By Kasey Kreider
It was a fast and furious night of racing at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on the eve of Mother’s Day, as all moms in attendance got into the speedway for just $5 of general grandstand admission. Impressive performances were the theme as the cream rose to the top in the five 25-lap A-Mains.
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
The wingless warriors were the first class to tackle a fast and tacky Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway for their 25-lap A-Main. While the early laps were led by former 125/4 Stroke standout Cliff Brian, Jr., Reese Nowotarski snagged the lead right around halfway and held on through a one-lap dash to grab his first Lanco win.
A jumped start by outside polesitter Zach Jurcik moved Nowotarski to the front row for the second attempt at the start, and he fell in line behind Brian, Jr. off the start, not allowing the No. 99 to get more than about two car lengths in front of him for most of the green flag run. Behind them, a fierce battle for third ensued between Jurcik, Marty Brian, and Dominic Schmidt.
After a caution bunched the field back up for a restart, Nowotarski seemed to find some speed running in the middle groove of the racetrack, and he used that momentum from the higher line to shoot to the bottom of Brian, Jr. for the lead entering turn 3.
“I saw the middle was getting a little bit better,” Nowotarski said. “I saw Cliff was getting tight off of [turn] 2 especially… so I figured I might as well just build some momentum and I got a good run on him, and that was that.”
Once Brian, Jr. fell back to second, he’d have to fend off Schmidt and the rest of the hungry pack behind him as well. Despite briefly losing second, Brian, Jr. eventually got the spot back before an Andrew Rothermel spin brought out the final caution with half a lap to go.
But even that caution wouldn’t derail Nowotarski’s bid to win, as he pulled away on the restart and flashed to the checkered flag.
Nowotarski led Brian, Jr. and Schmidt across the line, as all three drivers picked up their first podium results in 600 action at the Clyde. Gunnar Pio finished in fourth and Marty Brian completed the top five.
Results:
1. 10X-Reese Nowotarski[3]; 2. 99-Cliff Brian Jr[1]; 3. 08-Dominic Schmidt[4]; 4. 64-Gunnar Pio[7]; 5. 16-Marty Brian[5]; 6. 3B-Dallas Damask[9]; 7. 03-Ryan Groff[8]; 8. 44-Alex Heckendorn[10]; 9. 10L-Lukas Kostic[14]; 10. 73-Andrew Rothermel[15]; 11. 3Y-Zachary Young[16]; 12. 96-Zach Jurcik[2]; 13. 15-Alex Ruppert[6]; 14. 23-Bradley Brown[11]; 15. 24-Logan Rhoad[13]; 16. 2K-Nathan Miller[12]
Points (Top 5):
1. 16-Marty Brian[265]; 2. 03-Ryan Groff[-13]; 3. 96-Zach Jurcik[-51]; 4. 3B-Dallas Damask[-61]; 5. 23-Bradley Brown[-72]
Reese Nowotarski made the pass on Cliff Brian, Jr. and drove away to grab the win of the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 feature. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
125/4 Stroke
After second and third-place finishes to open up the season, it seemed apparent that it was only a matter of time before John Maurer got back to victory lane in the 125/4 Stroke class. Maurer picked the day after his 18th birthday to park the No. 82 Mongoose Chassis in victory lane following a dominant performance.
Maurer was aided by drawing the pole position for the feature, but quickly checked out after a restart on the opening lap. It was only a few laps before Maurer found himself in a heap of lapped traffic, but the Fleetwood, PA driver showed wisdom beyond his years by carefully working through the lappers and keeping his lead intact.
That opening lap caution ended up being the only one of the race, and Maurer’s failure to make any missteps within the traffic ensured that he would be able to comfortably cruise to a win, three seconds in front of runner-up Mike Coen at the checkered flag.
“The whole night the car was amazing,” Maurer said. “We barely changed anything from the way we left home from… it’s a rocket ship.”
The battle for third was where most of the action was found, and Steve Simmons got to the checkered flag first to grab the bottom step of the podium, finishing in front of Sara Borror and Michael Hoffmaster. Justin Harrington, who had won the first two races of the season, faded from running as high as third and had to settle for sixth.
Results:
1. 82-John Maurer[1]; 2. 26C-Michael Coen[2]; 3. 16-Steve Simmons[9]; 4. 78C-Sara Borror[4]; 5. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[10]; 6. 75-Justin Harrington[6]; 7. 19-Matt Fernsler[14]; 8. 14-Seth Gregory[3]; 9. 20J-Jarrid Hellinger[5]; 10. 04-Sam Borger[13]; 11. 15-Alyssa Holmes[15]; 12. 15H-Don Hess[12]; 13. 8-Michael Spadafora[16]; 14. 112-Dylan Yeingst[11]; 15. 81-Dylan Holmes[7]; 16. 74X-Noah Rothermel[17]; 17. 3H-Corey Harting[8]; 18. (DNS) 73-Andrew Rothermel
Points (Top 5):
1. 82-John Maurer[285]; 2. 75-Justin Harrington[-9]; 3. 16-Steve Simmons[-33]; 4. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[-42]; 5. 26C-Michael Coen[-72]
John Maurer picked up his third podium in as many races, this time parking it in the winner’s circle in the 125/4 Stroke class. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
270
After making his 2023 debut behind the wheel of Bill Schenck’s No. 92 last weekend and putting it in victory lane, Jason Swavely decided that the only thing better than doing it once was doing it twice, as Swavely got past Mike Rutherford at the halfway mark and dominated the rest of the race en route to victory.
Tommy Rinck and Mike Skias shared the front row for the start, but also shared a pucker moment in turn 1 on the opening lap. The two drivers banged wheels and shoved up the racetrack, but were able to continue without any further harm. But they did lose the lead to Mike Rutherford, who flew past on the bottom and was looking to turn back-to-back runner-up finishes into a win.
But Swavely, who started seventh, quickly found his way into the runner-up spot. He began reeling in Rutherford in lapped traffic, and a caution that flew on lap 13 gave him a chance to pounce. After trading the lead for a few sets of corners, Swavely finally completed the pass and began to drive away.
Swavely’s main challenge from there was lapped traffic, but a caution with four laps to go ensured that would no longer be an issue. Swavely was able to check out over the final few restarts and grab the win.
“It gets a little hectic back there [in lapped traffic], especially when you’ve got four or five cars racing for position yet and you’re trying to get through them,” Swavely said. “So I was happy for the caution, I knew we were good enough on the bottom.”
For the third straight race, Rutherford wound up with a second-place finish, and he led Rinck across the line as the New Jersey native made his first trip to the frontstretch as a top-three finisher. Skias and opening night winner Kyle Lindsey rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 92-Jason Swavely[7]; 2. 27O-Mike Rutherford[3]; 3. 11R-Tommy Rinck[1]; 4. 8S-Mike Skias[2]; 5. 17-Kyle Lindsey[9]; 6. 3S-Nick Skias[12]; 7. 96W-Chase Walker[6]; 8. 1L-Dave Labe[5]; 9. 48-Jonah Meck[11]; 10. 34-Christi Sweigart[4]; 11. 21D-Dave Williams[8]; 12. 91-Jack Redcay[14]; 13. 52K-Alex Lukacs[17]; 14. 28S-Brian Sholley[19]; 15. 21J-Josh Weiant[16]; 16. 93-Brayden Mickley[13]; 17. 11M-Jessica Moore[18]; 18. 47X-Ernie Newmaster III[21]; 19. 48B-Brandon Bomberger[10]; 20. 9M-Noah Martin[20]; 21. 4-Dylan Pence[22]; 22. 14C-Carter Weiant[15]; 23. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[24]; 24. (DNS) 74F-Cody West
Points (Top 5):
1. 27O-Mike Rutherford[285]; 2. 48-Jonah Meck[-46]; 3. 92-Jason Swavely[-47]; 4. 17-Kyle Lindsey[-54]; 5. 34-Christi Sweigart[-77]
Jason Swavely passed Mike Rutherford to score back-to-back wins in the 270 division. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman
After being caught up in a second-lap incident, it seemed like all hope was lost for Bret Cronrath to claim another Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman victory. But the two-time defending champion kept his composure and climbed back through the running order to take the lead with eight laps to go and score an improbable second win of the season.
Cronrath started ninth and struggled to make progress through the field on the opening lap. Contact with Michael Spadafora entering turn 1 tipped the No. 5 car sideways, and his spin collected last week’s winner Josh Stoyer, who ended up tipping onto his side. The incident relegated Cronrath all the way to the back of the field for the restart.
Meanwhile, polesitter Tyler Martin led the way over a closely following Dan Lane, Jr. throughout the first half of the race. Several early cautions kept the race from getting into a rhythm, but they benefited Cronrath in his efforts to drive back through the field. By a restart on lap 6, Cronrath had already jumped back into the seventh position.
The race finally began to run green afterwards, and Cronrath began picking cars off one at a time. He was third by a lap 14 caution, and then passed Lane, Jr. for second on the restart. Martin was looking for his first career win in the Sportsman class, but a Cronrath pass for the lead seemed inevitable, and with eight laps to go, the Blandon, PA driver pulled off the move and set sail toward victory.
“The car was just super hooked up,” Cronrath said. “And I was just over-anxious. I drove it in a little too deep and had the ‘oh snap’ moment, and luckily it didn’t hurt anything and I just made it a little harder on myself.”
Martin was able to hang on to second to grab his best-career Sportsman finish, with Lane, Jr. completing the podium. Dave Ravel and Corey Schmuck, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 5-Bret Cronrath[9]; 2. 31-Tyler Martin[1]; 3. 25X-Dan Lane Jr[3]; 4. 21V-David Ravel[5]; 5. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[7]; 6. 20-Max Fasnacht[4]; 7. 1J-Justin Harrington[10]; 8. 22-Clinton Hauser[13]; 9. 23K-Courtney Kupp[2]; 10. 54-Lisa Warren[16]; 11. 4W-Brandon Worthington[19]; 12. 28-Kyle Lindsey[24]; 13. 5A-Anthony Yerger[6]; 14. 8-Michael Spadafora[8]; 15. 30-Ryan Heckman[17]; 16. 17-Masen Stapleton[20]; 17. 21-Alex Lukacs[12]; 18. 21D-Dave Williams[18]; 19. 19-Wes Fasnacht[14]; 20. 15-Josh Stoyer[11]; 21. 77-Michael Kreiser[21]; 22. 53-Jared St John[23]; 23. 2T-Doug Pearson[15]; 24. (DNS) 77J-Jade Smith
Points (Top 5):
1. 5-Bret Cronrath[290]; 2. 25X-Dan Lane Jr[-33]; 3. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-35]; 4. 15-Josh Stoyer[-66]; 5. 21V-David Ravel[-82]
After a spin on lap 2, Bret Cronrath drove all the way back through the field to win his second Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature of the year. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
Hyper Racing Winged 600
Third and fourth-place finishes marked a solid beginning to Jason Swavely’s title defense in the Hyper Racing Winged 600s. But in race number three of the season, “The Rocketman” left no doubt, as he chased down Nick Skias and took the lead on the race’s only restart to become the first driver this season to win two features in one night.
Swavely started in fifth as Skias led in the early laps from the pole. The pilot of the No. 88 was able to break away to a solid advantage as an epic, five-car battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Swavely, Anthony Yerger, Cody West, Jarid Kunkle, and Holden Eckman.
Swavely got to second and quickly began chasing down Skias for the lead before a spin by Chris Panczner brought out the only caution of the race on lap 11. The restart gave Swavely all the opportunity he needed, as he pulled a power move in turn 3 to take the lead and put a stranglehold on the race.
“Me and Nick go way back… it’s always good racing when it’s me and him,” Swavely said. “We put the package together and here we are, hopefully we can go for another championship.”
West was able to pass Skias, but was nearly two seconds behind Swavely at the checkered flag. Skias held on to claim the last spot on the podium, with Yerger and Eckman completing the top five.
Results:
1. 14-Jason Swavely[5]; 2. 117-Cody West[7]; 3. 88-Nick Skias[1]; 4. 5A-Anthony Yerger[2]; 5. 11H-Holden Eckman[3]; 6. 3-Jesse Maurer[8]; 7. 97-Billy Logeman[10]; 8. 17-Brent Ely[6]; 9. 23-Bradley Brown[16]; 10. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[4]; 11. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[9]; 12. 75-Mark Yoder[12]; 13. 2K-Nathan Miller[17]; 14. 66A-Marvin Albright[15]; 15. L13-Robert Potter[13]; 16. 15P-Christopher Panczner[11]; 17. 15-Joshua Bortz[14]
Points (Top 5):
1. 14-Jason Swavely[275]; 2. 88-Nick Skias[-29]; 3. 97-Billy Logeman[-41]; 4. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[-48]; 5. 3-Jesse Maurer[-51]
Jason Swavely rocketed to the front on a lap 11 restart and claimed his second win of the night in the Hyper Racing Winged 600 feature. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
Next Saturday, May 20th will be another regular points show at the Clyde. The K.I.D. Night theme will be tye dye, and all kids in attendance will have an opportunity to create a tye dye t-shirt, which they can wear for the bike races in two weeks and receive prizes for. All five divisions will be back in action, with gates opening at 4:30 and warmups and racing starting at 6:00. As the month of May continues, don’t miss another great night to come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!