RACE RECAP (9/24/2022): Krupp, Brown, Stapleton, Swavely, Schmuck, Jr., and West Win Final Races of the Season on Pink Out Night

By Kasey Kreider

For one final time in 2022, the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway roared to life on Saturday evening with six different divisions competing on the Newmanstown oval. The night also featured a special moment at intermission, as cancer survivors were recognized on the frontstretch as part of the final Pink Out Night at the Clyde, organized by Kim Glass and TT’s Troops.

The feature racing began with the final race of the three-race series for the Stage 1 Modifieds, as Gavyn Krupp scored the victory and Colin Cox brought home the championship in the ProTek Roofing/Race Chasing Award Point Fund. For the second-straight week, Bradley Brown made a last lap move to take the victory of the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 feature. Masen Stapleton capped off his 125/4 Stroke season with a dominating first-career win. Jason Swavely drove from last to first following a thrilling battle with Bradley Brown in the 270 A-Main. Corey Schmuck, Jr. capped off his Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman season with a ninth victory in the class. And the season’s final feature belonged to another first-timer, as Cody West picked up the win in the Hyper Racing Winged 600s.

McKenzi Smith started from the pole of the Stage 1 Modified feature, while last year’s inaugural winner Mike Glass joined her on the front row. Smith led the race’s first two laps before Glass took away the top spot on lap 3. But his time in front was short-lived, as Gavyn Krupp found his way up from the fourth starting spot and took the lead away at the entrance to turn 3.

Krupp seemed to have the quickest car throughout much of the night, but he would not go unchallenged throughout the course of the several restarts that took place during the race. Colin Cox, along with prior 2022 race winners C. J. Fritz and Matt Mertz were among the drivers pushing to get into the top five and throw their hats into the ring as they attempted to chase down victory.

The battle between those three drivers also held importance due to their standing in the ProTek Roofing/Race Chasing Award Point Fund for the three-race series. Fritz entered the feature with a 14-point lead on Cox, with Mertz 19 points back in third. As Cox moved to second and began to run down the leader, Fritz found himself in fourth, and couldn’t afford to lose any more positions.

But as the caution flew with four laps remaining, Fritz found himself in trouble, as Mertz was able to pass him for fourth and Cox continued pressuring the back bumper of Krupp’s machine. Both drivers were able to pass third-place Ryan Raidline, but a caution with three laps to go set up another dramatic restart, where Fritz and Dylan Kontra made contact battling for position into turn 3, sending Fritz’s machine spinning and out of the championship hunt.

As the race reached the time limit, one final restart would settle the event, and Cox would look to pass Krupp for the win while also holding off Mertz to secure the championship. Despite the continuous pressure, Krupp never wavered at the front, and a caution with two laps to go brought an end to the event and spelled victory for the young standout driver.

Krupp took the win over Cox, who by holding off Mertz was able to claim the point championship by 10 over the Labor Day Shootout winner. Behind Mertz came Smith in fourth, and Owen Cassel came from last to round out the top five.

Heat races were won by Krupp, Mertz, and A. J. Gerhart.

Gavyn Miller started fourth and drove through the pack to score the victory in the Stage 1 Modified feature. (Photo Courtesy of Brooke Bauman/Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway)

The Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main was led to green by the champion Bradley Brown, with Marty Brian starting on the outside looking for his second win in as many nights. Throughout much of the first portion of the race, it was those two at the front, with Brown keeping the advantage at a few car lengths throughout most of the green flag running. Restarts occasionally provided Brian the opportunity to throw a slider, but Brown answered each time and kept control of the race.

All that changed with seven laps to go though, when Brown got loose out of turn 4 on a restart and was forced to battle side-by-side with Brian into turn 1. As the leaders got jammed up off the corner, the door opened for Shjon Dove to shoot from fifth to first and take away the lead off into turn 3. Another caution led to another restart and another battle for the top spot, this time between Dove and Brian, as Brian pulled the slider but couldn’t make it stick.

As the caution flew again and a restart was set with five to go, both Dove and Brian were hunting for their first wins in a 600 at Lanco, while Brown rebounded from his restart bobble to run in third. As Brian hit the wall while battling with Dove, Brown was able to reclaim second, and quickly began reeling in the No. 3D. As the white flag flew, Brown was close enough to make a move entering turn 1, pulling the slide job pass. As Dove tried to cross over, he made contact with Brown’s left rear and went around, setting up one final restart on the last lap.

On that final restart, Brown was able to pull away off the jump and take the checkered flag for his sixth wingless win of the year. Matt Warner led brother Trent Warner across the line to complete the podium, while Ryan Boyd and Nathan Miller survived the late-race chaos to round out the top five.

Heat races were won by Brown and Jake Fisher.

Bradley Brown made a last-lap move on Shjon Dove and then held off Matt Warner to pick up the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 victory. (Photo Courtesy of Brooke Bauman/Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway)

Masen Stapleton brought the field down for the start of the final 125/4 Stroke feature of the season, with Rookie of the Year Seth Gregory starting from the outside. The early laps saw former champions Justin Harrington and Mike Coen battling hard amongst each other for the second position as Stapleton broke away to the lead. Eventually, it was Harrington who came out on top, but Stapleton’s lead sat at about a second prior to a few early cautions.

The second-year driver was poised to pick up his first Lanco win, but would have to hold off a hard-charging Chase Layser before things were all said and done. Layser picked his way through the field from 13th on the starting grid and soon found himself passing Harrington for second while setting his sights on the race leader.

As Stapleton began to catch lapped traffic, the gap started to close, and then closed completely when the caution flew with seven laps to go. A good restart helped Stapleton get away by a few car lengths before Layser’s car then suffered an issue, and the driver was forced to pull into the infield. It was smooth sailing from there, and Stapleton was able to pick up his first checkered flag.

Stapleton capped off the season as the fifth first-time winner in the class for 2022, scoring the win over Michael Hoffmaster in second and birthday boy Matt Fernsler in third. Harrington held on to finish in fourth with Don Hess rounding out the top five.

Heat races were won by Gregory and John Maurer.

Masen Stapleton picked up his first-career 125/4 Stroke win in style, leading all 25 laps of the feature. (Photo Courtesy of Brooke Bauman/Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway)

With one first-time winner already on the evening, Dylan Pence and Jonah Meck were looking to add their names to that list as they started on the front row for the 270 feature. Pence led the way over third-place starter Kyle Lindsey before an early red flag stopped the action after Alex Lukacs’ turn 4 crash caused fence damage that needed to be repaired.

When the race resumed, it wasn’t long before Bradley Brown, who started eighth, and Jason Swavely, who started last, moved their way through the field. Both drivers made time running on the high line before Brown eventually used his momentum to make the pass on Pence for the lead entering turn 1.

In the final race for the Gold Rush Racing Team, Brown was looking to bring home one more victory. But he and Swavely waged an epic slide-job battle as the race ran under 10 laps to go. For several laps, the two drivers traded spots and lines in each set of corners, not once making contact. Eventually, it was Swavely who wrestled the lead away, and as Brown was forced to pull off with an issue in the closing laps, Swavely was able to cruise to an improbable victory.

Swavely took the win over two drivers who each scored their first podiums, as Pence led Meck across the line for second. Behind Meck was Dave Williams, and Cody West completed the top five.

Heat races were won by Brown and Tommy Rinck.

Jason Swavely started last and finished first in the final 270 feature of the season. (Photo Courtesy of Brooke Bauman/Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway)

Dave Ravel led the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans to the green flag for their final race of the year. Ravel was looking to turn a season full of bad luck into a long-awaited return to victory lane, and seemed to have the car to do it during the race’s opening stages. It wasn’t long before Corey Schmuck, Jr., Toby Blumenshine, and Bret Cronrath moved up to challenge, but Ravel kept the contenders at bay well past the halfway mark of the race.

Things began to change though as the laps wound down, as Ravel’s car began to lose some pace with a pipe issue. Schmuck, Jr. was able to get the run he needed to take away the lead entering turn 3 with seven laps remaining, while Blumenshine and Cronrath moved to second and third.

Schmuck, Jr. still had to endure one more restart prior to victory though, as Blumenshine’s car appeared to have the motor seize on him and send the car for a spin right after Schmuck, Jr. had taken the white flag. As had been the case all year, Schmuck, Jr. and Cronrath would race at the front for one final lap, But Schmuck, Jr. got the launch he needed on the restart to set sail and pick up win number nine to cap off the season.

Schmuck, Jr. and Cronrath led Ravel across the finish line as those drivers made up the podium. Anthony Yerger came home in the fourth spot, with Patrick Kirn completing the top five.

Heat races were won by Schmuck, Jr. and Blumenshine.

Corey Schmuck, Jr. took the lead from Dave Ravel with seven laps to go and picked up his ninth win of the year in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature. (Photo Courtesy of Brooke Bauman/Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway)

The final race of 2022 belonged to the Hyper Racing Winged 600s, and Cody West looked to score a long-awaited victory rolling off from the pole position. West’s car looked dominant out in the clean air early on, as he put more than a second between himself and runner-up Nick Skias throughout the first early runs of the race.

The only driver that seemed to have anything for West was Bradley Brown, who started in sixth and was able to pick off the drivers ahead one at a time to eventually move his way into the second spot inside the final 10 laps. Once Brown got to clear racetrack, he was just as quick as West, but needed a caution or something else to happen in order to close in and challenge.

West had a roughly 1.5-second lead in hand with two laps to go, but struggled to get through lapped traffic. Brown dug hard to try and get there to make a move, but ultimately came two car lengths short at the checkered flag. After being denied so many times due to bad luck or misfortune, West finally found his way into Lanco’s victory lane to close out the 2022 season.

Behind West and Brown was Skias, who capped off his season riddled with bad luck with a solid podium finish. Anthony Yerger returned to 600 competition and had his best run yet in fourth, while Billy Logeman rounded out the top five.

Heat races were won by West and Brown.

Cody West led all 25 laps and thoroughly dominated the Hyper Racing Winged 600 feature in the final race of the season. (Photo Courtesy of Brooke Bauman/Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway)

The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway would like to thank all drivers, teams, and fans for their support throughout the 2022 campaign. We would like to congratulate all drivers and teams on their success this season, and stay tuned for a release in the coming days highlighting the champions and special award winners. The countdown clock is on to April 1st, 2023, when the 66th season of racing for the Lanco Micro Midget Club will kick off with the annual No Wing Spring Fling. We wish everyone a happy holidays and winter season, and we can’t wait to come back once again and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!

Results:

Stage 1 Modified A-Main (18 Laps):

1. 5K-Gavyn Krupp[4]; 2. 59-Colin Cox[10]; 3. 9-Matt Mertz[11]; 4. 555-McKenzi Smith[1]; 5. 57-Owen Cassel[24]; 6. 99-Fabian Cushman[17]; 7. 3-Alli Cushman[14]; 8. 18-Stephen Ennes[13]; 9. 10-Lexus Faust[19]; 10. 18K-Jayda Cushman[16]; 11. S1-AJ Gerhart[9]; 12. 2-CJ Fritz[5]; 13. 17-Ryan Raidline[3]; 14. 5TEEN-Johnny Fugelo[8]; 15. 88-Stephen Smith[12]; 16. 6-Mike Glass[2]; 17. 12-Lawson Szerencits[7]; 18. 12X-Alexis Spatz[15]; 19. 131-Paul Ennes[22]; 20. 93-Chad Riddle[20]; 21. (DNS) 30-Jamie Cassel; 22. (DQ) 5O-Mike Faust[18]; 23. (DQ) 12K-Dylan Kontra[6]; 24. (DQ) 20M-Mark Mohr[23]

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

1. 23-Bradley Brown[1]; 2. 98W-Matt Warner[5]; 3. 90-Trent Warner[6]; 4. 5B-Ryan Boyd[4]; 5. 2K-Nathan Miller[11]; 6. 42-Chase Layser[10]; 7. 65Z-Jake Fisher[3]; 8. 3D-Shjon Dove[9]; 9. 16-Marty Brian[2]; 10. 39T-Olivia Thayer[13]; 11. 16P-Patrick Kirn[7]; 12. 1F-James Fries[8]; 13. 25-Sonny Tete[12]

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

1. 17-Masen Stapleton[1]; 2. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[5]; 3. 19-Matt Fernsler[8]; 4. 76B-Justin Harrington[3]; 5. 15H-Don Hess[6]; 6. 44-Riley Simmons[12]; 7. 82-John Maurer[7]; 8. 04-Sam Borger[11]; 9. 15-Alyssa Holmes[14]; 10. 112-Dylan Yeingst[15]; 11. 81-Dylan Holmes[17]; 12. 7L-Chase Layser[13]; 13. 26C-Michael Coen[4]; 14. 14-Seth Gregory[2]; 15. 9M-Noah Martin[10]; 16. 7D-Chris Dolan[9]; 17. (DQ) 67-Cooper Schoenly[16]

270 A-Main (25 Laps):

1. 14-Jason Swavely[18]; 2. 4-Dylan Pence[1]; 3. 48-Jonah Meck[2]; 4. 21D-Dave Williams[15]; 5. 74F-Cody West[9]; 6. 34-Christi Sweigart[16]; 7. 11X-Kyle Lindsey[3]; 8. 22-Clinton Hauser[6]; 9. 47X-Ernie Newmaster III[14]; 10. 82-Bradley Brown[8]; 11. 11R-Tommy Rinck[7]; 12. 77-Michael Kreiser[12]; 13. 23K-Courtney Kupp[11]; 14. 02-Josh Patterson[4]; 15. 21-Toby Blumenshine[10]; 16. 52T-Alex Lukacs[5]; 17. 91-Jack Redcay[13]; 18. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[17]

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

1. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[5]; 2. 5-Bret Cronrath[3]; 3. 21V-David Ravel[1]; 4. 5A-Anthony Yerger[6]; 5. 16P-Patrick Kirn[13]; 6. 3S-Masen Stapleton[12]; 7. 28-Kyle Lindsey[10]; 8. 22-Clinton Hauser[8]; 9. 21D-Dave Williams[9]; 10. 14M-Chelsey Moore[14]; 11. 9W-Lisa Warren[11]; 12. 21-Toby Blumenshine[7]; 13. 31-Tyler Martin[2]; 14. 9G-Doug Pearson[15]; 15. (DQ) 23K-Courtney Kupp[4]

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

1. 117-Cody West[1]; 2. 23-Bradley Brown[6]; 3. 88-Nick Skias[2]; 4. 5A-Anthony Yerger[3]; 5. 97-Billy Logeman[5]; 6. 51-Chris Gerhart[7]; 7. 17-Brent Ely[4]; 8. 21H-Ryan Hook[8]; 9. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[9]; 10. 87C-Cecelia Perrotti[11]; 11. 3M-John Moore[10]

Point Standings (FINAL):

Stage 1 Modified ProTek Roofing/Race Chasing Award Point Fund Standings (Top 5):

1. 59-Colin Cox[339]; 2. 9-Matt Mertz[-10]; 3. 2-CJ Fritz[-27]; 4. 5K-Gavyn Krupp[-82]; 5. 57-Owen Cassel[-104]