By Kasey Kreider
After a battle for victory fit for a $10,000 payday, only one driver could stand alone as winner of the inaugural KKM Challenge event at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. When the dust settled and the roar of 24 Non-Wing Outlaw Micro Sprints quieted, Rising Sun, MD’s Steven Snyder, Jr. rose above the rest and put another prestigious feather in his cap, with this one coming on his home turf.
Non-Wing Outlaw 600
The evening for Steven Snyder, Jr. started out on the right track, as the Thursday night prelim winner prevailed in the “King of the Clyde” event, locking him into the pole position for the 35-lap finale.
Snyder, Jr. had looked untouchable during Thursday’s events, as he had even driven from the back to the front in the 25-lap A-Main to score an unlikely victory. The $10,000 question was, did Friday night competitors Alex Bright, Christian Bruno, or somebody else have any response to the massive statement that Snyder, Jr. had made?
Saturday night’s A-Main would provide an answer, and it didn’t take long for the response to become apparent as a resounding “yes.”
Snyder, Jr. led the opening few circuits around the bottom groove of the track. But unlike Friday night’s event, the top line quickly came to life, and Bright was the first person to rip the lead away from the pilot of the No. 21s Hyper Chassis, doing so on the second lap of competition.
Snyder, Jr. quickly joined Bright and the rest of the front runners ripping the lip at the top of the speedway, and what followed was a thrilling battle that took place throughout the entire first half of the feature event. Bright, Snyder, Jr., and Bruno all took turns throwing sliders at each other, and all three drivers spent at least a moment out in front of the field. The hard racing also brought Tommy Kunsman and Jake Andreotti to the party, making it a five-car fight at the front of the pack.
Snyder, Jr. was relentless in his slider attempts as he tried to find a way to snare the advantage from the No. 20 Rodota Trucking and Excavating machine once and for all. But “The Phenom” had an answer for all of them, and held the advantage before the race’s first caution finally flew on lap 19.
A series of yellow flags and ensuing restarts broke up the middle stages of the race. During each little spurt of green flag racing, Bright and Snyder, Jr. would resume their epic battle at the front of the field. But the native of Collegeville, PA still had the edge until a decisive restart came with 13 laps to go.
The two drivers renewed pleasantries in their all-out brawl at the head of the pack, and a few laps after the restart, Snyder, Jr. got a run that he needed off of turn 4 to beat Bright to the inside of turn 1, while the No. 20 tried to pinch him down in defense but couldn’t do so. That move allowed Snyder, Jr. to keep the edge entering the next set of corners, and after taking away the slider line from Bright, Snyder, Jr. began to finally put a little daylight between himself and the rest of the pack.
But things weren’t over just yet, as the yellow flag waved with three laps remaining, giving Bright one final shot to deny Snyder, Jr.’s bid to go back-to-back in KKM Challenge finales. Bright drove hard into turn 1 on the restart, but perhaps too hard, as he popped the wall and created a stack up that took his next closest challengers in Bruno and Kunsman out the race. Despite the contact, the Hummer Motorsports entry soldiered on in second. But even with one final restart to try and make something happen, Snyder, Jr. simply proved too quick to challenge in the chase to the checkered flag.
“Big money” races at the Clyde had proven to be Steven Snyder, Jr.’s kryptonite in recent seasons. But on this occasion, he left no doubt. A relentless effort and a thrilling drive allowed Snyder, Jr. to sweep both KKM Challenge events so far in 2024, as he had also picked up the win at Plaza Park in California back in March. Two months later and some 3,000 miles away, Snyder, Jr. responded to that triumph by defending one of his home tracks.
“Whew… that was something, that was tough,” Snyder, Jr. said to Scotty Cook in victory lane. “Alex was bad fast. I mean, I didn’t think I was gonna be able to get him there in the beginning. And then I started adjusting my knobs a little bit… I just kept trying to think of what I could’ve done different, and then I finally got a rhythm.”
“And then once I got my chance with him I was like, ‘I can’t let him get by me.’ I was driving as hard as I can… I’m just grateful.”
The combination of car owner Mike Dicely, crew chief Jim Radney, and the driver in Steven Snyder, Jr. proved to be potent for the competition once again.
It was still a valiant effort for Bright, as a driver who hadn’t been in a micro much over the past few years came one spot short of the big pay day. An impressive 22nd to third run put Kyle Spence on the podium as well in a backup car with a backup motor. Briggs Danner came home fourth, and Kole Kirkman completed the top five.
Results:
1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[1]; 2. 20-Alex Bright[2]; 3. 25K-Kyle Spence[22]; 4. 99-Briggs Danner[16]; 5. 22K-Kole Kirkman[10]; 6. 95-Brian Carber[20]; 7. 29-Brent Shearer[8]; 8. 3B-Dallas Damask[24]; 9. 15N-Neal Allison[18]; 10. 21-Mason Beinhower[14]; 11. 95H-Chelby Hinton[13]; 12. 95B-James Roselli[6]; 13. 2B-Bubba Hughes[23]; 14. 5-Christian Bruno[3]; 15. 21K-Thomas Kunsman Jr[4]; 16. 7L-Chase Layser[17]; 17. 99B-Robbie Smith[15]; 18. 78-Zak Gorski[19]; 19. 29A-Jake Andreotti[5]; 20. 50-Jacob Severn[12]; 21. 28P-Gunnar Pio[11]; 22. 5J-Braden Jones[7]; 23. 23-Bradley Brown[9]; 24. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[21]
Steven Snyder, Jr. made the race-winning pass in the late stages of Saturday night’s A-Main to win the $10,000 KKM Challenge in the Non-Wing Outlaw division. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
U6SA Winged 600
In the $1,500-to-win U6SA Winged 600 finale, it was Deptford, NJ’s Christian Bruno who took advantage of some mechanical misfortune for prelim night winners Bradley Brown and Brian Carber in order to prevail at the end of Saturday night’s 25-lapper.
Carber started on pole for the A-Main, but was passed in the early laps by Brown, as the Ephrata, PA native looked to score his second win in as many nights, and appeared to be the class of the field through the first half of the race.
But Brown’s engine let go just past the halfway mark, bringing an end to his bid for the win. Carber would inherit the race lead, but only briefly before he too ran into issues. The No. 23B lost power while pacing under the yellow flag, handing the lead over to Bruno.
From that point forward, the driver of the No. 5 Hyper Chassis never looked back en route to picking up the big winged win as part of the KKM Challenge weekend.
“I got lucky there,” Bruno said in victory lane. “The car was great all weekend. It sucks we weren’t really able to touch this car much because of the non-wing car. But it’s good to get a win.”
Jesse Maurer finished in the runner-up spot, while Brent Shearer charged from 15th to third. Anthony Yerger and Brian Kramer rounded out an all-Lanco regular top five.
Results:
1. 5-Christian Bruno[4]; 2. 3-Jesse Maurer[3]; 3. 44-Brent Shearer[15]; 4. 5A-Anthony Yerger[9]; 5. 71B-Brian Kramer[6]; 6. 1-Trevor Gach[7]; 7. 16X-Marty Brian[20]; 8. 46-Blayne Mabry[13]; 9. 27-Jace Smith[12]; 10. 14H-Haelee Nardelli[11]; 11. 32H-Trenton Rivera[14]; 12. R7-Kyle Spence[16]; 13. 5J-Braden Jones[19]; 14. 3B-Dallas Damask[8]; 15. 23-Bradley Brown[2]; 16. 23B-Brian Carber[1]; 17. 10-Mason Peters[5]; 18. 99-Briggs Danner[17]; 19. 29S-Sophya Papp[10]; 20. 51-Amanda Onimus[18]
Christian Bruno was in position to capitalize on some misfortune for the race leaders and claimed the win in the U6SA Winged 600s. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Junior Sprints
A perfect weekend for Mooresville, NC’s Brexton Busch concluded in the winner’s circle for Saturday night’s Junior Sprint finale. Bringing back shades of his dad at Bristol, Brexton broke out the broom and was able to pick up three wins in just as many days during the KKM Challenge.
Gage Pio brought home his second runner-up finish of the week, while Ashen Glazier was the only other driver aside from Busch to finish on the podium all three nights. Braylon Morris finished fourth, and Jase Smith completed the top five.
Results:
1. 18B-Brexton Busch[1]; 2. 5G-Gage Pio[3]; 3. 15G-Ashen Glazier[2]; 4. 15-Braylon Morris[4]; 5. 52-Jase Smith[6]; 6. 36-Brantley Floczak[5]; 7. 65J-Landon Snyder[7]
Brexton Busch was a perfect three-for-three in the Junior Sprints during the KKM Challenge. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The Clyde returns to action next Saturday, June 8, with a jam-packed night of racing action. All five weekly classes will be back competing in a regular points show, while the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s and Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Strokes will also compete in their makeup features from May 18. All told, there will be seven features on the docket for Saturday’s event, making it one that fans surely won’t want to miss. Gates will open at 4 p.m., and warmups will begin at 5:30 p.m. With the entertainment of the KKM Challenge in the rearview mirror, be sure to catch all the thrills of the Clyde in person next Saturday night and come out to LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!