By Kasey Kreider
A valiant effort from the track crew at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway allowed a solid chunk of racing to be completed on Saturday night despite a very tough battle with Mother Nature. Even though warmups started nearly three hours late due to the weather, all heat races and consolation events were eventually able to be completed, with two features finishing as well before the rain returned and ruined the party for good. In the two races that were completed, Billy Logeman picked up his first EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 win, while Brandon Heist made it back-to-back victories in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman class.
EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600
Billy Logeman came so close to victory in the most-recent EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 feature, narrowly falling to Chris Gerhart despite a last-corner attempt to take the win. With finishes of fourth, third, and second through the first three races, it was only a matter of time before Logeman would turn good speed into a race win, and the stars finally aligned on Saturday night.
For much of the race, it looked as if it was Jason Swavely’s to lose. “The Rocketman” was turning laps down in the 10.1-second bracket, and although Logeman moved up into second, it appeared that was all the higher the No. 97 would get in the running order.
But a mishap with a lapped car and a wild flip that resulted shockingly took Swavely out of the race, giving the chance for Logeman to inherit the lead with seven laps remaining.
Logeman pulled away from Bradley Brown and Christian Bruno over the final run to pick up a long-awaited Winged 600 victory at the Clyde. Finishing behind those two was Chris Gerhart in fourth, while Brian Kramer rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 97-Billy Logeman[3]; 2. 23-Bradley Brown[6]; 3. 5-Christian Bruno[5]; 4. 51-Chris Gerhart[7]; 5. 71-Brian Kramer[1]; 6. 29-Brent Shearer[8]; 7. 15P-Christopher Panczner[13]; 8. 5A-Anthony Yerger[4]; 9. 17-Brent Ely[9]; 10. 46-BJ Antonio[11]; 11. 11H-Holden Eckman[10]; 12. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[12]; 13. 51B-Amanda Onimus[18]; 14. 14-Jason Swavely[2]; 15. 66A-Marvin Albright[14]; 16. 0K-Pat Kelly[15]; 17. 2K-Nathan Miller[17]; 18. 58-Andrew Rothermel[16]
Points (Top 5) (After Race 4 of 16):
1. 97-Billy Logeman[370]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[-42]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[-56]; 4. 11H-Holden Eckman[-65]; 5. 51-Chris Gerhart[-67]
Billy Logeman led the final seven laps and grabbed his first EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 win at the Clyde. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and Brandon Heist was a little bit of both on Saturday night. The Jonestown native drove from sixth to second in his pursuit of back-to-back Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman victories, but appeared that he was going to fall just short of that goal. Taking advantage of some last-corner chaos, Heist was able to steer past the trouble and take the checkered flag.
While Heist was mounting his charge, Toby Blumenshine had the field covered and looked well on his way to his first Lanco win since August of 2022. A long green-flag run to end the race meant that the leaders would have to negotiate lapped traffic on a track that was fast and narrow as a result of the inclement weather.
Entering turn 3 for the final time, Blumenshine seemed to have survived the threat and was just trying to navigate the final set of corners. But when a lapped car clobbered the infield tires directly in front of the No. 21, that left nowhere for Blumenshine to go. As the lapped car flipped toward the top of the racetrack and made contact with Blumenshine, Heist snuck through on the bottom and took the win.
Blumenshine limped across in second, while Max Fasnacht completed the podium in third. Justin Harrington and Corey Schmuck, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[6]; 2. 21-Toby Blumenshine[1]; 3. 20-Max Fasnacht[3]; 4. 1J-Justin Harrington[5]; 5. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[11]; 6. 31-Tyler Martin[12]; 7. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[14]; 8. 16P-Patrick Kirn[9]; 9. 30-Ryan Heckman[15]; 10. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[20]; 11. 77J-Jade Smith[13]; 12. 21D-Dave Williams[7]; 13. 2T-Doug Pearson[22]; 14. 54-Lisa Warren[19]; 15. 22J-Charles Hellinger[16]; 16. 77-Michael Kreiser[4]; 17. 23K-Courtney Kupp[2]; 18. 15-Josh Stoyer[18]; 19. 8-Michael Spadafora[8]; 20. 28-Kyle Lindsey[10]; 21. 21V-David Ravel[17]; 22. 17-Masen Stapleton[21]
Points (Top 5):
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[385]; 2. 21-Toby Blumenshine[-25]; 3. 1J-Justin Harrington[-75]; 4. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-88]; 5. 15-Josh Stoyer[-96]
Toby Blumenshine (No. 21) got tangled up with the lapped car of Doug Pearson (No. 2T) on the final lap, allowing Brandon Heist (No. 99) to squeeze through and grab the win of the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Brandon Heist made it back-to-back victories in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman class Saturday night at the Clyde. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Just after the start of the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 feature, rain began to fall once again, forcing the cancellation of the remainder of the night’s events. The rest of the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main – which will pick up from lap 3 – along with the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke and Border Magic 270 A-Mains will be made up at a later date to be determined.
The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway returns to action on Saturday, May 25th with a night packed full of action and activities. In addition to the five regular divisions of racing, the Junior Sprints will compete in an exhibition event in preparation for the KKM Challenge and Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek. And on top of that, the Clyde will also host its annual quarter midget exhibition during intermission, showcasing the future drivers of the speedway. For all kids in attendance, the K.I.D. Event will be craft night, as kids will have the opportunity to make bird feeders. Gates will open at 4 p.m., with warmups and racing beginning at 5:30 p.m. See both the current and future stars of the Clyde on full display next weekend and come on out to LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!