By Kasey Kreider
A Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway that was moistened by mother nature saw fast and furious action throughout the course of Saturday night’s racing events. On a “hammer-down” type of racetrack, Alex Swift, Dan Lane, Jr., Chris Gerhart, Brandon Heist, and Steven Snyder, Jr. were the drivers who out-ran the competition in order to park their rides in Brubacher Victory Lane.
Border Magic 270
For the second time ever, the Mason Dixon 270 Racing Series joined forces with the stars of the Border Magic 270 division to create for an epic night of 2-stroke racing. In a field of 39 entrants, Bridgeport, NJ’s Alex Swift stood above the rest and took the checkered flag, defending his victory in the inaugural Mason Dixon 270 race from last July.
Swift started the A-Main in third behind a front row of Nick Skias and Jason Paisley, but was quickly promoted to second when Paisley was called for jumping the initial start. Once the green flag flew, Swift put himself hot on the heels of last weekend’s runner-up, pressuring the former champion for a few laps before swooping to the bottom and taking the top spot away on lap 4.
Swift was largely unchallenged from behind for the remainder of the race. The biggest threat for the No. 15 came in the form of lapped traffic, as a five-car pileup occurred just in front of Swift with three laps to go. Swift skirted by on the bottom, however, and then pulled away on the final restart to claim the checkers. The win for Swift was his second in as many nights, as he had also parked the Johnny Blanda-owned car in the winner’s circle Friday night at Bridgeport.
“[The car] was nice and free tonight, and everything felt great,” Swift said. “I think I prepared myself for how the track was gonna be.”
Skias came home with a runner-up finish for the second consecutive week, while Richie Hartman rounded out the podium. Jason Swavely and Brandon Heist completed the top five.
Results:
1. 15-Alex Swift[3]; 2. 3S-Nick Skias[1]; 3. 747-Richie Hartman[5]; 4. 92-Jason Swavely[12]; 5. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[9]; 6. 11R-Tommy Rinck[7]; 7. 48-Jonah Meck[11]; 8. 8S-Mike Skias[20]; 9. 2-Glenn Macomber[17]; 10. 08-Jason Paisley[2]; 11. 1A-Austin Graby[18]; 12. 54-William Mohring[4]; 13. 19-Matt Fernsler[13]; 14. 4-Dylan Pence[10]; 15. 29J-Jacob Neff[23]; 16. 34-Christi Sweigart[15]; 17. 2C-Cory Thornton[21]; 18. 27O-Billy Logeman[6]; 19. 7D-Chris Dolan[16]; 20. 3WX-Parker Lucas[19]; 21. 47-Alex Reinsmith[24]; 22. 7C-Curtis Miller[22]; 23. 76B-Brent Shearer[8]; 24. 5A-Anthony Yerger[14]
Points (Top 5) (After Race 3 of 18):
1. 3S-Nick Skias[275]; 2. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[-25]; 3. 92-Jason Swavely[-33]; 4. 8S-Mike Skias[-46]; 5. 7D-Chris Dolan[-75]
Alex Swift once again claimed victory with the Mason Dixon 270 Racing Series at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke
Entering Saturday night, it had been five years since Elverson’s Dan Lane, Jr. had made a trip to the winner’s circle at the Clyde. But piloting the Kevin St. John-owned No. 16, Lane, Jr. broke the long dry spell, keeping Chris Dolan and the rest of the field at bay to take the checkered flag.
Although Lane, Jr. ended up leading wire-to-wire in the A-Main, things were not quite as easy as they may have seemed. Lane, Jr.’s lead over second-place running Chris Dolan was never more than about three car lengths throughout the entire race.
Although Dolan’s car seemed to come to life on the longer runs, he couldn’t get close enough to make a bid for the top spot. And a five-lap run to the finish allowed Lane, Jr. to build up the cushion he needed to grab his long-awaited victory.
“The guys are really happy behind me and I couldn’t do it without them,” Lane, Jr. said. “I’ve been racing micros a long time and the 125 seems like the beginner class. It’s the opposite for me. I’m learning every night out here.”
Dolan came home in second with Mike Coen finishing third. Brandon Heist drove from 13th up to fourth, and Dave Schroeder completed the top five.
Results:
1. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[1]; 2. 75-Chris Dolan[3]; 3. 26C-Michael Coen[5]; 4. 76-Brandon Heist Sr[13]; 5. X-Dave Schroeder[2]; 6. 112-Dylan Yeingst[18]; 7. 82-John Maurer[7]; 8. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[4]; 9. 15H-Don Hess[9]; 10. 19-Matt Fernsler[8]; 11. 78C-Sara Borror[14]; 12. 81-Dylan Holmes[12]; 13. 44S-Trevor Waegel[11]; 14. 21S-Samuel Davenport[20]; 15. 4W-Brandon Worthington[16]; 16. 73-Andrew Rothermel[10]; 17. 15-Alyssa Holmes[15]; 18. 14-Seth Gregory[6]; 19. 74-Paige Rothermel[19]; 20. 96-Blayne Bainbridge[17]
Points (Top 5) (After Race 3 of 18):
1. 75-Chris Dolan[271]; 2. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[-28]; 3. 82-John Maurer[-29]; 4. 44S-Trevor Waegel[-40]; 5. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[-53]
Dan Lane, Jr. snapped a five-year Lanco winless streak with his victory in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Strokes. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Hyper Racing Winged 600
The track conditions ensured that it was going to be a fast and frenetic Hyper Racing Winged 600 A-Main on Saturday night. But a green-to-checkered feature meant that four minutes and 41 seconds was all that separated one driver from victory lane. That driver was Chris Gerhart, who held off a last-corner slide job attempt from Billy Logeman to claim his first Lanco win since June 2022.
It was a fascinating chess match between the two veterans, as Gerhart built up an early lead around the bottom of the track, while Logeman then slowly began reeling the No. 51 in on the higher groove. Just as Logeman got into striking distance, the leaders hit lapped traffic, which broke the momentum of the No. 97 and allowed Gerhart to stretch his lead back out to about four car lengths with four laps to go.
But Logeman wasn’t ready to give up yet, and flew around the top to make things interesting at the very end. On the final lap, Logeman got a monster run off of turn 2, and was close enough to take his only shot at grabbing the lead. Logeman went for the slider in turn 3, but Gerhart was able to get his car pointed and back to the throttle first, winning the drag race to the finish line by a car length.
“I kind of figured the top was coming in, and at that point, I hadn’t had any real challenge, but I knew somebody was there,” Gerhart said. “When we’re good, we’re good. And tonight we were just enough.”
Behind Gerhart and Logeman came Anthony Yerger to round out the podium. Jason Swavely finished fourth and Brent Shearer came home fifth.
Results:
1. 51-Chris Gerhart[1]; 2. 97-Billy Logeman[2]; 3. 5A-Anthony Yerger[4]; 4. 14-Jason Swavely[6]; 5. 29-Brent Shearer[8]; 6. 11H-Holden Eckman[10]; 7. 23-Bradley Brown[14]; 8. 15P-Christopher Panczner[5]; 9. 11Z-Zachary Light[7]; 10. 0K-Pat Kelly[9]; 11. 66A-Marvin Albright[11]; 12. 22-Shawn Rumbaugh[13]; 13. 5X-Chase Rodgers[3]; 14. 17-Brent Ely[12]
Points (Top 5) (After Race 3 of 18):
1. 14-Jason Swavely[280]; 2. 97-Billy Logeman[-10]; 3. 11H-Holden Eckman[-32]; 4. 5A-Anthony Yerger[-50]; 5. 29-Brent Shearer[-60]
Former track champion Chris Gerhart held off a final corner challenge from Billy Logeman to claim the Hyper Racing Winged 600 feature win. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman
After several strong runs across different divisions, Jonestown’s Brandon Heist put everything together in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main to claim his first win in a winged car at Lanco in 2024.
It was a dominant performance from the two-time Labor Day Shootout winner, as Heist quickly grabbed the lead from the outside pole and opened up sizable leads on each green flag run. With a No. 99 machine that seemed to be on rails, Heist led all 25 laps of the feature and took the checkered flag 2.360 seconds in front of his closest competitor.
“This is the motor we normally always run… the motor that we won our Labor Day shows and stuff like that,” Heist said. “I think we finally figured out what we were missing, and now the thing’s back to being just a rocket.”
Toby Blumenshine came home in second, while Richie Hartman got his second third-place finish of the night. Dylan Pennypacker finished in fourth, and Patrick Kirn completed the top five.
Results:
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[2]; 2. 21-Toby Blumenshine[3]; 3. 88M-Richie Hartman[9]; 4. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[4]; 5. 16P-Patrick Kirn[17]; 6. 15-Josh Stoyer[15]; 7. 17-Masen Stapleton[14]; 8. 31-Tyler Martin[12]; 9. 22J-Jonathan Hellinger[19]; 10. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[10]; 11. 1J-Justin Harrington[21]; 12. 21D-Dave Williams[7]; 13. 30-Ryan Heckman[13]; 14. 20-Max Fasnacht[8]; 15. 19-Wes Fasnacht[5]; 16. 77J-Jade Smith[20]; 17. 28-Kyle Lindsey[1]; 18. 21V-David Ravel[6]; 19. 77-Michael Kreiser[18]; 20. 23K-Courtney Kupp[16]; 21. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[11]
Points (Top 5) (After Race 3 of 18):
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[285]; 2. 21-Toby Blumenshine[-20]; 3. 15-Josh Stoyer[-34]; 4. 1J-Justin Harrington[-60]; 5. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-68]
Brandon Heist dominated Saturday night’s Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
Coming from 12th to the win is no ordinary feat at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. But Rising Sun, MD’s Steven Snyder, Jr. has proven that he’s not your ordinary driver. The pilot of the No. 21s carved his way through the pack and passed Bradley Brown with six laps remaining to claim his first Lanco win since last year’s Labor Day Shootout.
Brown got to the lead on the initial start and found himself leading a three-car freight train including Connor Gross and Mason Beinhower through the race’s early stages. But Snyder, Jr. quickly worked himself into the picture and picked off the competitors in front of him one at a time before reaching the No. 23 machine.
Once Snyder, Jr. got close enough to make a move, the two traded sliders for a few laps, and avoided disaster as the two cars made contact entering turn 3. Snyder, Jr.’s challenge proved too much for Brown to keep at bay, as Snyder, Jr. rocketed around the top of turns 1 and 2 and drove off into the sunset with a blinding final couple of laps.
“I’m glad that we were able to [go from 12th to first] this week,” Snyder, Jr. said. “It definitely makes me feel better going into next week.”
Brown finished second, while Connor Gross rounded out the podium in third. Gunnar Pio finished fourth, and Marty Brian completed the top five.
Results:
1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[12]; 2. 23-Bradley Brown[3]; 3. 77-Connor Gross[4]; 4. 28-Gunnar Pio[11]; 5. 16-Marty Brian[6]; 6. 21-Mason Beinhower[2]; 7. 03-Ryan Groff[7]; 8. 3B-Dallas Damask[16]; 9. 22H-Fred Heinly[10]; 10. 2SZ-Zachery Bealer[8]; 11. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[18]; 12. 18-Jared Lilly[24]; 13. 3-Jesse Maurer[1]; 14. 88-Justin Yohn[17]; 15. 5X-Chase Rodgers[13]; 16. 98-Matthew Warner[22]; 17. 7L-Chase Layser[20]; 18. 3L-Nolen Layser[23]; 19. 18M-Brayden Mickley[21]; 20. 10L-Lukas Kostic[14]; 21. 91-Nate Freed[5]; 22. 1F-James Fries[9]; 23. 2S-Garyt Smith[19]; 24. (DNS) 65Z-Jake Fisher
Points (Top 5) (After Race 3 of 18):
1. 28-Gunnar Pio[270]; 2. 16-Marty Brian[-14]; 3. 3B-Dallas Damask[-22]; 4. 21-Mason Beinhower[-32]; 5. 03-Ryan Groff[-54]
Steven Snyder, Jr. charged from 12th to first to claim the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 feature win. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway returns to action on Saturday, May 4th with another regular points show of racing. All five divisions will be back in action, with gates opening at 4 p.m. and warmups starting at 5:30 p.m. For kids in attendance, it will be Bubble Night courtesy of the K.I.D. club. As the month of May begins, don’t miss out on the chance to come LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!