8.7.21 Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway Results
By Kasey Kreider
As USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Tour veteran Justin Grant and rising 600 Micro Sprint star Steven Snyder, Jr. descended upon Newmanstown’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday night, both drivers entered looking to get a proverbial monkey off of their backs. For Grant, a consistent season of racing amongst the best midget drivers in the country had seen him garner four second-place finishes, but no victories as the calendar flipped to August. For Snyder, Jr., a breakout 2021 campaign had seen him take victories at multiple different racetracks. But despite always being one of the strongest cars in the field, Snyder, Jr. was still waiting to park his No. 21s in the Clyde’s victory lane. So perhaps it was only fitting that on this night, the wait would come to an end for both drivers, as Grant would outduel Emerson Axsom and Buddy Kofoid to pick up the checkered flag in the 40-lap USAC feature, while Snyder, Jr. would lead wire-to-wire to pick up his first Lanco win in the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 main event.
Hot laps for both divisions would be the first on-track action for the evening. But as things turned out, the same driver would be on top of the time-charts at the conclusion of each session. Cullman, AL’s Kevin Thomas, Jr. would be one of two drivers pulling double-duty on the night, and would turn the quickest lap in both 600 and USAC hot laps.
But as qualifying commenced for the USAC midgets, a familiar face to the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway would pull off an historic accomplishment. Locust Grove, OK’s Daison Pursley, who had pocketed two wins and $12,000 at the Clyde during Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek, would lay down a lap time of 9.972 seconds. Not only was the lap time a new track record for the USAC midgets, but it also may have been the first sub-ten-second lap time, in anything, in the nearly 64-year history of the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. At the very least, it was the quickest lap in recent memory, and would give Pursley the honors of fast timer in the qualifying session.
Heat racing would follow next, beginning with the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s. The track surface was racey, and allowed for tight wheel-to-wheel battling throughout the field. When the dust settled, Kyle Lick, Aaron Espenshade, Alex Ruppert, and Tyler Ulrich picked up the victories in the four heats. Afterwards, the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Tour would take to the track for an equally intense triplet of heat races, with those being won by Justin Grant, Chase Randall, and Thomas Meseraull.
With 22 cars on the dot, no semi-feature would be necessary for the USAC drivers, as everyone would make the show. However, 39 600s meant that two B-Mains would be necessitated to fill out the final ten starting spots in the 26-car field. Both B-Mains would be won from the pole, as Eddie Strada took the win in the first B-Main, and Joey Jarowicz triumphed in the second. With that, the lineups were set, and all that remained were 40 laps of racing for the USAC National Midget Tour and 30 laps for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s.
Justin Grant would start on pole for the 40-lap USAC A-Main, looking to become the first driver to win in all three USAC national series in 2021. On his outside would be Tanner Thorson, who was twice a winner at the Clyde and had won the prior two races of Eastern Midget Week at Bridgeport and Bloomsburg. Championship points leader Buddy Kofoid would go off third, with fellow young gun Emerson Axsom rolling off fourth. Logan Seavey, famous for his Spiderman impression at the Clyde a few years back, and the quick-timer and Kutztown winner Daison Pursley would start on row three, with the remaining heat race winners Chase Randall and Thomas Meseraull completing the first four rows.
The drivers starting from the outside of the first two rows would get the best initial starts, as Thorson and Axsom would carve through to the first two positions in the first few laps. The two would then trade some sliders, with Axsom coming out on top, as he looked to cap off an incredibly solid Eastern Midget Week with a win. The action would be stopped however on lap 6, as Cannon McIntosh would go for a wild flip in turn 1. McIntosh was unharmed, but the same could not be said for his Dave Mac Motorsports No. 08. Once the race resumed, Axsom would scamper away to the lead, but Grant would work his way back into second, and begin to close as the leaders got to lapped traffic. Axsom would be saved by another caution period, which saw issues befall both of the other heat race winners. The caution would fly for Randall’s slowing car in turns 1 and 2, after he had gotten up and slapped the wall in the prior set of corners. Under the ensuing caution, Meseraull would slow to a stop from the top ten with a flat right rear tire, leading both cars back to the work area before they would ultimately continue.
The next restart would see Pursley begin to insert himself into the picture, as he would attempt to make it three straight wins for him at the Clyde. Pursley would move into the third position and begin pressuring the front two before the caution waved on lap 18 for Alex Bright’s stopped vehicle. On the restart, Pursley would push his luck just a little too far, as he would slap the outside guardrail in turn 2 while battling Grant for the runner-up position. He would give the wall another whack in turn 3, as the right rear of the car clearly became compromised. Pursley would slow through turns 1 and 2, leaving no room for Brett Wanner and Randall to go, as they slid into him. Pursley would go back to the work area and rejoin the field at the tail, but it seemed that his hopes to win had been dashed.
But with Pursley out of the picture, the restart would give Grant an opportunity to pounce on Axsom on the race lead, and that would be exactly what the Ione, CA driver did. Grant would take a couple swings at Axsom on the frantic few laps after the restart, with Axsom able to counter each time. But on lap 23, Grant would seal the deal and complete the pass off of turn 2. Axsom would pull another slider on the following lap, but Grant was now in the preferred position, and staved off the challenge. The caution would fly on lap 25 for a four-car pileup involving Meseraull, Taylor Reimer, Hayden Reinbold, and Kevin Woody. The incident would bring an end to a miserable Eastern Midget Week for T-Mez, while also ending the evening early for the race’s lone female in Reimer.
With Grant firmly in the lead now, a new challenge would begin to be mounted by the points leader Kofoid, who would move to third on the restart. But issues would befall Kevin Thomas, Jr.’s machine, as he would lay down a copious amount of oil in turns 1 and 2. This would lead to a red flag on lap 27, as track crews would rework the racing surface in that set of corners. Once the fluid was cleaned up, the race resumed as an epic four-car battle for the second spot began between Axsom, Kofoid, Thorson, and Grandview winner Chris Windom, who also entered second in points behind Kofoid. Kofoid would ultimately take the spot before the race’s third red flag would fly when Hayden Reinbold and Kenney Johnson went for synchronized flips down the frontstretch. Johnson would be okay but out of the race, while Reinbold would continue.
But with eight laps remaining, the battle was set, as Kofoid, broken wrist, foot, and all, would try to steal away Grant’s first National Midget win of the season. Grant would get a good enough restart to keep Kofoid from challenging right away, and would work to hold the slim advantage as the laps quickly clicked down. On the race’s penultimate lap, disaster nearly struck, as Grant pounded the outside guardrail with the right rear tire of his car in turn 3. The scare would allow Kofoid to close in slightly, but it wouldn’t be enough to chase down the RMS Racing No. 2J, as the night, and the victory, would finally belong to Grant.
Grant would come across the line 0.670 seconds in front of Kofoid for the win. It would be Kofoid, however, who would set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 10.429 seconds. With his runner-up result, Kofoid would extend his points lead to 21 over Windom, who finished in fourth. In between those two was their next closest championship combatant in Axsom, who rounded out the podium. Meanwhile, Pursley was able to rally back from his issue and stoppage in the work area to complete the top five. Kevin Woody would pick up the hard charger award for the second night in a row, going from 20th to 11th to pick up his best career finish. For Grant, the win would make him the first driver to pick up a victory in all three USAC national series in 2021, winning races in the Silver Crown, National Sprint Car, and National Midget divisions.
With the USAC racing concluded, the final order of business for the evening would be the $1,500-to-win 30-lap feature for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s. Steven Snyder, Jr. would start on pole following the redraw, and would have heat race winner Kyle Lick on his outside. Billy Logeman would look to make a triumphant return to the Clyde after suffering a shoulder injury about two months prior, as he would start from the inside of row two with Austin Quick alongside.
Snyder, Jr. would break away to the point early with Lick in tow. There would be comers and goers throughout the top ten, as Alex Ruppert drove up to the top five in opening laps after starting eighth. Fifth-place starter Billy Calvert would go for a spin in turn 4, collecting four other drivers and bringing out the race’s first caution on lap 5. The ensuing restart would see Kevin Thomas, Jr. begin to charge toward the front, as his No. 8x rocketed from sixth to third on the next two-lap run before Logeman got turned sideways and collected by Mason Beinhower in turn 2. In addition to Thomas, Jr., Billy Koch and Aaron Espenshade had rallied from sixth and 12th, respectively, to restart in the top five, just behind Snyder, Jr. and Lick on the front row.
After rolling the bottom during the race’s first few laps, Snyder, Jr. would find his groove on the top side after the restart and grow his advantage. The battles would rage behind him, as KTJ would make the move past Lick for the runner-up spot and try to hang with Snyder, Jr. Further back, newly minted Speedweek champion Christian Bruno was trying to rally after falling back on the initial start of the race. A wild moment saw Bruno and Quick make contact battling for fourth down the backstretch. Somehow, both cars stayed straight and on the ground, and the two drivers continued their duel for the spot before the caution flew on lap 16. Garyt Smith’s flip in turn 3 slowed the action right at the halfway mark, and set up perhaps the most pivotal restart of the race. With Thomas, Jr. on the outside of Snyder, Jr. for the restart, Thomas, Jr. was deemed to have jumped the start, a penalty which would move him back a row, and take away his clean opportunity to take over the race lead. With Lick back on his outside, Snyder, Jr. would once again be able to scamper away, even after another caution which flew when Espenshade went for a spin in turn 4.
The final half of the race would run clean and green to the finish, and after coming close on the 4th of July, Snyder, Jr. would not be denied this time, as he cruised home to a wire-to-wire victory, finally notching his first Lanco win. The Rising Sun, MD driver would finish with a margin of victory of 2.645 seconds over Lick, who would drive Zach Light’s No. 11z to a runner-up result. Bruno would rally to third, giving him a podium finish in his last four Lanco starts, while Bobby Butler and Quick completed the top five. Thomas, Jr. would fade to finish in sixth, unable to rebound from the jumped start. Thomas, Jr. did, however, set the fastest lap of the race at 11.055 seconds.
Next Saturday, August 14th will be Pink Out Night at the Clyde Presented by KDM Race Engines, featuring All Star Slingshot Speedweek. Organized by Kim Glass and TT’s Troops, funds will be raised in support of breast cancer research. We ask that all in attendance wear something pink in order to show support for breast cancer awareness. The Kim’s Kreations Novelty Stand will have a limited supply of Pink Out t-shirts available on race day. In addition, there will be items raffled off during the night, and all proceeds from the t-shirt sales and the raffles will go to Hershey Medical Center’s Breast Cancer Research Fund. There will also be a special presentation during intermission to honor all breast cancer survivors. The four weekly classes will join the All Star Slingshots for what promises to be an exciting night of action. Gates will open at 4:30, with warmups and racing set to begin at 6:00. As we honor breast cancer survivors, come out, wear pink, and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
Results:
USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Tour A-Main (40 Laps):
1. 2J-Justin Grant
2. 67-Buddy Kofoid
3. 15-Emerson Axsom
4. 89-Chris Windom
5. 71K-Daison Pursley
6. 19T-Tanner Thorson
7. 25-Logan Seavey
8. 19A-Chase Randall
9. 1NZ-Hayden Williams
10. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold
11. 25B-Kevin Woody (-1L)
12. 7G-Jimmy Glenn (-1L)
13. 19M-Ethan Mitchell (DNF)
14. 11c-Glenn Waterland (DNF)
15. 46-Kenney Johnson (DNF)
16. 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr. (DNF)
17. 7x-Thomas Meseraull (DNF)
18. 25K-Taylor Reimer (DNF)
19. 50-Mark Sokol (DNF)
20. 00-Brett Wanner (DNF)
21. 25M-Alex Bright (DNF)
22. 08-Cannon McIntosh (DNF)
Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main (30 Laps):
1. 21s-Steven Snyder, Jr.
2. 11z-Kyle Lick
3. 17m-Christian Bruno
4. 4b-Bobby Butler
5. 28q-Austin Quick
6. 8x-Kevin Thomas, Jr.
7. 23-Bradley Brown
8. 66-Billy Koch
9. 41-Logan Rumsey
10. 5-Alex Ruppert
11. 61-Ryan Kunkle
12. 1-Joey Jarowicz
13. 42u-Tyler Ulrich
14. 11h-Holden Eckman
15. 53-Toby Blumenshine (-1L)
16. 01-Geordan Marrero (-1L)
17. 57-Bryce Baxter (-2L)
18. 1ex-Aaron Espenshade (DNF)
19. 32s-Garyt Smith (DNF)
20. 15d-Matthew Donley (DNF)
21. 1e-Eddie Strada (DNF)
22. 53x-Billy Logeman (DNF)
23. 10m-Preston Lattomus (DNF)
24. 21x-Mason Beinhower (DNF)
25. 39x-Richie Hartman (DNF)
26. 84x-Billy Calvert (DNF)
Point Standings:
USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Tour Point Standings (Top 10):
1. 67-Buddy Kofoid (1,511)
2. 89-Chris Windom (-21)
3. 15-Emerson Axsom (-35)
4. 19T-Tanner Thorson (-113)
5. 2J-Justin Grant (-116)
6. 71K-Daison Pursley (-167)
7. 25-Logan Seavey (-254)
8. 7x-Thomas Meseraull (-280)
9. 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr. (-296)
10. 08-Cannon McIntosh (-379)