RACE RECAP (5/24/2025): Shearer Gets Last Laugh in Pistol Pete Duel at the Clyde

By Kasey Kreider

(Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)

“The one that got away.”

It’s a phrase that applies to every great race car driver and team at some point over the course of their racing journey. It’s what happens when a driver comes so close to triumph, so close to a crown-jewel, career-defining victory, only for it to slip out of their grasp. In most ordinary circumstances, “the one that got away” from a driver never comes back to them. And even more rarely does the opportunity present itself to make amends for the devastating loss on the very next night.

But there was nothing ordinary about this weekend, this race, and this Saturday night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. A tribute race nine months in the making came to fruition on Memorial Day weekend in honor of one of the best to ever strap into a micro sprint, “Pistol” Pete Skias. Thanks to incredible efforts by the Skias family, friends, and several sponsors and supporters, both nights of the inaugural Pistol Pete Duels featured massive purses – with a hefty $3,008 prize going to the winner. The drivers showed up as well, with over 70 entries competing each night of the two-day event. And after coming dramatically close to scoring the win on Friday night at the Linda’s Speedway, it was Manheim’s Brent Shearer rising above the rest to claim victory at the Clyde, capturing the emotional win that had cruelly eluded him less than 24 hours prior.

Border Magic 270 (Pistol Pete Duel)

The first night of the Pistol Pete Duels at the Linda’s Speedway had been nearly flawless for Brent Shearer. Across the county at the Jonestown quarter-mile, Shearer timed fastest of all entries in qualifying, won his heat race, and despite starting fifth in the A-Main, he worked his way into the lead with 11 laps remaining. A seemingly sure victory was undone by a burnt piston with a lap and a half to go, giving the opportunity for Jason Swavely to seize the inaugural Pistol Pete Duel A-Main win.

But after the speed of Friday night, and the history of past success at the Clyde, Shearer still entered the Saturday night portion of the show as one of the favorites. He proved why right off the bat in time trials, laying down the quickest lap of cars in Flight B with a 10.652-second time.

Unlike Friday however, Shearer’s lap wasn’t the fastest overall. That honor instead went to Chris Dolan, who clocked in with a 10.593-second lap in Flight A to pace all 74 entries for the Saturday night finale.

Eight heat races came next, with each one locking two drivers into the A-Main, while each heat race winner made their way to “The Last Draw.” Dolan and Shearer both backed up their speed from time trials and turned that into heat race victories. The other heats were won by Josh Stoyer – driving one of the Chuck Skias Viper No. 3’s – Billy Logeman, Richie Hartman, Joe Dopke, Tommy Kunsman, and Alex Swift.

Those eight competitors then squared off in one final time trial session to determine where each would start in the feature. Through seven drivers, Shearer was quickest of the bunch with a time of 11.066 seconds. But on the last lap of “The Last Draw,” Bridgeport, NJ’s Alex Swift shot the Johnny Blanda Racing No. 15 to the top of the pylon, stopping the watch with an 11.007-second circuit.

Swift’s statement lap earned him pole position for the 28-car, 30-lap finale of the Pistol Pete Duels, with Shearer placed on his outside and other fast challengers littered all throughout the star-studded field.

The 28-car starting field for the inaugural Pistol Pete Duel at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway lined up on the frontstretch prior to pushing off for the 30-lap feature. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)

But the hunger from Shearer was evident from the moment that Jo Skias waved the green flag over the thundering field of 270s. As Swift cleared the No. 1x off of turn 4, Shearer immediately went for the crossover to get to the inside of Swift’s machine entering turn 1. Shearer stuffed it in but slid in front, and would pace the field as they completed the opening lap of competition.

But an intense battle waged on throughout the entire first half of the feature. Shearer and Swift found themselves settling into two completely different grooves, with Shearer hammering the top side of the racetrack while Swift wrapped around the infield tires. The drivers were nearly dead even on the stopwatch while motoring on in their respective grooves, with Shearer’s biggest advantage only growing to about three car lengths, and Swift then beginning to reel him back in.

Brent Shearer (No. 1x) and Alex Swift (No. 15) battled for victory of the inaugural Pistol Pete Duel at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday night. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)

When Dolan blew up from the third position on lap 18, perhaps the most pivotal and feisty restart of the race was what followed. After coming close on the few restarts that had proceeded, Swift finally stuck a slide job on Shearer through turns 1 and 2 to momentarily grab the advantage. Swift attempted to cover the bottom down the backstretch, but Shearer’s run was too strong. The two drivers banged wheels entering turn 3, but held onto their machines as Shearer ripped the lead back.

Swift made one more effort to get back to the inside down the frontstretch, but had to back out as Shearer defended the line into turn 1. Once getting clear and regaining firm control of the race, Shearer made the decisive move to commit to the bottom groove of the track, directly in front of where Swift had been running. That move was the one that clinched victory, as despite a last-ditch effort from Swift, the No. 15 could never draw closer than two car lengths off of Shearer’s tail tank as they chased the checkered flag.

The driver nicknamed “Hotrod” flamed across the finish line aboard the Jake Dupler-owned No. 1x RTS Chassis, completing a wire-to-wire performance with a margin of victory of 0.447 seconds over Swift in second.

Billy Logeman came home for third, picking up his second podium finish in as many nights in Mike Rutherford’s No. 27o. John Maurer had an impressive outing to come home fourth, and Bradley Brown drove from 13th to fifth aboard Megan Skias’ No. 88M.

Both Nick and Mike Skias qualified for Saturday’s A-Main, but neither driver was able to finish the race, as Mike pulled in early with a mechanical problem and Nick was involved in a mid-race flip. However, Josh Stoyer brought home the other No. 3 Viper Chassis for Chuck Skias with a 10th-place result.

Results:

1. 1X-Brent Shearer[2]; 2. 15-Alex Swift[1]; 3. 27O-Billy Logeman[5]; 4. 82-John Maurer[9]; 5. 88M-Bradley Brown[13]; 6. 4R-Brandon Heist Sr[15]; 7. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[7]; 8. 747-Richie Hartman[4]; 9. 08G-Austin Graby[20]; 10. 3X-Josh Stoyer[6]; 11. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[18]; 12. 41-Mike Boyer[19]; 13. 14-Mason McAndrew[23]; 14. 1LX-Dave Labe[14]; 15. 71-Joseph Dopke[8]; 16. 24-Dustin Roberts[27]; 17. 28S-Brian Sholley[25]; 18. 4X-Ross Perchak[11]; 19. 08X-Cameron Bellinger[22]; 20. 7D-Chris Dolan[3]; 21. 3-Nick Skias[21]; 22. 92-Jason Swavely[28]; 23. 16P-Pat Bealer[17]; 24. 27T-Tyler Grau[16]; 25. 11R-Tommy Rinck[12]; 26. 21W-Darren Schott[26]; 27. 20-Cory Myers[10]; 28. 8S-Mike Skias[24]

DNQ: 5-Bret Cronrath; 4-Dylan Pence; 23K-Courtney Kupp; 32-Michael Hoffmaster; 11X-Chase Roberts; 29J-Jacob Neff; 6-Danial Boyer; 25D-CJ Davis; 77-Michael Kreiser; 77G-Isaac Graby; 3WX-Parker Lucas; 34-Christi Sweigart; 23B-Chase Bouchelle; 2X-Dylan Pennypacker; 78-Cole Williams; 21D-Dave Williams; 04-Jarrett Imler; 19-Matt Fernsler; 77S-Ben Stolz; 11H-Chason Hauck; 08-Jason Paisley; 11S-Josh Anderson; 11-Mike Uhrich; 12W-Dominic Pomponi; 16T-Nick Walton; 99K-Chad Kreiser; 39M-Austin Mieczkowski; 1L-Logan Hess; 91-Brian Kramer; 44E-Trevor Waegel; 13-Bella Betts; 0-Charles Chance III; 81-Dylan Holmes; 16X-Dan Lane Jr; 88-Nolan Higgins; 31-Tyler Martin; 3W-Matt Wilson; 1J-Toby Blumenshine; 3A-Ava Bellinger; 46R-James Miller; 25S-Jarid Kunkle; 30-Ryan Heckman; 94-Dallas Sanders; 5A-Anthony Yerger; 96W-Chase Walker; 78C-Sara Borror

Brent Shearer stood in jubilation after scoring the victory in the Pistol Pete Duel A-Main at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)

Brent Shearer picked up the $3,008 check for winning the first-ever Pistol Pete Duel at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday night. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)

Hyper Racing Wingless 600

With 42 entries on Saturday night, the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s also found themselves running for a nice chunk of change, with $1,000 to the A-Main winner. The driver picking up the checkers was Bethlehem, PA’s Tommy Kunsman, who was in town to race with the 270 but ended up sweeping the weekend between Linda’s and Lanco in Wingless 600 competition.

In a classic Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway slider-fest with nearly every car in the field ripping the lip against the guardrail, most of the race was controlled by polesitter James Fries, who seemed well on his way to picking up back-to-back Hyper Racing Wingless 600 wins after breaking through for his first-career triumph two weeks earlier.

The Bally driver separated himself from the pack while the racing was frantic behind him. Eventually, Kunsman, along with Marty Brian, Christian Bruno, and Steven Snyder, Jr. all began tracking him down, with Gunnar Pio arriving to the scene soon after.

Brian moved into second position after a lap 10 restart, and tracked down Fries as the laps wound inside 10 to go, with Kunsman, Bruno, and Snyder, Jr. fighting for positioning behind him. Brian’s first slider for the lead came with nine laps left heading through turns 3 and 4, but Fries was ready and countered it. Disaster almost struck in the next set of turns, as Brian went for the move once again, but couldn’t clear and pounded into the side of the Fries machine. Fries continued on with the lead, but Brian fell to seventh as he attempted to regain his momentum.

With his main challenger out of contention for the win, Fries was setting sail with just a few laps left. But lady luck dealt a bad hand when Jacob Lynch got sideways in the top of turns 1 and 2 as Fries was coming up to lap him. The two drivers made significant contact as Lynch spun around, and with heavy damage to the No. 1F, Fries was forced to retire from the race with just three laps remaining.

That put Kunsman out in front, with Bruno and the hard-charging Pio directly behind him. Another quick caution set the stage for a green-white-checkered finish, and Bruno kept himself close enough to the back of the No. 21K to try one last hail mary slider into turn 3 on the race’s final lap. But Kunsman was able to anticipate and pull the crossover move, winning the drag race back to the finish line for his first Lanco win in almost five years.

Bruno came home with second while Pio ran third. Snyder, Jr. completed his first 2025 race at the Clyde in fourth, and Brian rebounded for a fifth-place effort.

Results:

1. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[2]; 2. 5-Christian Bruno[9]; 3. 28P-Gunnar Pio[10]; 4. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[11]; 5. 16-Marty Brian[6]; 6. 3B-Dallas Damask[4]; 7. 2L-Luke Hess[19]; 8. 08-Dominic Schmidt[5]; 9. 34-Abel Engler[24]; 10. 19-Jasper Zeigafuse[13]; 11. 4-Ryan Rochelle[18]; 12. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[12]; 13. 71-Brian Kramer[22]; 14. 30$-Dominic Foster[16]; 15. 90-Trent Warner[23]; 16. 22H-Fred Heinly[14]; 17. 62-Jacob Lynch[21]; 18. 03-Ryan Groff[15]; 19. 1F-James Fries[1]; 20. 80-Bobby Butler[3]; 21. 14X-Cole Gerber[20]; 22. 91-Nate Freed[7]; 23. 98-Matt Warner[8]; 24. 29-Alex Bright[17]

DNQ: 11H-Holden Eckman; 09-Vincent Gueci; 9X-Connor Mirabelli; 3L-Nolen Layser; 7J-Jimmy Glenn; 2-Jakob Stitzel; 5J-Jason Sechrist; 4J-Julian Rexrode; 39M-Austin Mieczkowski; 90X-PJ Reid; 12S-Brianna Snyder; 75X-James Hendricks; 33C-Matthew Chowns; 10L-Lukas Kostic; 3Y-Zachary Young; 15H-Don Hess; 9W-Weston Doklan; 11R-Steven Drevicki

Tommy Kunsman scored his first Lanco win since July of 2020 in Saturday night’s $1,000-to-win Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)

125/4 Stroke

After tasting triumph in the Pistol Pete Duel for the Border Magic 270s, Brent Shearer decided to put the icing on the cake in Saturday evening’s nightcap, as he claimed his second consecutive win aboard the Harrington Motorsports No. 75 in the 125/4 Stroke feature.

Two-time 2025 Airport Speedway feature winner David Kirkner led the field to green and put together a really impressive night in one of his first outings at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. Kirkner led Shearer for the first 10 laps of the A-Main event before the only caution of the race waved on lap 11.

On that restart, Shearer executed another perfect high-to-low move coming out of turn 4, and a with a maneuver much like the one that got him the lead in the 270s, Shearer took the advantage and cruised off to victory from there. The No. 75 crossed the finish line nearly four seconds ahead of Kirkner when the feature event was all said and done.

Behind the top two came Pat Bealer with a third-place finish. Asher Kempton had the best result of his rookie season to date with a fourth, and Seth Gregory finished off the top five.

Results:

1. 75-Brent Shearer[5]; 2. 24K-David Kirkner[1]; 3. 76-Pat Bealer[2]; 4. 23-Asher Kempton[4]; 5. 14-Seth Gregory[6]; 6. 04-Steve Simmons[7]; 7. 15-Alyssa Holmes[10]; 8. 3H-Corey Harting[9]; 9. X-Kerry Lengle[11]; 10. 19-Matt Fernsler[8]; 11. 75X-Justin Harrington[3]; 12. 112-Dylan Yeingst[12]

Brent Shearer picked up his second win of the night in Saturday’s 125/4 Stroke feature at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)

The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway returns Saturday, May 31 for a jam-packed night of racing. A points-paying show will feature all five weekly divisions back in action, while the Border Magic 270s and the 125/4 Strokes will run their makeup events from May 17. With a total of seven features scheduled for next Saturday, the start time for warmups has been moved up to 5 p.m., with gates opening at 3:30 p.m. For those who are unable to attend in person, live streaming coverage will be provided courtesy of The Cushion.