By Kasey Kreider
(Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photography)
It seemed only fitting in a year where Mother Nature had already captured so many victories that in the Clyde Martin Memorial Race – the most prestigious event of the season for member drivers – she would add another one to the trophy case, at least for the next few weeks.
But one of Saturday night’s scheduled 35-lap, double-point feature events was able to beat the precipitation, and there would be no raining on the parade for Jonestown’s Brandon Heist. As the defending Sportsman champion and a two-time winner of the Labor Day Shootout, Heist completed the Lanco “triple crown” of sorts, dominating the competition to claim his first win in “the granddaddy of them all.”
Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman
After inheriting a front-row starting position at the initial start of the race, Brandon Heist took the lead on the second lap and never looked back on his way to his third win of the Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman season, and his first triumph in the Clyde Martin Memorial Race.
Heist was gridded to roll off in the fourth position for the start of the Sportsman’s longest A-Main of the year. But after a messy start on the first attempt to get the feature underway, both polesitter Justin Harrington and outside polesitter Wes Fasnacht were called for start violations, leading to a complete flip-flop of the first two rows.
That moved Heist to the outside of the front row, with Tyler Martin leading the pack to green for attempt number two. Martin paced the opening circuit, but Heist quickly dove low entering turn 1 just as the first lap was being completed. The pass was easily finished down into the corner, and from there Heist set sail while the rest of the pack scrambled for spots second on back.
Harrington eventually moved past Martin and back to second, while Corey Schmuck, Jr. methodically picked off cars to climb from seventh to third. But by the time the caution flag flew on lap 28, Heist had opened up a lead of over seven seconds – more than half the track – over the rest of the field.
The lone restart with eight laps left had no impact on the result at the front, as Heist cruised away to an ultimate margin of victory of 3.734 seconds over the runner-up Harrington.
With his third-place finish, Corey Schmuck, Jr. inched closer toward claiming his first Lanco championship, as he ballooned the points lead to 113 – more than a full race – over second-place Kyle Lindsey with five races left on the schedule. Ryan Heckman finished a strong fourth in Saturday night’s 35-lapper, and Mike Kreiser rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[4]; 2. 1J-Justin Harrington[1]; 3. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[6]; 4. 30-Ryan Heckman[8]; 5. 77-Michael Kreiser[5]; 6. 31-Tyler Martin[3]; 7. 17-Masen Stapleton[7]; 8. 28-Kyle Lindsey[10]; 9. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[12]; 10. 21V-David Ravel[11]; 11. 77J-Jade Smith[15]; 12. 21D-Dave Williams[13]; 13. 8-Michael Spadafora[14]; 14. 19-Wes Fasnacht[2]; 15. 20-Max Fasnacht[9]
Points (Top 5) (After 8 of 13 Races):
1. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[784]; 2. 28-Kyle Lindsey[-113]; 3. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[-116]; 4. 20-Max Fasnacht[-122]; 5. 77-Michael Kreiser[-124]
Brandon Heist (No. 99) set a torrid pace during Saturday night’s Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman A-Main, scoring his first victory in the Clyde Martin Memorial Race. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photography)
After the conclusion of the Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman A-Main, a heavy shower passed over the speedway, dumping rain on the track for the better part of the next hour. Despite a valiant effort from Joey Kepple and the track crew – which saw the track nearly ready for competition again just past 10 p.m. – water weeping from under the guardrail and running onto the track surface prevented the possibility for safe racing conditions to be maintained. Therefore, the remaining events for the evening were postponed. The EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600s and the Gretna Graphics 125/4 Strokes will run their Clyde Martin Memorial Races as makeup features on Aug. 16, while the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s and the Border Magic 270s will contest their events on Aug. 23.
The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway takes its final scheduled off week of the season next Saturday, Aug. 2. But action returns with one of the most anticipated shows of the year on Saturday, Aug. 9, as the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota will come to town for the finale of Appalachian Midget Week. Defending Lanco winner and Appalachian Midget Week champion Chase McDermand, last year’s series champ Cannon McIntosh, and current points leader Jacob Denney will lead the crop of national midget contenders into Newmanstown for the fourth and final race of the week-long mini-series in Pennsylvania. Joining the Midgets as the support classes will be the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s and the Junior Sprints. For kids in attendance, the Kids In Dirt Club will be running a backpack giveaway as part of “Back to School Night.” Gates will open for general admission at 3 p.m., with cars scheduled to be on track at 6 p.m. General grandstand admission for the event is $25, and for those unable to attend in-person, live streaming coverage will be provided courtesy of DIRTVision.