By Kasey Kreider

It’s one thing for a driver to attempt to repeat in one of the biggest and most prestigious races of the season at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. Against a loaded field of competitors, it’s a completely different thing to actually do it. But all three previous winners of the Wingless Labor Day Shootout who showed up for competition on Sunday successfully defended their crowns, as Steven Snyder, Jr. made it a three-peat in the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s, while Chris Dolan and Jason Swavely went back-to-back in their respective divisions as well.

Hyper Racing Wingless 600

Steven Snyder, Jr. made his statement early on in the evening, as the Rising Sun, MD driver was fastest of the 60 entries in hot laps and scored the Mike Trout Memorial Quick Time Award in time trials to pair with his Hard Charger Award from the previous night. Snyder, Jr. then won his heat race in fine fashion and picked pill number two in the redraw, putting him alongside Chase Layser for the start of the 30-lap A-Main.

Through a flurry of early cautions, Layser, Snyder, Jr., and Kyle Lick all turned in a great battle for the lead, dueling for the top spot across all different grooves on the speedway. Snyder, Jr. was in front when the race’s second and third cautions flew on lap 2.

Off the ensuing restart, Snyder, Jr. began to pull away as most everybody migrated to the bottom of the speedway. Lick ran in second, with Richie Hartman holding down the third position. Perhaps using some of his Shellhammer’s experience, Hartman seemed to have a better grip than anybody else on the bottom, and got a run off of turn 4 to get inside of Lick and take the second spot away.

But Snyder, Jr. seemed to be gone, and with no caution imminent, it was his race to lose. However, once Snyder, Jr. caught lapped traffic, he moved the No. 21s to the upper groove of the speedway. It was the only place he could go and not be in traffic, but it wasn’t quicker than the bottom, and Hartman began to reel him in.

A gap that once was nearly two seconds closed in a hurry, and with a few laps to go, Hartman got close enough to the point where Snyder, Jr. could see his nose. But with nowhere to go behind the traffic, Hartman was never able to get closer in the run to the checkers.

The vintage Lanco performance from Snyder, Jr. gave him his third-straight victory in the Wingless 600 Labor Day Shootout. Hartman and Lick came home on the podium, while Marty Brian finished fourth and Christian Bruno drove to fifth – from 18th – despite the final 29 laps of the race running green.

Results:

1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[2]; 2. 39-Richie Hartman[7]; 3. 11Z-Kyle Lick[3]; 4. 16-Marty Brian[6]; 5. 5-Christian Bruno[18]; 6. 23-Dan Lane Jr[12]; 7. 03-Ryan Groff[9]; 8. 2S-Zachery Bealer[14]; 9. 14-Jason Swavely[16]; 10. 50-Jacob Severn[25]; 11. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[13]; 12. 7L-Chase Layser[1]; 13. 44-Pat Bealer[15]; 14. 98-James Roselli[19]; 15. 647-Brent Shearer[24]; 16. 71-Brian Kramer[10]; 17. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[28]; 18. 99-Cliff Brian Jr[21]; 19. 11H-Holden Eckman[26]; 20. 00-Justin Yohn[17]; 21. 66-Billy Koch[27]; 22. 20S-Nick Skias[8]; 23. 7B-Mitchell Bard[4]; 24. 28-Gunnar Pio[5]; 25. 21-Mason Beinhower[11]; 26. 9A-Nate Freed[20]; 27. 76-Aidan Svanda[23]; 28. (DNS) 54-Dakota Bartlet

Steven Snyder, Jr. (middle) dominated to win the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 Labor Day Shootout for the third consecutive year. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)

Wingless 125/4 Stroke

The pressure was on for Chris Dolan to turn in a three-peat of his own, as the York native was looking for back-to-back Labor Day Shootout wins and his third consecutive wingless win dating back to last season’s companion race with the 270 Showcase. Dolan also was looking to atone for the close runner-up result in the Winged Shootout on Saturday night.

But Dolan’s fiercest challenge of the evening came from a somewhat surprising source. Dave Schroeder – making his first Lanco appearance in several years behind the wheel of the No. X Mongoose Chassis – earned the Mike Trout Memorial Quick Time Award in time trials. Dolan then just barely held off Schroeder to score the win of the heat race. And as fate would have it, they shared the front row for the big dance.

And for nearly the entire A-Main, Schroeder was laser-focused on the tail tank of the No. 7D, as he followed Dolan around the bottom of the speedway waiting for any mistake. Schroeder made one bid for the lead as the race wound toward its conclusion, but Dolan crossed the pass back over and held onto the advantage. Dolan built up just enough of a gap over the final couple of circuits to keep the No. X from making a final-corner challenge, and Dolan held on for the victory.

Behind those two drivers came Brent Shearer in third for the second-straight night. The Winged Shootout winner Michael Hoffmaster charged from 15th to finish fourth, while Darren Schott rounded out the top five.

Results:

1. 7D-Chris Dolan[1]; 2. X-Dave Schroeder[2]; 3. 75-Brent Shearer[5]; 4. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[15]; 5. 20J-Darren Schott[7]; 6. 04-Sam Borger[8]; 7. 76-Justin Harrington[4]; 8. 17E-Easton Miller[3]; 9. 16-Dan Lane Jr[12]; 10. 15H-Don Hess[10]; 11. 73-Andrew Rothermel[14]; 12. 14J-Charles Chance[24]; 13. 112-Dylan Yeingst[13]; 14. 44-trevor Waegel[16]; 15. 13-Shane Davis[9]; 16. 15Q-Quinn Llewellyn[11]; 17. 58-Ella Rae Nardelli[22]; 18. 22J-Jon Hellinger[23]; 19. 21S-Samuel Davenport[18]; 20. 3H-Corey Harting[20]; 21. 23B-chase bouchelle[19]; 22. 74-Paige Rothermel[21]; 23. 78C-Sara Borror[6]; 24. 14-Seth Gregory[17]

Chris Dolan kept Dave Schroeder at bay for all 30 laps to claim his second-straight Wingless 125/4 Stroke Labor Day Shootout triumph. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)

Wingless 270

When the Wingless 270 Labor Day Shootout A-Main rolled around, Jason Swavely was in pursuit of both his third win in the event and his third win of the weekend. To earn it, though, he would have to battle with Brandon Heist, who was looking to finally turn several podium finishes into a victory.

The two drivers ran nose-to-tail for most of the race in an event that had no shortage of yellow flags. On each short run, Swavely bobbed and weaved, looking for any opening or opportunity he could to try and grab the lead away.

The fateful moment of the race happened with seven laps to go, when Swavely got a run to the inside of Heist and the two drivers raced side-by-side into turn 1. As the drivers angled for the corner, the two machines made side-to-side contact, which sent Heist’s car spinning and backing into the turn 1 guardrail.

Swavely had the lead in hand from that point forward and did not relinquish it the rest of the way as he continued his remarkable season by sweeping the 270 Labor Day Shootout events. “The Rocketman” led Richie Hartman across the line, as Hartman claimed his second runner-up finish of the night. Nick Skias finished in third, while Toby Blumenshine came from 23rd to fourth and Dylan Pence finished off the top five.

Results:

1. 14-Jason Swavely[2]; 2. 88-Richie Hartman[9]; 3. 3S-Nick Skias[10]; 4. 21B-Toby Blumenshine[23]; 5. 4-Dylan Pence[11]; 6. 30-Ryan Heckman[6]; 7. 17J-Jarrett Imler[12]; 8. 21-Chris Locuson[21]; 9. 08-Lavar Scott[14]; 10. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[1]; 11. 54-William Mohring[15]; 12. 31-Tyler Martin[18]; 13. 21J-Shjon Dove[24]; 14. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[22]; 15. 21C-Cameron Bellinger[13]; 16. 00-Pat Kelly[5]; 17. 39A-Austin Mieczkowski[17]; 18. 9M-Chris Dolan[3]; 19. 1L-Dave Labe[16]; 20. 14D-Daniel Wright Jr[25]; 21. 5A-Anthony Yerger[7]; 22. 27O-Billy Logeman[4]; 23. 15-Josh Stoyer[8]; 24. 42-Bob Sawdey[20]; 25. 82-John Maurer[19]

Jason Swavely picked up his third Labor Day Shootout win of the weekend in the Wingless 270s. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)

Stage 1 Modified

The Stage 1 Modifieds returned for their second race of the season and their second Labor Day Shootout. With last year’s winner Matt Mertz not in the field, it was ensured that someone new would add their name to the list of Labor Day Shootout winners.

Third-place starter Gavyn Krupp jumped to the early lead, as the native of Barto, PA was in pursuit of three-straight Stage 1 Modified wins at the Clyde. But Krupp’s main challenger and last year’s three-race mini-series champion Colin Cox settled into the second position and was on the hunt for a way around the No. 5K.

Cox successfully made the pass for the top spot on lap 4 and held onto the advantage through a string of caution flags. Krupp never let the No. 59 out of striking distance, even giving the Perkasie, PA driver a couple taps to the back bumper. But despite Krupp’s best efforts, Cox held on all the way to the checkered flag for his long-awaited first Stage 1 Modified win at the Clyde.

Cox led Krupp and Logan Bauman across the finish line as those drivers made up the podium places. Stephen Smith finished fourth, with Brett Smith rounding out the top five.

Results:

1. 59-Colin Cox[2]; 2. 5K-Gavyn Krupp[3]; 3. 50-Logan Bauman[9]; 4. 88-Stephen Smith[6]; 5. 03-Brett Smith[10]; 6. 93-Chad Riddle[11]; 7. 99-Fabian Cushman[16]; 8. 7-Lexus Faust[5]; 9. 9X-Mike Faust[14]; 10. 28-Samantha Maguire[13]; 11. 18K-Jayda Cushman[20]; 12. 1-Jake Moyer[1]; 13. 13-Michael Faust Jr[15]; 14. 12-Lawson Szerencits[7]; 15. 57-Owen Cassel[12]; 16. 12C-payton cassle[17]; 17. 5TEEN-Johnny Fugelo[8]; 18. 12X-Alexis Spatz[19]; 19. S1-AJ Gerhart[18]; 20. (DQ) 00-Peyton Knecht[4]

Colin Cox got past and then held off Gavyn Krupp to claim his first win at Lanco in the Stage 1 Modified Labor Day Shootout. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Williams/Amy’s Photos)

Saturday, September 9th will be First Responders Night at the Clyde. As a small way of saying thank you, all first responders with proper identification will receive free general admission into the evening’s races. All five weekly divisions will return for their second-to-last points show of the 2023 season. Additionally, the All Star Slingshots will make their return to the Clyde for their one and only appearance of the year. Gates will open at 4:30, with warmups and racing beginning at 6:00. With only three races left in 2023, don’t miss one of your final opportunities to come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!