By Kasey Kreider
(Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
On the eve of Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek, many of the best drivers of the Wingless 600 division descended upon the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway in pursuit of another high-profile and high-paying event. East Coast Transponders sponsored a lucrative $7,500 prize to go the winner of Saturday night’s Wingless 600 A-Main. After picking up a $10,000 check earlier in the year at the KKM Challenge, Steven Snyder, Jr. once again showed up at his best with the big money on the line. Meanwhile, Mike Skias claimed victory in the Mason Dixon 270 Racing Series’ Backroads Brawl, doing so in a car owned by his brother, Nick. And John Maurer, Brandon Heist, and Bradley Brown all found victory lane as well on the final points night before the Clyde Martin Memorial Race.
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
Coming into the evening, Steven Snyder, Jr. and Christian Bruno had already been previous winners of $10,000 races at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. Both drivers seemed poised to contend for another high-paying victory. But standing in their way was Alex Ruppert, who had nearly won the Speedweek finale two years ago and was in search of the richest win of his young career.
Ruppert led early from the outside pole, but Snyder, Jr. only needed two laps to climb from sixth to second in the running order. The No. 21s lost second to Bruno on the next restart, and although Snyder, Jr. was eventually able to reclaim the spot, it forced him to chase down Ruppert from about four car lengths back over the course of a long green-flag run.
Just as Snyder, Jr. got close enough to throw his first slider, the caution came out with seven laps remaining, setting up a pivotal restart. Ruppert knew that his hopes of hanging onto victory came down to getting a good launch and trying to pull away. But Ruppert fired off too early and was instead called for jumping the start. The two spot penalty allowed Snyder, Jr. to inherit the lead, and although Ruppert got back to second, the Rising Sun, MD driver pulled away over the closing couple of laps to secure the win – the 50th triumph of his career in 600 Micro Sprint competition.
“I threw that test slider because [Ruppert] kept getting tight in [turns] 1 and 2,” Snyder, Jr. said. “I think our car was coming in a little better because I was able to maneuver 1 and 2 better. He was up in it, where I was able to enter half a lane off of [the wall] and carry my momentum still.”
Ruppert and Bruno completed the podium, while Gunnar Pio and Zack Bealer made up the rest of the top five. Bradley Brown used a 24th-to-10th run to take over the points lead entering the Clyde Martin Memorial Race in two weeks.
Results:
1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[6]; 2. 5R-Alex Ruppert[2]; 3. 5-Christian Bruno[3]; 4. 28P-Gunnar Pio[11]; 5. 2SZ-Zachery Bealer[9]; 6. 11Z-Kyle Lick[7]; 7. 08-Dominic Schmidt[4]; 8. 03-Ryan Groff[10]; 9. 18-Jared Lilly[12]; 10. 23-Bradley Brown[24]; 11. 22H-Fred Heinly[1]; 12. 51B-Kyle Busch[16]; 13. 3-Jesse Maurer[21]; 14. 71-Brian Kramer[19]; 15. 1F-James Fries[15]; 16. R7-Kyle Spence[20]; 17. 2J-Jace Marshall[8]; 18. 7L-Chase Layser[22]; 19. 00-Peyton Knecht[23]; 20. 16-Marty Brian[17]; 21. 29-Brent Shearer[14]; 22. 91-Nate Freed[18]; 23. 24T-TJ Greve[5]; 24. 42C-Noah Carpenter[13]
DNQ: 98-Matthew Warner; 11H-Holden Eckman; 99-Cliff Brian Jr; 99X-Brandon Heist Sr; 3L-Nolen Layser; 25-Kenneth Beinhower III; 90-PJ Reid; 20S-Nicholas Skias; 4B-Baker Richie Jr; 11-Connor Fetrow; 17-Cole Perez; 25X-Dan Lane Jr; 50-Jacob Severn; 3Y-Zachary Young; 51-Chris Gerhart; 62X-Jacob Lynch; 21-Mason Beinhower; 21G-Geoff Federspiel
Points (Top 5) (After 8 of 14 Races):
1. 23-Bradley Brown[552]; 2. 03-Ryan Groff[-12]; 3. 16-Marty Brian[-51]; 4. 3B-Dallas Damask[-51]; 5. 2SZ-Zachery Bealer[-55]
Steven Snyder, Jr. took home the $7,500 prize for winning Saturday night’s East Coast Transponders Night A-Main for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Border Magic 270 (Mason Dixon 270 Racing Series)
For the third time ever and second time this season, the Mason Dixon 270 Racing Series invaded the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway for the running of the Backroads Brawl. Early in the week, Mike Skias didn’t think he was going to be a part of it, after a crash on 4th of July left his car out of commission and unable to be repaired in time. But Mike hopped aboard brother Nick’s No. 88, and put it into the winner’s circle for the first time in 2024.
After both Josh Stoyer and Austin Mieczkowski were called for jumps on the initial start of the race, Skias inherited the pole position for the third attempt and led the way through a couple of early caution flags.
After holding onto the top spot for the first five laps, the remaining 20 circuits all ran without a yellow, and Skias was never challenged at the front of the pack. While his brother and temporary car owner had won the night before at Linda’s, it was Mike’s turn to take the checkered flag for his first win since last June.
“After 4th of July, I was just going to take a couple of weeks off,” Skias said. “My brother wouldn’t take no for an answer. I so appreciate Nick for letting me have this ride, this thing is a rocket.”
Stoyer finished in second, while Mieczkowski picked up his first Lanco podium with a third. Brandon Heist took over the points lead after finishing fourth, and Toby Blumenshine rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 88X-Mike Skias[3]; 2. 3-Josh Stoyer[1]; 3. 39-Austin Mieczkowski[2]; 4. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[7]; 5. 1A-Toby Blumenshine[6]; 6. 6-Danial Boyer[5]; 7. 747-Richie Hartman[18]; 8. 82-John Maurer[14]; 9. 7D-Chris Dolan[12]; 10. 5-Bret Cronrath[4]; 11. 41-Mike Boyer[24]; 12. 92-Jason Swavely[9]; 13. 19-Matt Fernsler[20]; 14. 2NJ-Glenn Macomber[8]; 15. 11R-Tommy Rinck[13]; 16. 3S-Nick Skias[21]; 17. 47-Alex Reinsmith[23]; 18. 24-Colten McAndrew[22]; 19. 4-Dylan Pence[19]; 20. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[17]; 21. 48B-Brandon Bomberger[11]; 22. 27O-Billy Logeman[10]; 23. 5A-Anthony Yerger[16]; 24. 2-Mike Miller[15]
DNQ: 11-Mike Uhrich; 48-Jonah Meck; 96D-Dakota Deemer; 34-Christi Sweigart; 47X-Ernest Newmaster III; 91-Jack Redcay; 56-Marshall Labuda; 08-Jason Paisley; 88-Nolan Higgins
Points (Top 5) (After 8 of 14 Races):
1. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[637]; 2. 3S-Nick Skias[-2]; 3. 7D-Chris Dolan[-36]; 4. 88X-Mike Skias[-53]; 5. 82-John Maurer[-117]
Mike Skias claimed his first feature win in over a year in the Backroads Brawl for the Mason Dixon 270 Racing Series. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke
In a largely clean and green feature event for the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Strokes, Fleetwood’s John Maurer made the pass for the lead just after halfway to score his second win in the last three races at the Clyde.
Kiptyn Stratton started on pole and was searching for his first win at Lanco. The first 19 laps of the race all ran without a caution flag, and Stratton led the first 14, keeping Maurer behind him for several laps while the No. 82 tried to set him up for a pass.
The pass eventually happened when Stratton slipped just a little high off the exit of turn 4. Maurer was right there to pounce, and took the top spot away right before hitting lapped traffic. A caution with six laps remaining relieved Maurer from having to deal with any more lapped cars, and he was able to pull away over the final run to take the checkered flag.
“Our car’s usually better on the longer runs,” Maurer said. “We got the right setup now… the 125 we’ve had pretty good for the last couple of weeks, so let’s just hope we can keep the momentum going.”
Trevor Waegel fell back early but charged back through the field to score a second-place result, while Seth Gregory trimmed Mike Coen’s points lead by finishing third. Stratton and Matt Fernsler completed the top five.
Results:
1. 82-John Maurer[5]; 2. 44S-Trevor Waegel[3]; 3. 14-Seth Gregory[2]; 4. 3-Kiptyn Stratton[1]; 5. 19-Matt Fernsler[4]; 6. 26C-Michael Coen[6]; 7. 15H-Don Hess[14]; 8. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[7]; 9. X-Dave Schroeder[10]; 10. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[8]; 11. 112-Dylan Yeingst[17]; 12. 04-Sam Borger[13]; 13. 8-Michael Spadafora[9]; 14. 15-Alyssa Holmes[12]; 15. 5-Keegan Stratton[20]; 16. 4W-Brandon Worthington[18]; 17. 21S-Samuel Davenport[16]; 18. 81-Dylan Holmes[15]; 19. 78C-Sara Borror[11]; 20. 75-Chris Dolan[19]; 21. 73-Andrew Rothermel[21]; 22. 27E-Ellyana Snyder[22]
Points (Top 5) (After 8 of 14 Races):
1. 26C-Michael Coen[644]; 2. 14-Seth Gregory[-11]; 3. 16-Daniel Lane Jr[-38]; 4. 75-Chris Dolan[-69]; 5. 44S-Trevor Waegel[-75]
John Maurer picked up his second win in the last three races in the Offroad Motorsports 125/4 Stroke division. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman
After a rough night in the last Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman race three weeks prior, Jonestown’s Brandon Heist got back on track in commanding fashion on Saturday night. Heist took the lead on the second circuit and never looked back en route to making his fourth trip of the season to Brubacher Victory Lane.
Former Sportsman champion Mike Kreiser was the polesitter and led the opening lap of the race. But a lap 2 restart gave Heist the opportunity to make an excellent high-to-low move coming off of turn 4 and grab the top spot. While familiar faces Corey Schmuck, Jr. and Toby Blumenshine worked their way up the running order, the No. 99 was in its own zip code, and racked up the win with a margin of victory of just over two seconds.
“It was definitely a great run tonight, kind of making a redemption from the other week where just everything that could go wrong just went wrong for us,” Heist said. “14th was not where we like to be. This is where we like to be.”
Schmuck, Jr. finished second and Blumenshine kept his points lead at 12 with a third-place result. Richie Hartman finished fourth, and Kreiser completed the top five.
Results:
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[2]; 2. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[6]; 3. 21-Toby Blumenshine[4]; 4. 88M-Richie Hartman[7]; 5. 77-Michael Kreiser[1]; 6. 44X-Tommy Rinck[5]; 7. 21D-Dave Williams[13]; 8. 28-Kyle Lindsey[22]; 9. 77J-Jade Smith[15]; 10. 26X-Austin Mieczkowski[21]; 11. 17-Masen Stapleton[11]; 12. 31-Tyler Martin[19]; 13. 15-Josh Stoyer[10]; 14. 21V-David Ravel[18]; 15. 23K-Courtney Kupp[17]; 16. 20-Max Fasnacht[14]; 17. 54-Lisa Warren[20]; 18. 30-Ryan Heckman[12]; 19. 8-Michael Spadafora[16]; 20. 1J-Justin Harrington[3]; 21. 19-Wes Fasnacht[9]; 22. 22J-Jarrid Hellinger[8]
Points (Top 5) (After 8 of 14 Races):
1. 21-Toby Blumenshine[730]; 2. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[-12]; 3. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-63]; 4. 1J-Justin Harrington[-180]; 5. 15-Josh Stoyer[-200]
Brandon Heist dominated Saturday night’s feature for his fourth Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman win of the year. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600
Although Bradley Brown had won a preliminary race of the KKM Challenge and seemed poised to win the finale before blowing up while leading, he had still been yet to find victory lane in a points race throughout the first half of the 2024 season. That finally changed on Saturday night, as the Ephrata native used the high side to take the lead on lap 9 and finally parked the No. 23 in the winner’s circle.
Polesitter Brent Ely led the first eight laps of the feature, surviving a close call when a lapped car spun out right in front of him. But Brown got his machine wound up on the top side of the racetrack and ducked low entering turn 3 to take the top spot away.
Brown had to survive a restart with three laps remaining and Jason Swavely right behind him. But Brown quickly built up a cushion of a few car lengths and cruised from there to the checkered flag.
“I actually found the middle by mistake, and it worked,” Brown said. “It worked just long enough for me to get to the lead… I hit [the top] and this thing just stuck.”
Swavely and Ely made up the rest of the podium, while Billy Logeman continued his top-five streak and kept the points lead with a fourth-place finish. And finishing fifth was none other than two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who came down from Pocono to make his debut at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The No. 51B made a last-lap pass to round out the top five.
Results:
1. 23-Bradley Brown[3]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[6]; 3. 17-Brent Ely[1]; 4. 97-Billy Logeman[5]; 5. 51B-Kyle Busch[12]; 6. 5A-Anthony Yerger[4]; 7. 46-BJ Antonio[7]; 8. 71-Brian Kramer[8]; 9. 11H-Holden Eckman[9]; 10. 29-Brent Shearer[2]; 11. 58-Andrew Rothermel[11]; 12. 66A-Marvin Albright[13]; 13. 22-Shawn Rumbaugh[15]; 14. L13-Robert Potter[14]; 15. 15P-Christopher Panczner[10]; 16. 51-Chris Gerhart[16]
Points (Top 5) (After 8 of 14 Races):
1. 97-Billy Logeman[715]; 2. 23-Bradley Brown[-31]; 3. 29-Brent Shearer[-89]; 4. 14-Jason Swavely[-102]; 5. 11H-Holden Eckman[-170]
Bradley Brown finally broke through for his first points-paying win of the season in the EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 class. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Making his debut at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch (No. 51B) competed in both the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 and EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 classes on Saturday night. Busch started 16th and finished 12th in the Wingless 600 feature, and then went from 11th to fifth in the Winged 600 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The month of money continues at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway next Saturday, July 20, with the Finale of Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek. The Wingless 600s will race for a $10,000 grand prize, while the 2024 Speedweek champion will be crowned after seven nights of competition across seven different tracks. The Junior Sprints will also be competing as the support division for Speedweek all week long. Warmups begin at 6 p.m., with time trials and racing following soon after. Some of the Clyde’s most memorable moments have taken place during Speedweek of years past, so don’t miss out on the chance to experience some more history and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!