By Kasey Kreider
For the first time in 203 days, the thunderous noise of race cars brought life to the eighth-mile Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, as the 67th season of Lanco Micro Midget Club racing kicked off with the seventh edition of the No Wing Spring Fling for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s, Border Magic Wingless 270s, and Offroad Motorsports Wingless 125/4 Strokes.
Wingless racing never fails to provide its share of thrills and spills, and there were certainly plenty in each category on Saturday night. But Christian Bruno, Chris Dolan, and Brandon Heist were the ones who survived the chaos and rose to the challenge to make the first trips of the year into Brubacher Victory Lane.
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
The first feature of the 2024 season at Lanco was contested amongst 27 Hyper Racing Wingless 600s as they fought for $1,000 and the bragging rights that go along with being the first winner of the season.
Third-place starter and defending Speedweek champion Zack Bealer jumped into the early lead aboard Gary and Donna Spotts’ No. 2s. The Lehighton native held the pack at bay until disaster struck on lap 7, when Bealer cut down a tire and spun in front of Bradley Brown, Nate Freed, and Connor Gross. All four drivers were collected in the pileup, while the incident brought Bealer’s race to a premature end.
Florida’s Easton Lebo inherited the lead through the chaos, but was bypassed on the outside by Christian Bruno on lap 9 as the No. 5 Groff Motorsports/Snyder Racing Enterprises entry powered to the point.
There were several movers and shakers throughout the field, as defending track champion Marty Brian quickly moved up from his 16th starting position into the runner-up spot. Gunnar Pio followed him through the field and quickly cracked the top three after starting 23rd. And Gross wouldn’t say die either, as his No. 77 tactfully moved through the pack to get back into the mix with the leaders in the late laps.
A couple late restarts provided a threat to Bruno as Pio positioned his car into second, but a few killer fire-offs erased any opportunity for the No. 28 to make a move, as the Deptford, NJ native held on to grab the first win of the year.
“I avoided that wreck over there in turn 2… and sometimes that’s what it takes,” Bruno said in victory lane. “We decided to keep the same car as last year and just put a new body on it, so I think that helps us get to a little better start than we usually do. We know this car really well and have won a lot of races, so hopefully we can keep it going.”
Pio came home in second, while Gross rallied back to finish in third. Matt Warner brought the No. 98 home in fourth after starting 20th, and Brian completed the top five.
Results:
1. 5-Christian Bruno[9]; 2. 28-Gunnar Pio[23]; 3. 77-Connor Gross[8]; 4. 98-Matthew Warner[20]; 5. 16-Marty Brian[16]; 6. 7L-Chase Layser[6]; 7. 11H-Holden Eckman[13]; 8. 17J-Josh Conover[24]; 9. 88-Justin Yohn[17]; 10. 2S-Garyt Smith[27]; 11. 22H-Fred Heinly[18]; 12. 3-Jesse Maurer[25]; 13. 91-Nate Freed[5]; 14. 11Z-Kyle Lick[1]; 15. 54-Dakota Bartlet[14]; 16. 101E-Easton Lebo[7]; 17. 17-Cole Perez[26]; 18. 9X-Connor Mirabelli[10]; 19. 03-Ryan Groff[21]; 20. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[11]; 21. 76-Jacob Bierman[22]; 22. 23-Bradley Brown[2]; 23. 08-Dominic Schmidt[15]; 24. 3B-Dallas Damask[19]; 25. 99-Cliff Brian Jr[12]; 26. 19-Jasper Zeigafuse[4]; 27. 2SZ-Zachery Bealer[3]
Christian Bruno quickly came from ninth on the grid to claim the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 victory at the No WIng Spring Fling. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Offroad Motorsports Wingless 125/4 Stroke
With new entitlement sponsor Offroad Motorsports & Cycle Sales coming aboard, the 125/4 Stroke season began with one of its two wingless races in 2024.
An all-Harrington Motorsports front row saw Brandon Heist and Chris Dolan lead the field to green. Despite a slow start, Dolan quickly asserted his presence with a bold outside move on Heist to grab the lead as the field came to complete the first lap.
But Dolan quickly had company in the form of John Maurer, who spent the first several laps rolling around the bottom before making the move to the top groove.
There were times when the No. 82 looked to be quicker, and Maurer made several bids for the lead over the course of the race. But each time, Dolan had a response to a slide job attempt, and was able to keep the No. 75 out in clean air and up against the guardrail.
Blaire Schoenly and Darren Schott each put themselves into the battle for the lead as well, but Dolan gradually pulled away from the pack in the closing laps and picked up his fourth consecutive Wingless 125/4 Stroke win at the Clyde.
“That was a hell of a race. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun at Lanco before,” Dolan said. “We needed everything we could to beat Johnny tonight. Just slider after slider, that was some awesome stuff.”
Maurer’s hard-fought run ended in second, while Schott finished third after starting 15th. Schoenly came home in the fourth spot, and Dan Lane, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 75-Chris Dolan[2]; 2. 82-John Maurer[7]; 3. 21W-Darren Schott[15]; 4. 13S-Blaire Schoenly[11]; 5. 16-Dan Lane Jr[18]; 6. 4-Mike Miller[8]; 7. 44-AJ Gerhart[3]; 8. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[4]; 9. 15H-Don Hess[6]; 10. 04-Sam Borger[13]; 11. 3-Kiptyn Stratton[5]; 12. 112-Dylan Yeingst[10]; 13. 5-Keegan Stratton[9]; 14. 78C-Sara Borror[16]; 15. 21S-Samuel Davenport[14]; 16. 17-Tyler Armstrong[12]; 17. 76-Brandon Heist Sr[1]; 18. 73-Andrew Rothermel[17]; 19. (DNS) 3H-Corey Harting
Chris Dolan fended off John Maurer and a host of Offroad Motorsports Wingless 125/4 Stroke competitors to win the No Wing Spring Fling. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Border Magic Wingless 270
New title sponsor Border Magic was christened with an exciting Wingless 270 affair to cap off the night of racing at the No Wing Spring Fling.
The early leader was Brandon Heist, as he worked the bottom line from his fifth starting spot to quickly claim the advantage. Jason Swavely followed him through the pack and blazed a trail on the high side, taking the lead away on lap 4.
Once Swavely got past, Heist tucked in line right behind him, and the No. 99 came to life. Heist patiently waited to make his move, and his opportunity came on a lap 13 restart. Swavely caught just a bit of the infield tire coming through turns 3 and 4, which allowed Heist to stay alongside down the frontstretch and into turn 1, where the Jonestown native then blasted into the lead.
That proved to be the race-deciding move, as Heist was never challenged after getting out into the clean air. After coming close in several wingless races over the past few years at Lanco, Heist finally sealed the deal on this one and made the trip to Brubacher Victory Lane.
“When I seen [Swavely] catch a tire, I was like ‘this is the moment I have’ and I just sent it in there,” Heist said. “It was tight, but it was a blast. I had fun.”
Swavely finished second while Brent Shearer avoided some mid-pack chaos to round out the podium. Dylan Pence finished fourth, and Matt McAnally completed the top five.
Results:
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[5]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[6]; 3. 76B-Brent Shearer[4]; 4. 4-Dylan Pence[16]; 5. 45-Matt McAnally[12]; 6. 82-John Maurer[10]; 7. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[2]; 8. 27O-Billy Logeman[19]; 9. 94-Dallas Sanders[26]; 10. 21H-Matt Hoffman[7]; 11. 29J-Jacob Neff[13]; 12. 11-Brian Heist[20]; 13. 14D-Daniel Wright Jr[22]; 14. 47X-Ernie Newmaster III[24]; 15. 16W-Abby Witter[23]; 16. 3S-Nick Skias[11]; 17. 47-Alex Reinsmith[8]; 18. 22-Jesse Leiby[9]; 19. 2-Mike Miller[1]; 20. 53-Dylan Kuronya[14]; 21. 30-Ryan Heckman[15]; 22. 5A-Anthony Yerger[3]; 23. 1L-Dave Labe[18]; 24. 67-Cooper Schoenly[17]; 25. 5L-Landon Smith[21]; 26. (DNS) 26-Corey Schmuck Jr
Brandon Heist got past Jason Swavely on a lap 13 restart and never looked back en route to winning the No Wing Spring Fling in the Border Magic WIngless 270 division. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway opens its 2024 points racing season next Saturday, April 13th, with the Jeff Widders Memorial. Some special cash prizes given throughout the field and throughout all five divisions in remembrance of Jeff. Action will include the Hyper Racing Winged and Wingless 600s, the Border Magic 270s, the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans, and the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Strokes. Gates will open at 4 p.m., with warmups and racing set to kick off at 5:30 p.m. Come out on Saturday to honor the memory of Jeff Widders and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!