6.23.18 Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway Results

Newmanstown, PA (June 23) – Kutztown’s Jarid Kunkle outgunned pole sitter Don Hess at the drop of the green on Saturday night, then held on to win his second feature of the year in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprint 25-lapper at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The wildly competitive race was part of Kids Night presented by DMI/ Bulldog Rears.

Nick Skias won his second consecutive Viper Chassis 270 main in the first race of the evening – the final 23 laps of the feature that was rained out on May 5. In the 270 nightcap, Andrew Dietrich of Kutztown scored his first victory of the campaign when leader Breadley Brown’s No. 19a faltered on a restart with one lap remaining.

Noah Merkey registered his first-ever Lanco triumph in the sportsman headliner, while Eddie Nocera returned to victory lane in the 250cc Four-Stroke feature. Kyler Heiney notched his second win of 2018 in the 125cc main event.

Kunkle blasted into the lead at the start of the Hyper Racing 600 feature, with Nash Ely and Mike Rutherford scuffling for the runner-up spot. They were soon joined by Heath Hehnly but contact with Ely’s car caused Hehnly to spin on the backstretch with ten circuits in the books.

On the restart, Rutherford began to attack Kunkle for the lead as Bradley Brown, Andrew Layser, Don Hess, and Kyle Spence waged war for fourth position. With five to go and Kunkle barely holding on to the top spot, Layser got turned on the front stretch and Hehnly, with nowhere to go, clobbered him. Layser’s No. 35m flipped down the straightaway and Hehnly’s mount sustained enough damage to knock him out of the race along with Layser.

Kunkle went to the bottom on the restart to protect his lead. Rutherford closed in on the final revolution, but got a little loose exiting turn two and that was enough for Kunkle to pull away and record the triumph. Rutherford was a half-second behind at the checkered, with Nash Ely, Spence, and Ryan Groff completing the top five.

The make-up feature, at least the final 23 laps of it, led off the evening of high speed adventure on Saturday. Nick Skias was leading when the rain hit on May 5, and he continued to set the pace when the race resumed on June 23. One-time winner Mike Skias, Nick’s brother, battled with Jarid Kunkle for the runner-up slot as the top three motored away from the field.

the driver to watch was Mike Rutherford, who restarted ninth and moved into the top five by lap seven. He moved up to fourth by the time lap nine was scored, then got the caution he needed to bring the top three back to him with six to go.

Rutherford swept around Kunkle and Mike Skias to run second with five tours remaining, but Nick Skias had zipped out to a commanding lead while Rutherford was making the pass for second place. N. Skias gassed his Viper Chassis No. 3s to the win over Rutherford, TJ Greve, Mike Skias, and Kyle Spence.

In the regularly scheduled main for the Viper Chassis 270’s, Andrew Dietrich diced with early leader Mike Uhrich for several circuits. The entertaining battle had Uhrich in front by inches as they passed the flag stand to complete lap ten, but it was Dietrich squeezing in front to lead the 11th trip around the lightning-quick and racey clay. At the same time, Bradley Brown’s car came to life and Brown rocketed by Rutherford and Nick Skias to slip into third place with 11 to go. Three tours later, Brown was the runner-up, and he soon reeled in the leader and mounted his assault on Dietrich.

The hard charging duo traded slide jobs for a few laps with Brown shoving the nose of his car ahead of Dietrich to lead lap 24. The yellow flag flew before the leaders took the checkered, setting up a one lap shootout for the win. On the restart, Brown’s car did not take off, allowing Dietrich, Rutherford, and the rest of the field to scoot by him before he pulled to the infield in turns one and two.

Dietrich took full advantage of his gift, winning his first of the season as Rutherford produced his third runner-up finish of the night (both 270 features and in the 600 main). Uhrich notched a well deserved third place effort with Greve and N. Skias finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Noah Merkey almost pulled off his initial Sportsman victory on April 21, but Nick Skias passed him late in the race, after an awesome duel for the lead, and it was Skias who smiled for the cameras in the Winner’s Circle. Merkey reversed things on Saturday, swapping the point with Skias at the halfway mark before reclaiming the top spot and darting away to win the non-stop 25-lapper. The race was run in 4:55.201, and this time it was Merkey wearing the big smile in victory lane.

Rookie Jeremy Eisenhauer scored a season-best third place finish, while Toby Blumenshine and Clinton Hauser wound up fourth and fifth.

On June 16, a crash in warm-ups sidelined former Four-Stroke champion Eddie Nocera for the rest of the night. Nocera rebounded on Saturday to win his first feature of the year, beating Cliff Brian Jr to the stripe by just over one second. First year driver Jessica Moore ran a solid race to finish third, with Riley Simmons and Donna Geib rounding out the top five.

Lap after lap, Kyler Heiney pressured 125cc race leader Mike Glass. Just as they took the two-to-go signal, Heiney ducked under Glass as they entered turn one. The duo rubbed tires before Heiney gained the advantage, grabbing the lead then holding off Glass to register his second triumph of the season. Glass was a disappointed runner-up, with Kerry Lengle ending up third. Mike Miller and Corey Schmuck Jr made up the rest of the top five.

This Saturday, June 30, is Coca-Cola Night at the Clyde. some lucky race fans will receive free six packs of Coke, while drivers who finish in pre-determined positions in each feature will go home with cases of the popular soft drink.

The five weekly divisions will battle once again in qualifying heats, consolation races, and 25-lap main events. Gates open at 4:30 and warm-ups begin at 6 p.m. The first heat race goes green at 6:45.

Adult General Admission tickets are just $8, with discounts for Senior Citizens and Students. youth between the ages of six and 12 are just $2, and children under six are free.

Come on out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!

RESULTS:

Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, 25 laps: 1.Jarid Kunkle, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.Nash Ely, 4.Kyle Spence, 5.Ryan Groff, 6.Bradley Brown, 7.Donald Hess, 8.Will Urkuski, 9.Shaun Brandel, 10.Zach Light, 11.Chris Panczner, 12.Holden Eckman, 13.Toby Blumenshine, 14.Andrew Layser, 15.Heath Hehnly, 16.Danny Stratton, 17.Bruce Ginther Jr., 18.Tyler Lindsay, 19.Brian Kramer, 20.Tomas Partington, 21.Dallas Sanders.

Viper Chassis 270 Sprints, 25 laps (Postponed by rain with two laps complete on May 5): 1.Nick Skias, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.TJ Greve, 4.Mike Skias, 5.Kyle Spence, 6.Jarid Kunkle, 7.Bradley Brown, 8.Heath Hehnly, 9.Andrew Dietrich, 10.Devin Adams, 11.Mike Uhrich, 12.Corey Schmuck Jr., 13.Jarrett Imler, 14.Christi Sweigart, 15.Dan Lane Jr., 16.Cameron Bellinger, 17.Brian Sholley, 18.John Ruoss, 19.Adam Harnisch, 20.Austin Graby, 21.Adam Minzer.

Viper Chassis 270 Sprints, 25 laps: 1.Andrew Dietrich, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.Mike Uhrich, 4.TJ Greve, 5.Nick Skias, 6.Kyle Spence, 7.Devin Adams, 8.Billy Logeman, 9.Dan Lane Jr., 10.Christi Sweigart, 11.Dylan Adams, 12.Bradley Brown, 13.Mike Skias, 14.Jarid Kunkle, 15.Mike Miller, 16.Matthew Kreider, 17.Jarrett Imler, 18.Corey Schmuck Jr., 19.Heath Hehnly.

Sportsman Micro Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Noah Merkey, 2.Nick Skias, 3.Jeremy Eisenhauer, 4.Toby Blumenshine, 5.Clinton Hauser, 6.Kane Rogers, 7.Michael Kreiser, 8.Dave Ravel, 9.Robert Shanaman, 10.Sam Borger, 11.Kory Merkey. DNS: Dave Schroeder.

250cc Four-Stroke Micro Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Eddie Nocera, 2.Cliff Brian Jr., 3.Jessica Moore, 4.Riley Simmons, 5.Donna Geib, 6.Katelin Vragovich, 7.Ron Zimmerman, 8.Marty Brian, 9.Zachary Young, 10.Tommy Phipps Jr., 11.Zak Vickers, 12.Dylan Yeingst, 13.Ron Wechter.

125cc Micro Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Kyler Heiney, 2.Mike Glass, 3.Kerry Lengle, 4.Mike Miller, 5.Corey Schmuck Jr., 6.Chase Layser, 7.Jas Hehnly, 8.Dalton Eckman, 9.Terry Ellex.