bright made his presence felt in his Speedweek return by taking the heat 8 victory.
But amidst the frenzied heat races was the beginning of a championship drama that would last throughout the remainder of the evening. Steven Snyder, Jr. rolled off in fifth spot for heat 2, but had done some damage to his car after hitting the wall in time trials. A feverish effort from multiple teams and people helped get the car out for the heat race, and Snyder, Jr. was locked in a three-car battle for second when disaster struck.
The left rear wheel on the car may not have been fully tightened following the post-time trial repairs, and as Snyder, Jr. set the car into turn 1 a few laps into the heat, the wheel came off, sending Snyder, Jr.’s car bouncing through the corner and upside down, making it the second-straight year that Snyder, Jr. flipped in a heat race of the Speedweek Finale. The car itself didn’t seem to be that damaged, but Snyder, Jr. was out, and credited with an eighth-place finish, putting him in a hole when it came to passing points. All Snyder, Jr. had to do to clinch the championship was finish the A-Main in 18th-place or better, but that task was beginning to look tougher.
Bruno, on the other hand, was able to go from sixth to second in his heat, putting him third in passing points entering the qualifier. Kunsman’s rough night continued, though, as he went for a spin in his heat and could only muster a seventh-to-fifth run. Kunsman would be 37th in passing points entering the qualifiers, and when the dust settled, Snyder, Jr. would slot in 50th, two positions out of a qualifier, meaning that he would have to go straight to a B-Main.
The pressure began to mount on Kunsman and Bruno, as they knew that Snyder, Jr.’s struggles opened the door for them to swipe in and take the championship away. Kunsman still couldn’t find what he needed though in the first qualifier, as he went from 10th to eighth, assuring that he would have to fall back on his provisional and roll off in the A-Main from 18th. Aidan Turner backed up his heat race win by winning the first qualifier, before Bruno and qualifier number two hit the speedway.
Bruno entered the qualifier with a chance to potentially be the high-point man, on a night that seemed to be shaping up eerily similar to the one that allowed him to take the Speedweek title in 2021. But then, Bruno’s first misstep of the night happened, as he spun in his qualifier while battling inside the top five. Bruno could only rebound for an eighth-place finish, and the sixth-to-eighth run put Bruno two spots out of getting enough passing points to make the A-Main, meaning that he too would have to come through a B-Main, and that Kunsman was the only championship contender locked into the 50-lapper.
While the championship drama unfolded, other drivers put together some great efforts in the qualifiers. Turner’s aforementioned victories allowed him to transfer to his first A-Main of the week. White was also able to sweep his heat and qualifier, setting him up to start third in the feature. Kyle Lick had returned from his big crash on Monday to take the win of the third qualifier and advance to the A, while Connor Gross put last night’s rough event behind him and transferred through by winning the fourth qualifier. A sixth-to-third run by Ruppert in his qualifier put him on pole for the 50-lapper, while back-to-back to sixth-to-second runs for Brian Carber meant that he would be on the outside of the front row.
The stage was set for four B-Mains, with the top four from each transferring to the 16-car Last Chance Showdown. Aiden Price showed speed all throughout the night and kept his evening alive by winning the first B-Main, which also transferred Preston Lattomus, Biscuit Williams, and Dallas Damask.
It was then time for Bruno to take care of business, and take care he did, as he won the second B-Main in front of Trevor Cline, Robinson, and Michael Nolf. Overall quick timer Boschele had a rough heat race and qualifier, but was able to stay alive by winning the third B-Main over P. J. Williams, Mason Beinhower, and Geoff Federspiel.
The final B-Main was make-or-break time for Snyder, Jr. He rolled off from position number eight, and methodically worked his way into fourth. Snyder, Jr. was able to get a good gap and some breathing room over fifth, and crossed the line behind B-Main winner Bobby Butler, second-place Ryan Groff, and third-place Easton Lebo.
But something didn’t seem quite right. The No. 21s that was usually such a rocket ship seemed to be lugging and struggling for power down the straightaways, and antifreeze all over the floor of the car proved that something was still amiss. Knowing that he didn’t have a car that he was confident he could make the A-Main with, Snyder, Jr. asked to hop behind the wheel of longtime friend Kenny Beinhower’s No. 25 for the Last Chance Showdown, with Beinhower having already been eliminated for the night. Kenny gave his approval, and Snyder, Jr. would roll off from the back of the Last Chance Showdown in a car he’d never driven before with everything on the line.
With the top eight finishers from the Showdown going to the A-Main, the task would be difficult, but doable. Price and Bruno were able to show the way as the front two cars while Snyder, Jr. quickly moved into a transfer spot by rolling the bottom of the speedway. On each restart, Snyder, Jr. would do the same, staying loyal to the infield tires and eventually getting close enough to challenge Bruno for the lead of the race.
But as Snyder, Jr., Bruno, and Price continued to battle, Snyder, Jr. and Bruno had a fateful moment down the backstretch, as the three drivers were three-wide off the corner, with Price on the top, Bruno in the middle, and Snyder, Jr. on the bottom. The two championship contenders made wheel-to-wheel contact down the backstretch, which knocked the chain off of Snyder, Jr.’s vehicle. There was nothing left for Snyder, Jr. to do except pull to the infield, and hope that things would fall in place without having an opportunity to be out there for the 50-lap A-Main.
Bruno was able to continue on unharmed, and would finish second to Price in the Showdown, lining him up 20th for the A-Main. Butler, Cline, and Groff rounded out the top five, while Federspiel, Nolf, and Lebo were the last drivers to advance, with Lebo holding off a last-corner charge from Damask, who fell short of making the A-Main by just a few hundredths of a second.
And with that, the stage was set. 26 cars were lined up for the $8,000-to-win finale, with Ruppert and Carber going from the head of the field. Kunsman and Bruno rolled off 18th and 20th, respectively, and the formula was pretty simple. Kunsman needed to finish fourth or better in the feature to beat Snyder, Jr., and Bruno needed to finish third or better. If each driver did that, then where they finished relative to each other would determine the Speedweek champion.
Some track grooming prior to the feature proved to work like a magic wand over the speedway, as the first few laps of the A-Main saw side-by-side racing all throughout the field. Both the bottom and top were usable, with good slider lines available for drivers as well. At the front, Ruppert pulled away by a few car lengths on the top, while Carber and others in pursuit mainly ran the bottom. Then, after about five laps, the line began to migrate more to the top, and the veteran had the young gun in his crosshairs for the battle that was about to take place.
The race’s first caution flew on lap 10 for Butler’s stopped vehicle, erasing Ruppert’s 1.2-second advantage. On the restart, it was game on. Carber took his first of many slide jobs across the bow of the No. 5A, but Ruppert had an answer, and held on to the top spot.
On lap 12, another twist in the championship battle took place, as Kunsman was collected in a four-car pileup that also involved Bright. Bright and the others were able to continue, but Kunsman had heavy damage to the front of his car, knocking him out of the running for the race and the championship, and leaving it all up to Bruno to try and defend his Speedweek title.
On the next restart, Carber found his way to the front following a battle with Ruppert. But the Lewisberry, PA driver kept him honest during the whole run, and took the top spot back away, leading at the stripe again on lap 24 as the leaders began to battle through lapped traffic. While that was going on, Bright was storming his way back through the field, charging all the way from outside the top 20 to sixth without the aid of a yellow.
Behind Bright was a three-car battle between White, Bruno, and Gross, and the next bit of championship drama occurred here, as Bruno and White made contact down the backstretch, breaking something on White’s machine. Lanco once again was not kind to the pilot of the No. 6 machine, and White showed some of his displeasure with Bruno as he popped up through the roll cage of his damaged vehicle in turn 4.
Christian Bruno (No. 5) scratched and clawed to try and put himself in position to take home the Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek title for the second straight year. (Photo Courtesy of Lee Greenawalt)
Bruno was able to continue, but still a few spots shy of where he needed to be to claim the title. The restart saw a new name thrown into the top two, as Billy Koch, one of only four drivers to make every A-Main during Speedweek, got past Carber on the restart for second. Carber eventually got back by, but the swap for second gave Ruppert some breathing room before the caution waved again with 16 laps to go.
The restart that followed saw the battle that perhaps defined the race, as Ruppert and Carber engaged themselves in an epic slide-job battle over the next several laps. Neither driver gave an inch, even when the other driver tried to defend the slider line entering the corner. The hard, but clean battle eventually was won by Carber, and he had the top spot when the caution flew for Groff’s flip on lap 39. Carber pulled away on the next restart, but the run was short-lived, as Kay’s spin set up another restart with nine laps remaining.
The next few moments of the race is when all heck broke loose. Bright had worked his way up to fourth, but was doing so with a flat left-front tire. Bruno was running in seventh, four spots shy of where he needed to be to claim the title. The top line got bottled up off of turn 2 on the first restart, and opened the door for Bruno to shoot to fourth, but the stack up sent Friday night’s winner Kyle Spence for a wild and scary ride down the backstretch, as his car flipped violently before being collected in mid-air by Brian Kramer, who also flipped. Thankfully, both drivers were okay, but the wild incident was just a peek into what was about to come.
Kyle Spence (No. 25K) went for a scary ride down the backstretch after a late restart, collecting Brian Kramer (No. 71X) in the process. (Photo Courtesy of Lee Greenawalt)
The next single-file restart saw third-place runner Koch break a rear sprocket and not come up to speed, with Bruno and Gross running into the back of him. Somehow, Bruno was able to maneuver his car around and through the infield to keep going and therefore, keep his running spot, although Gross was not as lucky.
But the third attempt at the restart saw the championship sealing moment, as Bruno, who was restarting fifth, got tagged from behind by Federspiel, sending the No. 5 around in the center of the corner. Bruno was able to continue and tag on at the tail of the field, but there may have been more issues for the Deptford, NJ driver, as he pulled into the infield on the next restart, sealing the 2022 championship for Snyder, Jr.
With the title decided, it was time to determine who would take home the $8,000-to-win finale. Carber pulled away initially, and it seemed as if “Big Money” was going to set sail untouched to the finish. But Ruppert had one final charge left in him, and gave all he had to close back in to take the win away. With less than five laps to go, Ruppert was there, and the two began trading sliders once again. The two went back and forth, with Carber still holding the advantage, but Ruppert appearing to have the stronger car. The battle continued until two laps to go, when a caution for debris on the racetrack set up a green-white-checkered shootout to settle Speedweek.
Alex Ruppert (No. 5A) and Brian Carber (No. 41C) battled for the top spot throughout the majority of the Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek 50-lap finale. (Photo Courtesy of Ryan Kissinger)
Carber and Ruppert both ran the high side of turns 3 and 4 getting up to speed, but it was Bright who made the big time move to the bottom, trying to slide in front of Ruppert for second off of the corner. Ruppert drilled Bright as he slid in front on the frontstretch, but Bright kept it straight, and by the time Ruppert could get clear of Bright again, Carber was on his way to victory.
Carber won the finale at the Clyde for the second time in three years. Although there was no championship to boot on this occasion, the $8,000 was more than enough to make Carber happy, especially for a driver who hadn’t even planned to run the entirety of Speedweek until the week of. After battling one of the micro scene’s best, a dejected Ruppert had to settle for second, a valiant effort that came just one spot short. And then there was Brown, who rounded out the podium with a last-corner pass on Bright, representing the Clyde well and showing that he could compete with some of the best micro drivers in the country. Bright’s epic drive back through the field on three tires ended in fourth, and new dad Jesse Maurer survived the wild late stages to complete the top five.
Brian Carber celebrated his second victory in three years at the Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek Finale at the Clyde. (Photo Courtesy of Ryan Kissinger)
Brian Carber (middle) took the victory with Alex Ruppert (right) second and Bradley Brown (left) coming home third. (Photo Courtesy of Lee Greenawalt)
For Snyder, Jr., it was an unimaginable roller coaster of emotions after finishing on the podium for the first four nights of Speedweek, only to almost see the title slip away over a chaotic final two nights. Perhaps only in Speedweek can a driver’s strongest track be their biggest nemesis, and that was certainly the case on this night. But the talent and ability shown over the first five nights set the stage for Lady Luck to take over, and allowed Snyder, Jr. to bring home the big belt at the end of another wild, crazy, and unpredictable Speedweek for the record books.
Steven Snyder, Jr. received the championship belt and the $3,000 check for claiming the 2022 Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek championship. (Photo Courtesy of Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek)
Next Saturday, July 30th at the Clyde will be the granddaddy of them all, the Clyde Martin Memorial and Throwback Night. This year’s exclusive, members-only event will pay $2,000 to win for each of our Hyper Racing 600 classes, with the extra $1,000 coming courtesy of Kenny Groff and Groff Motorsports. The 270, Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman, and 125/4 Stroke divisions will all pay $1,000 to win for the 35-lap features. In addition, the event will pay double points toward the championship. In order to be eligible to compete, drivers must be members and must have attempted to run at least 50% of the points-paying shows in 2022. Gates for the event will open at 4:30, with warmups and racing set to begin at 6:00. With longer races and bigger purses, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to come out on Saturday and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
Results:
Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek A-Main (50 Laps):
1. 41C-Brian Carber[2]; 2. 5A-Alex Ruppert[1]; 3. 23B-Bradley Brown[7]; 4. 20A-Alex Bright[16]; 5. 3X-Jesse Maurer[17]; 6. 33-Matt Smith[15]; 7. 26-Aidan Turner[8]; 8. 1-Easton Lebo[26]; 9. 14-Connor Gross[10]; 10. 15-TJ Smith[14]; 11. 21G-Geoff Federspiel[24]; 12. 66-Billy Koch[6]; 13. 25K-Kyle Spence[9]; 14. 5-Christian Bruno[20]; 15. 71X-Brian Kramer[12]; 16. 12-Joe Kay[11]; 17. 03-Ryan Groff[23]; 18. 11Z-Kyle Lick[4]; 19. 6-Colin White[3]; 20. Z17-Michael Nolf[25]; 21. 49-Aiden Price[19]; 22. 19J-Jackson White[5]; 23. B5-Bobby Butler[21]; 24. 15N-Neal Allison[13]; 25. 55-Trevor Cline[22]; 26. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[18]
Points:
FINAL Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek Point Standings (Top 5):
1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[462]; 2. 5-Christian Bruno[-42]; 3. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[-55]; 4. 41C-Brian Carber[-69]; 5. 6-Colin White[-87]