By Kasey Kreider
After dealing with frustrating weather all throughout the month of May, Mother Nature couldn’t have given a more picturesque day for racing Saturday at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The blue skies provided the backdrop to an exciting duo of makeup features, and the on-track action only continued to increase as the sun went down and the regular card of racing commenced.
Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke
The Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Strokes were one of two divisions “playing two” on Saturday evening. The makeup feature from May 18 was the first A-Main on the docket, and featured an exciting battle for the win between Mike Coen and Seth Gregory.
Gregory was looking to become the first driver to win two points races in the division’s still young season, and led the way from pole position with Coen hot on his heels. With the bottom being the predominant groove, Coen was forced to wait for any little slip up in order to make the pass. Coen’s first bid for the lead came on lap 11, as he got inside of the No. 14 through turns 3 and 4 and nearly completed the move. But the caution waved as that was happening, reverting Gregory back to the top spot.
The two leaders continued to pace the way after the restart, and Coen tried to get close enough to make another move. After about a dozen laps stalking the tire tracks of Gregory’s car, Coen was finally able to take advantage of a brief slip up to take the lead. Gregory didn’t let him have it easily, as he fought back and threw a couple of sliders on Coen in an attempt to gain back the advantage. But the former track champion had a response each time, and wouldn’t be denied in his bid for the win.
“I decided I was just gonna sit there and ride for a little while,” Coen said. “I saw Neil give us the five to go [signal] and I’m like, ‘okay, well it’s go time now…’ I figured we were gonna be doing some crossovers there, which was a lot of fun. But I wanted my crossover to be coming off of [turn] 4.”
Behind Coen and Gregory came Dylan Yeingst with another strong run to complete the podium. Keegan Stratton and Chris Dolan rounded out the top five.
Mike Coen won the makeup feature in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke class. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Race number two of the night looked as if it would see a first-time Lanco winner, as Sara Borror started from the pole and jumped out to an early lead. Although Dolan was breathing down her neck in the early laps, the No. 75 caught an infield set of tires through the middle of turns 1 and 2. Dolan just managed to avoid stalling the car, but rejoined in third position behind Yeingst and multiple seconds behind Borror.
Dolan eventually made it back to second in a race through lapped traffic, but it looked like he might run out of time to catch the No. 78c without a caution. Ultimately, the caution came with five laps to go when Yeingst caught a tire and went for a spin, setting up a sprint to the finish.
Dolan was able to get past Borror quickly on the restart, and the excellent run for the Myerstown native unfortunately unraveled as she broke on the frontstretch a couple of laps later. Through a few late cautions, Dolan held on for his second win of the weekend, after also triumphing at Linda’s Speedway on Friday night.
“Single-file restarts here are my specialty for some reason,” Dolan said. “I knew all I had to do was just arc it out and then cut it low, grab the moisture on exit and I’d have a good shot at her going into [turn] 1.”
Dan Lane, Jr. came home in the runner-up spot, while Gregory and Coen backed up their performances from the first feature with runs of third and fourth, respectively. Don Hess completed the top five.
Makeup Results:
1. 26C-Michael Coen[3]; 2. 14-Seth Gregory[1]; 3. 112-Dylan Yeingst[5]; 4. 5-Keegan Stratton[2]; 5. 75-Chris Dolan[7]; 6. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[6]; 7. 44S-Trevor Waegel[12]; 8. X-Dave Schroeder[9]; 9. 81-Dylan Holmes[11]; 10. 19-Matt Fernsler[13]; 11. 73-Andrew Rothermel[17]; 12. 15H-Don Hess[19]; 13. 3-Kiptyn Stratton[22]; 14. 58N-Ella Rae Nardelli[23]; 15. 78C-Sara Borror[18]; 16. 04-Sam Borger[20]; 17. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[16]; 18. 15-Alyssa Holmes[4]; 19. 4W-Brandon Worthington[15]; 20. 74-Paige Rothermel[21]; 21. 8-Michael Spadafora[8]; 22. 82-John Maurer[10]; 23. (DNS) 76-Brandon Heist Sr
Results:
1. 75-Chris Dolan[4]; 2. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[7]; 3. 14-Seth Gregory[5]; 4. 26C-Michael Coen[9]; 5. 15H-Don Hess[12]; 6. 81-Dylan Holmes[2]; 7. 3H-Corey Harting[11]; 8. 58N-Ella Rae Nardelli[16]; 9. X-Dave Schroeder[10]; 10. 04-Sam Borger[21]; 11. 3-Kiptyn Stratton[6]; 12. 19-Matt Fernsler[18]; 13. 5-Keegan Stratton[14]; 14. 4W-Brandon Worthington[15]; 15. 15-Alyssa Holmes[13]; 16. 44S-Trevor Waegel[20]; 17. 112-Dylan Yeingst[3]; 18. 78C-Sara Borror[1]; 19. 73-Andrew Rothermel[17]; 20. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[8]; 21. 27E-Ellyana Snyder[19]; 22. 8-Michael Spadafora[22]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 15 Races):
1. 75-Chris Dolan[451]; 2. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[-62]; 3. 14-Seth Gregory[-68]; 4. 26C-Michael Coen[-78]; 5. 44S-Trevor Waegel[-106]
Chris Dolan used a late restart to snag his second points-paying win of the season in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke division. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
Saturday night’s makeup feature for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s resumed where the race had left off back on May 18, which was on lap 3. As things turned out, the race saw a finish that was worth waiting three weeks for, as Connor Gross finally broke through for his first win at the Clyde, edging out Christian Bruno in a photo finish.
Gross quickly took the advantage away from Jesse Maurer off the race’s resumption, but it was only a few laps before Bruno planted himself into the fight for the lead. Those two drivers traded sliders for a couple of laps before Bruno established himself at the head of the pack.
But that battle was just the first that Gross and Bruno would wage in the feature. Gross got an excellent restart with eight laps to go, and the fight at the front resumed as the Middleton, MA native answered each slide job from Bruno to retake the top spot.
Despite pulling away with just a few laps to go, Bruno put the bit between his teeth and began to reel in the No. 14c for one last charge. Bruno got within striking distance coming to the white flag, and the two drivers executed another slide job and crossover in the run to the final corner. Gross crowded Bruno down low while the No. 5 stuck a nose inside at turn 3. The two drivers made minimal contact coming through the turn, and then drag raced each other to the finish, with Gross getting to the stripe first by just 0.017 seconds.
“With two to go going into [turns] 1 and 2, I lost some momentum there and I could sense something was coming,” Gross said. “He slid me there and then we kinda banged each other down into [turns] 3 and 4, and it was a race to the line.”
Behind the front two came Marty Brian in third, while Alex Ruppert and Dallas Damask finished off the top five.
Connor Gross edged out Christian Bruno for his first Lanco win in the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 makeup feature. (Photo Courtesy of Dawson Hess Photography)
With the fire burning from the end of the first feature, Bruno then made sure that he wouldn’t be denied a second time, as he took home the checkered flag and got a little revenge in the regularly scheduled Wingless 600 A-Main.
Damask led the opening seven laps of the race from pole position, but all heck broke loose on the restart that came on the eighth circuit. Bruno fired off well from the inside of row two and pulled a slider on Damask into the first turn while Ruppert – who had restarted fifth – wrapped the bottom past both drivers. Ruppert’s time out in front only lasted mere seconds, however, as Bruno used a big run off of turn 4 to carve back to the inside and take the lead away. After one more crossover on Damask, Bruno claimed the top spot for good while the hornet’s nest of cars tried to sort things out behind him.
As Bruno made it to the front, a familiar foe in Gross climbed himself back into the runner-up spot. But unlike the first feature, Gross wouldn’t be able to mount much of a challenge for the win. His race would come undone with just a few laps left after the No. 14c whacked the wall in turn 4 and broke the W-link, bringing a premature end to his race. With Gross’ late misfortune, Bruno cruised to the checkers more than two seconds in front of runner-up Bradley Brown.
“These restarts can make or break your race,” Bruno said. “There’s so much grip down here on the bottom of the straightaway that I really got a good run into turn 1 there.”
Brown turned in an outstanding drive to come from 19th to second, while Damask finished third and took away the points lead as well. Ryan Groff and Dominic Schmidt were the rest of the top five.
Makeup Results:
1. 14C-Connor Gross[10]; 2. 5-Christian Bruno[6]; 3. 16-Marty Brian[14]; 4. 5A-Alex Ruppert[11]; 5. 3B-Dallas Damask[9]; 6. 3-Jesse Maurer[2]; 7. 98-Matthew Warner[12]; 8. 08-Dominic Schmidt[7]; 9. Z17-Michael Nolf[3]; 10. 90-Trent Warner[4]; 11. 03-Ryan Groff[15]; 12. 23-Bradley Brown[1]; 13. 15D-Matthew Donley[17]; 14. 88-Justin Yohn[18]; 15. 17-Cole Perez[20]; 16. 1F-James Fries[23]; 17. 22H-Fred Heinly[13]; 18. 11H-Holden Eckman[22]; 19. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[24]; 20. 18-Jared Lilly[5]; 21. 2SZ-Zachery Bealer[16]; 22. 28-Gunnar Pio[8]; 23. 21-Mason Beinhower[19]; 24. 18D-Dylan Smith[21]
Results:
1. 5-Christian Bruno[10]; 2. 23-Bradley Brown[19]; 3. 3B-Dallas Damask[1]; 4. 03-Ryan Groff[17]; 5. 08-Dominic Schmidt[12]; 6. 1F-James Fries[11]; 7. 7L-Chase Layser[8]; 8. 90X-Trent Warner[4]; 9. 10L-Lukas Kostic[13]; 10. 18-Jared Lilly[15]; 11. Z17-Michael Nolf[14]; 12. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[23]; 13. 3-Jesse Maurer[21]; 14. 22H-Fred Heinly[22]; 15. 16L-Logan Dontonville[24]; 16. 2-Jakob Stitzel[9]; 17. 14C-Connor Gross[7]; 18. 16-Marty Brian[3]; 19. 98-Matt Warner[5]; 20. 5R-Alex Ruppert[6]; 21. 88-Justin Yohn[18]; 22. 98X-Keith Blumenstein Jr[16]; 23. 91-Nate Freed[2]; 24. 11H-Holden Eckman[20]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 15 Races):
1. 3B-Dallas Damask[418]; 2. 16-Marty Brian[-34]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[-56]; 4. 03-Ryan Groff[-60]; 5. 5-Christian Bruno[-97]
Christian Bruno got revenge from the first feature of the night and won the second one for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Border Magic 270
During the early laps of Saturday night’s Border Magic 270 feature, it looked like Alex Swift was destined for his second win of the year at the Clyde. But when the complexion of the race changed on a lap 11 restart, it was Bret Cronrath there to take advantage and take the checkered flag first.
Swift started on the pole and pulled away to an advantage of more than three seconds on the first 10-lap green flag run. It appeared as if a stroke of bad luck would be the only thing to deny Swift of a victory, and unfortunately for him, that’s what happened. The carburetor fell off of the No. 15 as the field accelerated for the restart, causing a chain-reaction crash behind him and forcing the dominant car out of the race.
With Swift out of the running and defending track champion Jason Swavely collected in the crash that ensued, it was Cronrath who found himself in front of the pack in just his third race of the year.
Cronrath extended his advantage to a couple of car lengths between himself and runner-up Josh Stoyer, as Stoyer had his hands full with third-place Brandon Heist. A caution with three laps to go gave those two competitors one last shot at the race leader. Heist moved past Stoyer on the first lap and pulled right up to the tail tank of the No. 5, giving Cronrath a tap to the bumper on the final circuit. But it was too little, too late, and the three-time Sportsman champion held on through the final turns to return to Brubacher Victory Lane, this time in a different class.
“The Sporty was great to us, it was time to start a different chapter,” Cronrath said. “I didn’t think it would begin like this… very fortunate, just in the right place at the right time.”
Heist settled for second and Stoyer completed the podium, while Chris Dolan and Nick Skias – who came from the B-Main – completed the top five.
Results:
1. 5-Bret Cronrath[2]; 2. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[11]; 3. 3-Josh Stoyer[3]; 4. 7D-Chris Dolan[5]; 5. 3S-Nick Skias[19]; 6. 8S-Mike Skias[12]; 7. 11R-Tommy Rinck[13]; 8. 82-John Maurer[14]; 9. 54-William Mohring[4]; 10. 1L-Dave Labe[17]; 11. 08-Issac Graby[23]; 12. 28S-Brian Sholley[9]; 13. 6-Danial Boyer[8]; 14. 11-Mike Uhrich[16]; 15. 22-Clinton Hauser[21]; 16. 21D-Dave Williams[22]; 17. 34-Christi Sweigart[6]; 18. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[18]; 19. 96D-Dakota Deemer[24]; 20. 15-Alex Swift[1]; 21. 92-Jason Swavely[7]; 22. 00-Pat Kelly[15]; 23. 5A-Anthony Yerger[10]; 24. 27O-Billy Logeman[20]
Points (Top 5) (After 4 of 15 Races):
1. 3S-Nick Skias[355]; 2. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[-10]; 3. 8S-Mike Skias[-50]; 4. 7D-Chris Dolan[-70]; 5. 92-Jason Swavely[-81]
Bret Cronrath inherited the lead on lap 11 and picked up his first Border Magic 270 win of the season. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman
For the second time this year, Justin Harrington put the Jake Dupler-owned No. 1J into victory lane in Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman action, holding off Toby Blumenshine and Corey Schmuck, Jr. in order to do so.
The first 16 laps of the race all ran green, with Harrington leading the field and Blumenshine following close behind. The No. 21 showed Harrington a nose early in the feature, but that would be as close as Blumenshine would come to making a move as he was unable to find a way past the leader.
Schmuck, Jr. then took the runner-up spot right before the first caution, and put himself in position to try and snatch the win away in the closing laps. But all he could do was watch the tail tank of the No. 1J over the final green-flag run, as Harrington stayed just far enough out in front of the freight train to keep any challenge from coming his way over the last laps.
“First couple laps I blew it in there, and I knew I was buzzin’ them tires off,” Harrington said. “I could see their shadows, I saw Toby’s nose one time, and I said ‘dude, you gotta hang this thing around these tires or these boys are coming for you.’”
Schmuck, Jr. and Blumenshine came home second and third, with Brandon Heist finishing in the fourth spot. Dylan Pennypacker came home in the fifth position.
Results:
1. 1J-Justin Harrington[1]; 2. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[4]; 3. 21-Toby Blumenshine[2]; 4. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[6]; 5. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[5]; 6. 21V-David Ravel[7]; 7. 8-Michael Spadafora[3]; 8. 20-Max Fasnacht[11]; 9. 77-Michael Kreiser[12]; 10. 28-Kyle Lindsey[17]; 11. 22J-Jonathan Hellinger[14]; 12. 15-Josh Stoyer[8]; 13. 23K-Courtney Kupp[9]; 14. 21D-Dave Williams[18]; 15. 19-Wes Fasnacht[15]; 16. 31-Tyler Martin[16]; 17. 77J-Jade Smith[10]; 18. 17-Masen Stapleton[13]; 19. 16P-Patrick Kirn[20]; 20. 30-Ryan Heckman[19]; 21. 25X-Daniel Lane Jr[21]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 15 Races):
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[470]; 2. 21-Toby Blumenshine[-20]; 3. 1J-Justin Harrington[-60]; 4. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-78]; 5. 20-Max Fasnacht[-116]
Justin Harrington led all 25 laps for his second Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman win of the year. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600
After showing strong speed during the U6SA Winged portion of the KKM Challenge, Brent Shearer hopped back behind the wheel of the Pat Bealer-owned No. 44 and parked it in victory lane for his first EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 feature win at the Clyde.
Through a rash of early caution flags, Shearer had a fierce battle with polesitter Zach Light for the top spot, as the leaders traded sliders multiple times before Shearer finally broke free. Once he got to the front, there was little question that the native of Manheim had the dominant car, and a killer final restart with four laps to go put the stamp on a commanding victory.
“This thing’s a rocket ship… [Pat Bealer] let me drive it last week and he’s like, ‘let’s just keep the motor on it this week and run it again,’” Shearer said. “I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time. I always wanted a 600 win here, it’s pretty awesome.”
Bradley Brown came home in second, while Jason Swavely came from shotgun in the starting lineup to finish third. Billy Logeman and Light made up the rest of the top five.
Results:
1. 44-Brent Shearer[3]; 2. 23-Bradley Brown[5]; 3. 14-Jason Swavely[16]; 4. 97-Billy Logeman[6]; 5. 11Z-Zachary Light[1]; 6. 17-Brent Ely[14]; 7. 71-Brian Kramer[12]; 8. 46-BJ Antonio[7]; 9. 2XL-Trevor Stover[15]; 10. 880-Kameron Morral[8]; 11. 58-Andrew Rothermel[2]; 12. 24J-Christopher Broadaway[4]; 13. 66A-Marvin Albright[9]; 14. 22-Shawn Rumbaugh[13]; 15. 15P-Christopher Panczner[11]; 16. 11H-Holden Eckman[10]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 15 Races):
1. 97-Billy Logeman[455]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[-37]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[-46]; 4. 44-Brent Shearer[-59]; 5. 11H-Holden Eckman[-108]
Brent Shearer took the lead early and ran away with the win in the EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway returns to action on Saturday, June 15 as the points-paying season continues for all five weekly classes. The Border Magic 270s will run their makeup feature from May 18 before the regular schedule of racing begins for all divisions. For kids in attendance, the K.I.D. Club will be doing activities in celebration of both Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. With a little bit of extra racing on the schedule, gates will once again open at 4 p.m., with warmups and racing set to begin at 5:30 p.m. With a half-dozen features set to take place next weekend, don’t miss out on your chance to come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!