RACE RECAP (9/3/2022): Skias, Hoffmaster, Bruno, and Heist Steal the Show on Winged Night of the Labor Day Shootout

By Kasey Kreider

The thrills, spills, excitement, and drama of the Labor Day Shootout traditionally makes it a must-see event for race fans, while it also serves as one of the most prestigious events of the racing season for teams and drivers. The 2022 edition of the Winged Night of the show, presented by Germania Band Club of Manheim, had all of those elements in place once again, which provided storylines aplenty from the long evening of racing action.

Pete Skias, a driver who had accomplished so much in his racing career, added something new to the resume in the night’s first feature, picking up the Shootout victory in the 270 class. In the 125/4 Strokes, Michael Hoffmaster made a bold last-corner pass to score not only his first Labor Day Shootout win, but his first win of any kind at Lanco. After contact with the wall led to a bent rear axle for race leader Kyle Spence, Christian Bruno capitalized to pick up his first winged victory at the Clyde in the Hyper Racing Winged 600 division. In the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman Shootout, Brandon Heist made it back-to-back victories in the event as he dominated to score the night’s final feature win.

Pete Skias and Jason Swavely made up the front row for the 30-lap Winged 270 Labor Day Shootout. Swavely had been the quick-timer in time trials and seemed to have the fastest car all night, with Skias being just a tick behind. After a few early incidents, the race got going and saw that theme play out once again, as Swavely took the lead through turns 1 and 2 on the second lap and began to drive away from the rest of the field.

Swavely, who dominated the 270 Showcase in August, seemed poised to do the same in this Labor Day Shootout event, but the entire complexion of the race changed following a restart right at the halfway mark. As Swavely was leading Skias, Mike Rutherford, and Alex Swift out of turn 4, it appeared that the chain came off of the fast No. 92, relegating him to a stop entering turn 1 and knocking the dominant car out of the race.

Now, it was anyone’s race, and Skias was the first driver to have a crack back at the front, with Rutherford and Swift leading hard chargers Lee Reinhardt and Nick Skias back for the green flag. Skias opened up a lead of roughly five car lengths after the start, but then slowly began to fall back into the clutches of Rutherford as the laps wound down. A spin by Reinhardt with five laps to go may have been Skias’ saving grace, as the caution eliminated any potential lapped traffic from the equation while also giving an opportunity for Skias’ tires to cool down and any adjustments to be made prior to final run to the checkered.

Skias was able to pull away on the restart, and held on to take the win by about four car lengths at the finish line. The win for Skias was his first in the Labor Day Shootout, but his second at the Clyde in the span of three weeks. All-time Labor Day Shootout wins leader Rutherford held on for second, while Swift completed the top three. Nick Skias and Tyler Reinhardt rounded out the top five.

Heat races were won by Swavely, Rutherford, Swift, and Tyler Reinhardt, while the B-Mains were won by Lee Reinhardt and Andrew Dietrich.

Pete Skias retook the lead after an issue for Jason Swavely on a restart and held on to grab the victory in the Winged 270 Labor Day Shootout. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Masen Stapleton started from pole position for the Winged 125/4 Stroke Labor Day Shootout, and got a good start to break away and lead the race’s opening lap. His time at the front was short-lived though, as Michael Hoffmaster charged from third starting position to grab the lead entering turn 1 on the race’s second circuit. Stapleton got shuffled off the bottom and fell back to fourth, with quick-timer Matt Fernsler and defending Wingless Labor Day Shootout winner Chase Layser moving past him into the top three.

A few restarts gave Fernsler and Layser the opportunity to make a move happen, but Hoffmaster appeared to be the class of the field in clean racetrack. With what turned out to be a 17-lap green flag run to the end the race, the great equalizer in the battle for the win would once again be lapped traffic. Hoffmaster was able to solidly negotiate his way through the cars to hold on to the top spot, but the massive lead that he had built up was all but gone.

Fernsler was within striking distance in case Hoffmaster made a mistake, and that mistake came as the leaders were coming through turns 3 and 4 to see the white flag. Hoffmaster missed the bottom of the corner while trying to set up a lapped car in front of him, and Fernsler pounced, filling the hole instantly and clearing Hoffmaster with a little bit of contact as they came out of turn 4. Hoffmaster regrouped and was still within striking distance as the leaders came to turn 3 for the final time, and as Fernsler entered the corner just a little bit high, Hoffmaster shoved his No. 32 to the bottom and bounced off of Fernsler’s machine to make the last-corner pass for the win.

It was a dramatic way for the Pottstown, PA native to score not just his first Labor Day Shootout win, but his first win at the Clyde in any event in only his second season racing micros. A post-race disqualification for Fernsler promoted Layser to second in the final finishing order, with Stapleton rounding out the podium. Mike Coen and Dan Lane, Jr. completed the top five.

The heat races were won by Stapleton and Justin Harrington.

A last-corner pass gave Michael Hoffmaster his first win at Lanco in the Winged 125/4 Stroke Labor Day Shootout. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Holden Eckman was the pole sitter for the third feature of the night, the Hyper Racing Winged 600 Labor Day Shootout. Eckman, a former Labor Day Shootout winner in 125 competition, was looking to make his first win in the 600s a big one. But in the early laps, he’d have to fend off a challenge from a hard charging Jason Swavely, who was the quick timer for the evening and drove quickly up from fourth to second. Swavely’s night would end early though, as he pulled off under the first caution with a fuel leak, moving the original outside pole sitter Christian Bruno back to the front row for the ensuing restart.

Eckman was able to retain the lead, but soon found himself fighting hard to fend off Bruno at the front. After Eckman scrubbed the wall a few times, Bruno was able to get close enough to pull a slider in turn 1 and make it stick to grab the advantage. But a new player joined the party shortly thereafter, as Kyle Spence ripped the top side to move past Eckman and then made the pass on Bruno for the lead on lap 15.

After getting to the front, Spence began to check out, as he was multiple tenths of a second quicker than the entire field for several laps while banging the boards at both ends of the speedway. There were a few occasions though where Spence had gotten a little too close to the limit and had gotten up into the guardrail. Approaching five laps to go, Spence popped it hard at the entrance to turn 3 and immediately fell off the pace, rolling to a stop with a bent rear axle.

The race that had seemed to be in the bag for the Bear, DE driver was now back in the hands of Deptford, NJ’s Bruno, but the task wasn’t done, as he had to hold off Eckman and a storming Alec Quiggle over the five-lap run to the finish. Even though Eckman had looked quicker in the early laps of the race, he wouldn’t have anything to challenge Bruno over the last laps, and Quiggle’s charge from 14th on the starting grid could go no further, allowing Bruno to cruise home to the victory.

The win was the first for Bruno in winged competition at Lanco, as he put Chris Snyder’s familiar No. 5 back in the winner’s circle once again. Eckman and Quiggle finished second and third, respectively, as Steven Snyder, Jr. and Nick Skias completed the top five.

Heat races were won by Snyder, Jr., Jesse Maurer, and Bradley Brown, and the B-Main was won by Will Urkuski.

Christian Bruno inherited the lead with five laps to go and pulled away on the final restart to win the Labor Day Shootout for the Hyper Racing Winged 600s. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

While the other three divisions all had a wingless show coming their way on Sunday, the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division had their one and only time to shine on Labor Day Weekend as the final feature of the night. The defending Labor Day Shootout winner Brandon Heist was the pole sitter for the feature, and had looked like one of the fastest cars all throughout the evening.

A few early cautions peppered the race, with Jason Swavely’s struggles continuing as he nearly spun through turns 3 and 4 on the first lap, and then did spin on the second lap, causing a four-car pileup and knocking him out of the race. Tyler Martin’s crash on the backstretch put the race under caution for the third time in the first five laps before things finally began to settle down just a bit.

At the front, it was all Heist, as he checked out to a big advantage over the 2020 Labor Day Shootout winner Bret Cronrath, who was the quick timer on the night. Although Cronrath had been faster early in the evening, Heist looked to be in his own zip code before reaching lapped traffic. The lapped cars gave Cronrath a chance to evaporate the gap almost instantly, as the defending Sportsman track champion began his chess match with the Linda’s Speedway regular working through the back of the field. But as the battle got tight, the caution flew, and gave Heist an opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief and try to pull away on another restart.

Each time the field came back to green, Heist would be unchallenged, and he would build a massive lead over the final run to the finish, leaving no opportunity for Cronrath to close back in. Cronrath instead had to worry about Corey Schmuck, Jr., who had battled from mid-pack and ultimately ended up grabbing the second spot on the final lap. But it was all well behind the Jonestown, PA driver, who had made his run to back-to-back Labor Day Shootout wins look relatively easy thanks to a fast car from Dave Walter and smart driving.

Heist took the checkers in front of Schmuck, Jr., who got second from 12th, and Cronrath, who completed the podium. Spot number four belonged to the impressive youngster Masen Stapleton, while Toby Blumenshine completed the top five.

Heat races were won by Cronrath, Shannon Slaughter, and Dustin Geib, while the B-Main victory went to Mike Kreiser.

Brandon Heist made it two-in-a-row in the Labor Day Shootout by taking the victory of the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Keegan Simmons Photos)

Sunday, September 4th will be the Wingless Night of the Labor Day Shootout at the Clyde. There will not be a wing in sight as the Hyper Racing 600s, 270s, and 125/4 Strokes will all compete in a full wingless card of racing action. Additionally, the Stage 1 Modifieds will make their Labor Day Shootout debut as this year’s invading class for the big event. Gates will open at 3:00, with warmups, time trials, and racing beginning at 5:00. As an annual jaw-dropping event on the racing calendar, you won’t want to miss your opportunity to come out for the Wingless Night of the Labor Day Shootout and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!

Results:

270 A-Main (30 Laps):

1. 3-Pete Skias[1]; 2. 27O-Mike Rutherford[4]; 3. 15-Alex Swift[7]; 4. 3S-Nick Skias[11]; 5. 14R-Tyler Reinhardt[5]; 6. 39A-Austin Mieczkowski[10]; 7. 48-Jonah Meck[6]; 8. 00-Pat Kelly[23]; 9. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[15]; 10. 74F-Cody West[26]; 11. 4R-Lee Reinhardt[17]; 12. 5W-Darren Miller[16]; 13. 4-Dylan Pence[25]; 14. 34-Christi Sweigart[8]; 15. 65H-Mackenzie Hixon[20]; 16. 92-Jason Swavely[2]; 17. 72-Jonathan John[19]; 18. 88-Pat Bealer[12]; 19. 14-Anthony Yerger[14]; 20. 8S-Mike Skias[9]; 21. 16T-Nick Walton[3]; 22. 21D-Dave Williams[13]; 23. 88D-Andrew Dietrich[18]; 24. 77-Michael Kreiser[22]; 25. 48J-Frank Jarkiewicz[24]; 26. (DQ) 28S-Brian Sholley[21]

125/4 Stroke A-Main (30 Laps):

1. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[3]; 2. 7L-Chase Layser[4]; 3. 17-Masen Stapleton[1]; 4. 26C-Michael Coen[8]; 5. 16-Dan Lane Jr[9]; 6. 76-Justin Harrington[6]; 7. 7D-Chris Dolan[11]; 8. 44-Riley Simmons[13]; 9. 82-John Maurer[7]; 10. 11H-Haelee Nardelli[10]; 11. 78C-Toby Blumenshine[17]; 12. 20J-Jarrid Hellinger[12]; 13. 7-Michael Spadafora[15]; 14. 14-Seth Gregory[5]; 15. 15-Alyssa Holmes[19]; 16. 112-Dylan Yeingst[22]; 17. 15Q-Quinn Llewellyn[16]; 18. 67-Cooper Schoenly[20]; 19. 81-Dylan Holmes[14]; 20. 04-Sam Borger[18]; 21. 11-Connor Fetrow[21]; 22. (DQ) 19-Matt Fernsler[2]

Hyper Racing Winged 600 A-Main (30 Laps):

1. 5-Christian Bruno[2]; 2. 11H-Holden Eckman[1]; 3. 23X-Alec Quiggle[14]; 4. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[8]; 5. 7-Nick Skias[10]; 6. 3-Jesse Maurer[7]; 7. 23-Bradley Brown[9]; 8. 97-Billy Logeman[11]; 9. 66-Billy Koch[13]; 10. 51-Chris Gerhart[12]; 11. 95-Pat Kelly[21]; 12. 11Z-Zachary Light[16]; 13. 15P-Christopher Panczner[15]; 14. 5B-Ryan Boyd[22]; 15. 94-Hayden Wise[18]; 16. 57C-Cooper Fritz[23]; 17. 22-Kyler Heiney[25]; 18. 23R-Rebecca LaMothe[24]; 19. R7-Kyle Spence[6]; 20. 1-Will Urkuski[19]; 21. 60O-Michael Rutherford[20]; 22. 117-Cody West[5]; 23. 96-Zach Jurcik[17]; 24. 14-Jason Swavely[4]; 25. 71-Brian Kramer[3]

Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main (30 Laps):

1. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[1]; 2. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[12]; 3. 5-Bret Cronrath[4]; 4. 3S-Masen Stapleton[5]; 5. 21-Toby Blumenshine[11]; 6. 76-Justin Harrington[3]; 7. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[10]; 8. 22-Clinton Hauser[16]; 9. 23K-Courtney Kupp[20]; 10. 30-Ryan Heckman[13]; 11. 77-Michael Kreiser[19]; 12. 8-Michael Spadafora[17]; 13. 11-Dustin Geib[9]; 14. 20-Max Fasnacht[14]; 15. 53-Jared St John[21]; 16. 28-Kyle Lindsey[25]; 17. 15-Wes Fasnacht[24]; 18. 12-Tyler Tank[22]; 19. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[7]; 20. 5A-Anthony Yerger[2]; 21. 31-Tyler Martin[6]; 22. 08-Alex Funari[15]; 23. 21D-Dave Williams[23]; 24. 16P-Jason Swavely[8]; 25. 12A-Matt Andrews[18]