By Kasey Kreider
The memory of former driver, official, and lifetime Lanco Micro Midget Club member Jeff Widders was honored and remembered on Saturday night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. With several cash prizes being given out courtesy of Jeff’s family and close friends, there was an extra special meaning and incentive to the opening points night of the 2024 season.
Perhaps the best way to honor Jeff’s memory was with a night of racing that lived up to the billing and then some in the entertainment department. Known for being a fierce on-track competitor, the drivers that went to Brubacher Victory Lane on Saturday all exemplified some of the qualities that helped make Jeff the person that he was. Chris Dolan picked up not one, but two victories, as he drove to the winner’s circle in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke class as well as the Border Magic 270 division. Holden Eckman finally broke through for his first Hyper Racing Winged 600 win, while defending champion Marty Brian picked up the Wingless 600 win. And Justin Harrington found victory lane as an owner and a driver, as he piloted Jake Dupler’s No. 1J to the checkered flag first in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman class.
Hyper Racing Winged 600
Holden Eckman was the outside polesitter for the 25-lap Hyper Racing Winged 600 A-Main event. But the native of Landisville didn’t stay in second for long, as he used a monster run off of turn 2 to swoop to the bottom entering the next corner and grab the top spot on the race’s opening lap.
Eckman quickly scampered away to an early advantage while Chris Gerhart, Jason Swavely, and Bradley Brown all sliced and diced fighting for position from second on back. After a battle for third which lasted multiple laps, Swavely got clear of Brown and set his sights on Gerhart as the leaders approached lapped traffic.
The two former track champions each closed in on Eckman after the No. 11H rode up onto the wall with five laps remaining. Swavely made a swoop to the bottom line trying to get past Gerhart for second. The two cars collided coming off the corner, leaving Gerhart with a broken front end and eventually bringing out the only caution of the race.
The race-deciding restart with three laps to go was a single-file one, and Eckman broke away to a sizable advantage on the fire-off, giving him the cushion he needed to finally exorcise the demons and grab his first win in a 600 micro sprint.
“After coming so close so many times, it feels so good to get the monkey off my back,” Eckman said. “To do it in the first race of the year just gives me so much more confidence through the rest of the season.”
Swavely settled for second, while Brown rounded out the podium. Billy Logeman came home fourth, with Brent Shearer completing the top five.
Results:
1. 11H-Holden Eckman[2]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[4]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[3]; 4. 97-Billy Logeman[5]; 5. 29-Brent Shearer[6]; 6. 117X-Randy West[10]; 7. 3-Jesse Maurer[9]; 8. 117-Cody West[13]; 9. 17-Brent Ely[11]; 10. 5A-Anthony Yerger[7]; 11. 71-Brian Kramer[15]; 12. 15P-Christopher Panczner[14]; 13. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[16]; 14. 11Z-Zachary Light[12]; 15. 66A-Marvin Albright[17]; 16. 51-Chris Gerhart[1]; 17. 16-Marty Brian[8]
Points (Top 5):
1. 11H-Holden Eckman[100]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[-5]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[-10]; 4. 97-Billy Logeman[-15]; 5. 29-Brent Shearer[-20]
Holden Eckman broke through for his first career Hyper Racing Winged 600 win on Saturday night. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke
It was a story of different week, same result in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke division, as Chris Dolan backed up his No Wing Spring Fling win with a victory in the opening points night of the season behind the wheel of the Harrington Motorsports No. 75.
Dolan had to come from fifth in the starting lineup at the drop of the green flag, but made quick work through the pack to get to second. Then, as leader Dan Lane, Jr. caught lapped traffic, Dolan clipped an infield tire and took advantage of a hole that opened up to rocket through to the race lead.
In a race that only saw two cautions, Dolan was never challenged the rest of the way, and came across the finish line with a margin of victory of nearly 4.5 seconds.
“Powerhouse duo right here,” Dolan said in victory lane. “This gives us some confidence to go win that championship, which is the ultimate goal when Justin [Harrington] texted me to run his car.”
Dylan Yeingst brought home his No. 112 with a career-best second-place finish, while Lanco newcomer Trevor Waegel also turned in an outstanding drive to finish third. John Maurer came from 11th to finish fourth, and Michael Hoffmaster completed the top five.
Results:
1. 75-Chris Dolan[6]; 2. 112-Dylan Yeingst[4]; 3. 44S-trevor Waegel[3]; 4. 82-John Maurer[11]; 5. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[8]; 6. 3-Kiptyn Stratton[12]; 7. 15H-Don Hess[10]; 8. 26C-Michael Coen[15]; 9. 5-Keegan Stratton[21]; 10. 14-Seth Gregory[7]; 11. 15-Alyssa Holmes[14]; 12. 04-Sam Borger[19]; 13. 19-Matt Fernsler[22]; 14. 21S-Samuel Davenport[13]; 15. 74-Paige Rothermel[20]; 16. 81-Dylan Holmes[24]; 17. 78C-Sara Borror[18]; 18. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[1]; 19. 8-Michael Spadafora[5]; 20. 27E-Ellyana Snyder[16]; 21. 4-Mike Miller[9]; 22. 73-Andrew Rothermel[17]; 23. X-Dave Schroeder[2]; 24. (DNS) 76-Brandon Heist Sr
Points (Top 5):
1. 75-Chris Dolan[100]; 2. 112-Dylan Yeingst[-5]; 3. 44S-trevor Waegel[-10]; 4. 82-John Maurer[-15]; 5. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[-20]
Chris Dolan claimed his second win in as many weeks in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke division. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
After winning the opening points night en route to a track championship last season, Ephrata’s Marty Brian picked up right where he left off with a commanding victory on Saturday night.
The No. 16 Hammer Down Engines machine started in the fourth spot, as it was defending Clyde Martin Memorial winner Mason Beinhower out in the wind through the early laps of the race.
But Brian quickly established himself as the strongest car on the race track, and after a couple laps of a slider battle with Beinhower, got clear and drove away from the pack.
A caution with 10 laps to go gave the field a chance to regroup and reset, but it proved to be no challenge for “The Gunslinger,” as he rushed away from a wild battle for second and sprinted to the checkered flag.
“If you get to battling too much, you both kind of go backwards and I didn’t really wanna do that,” Brian said of his fight for the lead. “I just had to commit and do what I do best.”
Dallas Damask won the fight for second that was waged throughout most of the race, while Beinhower completed the podium. Gunnar Pio came home fourth and Zack Bealer wound up fifth.
Results:
1. 16-Marty Brian[4]; 2. 3B-Dallas Damask[2]; 3. 21-Mason Beinhower[1]; 4. 28-Gunnar Pio[9]; 5. 2SZ-Zachery Bealer[7]; 6. 23-Bradley Brown[14]; 7. 11H-Holden Eckman[6]; 8. 88-Justin Yohn[3]; 9. 03-Ryan Groff[5]; 10. 98-Matthew Warner[15]; 11. 22H-Fred Heinly[8]; 12. 1F-James Fries[18]; 13. 7L-Chase Layser[10]; 14. 17-Cole Perez[11]; 15. 2S-Garyt Smith[13]; 16. 23T-Shane Trout[17]; 17. 18M-Brayden Mickley[16]; 18. 90-PJ Reid[19]; 19. 5-Christian Bruno[12]; 20. 3L-Nolen Layser[20]
Points (Top 5):
1. 16-Marty Brian[100]; 2. 3B-Dallas Damask[-5]; 3. 21-Mason Beinhower[-10]; 4. 28-Gunnar Pio[-15]; 5. 2SZ-Zachery Bealer[-20]
Marty Brian picked up the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 win for the second year in a row on the opening points night. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman
After trailing Wes Fasnacht for the early laps of the season-opening Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature of the year, Justin Harrington powered to the inside on lap 7 to put the Jake Dupler-owned No. 1J out in the wind.
Harrington had a close call when a lapped car spun out in front of him on lap 10. Harrington averted disaster and then proceeded to survive a plethora of cautions and ensuing restarts throughout the middle stages of the race.
The closest challenge to the Manheim native came in the form of Brandon Heist, who closely stalked the back of Harrington’s machine during the closing laps. A caution with two laps to go set up a shootout to the finish, but Heist was unable to mount a challenge. Harrington flashed across the checkered flag first with a two-car length advantage over second place.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Harrington said. “Ever since we put this deal together I’ve wanted to get [Dupler] a win so freakin’ bad and I couldn’t. My confidence level was down, and this is just awesome.”
Heist came home as the runner-up, while Toby Blumenshine made his return to the driver’s seat and completed the podium. Corey Schmuck, Jr. and Josh Stoyer rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 1J-Justin Harrington[3]; 2. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[6]; 3. 21-Toby Blumenshine[5]; 4. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[7]; 5. 15-Josh Stoyer[4]; 6. 20-Max Fasnacht[12]; 7. 77-Michael Kreiser[16]; 8. 21D-Dave Williams[17]; 9. 54-Lisa Warren[13]; 10. 77J-Jade Smith[20]; 11. 23K-Courtney Kupp[14]; 12. 19-Wes Fasnacht[1]; 13. 21V-David Ravel[9]; 14. 17-Masen Stapleton[8]; 15. 30-Ryan Heckman[11]; 16. 22J-Jonathan Hellinger[18]; 17. 28-Kyle Lindsey[2]; 18. 2T-Doug Pearson[19]; 19. 31-Tyler Martin[10]; 20. 8-Michael Spadafora[15]
Points (Top 5):
1. 1J-Justin Harrington[100]; 2. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[-5]; 3. 21-Toby Blumenshine[-10]; 4. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-15]; 5. 15-Josh Stoyer[-20]
Justin Harrington prevailed in Saturday night’s Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Border Magic 270
Coming off a win in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke feature, Chris Dolan was looking to notch his first Lanco win in the Border Magic 270 division from third in the starting lineup of the night’s final feature.
It took Dolan all of one lap to take the lead, as a bold three-wide pass propelled him past Dave Labe and Dan Boyer. Dolan’s No. 7D led the way through a non-stop first 15 laps, but the York pilot quickly began feeling pressure from Billy Logeman, who stalked Dolan’s machine before a caution waved for Tommy Rinck’s flip in turn 4.
A series of restarts came over the next few laps. On each one, Dolan’s car seemed to fire-off nicely and gap Logeman by a few car lengths, giving him the advantage he needed to keep the lead. Despite a last-corner scare where the No. 7D snapped out of shape, Dolan was able to barely hang on and keep the No. 27o at bay and grab his second checkered flag of the night.
“I was dead tired, I was trying to hang on,” Dolan said. “I was damn near crying inside the car at lap 16, and I had to tell myself that it’s not over, big dog. You gotta get back on the horse and keep driving into the corner.”
Logeman and Alex Swift – who came from 12th – completed the podium, while Nick Skias and Brandon Heist brought home the remainder of the top five.
Results:
1. 7D-Chris Dolan[3]; 2. 27O-Billy Logeman[7]; 3. 15-Alex Swift[12]; 4. 3S-Nick Skias[18]; 5. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[15]; 6. 8S-Mike Skias[10]; 7. 76B-Brent Shearer[4]; 8. 82-John Maurer[23]; 9. 1A-Austin Graby[22]; 10. 19-Matt Fernsler[9]; 11. 14-Jason Swavely[20]; 12. 41-Mike Boyer[6]; 13. 34-Christi Sweigart[16]; 14. 94-Dallas Sanders[11]; 15. 29J-Jacob Neff[17]; 16. 54-William Mohring[19]; 17. 91-Jack Redcay[21]; 18. 47X-Ernest Newmaster III[24]; 19. 1L-Dave Labe[1]; 20. 96W-Chase Walker[5]; 21. 6-Danial Boyer[2]; 22. 2-Mike Miller[8]; 23. 11R-Tommy Rinck[14]; 24. 21D-Dave Williams[13]
Points (Top 5):
1. 7D-Chris Dolan[100]; 2. 27O-Billy Logeman[-5]; 3. 15-Alex Swift[-10]; 4. 3S-Nick Skias[-15]; 5. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[-20]
Chris Dolan’s second win of the night was first win at Lanco in the Border Magic 270 division. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Racing will return to the Clyde next Saturday, April 20th with the second points show of the season. All five weekly divisions will be back in action, while it will be “Banner Night” for the K.I.D. Club and the young race fans in attendance. Gates open at 4 p.m., with warmups and racing beginning at 5:30 p.m. With the season fully underway, don’t miss your chance to come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!