By Kasey Kreider
(Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
The stars and cars of the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway roared back to life on Saturday night, kicking off the month of May – albeit one week later than originally planned – with a thrilling night of action.
On an evening that saw several twists and turns for contending drivers in the five 25-lap feature events, every single A-Main saw a new 2025 Lanco winner. The Hyper Racing Wingless 600s witnessed James Fries pick up his first-ever win at the Clyde, while defending champion Bradley Brown finally cashed in in the EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600s. Billy Logeman triumphed in the Border Magic 270 A-Main, while Brandon Heist made up for a heartbreak in that event to later claim the Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman feature. And Brent Shearer put an end to John Maurer’s three-peat bid with a dominant drive in the 125/4 Strokes.
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
Former Wingless 600 rookie of the year James Fries had knocked on the door of victory at the Clyde throughout his previous three years and change of competition at the Newmanstown bullring. On Saturday night, the Bally native was there to take advantage of early-race contact between two leaders, and then held off veteran Kyle Lick and a hard-charging Jace Marshall to break through for his maiden victory.
Those aforementioned two leaders were Abel Engler and Dominic Schmidt, as they paced the pack from their front row starting spots for the first eight laps. The bottom lane quickly showed itself as the fast groove to run in, and that required drivers to walk the razor’s edge of being smooth and steady – but still fast – in the catfish line.
Unfortunately, one mistake was all it took for things to run askew, as Engler got sideways and half-spun in front of Schmidt, leaving both drivers with damage that would eliminate them from the race, and turning the lead over to Fries.
Fries was consistently rock-solid on the bottom groove, and held off a brief mid-race challenge from Marty Brian to keep control of the race. Lick and Marshall then moved back into second and third on a restart with 10 laps to go, and continued applying pressure to the tail tank on the No. 1F West Fab Chassis.
A restart with three laps to go set up one last shootout, but Fries was flawless over the final dash to the checkers, and Lick never got a chance to make a move happen, as he followed the first-time winner across the finish line one car length behind.
Marshall picked up his first Lanco podium with a third, while Brian was unable to rally back from fourth. James Roselli rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 1F-James Fries[3]; 2. 11Z-Kyle Lick[5]; 3. 2J-Jace Marshall[13]; 4. 16-Marty Brian[6]; 5. 14-James Roselli[9]; 6. 03-Ryan Groff[18]; 7. 96-Zach Jurcik[10]; 8. 11H-Holden Eckman[21]; 9. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[17]; 10. 3L-Nolen Layser[22]; 11. 22H-Fred Heinly[20]; 12. 90-Trent Warner[4]; 13. 9W-Weston Doklan[8]; 14. 5X-Chase Rodgers[11]; 15. 15H-Don Hess[24]; 16. 20S-Nicholas Skias[12]; 17. 65Z-Jake Fisher[14]; 18. 98-Matt Warner[7]; 19. 00K-Peyton Knecht[23]; 20. 10L-Lukas Kostic[16]; 21. 34-Abel Engler[1]; 22. 08-Dominic Schmidt[2]; 23. 17-Cole Perez[15]; 24. 2S-Garyt Smith[19]
DNQ: 99X-Brandon Heist Sr; 39-Richie Hartman; 90X-PJ Reid; 64-Ronnie Dawson; 2K-Nathan Miller; 2L-Luke Hess; 9-Josh Stoyer; 3Y-Zachary Young
Points (Top 5) (After 3 of 15 Races):
1. 2J-Jace Marshall[260]; 2. 16-Marty Brian[-3]; 3. 1F-James Fries[-20]; 4. 08-Dominic Schmidt[-60]; 5. 98-Matt Warner[-66]
James Fries scored his first career win in Saturday night’s Hyper Racing Wingless 600 feature event. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600
Had a few things gone differently, defending track champion Bradley Brown could very well have won both of the season’s first two races in EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 competition. The old cliché rang true on Saturday night, as the third time was indeed the charm for Brown to park his No. 23 RTS Chassis in the winner’s circle.
While Brown started on pole and would go on to lead all 25 laps en route to victory, that doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story, as Brown had to slice and dice through lapped traffic for most of the race in order to hold off Jason Swavely, Pat Bealer, and a fast-approaching Shannon Slaughter.
Navigation through the lapped cars allowed the second spot to change hands multiple times between Swavely and Bealer, and both drivers never allowed Brown’s advantage to grow more than about three or four car lengths. But Brown used his experience and rocketship of a race car to hold onto the advantage the entire way until the caution flew on the final lap, setting up a one-lap dash with Swavely second and Slaughter past Bealer and up to third.
Swavely got two shots at the one-lap sprint, but the result was pretty much inevitable, as Brown nailed both restarts and captured the checkered flag for the first time in 2025.
Swavely settled for second, and Slaughter zipped around the bottom groove for the third-place result. Chris Gerhart and Bealer and completed the top five.
Results:
1. 23-Bradley Brown[1]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[4]; 3. 53S-Shannon Slaughter[8]; 4. 51-Chris Gerhart[6]; 5. 29B-Pat Bealer[2]; 6. 17-Brent Ely[11]; 7. 71-Brian Kramer[13]; 8. 97-Billy Logeman[5]; 9. 5A-Anthony Yerger[7]; 10. 29-Brent Shearer[12]; 11. 11H-Holden Eckman[14]; 12. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[16]; 13. 39M-Austin Mieczkowski[21]; 14. 11-Connor Fetrow[17]; 15. 11R-Tommy Rinck[20]; 16. 51B-Amanda Onimus[22]; 17. 14H-Haelee Nardelli[3]; 18. L13-Bob Potter[19]; 19. 22R-Michael Rankin[15]; 20. 3-Ryan Groff[10]; 21. 55-Bob Rankin[18]; 22. 5X-Chase Rodgers[9]
DNQ: 73-Andrew Rothermel; 75R-Brevan Rothermel; 12S-Brianna Snyder; 15P-Christopher Panczner
Points (Top 5) (After 3 of 15 Races):
1. 23-Bradley Brown[285]; 2. 51-Chris Gerhart[-24]; 3. 14-Jason Swavely[-50]; 4. 29-Brent Shearer[-55]; 5. 17-Brent Ely[-57]
Bradley Brown broke through for his first win of the season in EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 competition. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Border Magic 270
After fighting some motor issues through the first few races of the Border Magic 270 season, Reinholds native Billy Logeman broke through on Saturday night aboard Mike Rutherford’s No. 27o for his first Lanco win of the season, capitalizing on misfortune for Brandon Heist, who broke from the lead just prior to the halfway mark.
It took several tries to get the A-Main started, but once the race finally got going, Heist showed the way on the bottom groove of the track with Logeman in tow.
All things looked to be under control for last year’s Sportsman track champion, but then Heist suffered an apparent engine issue of his own just as he was coming to complete halfway. Heist pulled into the infield, and Logeman took over the lead, while a hard-charging Dave Labe motored into the second spot using the middle and upper grooves of the track.
As the leaders caught the tail of the field, Logeman found the middle groove and used that to his advantage, working through the lapped traffic at a quicker pace than either Labe or third-place running Nick Skias could. That would end up sealing the win for Logeman, as he flashed across the finish line 1.742 seconds ahead of his closest challenger.
Skias passed Labe with a few laps to go to claim second, but Labe still held onto third for his best career finish at the Clyde. Jason Swavely picked up the Border Magic Hard Charger Bonus for a 20th-to-fourth run, and Richie Hartman finished off the top five.
Results:
1. 27O-Billy Logeman[2]; 2. 3-Nick Skias[8]; 3. 1L-Dave Labe[7]; 4. 92-Jason Swavely[20]; 5. 747-Richie Hartman[3]; 6. 82-John Maurer[5]; 7. 19-Matt Fernsler[14]; 8. 48-Jonah Meck[12]; 9. 04-Jarrett Imler[4]; 10. 11R-Tommy Rinck[10]; 11. 39M-Austin Mieczkowski[22]; 12. 4-Dylan Pence[16]; 13. 1LX-Logan Hess[15]; 14. 8S-Mike Skias[24]; 15. 16X-Dan Lane Jr[18]; 16. 29J-Jacob Neff[19]; 17. 34-Christi Sweigart[17]; 18. 20-Lee Nardelli[6]; 19. 21D-Dave Williams[21]; 20. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[1]; 21. 96W-Chase Walker[9]; 22. 95-Jack Skelton[13]; 23. 6-Danial Boyer[23]; 24. 1J-Toby Blumenshine[11]
DNQ: 11H-Chason Hauck; 5-Bret Cronrath; 5A-Anthony Yerger; 81-Dylan Holmes; 8B-Braeden Locascio; 46R-James Miller; 35-Brian Jennings; 28S-Brian Sholley; 91-Brian Kramer
Points (Top 5) (After 3 of 15 Races):
1. 3-Nick Skias[280]; 2. 747-Richie Hartman[-10]; 3. 27O-Billy Logeman[-15]; 4. 82-John Maurer[-78]; 5. 48-Jonah Meck[-94]
Billy Logeman took the lead at the halfway mark and drove off to victory of Saturday night’s Border Magic 270 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman
Finishes of 16th and fourth was not quite how Brandon Heist had envisioned his 2025 Step Brother Concrete & Fence Sportsman campaign starting off, especially after a six-win championship season in 2024. But on Saturday night, the Jonestown native took advantage of some chaos around him and found the front with 11 laps to go to rip the monkey off his back and score his first win of the year.
The early portion of the race was fully controlled by Masen Stapleton, as the young driver was in search of his third career Sportsman win and led the first nine laps. Disaster struck on lap 10, however, as Stapleton hopped over the infield tires in turns 3 and 4 and tumbled upside down. Stapleton was okay, but the car was heavily damaged.
The lead was inherited by Mike Kreiser, looking for his first Sportsman win in five years. Kreiser led the next five circuits of the race, while Heist moved into second. Another caution and ensuing restart gave the No. 99 a chance to motor by on the high line, and Heist completed the outside pass to rip away the top spot.
Kreiser fell back into the clutches of Brent Shearer, and Shearer’s last-to-first effort came to a screeching halt when those two drivers made contact and crashed heavily on the backstretch with nine laps left.
That opened the door for Josh Stoyer and Corey Schmuck, Jr. to move up the running order, but neither driver was able to mount a challenge toward Heist over the closing laps. With a backup motor prepared by Dave Walter – who just so happened to be celebrating a birthday on Saturday night – the Jonestown native dashed to the finish line and won the A-Main by a margin of 3.540 seconds.
Stoyer and Schmuck, Jr. came home second and third, respectively. Max Fasnacht finished in fourth, and Dylan Pennypacker rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[4]; 2. 15-Josh Stoyer[8]; 3. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[9]; 4. 20-Max Fasnacht[2]; 5. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[6]; 6. 28-Kyle Lindsey[10]; 7. 21D-Dave Williams[12]; 8. 19-Wes Fasnacht[13]; 9. 54-Lisa Warren[7]; 10. 77-Michael Kreiser[3]; 11. 1J-Brent Shearer[11]; 12. 05-Evan Lawrence[14]; 13. 31-Tyler Martin[16]; 14. 17-Masen Stapleton[1]; 15. 30-Ryan Heckman[5]; 16. 21V-David Ravel[15]
Points (Top 5) (After 3 of 15 Races):
1. 20-Max Fasnacht[275]; 2. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[-5]; 3. 15-Josh Stoyer[-26]; 4. 28-Kyle Lindsey[-38]; 5. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[-41]
Defending Sportsman champion Brandon Heist found the front with 11 laps to go and grabbed the checkered flag in Saturday night’s Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman feature. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
125/4 Stroke
John Maurer entered Saturday night’s event going for a rare three-peat to start the season in the 125/4 Stroke class. But for at least this week, Maurer had to hand over the throne to Brent Shearer, who dominated the A-Main to bring last year’s championship-winning Harrington Motorsports No. 75 back to the winner’s circle.
Shearer converted a heat race win into pole position in the redraw for the feature, and pulled away from the pack in the early laps while Maurer tried to move through traffic from his sixth starting position.
It only took Maurer until lap 4 to move past Mike Coen and into the runner-up spot, but even once he got there, he was unable to mount a charge on the Shearer machine. The Manheim native pulled his lead up to multiple seconds, and despite working through some tough lapped traffic, Shearer was able to put it on cruise control for the final few laps of the feature, as he crossed the finish line 3.728 seconds ahead of Maurer.
Coen held off Seth Gregory in a photo finish for the third spot, and Trevor Waegel moved up from 12th to complete the top five.
Results:
1. 75-Brent Shearer[1]; 2. 82-John Maurer[6]; 3. 26C-Michael Coen[3]; 4. 14-Seth Gregory[5]; 5. 44S-Trevor Waegel[12]; 6. 04-Steve Simmons[7]; 7. 89-Rilynn Hannula[9]; 8. 3H-Corey Harting[10]; 9. 78C-Sara Borror[11]; 10. X-Dave Schroeder[16]; 11. 23-Asher Kempton[14]; 12. 15-Alyssa Holmes[13]; 13. 4W-Brandon Worthington[4]; 14. 19-Matt Fernsler[8]; 15. 112-Dylan Yeingst[2]; 16. 74-Paige Rothermel[15]
Points (Top 5) (After 3 of 15 Races):
1. 82-John Maurer[295]; 2. 14-Seth Gregory[-40]; 3. 26C-Michael Coen[-46]; 4. 75-Brent Shearer[-49]; 5. 89-Rilynn Hannula[-53]
Brent Shearer took the No. 75 into the winner’s circle in the 125/4 Stroke feature event. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway returns to competition next Saturday, May 17, with a regular points show for all five weekly divisions. Gates swing open at 4 p.m., with warmups and racing beginning at 5:30 p.m. For those unable to attend in person, all action will be live-streamed courtesy of The Cushion.