By Kasey Kreider
In the final race prior to the first scheduled off week of the season, it was a busy night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. Bike giveaways were had for the kids in attendance, prior to the annual bike races at intermission. The night’s five features saw exciting racing and another new mix of winners. And all of the action took place in the midst of Memorial Day weekend, a time to reflect and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in order to uphold the freedoms that allow for all of those previously mentioned events to occur.
Hyper Racing Winged 600
The biggest stars and the fastest cars of the Hyper Racing Winged 600 class also put on the fastest A-Main of the night, as they were first to take to the speedway for their 25-lap feature event. In a race that only featured one yellow flag, veteran Brent Ely held off furious challenges from Christian Bruno to claim his first win of the young season.
Ely started from the pole and led, while Bruno started third and quickly got past Billy Logeman to move into second. The two drivers ran nose-to-tail for a few laps, before a caution on lap 9 provided the only slow down of the race.
After the restart, Ely broke away by a few car lengths, but Bruno was able to close the gap by finding speed in the middle lane through the corners. After hounding the No. 17 and giving it a few taps to the back bumper, Bruno first got alongside Ely with three laps to go, but couldn’t hold the line off the next set of corners and fell back.
On the white flag lap, Bruno had another chance, once again pulling high and alongside Ely down the backstretch. But Ely stated post-race that turn 4 was his best corner all night long, and it showed as he got back to the throttle first and beat the New Jersey native off the turn for the win.
“I had to back pedal it in because I was really free into the center,” Ely said. “So when I started slowing my entry, I got better off on the bottom.”
Ely used the catfish line to break a 364-day winless streak at the Clyde, dating back to last year’s Memorial Day weekend race. His win also made it back-to-back in the division for West Fab Chassis.
Bruno settled for second by 0.292 seconds at the line, followed by Zach Light, who scored his third podium result in as many races. Early-season points leader Jason Swavely and Logeman rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 17-Brent Ely[1]; 2. 5-Christian Bruno[3]; 3. 11Z-Zachary Light[5]; 4. 14-Jason Swavely[8]; 5. 97-Billy Logeman[2]; 6. 23-Bradley Brown[4]; 7. 88-Nick Skias[7]; 8. 11H-Holden Eckman[9]; 9. 87C-Cecelia Perrotti[13]; 10. 75-Mark Yoder[16]; 11. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[6]; 12. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[14]; 13. 0K-Pat Kelly[12]; 14. 15-Joshua Bortz[11]; 15. L13-Robert Potter[18]; 16. 19-Scott Heisey[15]; 17. 3-Ryan Groff[10]; 18. 66A-Marvin Albright[17]
Points (Top 5):
1. 14-Jason Swavely[432]; 2. 88-Nick Skias[-66]; 3. 97-Billy Logeman[-81]; 4. 23-Bradley Brown[-96]; 5. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[-97]
Brent Ely held off Christian Bruno to claim the win of the Hyper Racing Winged 600 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
125/4 Stroke
Matt Fernsler had not been to the winner’s circle at the Clyde since the final race of the 2021 season. But after so many close calls throughout last year, Fernsler finally had everything come together on this night, as he won an early battle with Don Hess and held on to grab the win.
From the outside pole, Hess took the lead away with an over-under move coupled with a missed shift from Fernsler on the initial start. The veteran driver looked poised for a breakthrough victory, but Fernsler wouldn’t let him out of his sights, and got his opportunity to retake the lead entering turn 3 after a lap 6 restart.
Back in clean racetrack, Fernsler began to set sail. A caution with nine laps to go stacked the field back up, but it would only prolong the trip to victory lane by a few minutes for the pilot of the No. 19, as he was virtually uncontested the rest of the way to the finish.
“This is awesome,” Fernsler said. “It’s kind of strange. I haven’t been here in forever it feels like. But we got it today.”
Hess finished off his stellar run with a second-place result, while Justin Harrington won the battle for the final place on the podium. John Maurer finished fourth to retain the points lead entering the off week, and Michael Hoffmaster rebounded from an early spin to finish fifth.
Results:
1. 19-Matt Fernsler[1]; 2. 15H-Don Hess[2]; 3. 75-Justin Harrington[7]; 4. 82-John Maurer[5]; 5. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[10]; 6. 16-Steve Simmons[4]; 7. 26C-Michael Coen[6]; 8. 20J-Jarrid Hellinger[19]; 9. 8-Michael Spadafora[17]; 10. 81-Dylan Holmes[18]; 11. 78C-Sara Borror[16]; 12. 15-Alyssa Holmes[14]; 13. 112-Dylan Yeingst[3]; 14. 14-Seth Gregory[12]; 15. 58-Ellan Rae Nardelli[11]; 16. 22J-Jon Hellinger[13]; 17. 7D-Chris Dolan[8]; 18. 04-Sam Borger[9]; 19. 21S-Samuel Davenport[15]
Points (Top 5):
1. 82-John Maurer[465]; 2. 75-Justin Harrington[-9]; 3. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[-62]; 4. 19-Matt Fernsler[-75]; 5. 15H-Don Hess[-96]
Matt Fernsler got his first Lanco win since September of 2021 in the 125/4 Stroke A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
After a photo finish denied him a win on opening night and mechanical issues kept him from qualifying for the previous week’s A-Main, Steven Snyder, Jr. made his third trip to the Clyde in 2023 the charm as he claimed the win in the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s.
Snyder, Jr. started outside pole with Dallas Damask leading the field to the green flag. The two drivers battled side-by-side for the first couple of laps before the caution waved on lap 3. Snyder, Jr. was in front of Damask by 0.008 seconds at the last completed lap, giving him the lead for the restart.
It was a lead that Snyder, Jr. wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way, despite the efforts of Groff Motorsports teammates Ryan Groff and Christian Bruno, who ran second and third in the closing laps. Even when a caution flew on the white flag lap, a one-lap dash would not derail the Rising Sun, MD native as he held off the thundering herd for victory.
“It was rippin’, I felt great,” Snyder, Jr. said. “I was able to tune myself in… I felt better as the run got on. So it’s a good win. It definitely builds my confidence back up.”
Groff held off Bruno on the last restart for the runner-up spot, allowing him to extend his points lead entering June. Chase Layser ran third for most of the race before ultimately coming home fourth, and Damask held on after his early battle for the final spot in the top five.
Results:
1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[2]; 2. 03-Ryan Groff[6]; 3. 5-Christian Bruno[12]; 4. 7L-Chase Layser[5]; 5. 3B-Dallas Damask[1]; 6. 23-Bradley Brown[10]; 7. 21-Mason Beinhower[11]; 8. 76X-Aidan Svanda[7]; 9. 16-Marty Brian[8]; 10. 99-Cliff Brian Jr[3]; 11. 76-Jacob Bierman[15]; 12. 10L-Lukas Kostic[16]; 13. 17-Cole Perez[17]; 14. 1S-sal tossona[18]; 15. 1F-James Fries[13]; 16. 44-Alex Heckendorn[4]; 17. 08-Dominic Schmidt[14]; 18. 25X-Dan Lane Jr[19]; 19. 53T-Michael Tansey Jr[9]; 20. 4Z-Zachary Huff[20]; 21. (DNS) 22-Kyler Heiney
Points (Top 5):
1. 03-Ryan Groff[447]; 2. 16-Marty Brian[-50]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[-83]; 4. 3B-Dallas Damask[-109]; 5. 08-Dominic Schmidt[-134]
Steven Snyder, Jr. avenged some earlier losses with a dominant performance in the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman
After Richie Hartman took the Megan and Nick Skias-owned No. 88 to victory lane one week prior, the pressure was on for Ava Bellinger to do the same, particularly when starting from the pole position. But the reigning Sportsman champion at Airport Speedway was up to the task, as she collected a dominant win for her first Lanco triumph and the first victory by a female competitor at the speedway since Kassidy Michael in 4 Stroke competition in 2018.
Perhaps it was only fitting that the two-time Airport champion shared the front row with the two-time Lanco champion Bret Cronrath for the start, as the starting order also marked a continuation of the battle from the previous week, when Hartman beat Cronrath across the finish line after a close fight.
But Cronrath first had to fight with third-place starter Dave Ravel, as the two drivers ran side-by-side for the first two and a half laps. Their battle allowed Bellinger to open up a big lead, before Ravel and Cronrath both closed in lapped traffic.
But a caution on lap 14 allowed Bellinger to get back into clean air, and that yellow flag ended up being the only one of the race. Bellinger had the fastest car on the racetrack out in front, and by the time she caught lapped traffic again, Cronrath and Ravel were too far back to mount a challenge, ensuring that Bellinger would hang on for a hard-fought Lanco victory.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Bellinger said. “My best finish here has been third. And honestly I won nine [races] last year at Airport, and I thought I couldn’t win anywhere else. So this feels absolutely amazing.”
Cronrath brought home a second-place finish to record an astounding 10th-straight podium finish in Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman competition dating back to last season. Ravel finished third, while Corey Schmuck, Jr. and Josh Stoyer completed the top five.
Results:
1. 88-Ava Bellinger[1]; 2. 5-Bret Cronrath[2]; 3. 21V-David Ravel[3]; 4. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[7]; 5. 15-Josh Stoyer[9]; 6. 16P-Patrick Kirn[5]; 7. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[4]; 8. 22-Clinton Hauser[6]; 9. 25X-Dan Lane Jr[10]; 10. 21-Alex Lukacs[11]; 11. 1J-Justin Harrington[16]; 12. 77-Michael Kreiser[13]; 13. 30-Ryan Heckman[20]; 14. 53-Chris Dolan[8]; 15. 23-Billy Gray[14]; 16. 28-Kyle Lindsey[21]; 17. 21D-Dave Williams[18]; 18. 22X-Blake Eshlam[17]; 19. 2T-Doug Pearson[22]; 20. 94-Dallas Sanders[15]; 21. 23K-Courtney Kupp[12]; 22. 31-Tyler Martin[19]; 23. 77J-Jade Smith[23]; 24. 8-Michael Spadafora[24]
Points (Top 5):
1. 5-Bret Cronrath[480]; 2. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-60]; 3. 25X-Daan Lane Jr[-83]; 4. 15-Josh Stoyer[-91]; 5. 21-Alex Lukacs[-176]
Ava Bellinger put the No. 88 Viper Chassis in victory lane for the second week in a row, claiming her first Lanco win in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
270
Anytime that Bill Schenck and Jason Swavely unload the No. 92 RTS Chassis at the Clyde, it seems almost like a foregone conclusion that they’ll be ending their nights in victory lane. Swavely dominated a caution-filled 270 A-Main to keep the car undefeated with his third win of the 2023 season.
The race featured chaos and carnage at every corner as drivers fought for position in the ultra-competitive class. Thankfully for Swavely, that was all behind him, as he took the lead from polesitter Tommy Rinck on several starts before the first lap finally got put on the board and the pass stuck for good. From there, Swavely was untouched, as he has been for most of the season, en route to another win.
“This thing is absolutely a rocket,” Swavely said. “I don’t think we can get it any better, but we’re gonna keep digging to see if we can get any faster, and we’re gonna keep going.”
Rinck held on for second, besting his third-place finish from two weeks before, and Alex Swift made his 2023 Lanco debut with a third-place result. Kyle Lindsey finished fourth and Corey Schmuck, Jr. collected his second top-five of the night with the same race car in back-to-back A-Mains.
Results:
1. 92-Jason Swavely[2]; 2. 11R-Tommy Rinck[1]; 3. 15-Alex Swift[5]; 4. 17-Kyle Lindsey[8]; 5. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[15]; 6. 19-Matt Fernsler[18]; 7. 34-Christi Sweigart[7]; 8. 3S-Nick Skias[3]; 9. 16T-Nick Walton[13]; 10. 1L-Dave Labe[20]; 11. 02-Josh Patterson[12]; 12. 9M-Chris Dolan[21]; 13. 67-Cooper Schoenly[17]; 14. 48-Jonah Meck[19]; 15. 54-William Mohring[11]; 16. 91-Jack Redcay[22]; 17. 45O-Billy Logeman[6]; 18. 3-Josh Stoyer[9]; 19. 8S-Mike Skias[4]; 20. 28S-Brian Sholley[14]; 21. 21D-Dave Williams[16]; 22. 4-Dylan Pence[24]; 23. 96W-Chase Walker[23]; 24. 21J-Darren Schott[10]
Points (Top 5):
1. 92-Jason Swavely[433]; 2. 17-Kyle Lindsey[-45]; 3. 11R-Tommy Rinck[-63]; 4. 48-Jonah Meck[-66]; 5. 3S-Nick Skias[-89]
Jason Swavely made it three wins in three races in the No. 92 as he scored the victory in the 270 feature. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)
For one of the few times in 2023, there will be no racing at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday, June 3rd, as the track takes one of two scheduled weekends off. However, racing returns on Saturday, June 10th with Flag Day/Veterans and Armed Services Night. All veterans and active members of any branch of the armed forces will receive free general admission with proper identification. There will also be red, white, and blue glow stick giveaways for the kids. It will be another regular points show for all five classes, with gates opening at 4:30 and warmups and racing beginning at 6:00. With the first portion of the season in the books, you won’t want to miss out on the fast and furious summer months and the opportunity to LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!