Rutherford Doubles Up; Shearer, Ravel Claim Lanco Wins

Newmanstown, PA – One week after mother nature claimed her first victory of the season, Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway returned to action with four regularly scheduled features and two makeup’s on the card. The Sportsman and Hyper Racing 600’s saw their rescheduled features run immediately after hot laps. A sun-splashed sky greeted the competitors and fans on Viper Chassis Night, where the track paid tribute to one of their own. Gale Miller was a longtime supporter of the facility, whose husband Gary is a club board member. Tragically, Gale lost her battle with ovarian cancer earlier this year. The Clyde paid tribute to Gale throughout the night, and raised over $1,000 in her memory to be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.

Anthony Yerger and Jessica Moore led the field to the green. Early attrition took its toll with several cars dropping out of a race that went green until nearly halfway after an aborted start. Corey Schmuck Jr was the first car to bring out the caution flag, with an attempt to pass for the race lead going awry and ending up on his side in Turn 3. Up until that point, the pilot of the 26 had been one of the quickest cars on the race track. Yerger had lead from the pole, with Michael Kreiser, Jesse Maurer, Chase Layser, and Bret Cronrath making up the top five for the restart. The leader did not escape the incident with Schmuck unscathed however. Trouble with the exhaust would put Yerger out of the race on the restart. Kreiser took advantage of the situation jumping out to a large lead that would only last for a couple of laps before the cars of Courtney Kupp and Clinton Hauser made contact sending Hauser into a flip down the front stretch. He would continue, while Kupp had front end damage ending her race. The second half of the race saw Schmuck recover from his incident and run inside the top ten by the time Jamie Flickinger saw a good run end prematurely against the outside wall in Turn 2 with ten laps remaining. Several cars made good runs including Brett Scholley and Jessica Moore who recovered from early trouble to run inside of the top ten. Nine laps remained when the final restart of the event took place. Kreiser was able to get away cleanly on the jump and completed his first win of the season. Jason Swavely saw his excellent 2020 season continue with a good run to third place. Jesse Maurer would claim the runner-up spot.

Eighteen Hyper Racing 600’s would take to the grid for their makeup feature, with several cars not in attendance who qualified last weekend. Zach Light and Jarid Kunkle would make up the front row. A fantastic battle for the race lead saw Light and Kunkle run side-by-side for the first handful of laps before Kunkle took the spot. Aaron Espenshade spun to the inside of turn two to bring out the first caution with 18 laps remaining. The front of the field saw several exciting battles between Light and Dan Souder for second; while Nick Skias Brian Kramer, and Chris Gerhart battled for fourth. Past halfway, Mike Rutherford and Heath Hehnly had made their way towards the top five from mid-pack starting spots after the inversion. Espenshade saw his race end with four laps remaining setting up a single-file restart and shootout for the win. The challenge wouldn’t materialize, as Kunkle made his best restart of the race and claimed the win over Souder, Skias, Gerhart, and Hehnly.

The 125 and 4 Stroke Division would be the first regularly scheduled feature to run under the lights, with Matt Fernsler and Chase Layser leading the field to the green. Mike Miller, Zach Hollinger, and Kassidy Michael would complete the top five starters. A couple of early cautions saw the field lined up for a third attempt at the initial start. With each succeeding attempt, Miller was able to improve and went from falling back to running right with the race leader and battling Layser and Hollinger for second. The solid early run would come to an end with mechanical issues ending his night two laps in. Justin Harrington put on the best show of the early part of the race coming from 19th to seventh place just five laps in. There was a good bit of yellow fever in the first half, but Layser and Brent Shearer were able to move forward and claim the top two spots for a restart at the halfway point. Shearer was able to force his way past Layser with four to go while battling lapped traffic. The caution would fly with three to go when the leader turned the lapped machine of Sam Borger on the back stretch. With the restart being single file, Shearer was able to open up a big gap on the restart and claim the victory.

The second feature on Viper Chassis Night saw the 270’s take to the high banks. With only four cars being inverted, the heavy iron would be at the front of the entire feature. The early action saw battles throughout the field, with Mike Rutherford taking the extreme high line four-wide to claim third. Nate Gibble took a wild ride down the back straight after contact with the outside wall. Just three laps in, Rutherford ran outside of Mike Skias, with Trent Eberhart and Nick Skias in row two for the restart. Jason Swavely was battling for third when he hard very hard contact into the outside wall with five laps in the books. The single-file restart allowed Mike Skias to jump out to the lead, but his time at the top would be short lived. Rutherford was just too dominant on the high side and moved to the top of the order on Lap 7. Dan Lane Jr was the star of the show coming from deep in the field, gaining six spots in four laps following the restart. Both Rutherford and Lane proved the high line was the place to be, and were the dominant cars in the field. Nick Skias ran towards the front for the first half of the race but would drop out at halfway with a mechanical issue. The second half saw the quickest cars head to the front, and Rutherford extended his lead to over two seconds before caution with three to go saw the field bunched up again. Mike Miller and Alex Swift both tried to make the bottom work late, but the momentum was just too strong at the top. Rutherford claimed the win over Miller, Mike Skias, Swift, and Dan Lane Jr.

After heat racing, the Hyper Racing 600’s drew a 12 for the inversion putting the fastest cars mid-pack, and  Brent Ely and Mikey Smith on the front row for the start. Those cars finished fourth in their heat races, meaning there was still a lot of speed towards the front of the field at the drop of the green flag. Ely is known for catfishing the bottom, but the preferred line would be at the top. Smith took off like a rocket and held the early lead until mechanical issues ended his night a handful of laps in. After making the top work throughout the 270 feature, Mike Rutherford came from eleventh on the grid quickly towards the front by running the bottom. With a solid run earlier in the day, Dan Souder would continue that trend in the second feature. The caution for Smith would be the only stoppage of the first half of the race, but caution number two would fly just past the halfway point. On the restart, Rutherford continued to show exceptional speed and would stay right with race leader until claiming the top spot on Lap 20 with a nice pass inside of Ely off Turn 4. The gap would open quickly, with Ely fading at the end. Jarid Kunkle was able to capitalize on the issues for Ely, pipping him at the finish by .007 for second place.

The final feature of the night brought the Sportsman back on to the clay for their second run of the event. Another twelve was pulled for the inversion, putting Jamie Flickinger and Patrick Kirn on the front row. Mike Kreiser and Jesse Maurer would be scheduled to start in row six, but Maurer had a mechanical problem end his night before the race even went green. Flickinger was able to get a good start and put in a strong early showing at the point. Dave Ravel was very quick and able to fend off Kirn and Corey Schmuck Jr for second. The bottom groove really came in to play in this feature, with the difference in power with the difference. As Flickinger caught lapped traffic, Ravel was able to capitalize. He would grab the race lead just prior to halfway and the first caution flag of the race. With the opportunity to control the pace, Ravel got the jump and held the lead. Corey Schmuck was able to get around Flickinger, using the preferred inside lane to claim second. Schmuck hounded Ravel for the rest of the race, but ultimately was unable to mount a challenge for the lead. Flickinger would spin out of eighth position with three to go, bringing out the race’s final caution. Again on the restart, Schmuck would be unable to challenge the race leader. Ravel would claim the win over Schmuck and Swavely.

Racing action at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway will resume this coming Saturday. Four divisions of racing are again on the card. Coming up in two weeks, the Bud’s Spring Service Labor Day Shootout will take to the racetrack. Racing action on Saturday and Sunday, September 5th and 6th. One of the biggest events of the season also is upcoming on September 19th with the annual Pink Out Night presented by Kim’s Kreations. With only six weeks remaining in the season, there is never a better time to come out and Live the Excitement that is Lanco!

Sportsman Makeup Feature Results

1. 77 Mike Kreiser; 2. 88 Jesse Maurer; 3. 14 Jason Swavely; 4. 26 Corey Schmuck; 5. 7L Chase Layser; 6. N8 Nate Gibble; 7. 10z Brian Sholley; 8. 5 Bret Conrath; 9. 4 Mike Miller; 10. 11m Jessica Moore; 11. 22 Clinton Hauser; 12. 22j Raymond Ohlinger; 13. 14m Chelsey Moore; 14. 13b Matt Yoh II; 15. 9g Jamie Flickenger; 16. 23k Courtney Kupp; 17. 19m Max Fasnacht; 18. 5a Anthony Yerger; 19. 15 Robert Shannaman; 20. 8 Michael Spadafora; 21. 21d Dave Williams; 22. 83 Evan Lawrence; 23. 21V Dave Ravel; 24. 32 Jack Redcay

Hyper Racing 600 Makeup Feature Results

1. 75k Jarid Kunkle; 2. 11 Dan Souder; 3. 88 Nick Skias; 4. 51 Chris Gerhart; 5. 5 Heath Hehnly; 6. 2s Mike Rutherford; 7. 11z Zach Light; 8. 3 Jesse Maurer; 9. 71 Brian Kramer; 10. 9 Austin Biship; 11. 15p Chris Panczner; 12. 17 Brent Ely; 13. 42k Travis Keiser; 14. 1 William Urkuski; 15. 16s Brianne Witmer-Conrath; 16. 1e Aaron Espenshade; 17. 11h Holden Eckman; 18. 39 Olivia Thayer

125/4 Stroke Results

1. 12 Brent Shearer; 2. 3h Zack Hollinger; 3. 7L Chase Layser; 4. 19 Matt Fernsler; 5. 57k Kassidy Michael; 6. 76 Justin Harrington; 7. 16 Marty Brian; 8. 5 Terry Ellex; 9. 24 Logan Rhoad; 10. 26 Tyler Martin; 11. 13 Shane Davis; 12. 62 Eddie Nocera; 13. 25w Nate Weidman; 14. 3x Kenny Bushey; 15. 3y Zachary Young; 16. LR62 Dray Layser; 17. 4 Sam Borger; 18. 4 Julie Avery; 19. 22 Jared St. John; 20. 29 Brandon Shearer; 21. 44 Riley Simmons; 22. 11h Holden Eckman; 23. 112 Dylan Yeingst; 24. 3 Mike Miller

270 Results

1. 5k Mike Rutherford; 2. 2 Mike Miller; 3. 8s Mike Skias; 4. 48x Alex Swift; 5. 29j Dan Lane Jr; 6. 4R Lee Reinhardt; 7. 82 Heath Hehnly; 8. 55 Pete Skias; 9. 88d Andrew Dietrich; 10. 20 Corey Schmuck Jr; 11. 11 Mike Uhrich; 12. 4k Trent Eberhart;13. 49w Johnny West; 14. 48 Jonah Meck; 15. 21d Dave Williams; 16. 1L Dave Labe; 17. 56h Zack Hollinger; 18. 5a Anthony Yerger; 19. 3s Nick Skias; 20. 53 Brent Shearer; 21. 92 Jason Swavely; 22. 17j Jarrett Imler; 23. 8z Nate Gibble; 24. 29 Tom Spatz; 25. 34 Christi Sweigart

Hyper Racing 600 Results

1. 2s Mike Rutherford; 2. 75k Jarid Kunkle; 3. 17 Brent Ely; 4. 11 Dan Souder; 5. 51 Chris Gerhart; 6. 71 Brian Kramer; 7. 3 Jesse Maurer; 8. 15p Chris Panczner; 9. 88 Nick Skias; 10. 5 Heath Hehnly; 11. 42u Tyler Ulrich; 12. 61 Ryan Kunkle; 13. 1 William Urkuski; 14. 9 Austin Biship; 15. 42k Travis Keiser; 16. 11z Zach Light; 17. 16s Brianne Witmer-Conrath; 18. 11h Holden Eckman; 19. 1e Aaron Espenshade; 20. 2sx Mikey Smith; 21. 39 Olivia Thayer; 22. 17j Jarrett Imler; 23. 8z Nate Gibble; 24. 29 Tom Spatz; 25. 34 Christi Sweigart

Sportsman Results

1. 21V Dave Ravel; 2. 26 Corey Schmuck; 3. 14 Jason Swavely; 4. 16p Patrick Kirn; 5. 4 Mike Miller; 6. 77 Mike Kreiser; 7. 5a Anthony Yerger; 8. 5 Bret Conrath; 9. 15 Robert Shannaman; 10. 21d Dave Williams; 11. 7L Chase Layser; 12. N8 Nate Gibble; 13. 10z Brian Sholley; 14. 30 Ryan Heckman; 15. 53s Shannon Slaughter; 16. 9g Jamie Flickenger; 17. 3s Jeremy Eisenhauer; 18. 19m Max Fasnacht; 19. 8 Michael Spadafora; 20. 11m Jessica Moore; 21. 23k Courtney Kupp; 22. 22 Clinton Hauser; 23. 32 Jack Redcay; 24. 88 Jesse Maurer