By Kasey Kreider
(Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway/Facebook)
While the Wingless Night of the Labor Day Shootout often takes well-deserved attention for the wild thrills and hair-raising moments that define the greatest racing weekend of the year, Saturday night once again spotlighted that the Winged cars are plenty capable of producing intense, hold-your-breath racing of their own. The Winged Night of the Shootout presented by Germania Band Club of Manheim saw “edge-of-your seat” racing all night long, with an instant-classic of an EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 A-Main highlighting the night.
In that event, “The Rocketman” Jason Swavely scored his second Shootout win in the past three years, coming out on top of a dramatic battle with Christian Bruno and Aidan Turner. Swavely would also go on to take the win in the Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman class later in the evening, marking the Fleetwood native’s 12th Shootout win all-time. In the Border Magic 270s, Bridgeport, NJ’s Alex Swift finally broke through for his biggest Lanco triumph to date, winning the Shootout for the first time. And the Gretna Graphics 125/4 Strokes saw a first-time Shootout winner as well, but it was no surprise to those who have been following the class all season, as John Maurer backed up his Clyde Martin Memorial win a few weeks back with an inaugural Labor Day Shootout victory.
EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600
For much of Saturday night, 2022 Shootout winner Christian Bruno seemed to be the driver to beat in EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 competition, as the Deptford, NJ native was fastest among all entries in time trials and picked pole position in the redraw to put his No. 5 at the front. But storming to the front in the late stages was Jason Swavely, as the two-time track champion marched up from 10th position, took the lead with a crafty move on a green-white-checkered restart, and held on through a frantic dash to the finish line.
At the outset of the 30-lap A-Main, it was Bruno and North Carolina native Aidan Turner who established themselves as the clear frontrunners and seemingly the favorites for victory. Once Turner got to the runner-up position on a lap 8 restart, he began to track Bruno down on the high side during a long green-flag run.
Turner pulled his first two sliders on Bruno just past the halfway mark, but Bruno had a counter each time, albeit with only inches to spare as the close-quarters racing continued. A caution with 12 laps to go got the leaders out of lapped traffic, but didn’t slow Turner in his pursuit to make the move for the lead. As the next run played out, Turner took one more swipe at the Deptford, NJ native with eight to go, but Bruno once again maintained command, while Swavely darted into the third position and had the two leaders in sight.
A caution with six to go set up one last double-file restart, and the veteran Swavely was there to capitalize, as he pounced on Turner to grab the runner-up spot. However, Bruno still looked to be on his way to a win with a four-car length advantage before the caution lights flickered on once more with two laps left.
On the single-file restart that ensued, Bruno crawled the bottom line through turns 3 and 4 off the initial jump, while Swavely – later admitting it was only chance to snatch the win away – ripped around the guardrail instead. That proved to be a critical decision, as Swavely had more than enough steam to throw a big slider into the first corner. Bruno had to shift from offense to defense, and after crossing the No. 5 car over in the next set of turns, Swavely led at the white-flag lap.
Things went from bad to worse for Bruno on the bell lap, as he and Kyle Lick made contact jostling for a podium position down into turn 1, breaking the front end of Bruno’s mount and bringing out one last caution flag. On the final one-lap dash, Swavely led Turner and Lick around the top groove on the restart, and neither driver could get a run on the No. 14 RTS Chassis as he sprinted to his second Winged 600 Shootout win in the last three years.
Turner continued his impressive “mini-season” in Pennsylvania with a runner-up finish, while Lick’s drive to third came all the way from a B-Main and 17th on the starting grid. Not to be outdone, Dominic Schmidt drove from 18th to finish fourth, and Ryan Groff capped off the top five finishers.
Results:
1. 14-Jason Swavely[10]; 2. 26T-Aidan Turner[5]; 3. 11Z-Kyle Lick[17]; 4. 08-Dominic Schmidt[18]; 5. 3-Ryan Groff[4]; 6. 23-Bradley Brown[7]; 7. 51-Chris Gerhart[11]; 8. 97-Billy Logeman[15]; 9. 00-Pat Kelly[8]; 10. 09-Vincent Gueci[13]; 11. 10L-Lukas Kostic[24]; 12. 96-Zach Jurcik[19]; 13. 8W-Jayden Wagner[3]; 14. 16T-Trevor Gach[6]; 15. 11H-Holden Eckman[2]; 16. 13C-Maverick Coffey[20]; 17. 01M-Aden Myers[22]; 18. 9-Joe Kepple[23]; 19. 5-Christian Bruno[1]; 20. 16-Marty Brian[21]; 21. 20S-Nick Skias[9]; 22. 28P-Gunnar Pio[14]; 23. 15P-Christopher Panczner[16]; 24. 71-Brian Kramer[12]; 25. 14K-RJ Kingdollar[25]; 26. 99-Kaden Wenger[26]
DNQ: 5A-Anthony Yerger; 15D-Matthew Donley; 1F-James Fries; 73-Andrew Rothermel; 15Q-Quinn Llewellyn; 75R-Brevan Rothermel; 44-Blake Ludwig; 41-Eddie Mort; 17E-Easton Miller; 63C-Cole Thompson; 05-Corey Waegel; 21-Mason Beinhower; 95-Mike Austin; 39M-Austin Mieczkowski; 26-Corey Schmuck Jr
Jason Swavely made the race-winning pass on a restart with two laps remaining to score his second Labor Day Shootout win in the EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600s. (Photo Courtesy of Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway/Facebook)
Border Magic 270
Despite all his success racing throughout New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, success at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway had been hard to come by for Alex Swift, at least until recent years. Two years ago, Swift scored the victory in the Clyde Martin Memorial Race for the Border Magic 270 class. And on Saturday night, the Bridgeport, NJ native added another jewel to the crown, scoring his first-career Labor Day Shootout win aboard the Johnny Blanda Racing No. 15.
Swift’s night started by setting quick-time among the 42 entries signed in for competition, and after qualifying through the heat race, Swift made the redraw and put his machine on pole for the 30-lapper.
The importance of that pole position was quickly realized, as a massive nine-car pileup triggered right behind Swift involved many contending cars, including Pistol Pete Duels winner Brent Shearer and two-time defending Shootout winner Jason Swavely.
While that “big one” slowed the action early, the race eventually settled into a rhythm, and Swift was comfortably in control. Despite most of the rest of the field running the top groove of the track, nobody was as quick as Swift soldiering on around the bottom.
With only one caution flag falling after two on the initial lap, Swift had to spend a decent chunk of the race navigating lapped traffic. Even though the bottom was his bread and butter, Swift had enough maneuverability to work the top side as well, and runner-up Pat Kelly never got close enough to mount a substantial charge.
By 1.927 seconds at the finish, Swift claimed his biggest Lanco win to date ahead of the New York native Kelly. Shearer drove from the back up to the podium after his first-lap incident, while 2021 Shootout winner Nick Skias and John Maurer completed the top five.
Results:
1. 15-Alex Swift[1]; 2. 00-Pat Kelly[8]; 3. 1A-Brent Shearer[3]; 4. 3-Nick Skias[14]; 5. 82-John Maurer[2]; 6. 42-Bob Sawdey[7]; 7. 16T-Nick Walton[9]; 8. 25S-Jarid Kunkle[11]; 9. 1LX-Dave Labe[19]; 10. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[15]; 11. 4-Dylan Pence[13]; 12. 71-Joseph Dopke[24]; 13. 16X-Dan Lane Jr[16]; 14. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[17]; 15. 34-Christi Sweigart[26]; 16. 747-Richie Hartman[10]; 17. 08G-Brandon Gibble[22]; 18. 77G-Austin Graby[5]; 19. 11X-Josh Anderson[23]; 20. 1L-Logan Hess[12]; 21. 14-Daniel Wright Jr[18]; 22. 1J-Toby Blumenshine[20]; 23. 5W-Darren Miller[21]; 24. 8S-Mike Skias[25]; 25. 48-Jonah Meck[4]; 26. 92-Jason Swavely[6]
DNQ: 96W-Chase Walker; 29J-Jacob Neff; 94-Dallas Sanders; 10A-Anthony Yerger; 11R-Tommy Rinck; 46R-Tyler Grau; 21D-Dave Williams; 22L-Kevin Locascio; 58N-Ella Rae Nardelli; 74-Dave Falini; 39M-Austin Mieczkowski; 1X-Josh Bricker; 11H-Chason Hauck; 23B-Chase Bouchelle; 65H-Mackenzie Hixon; 11-Mike Uhrich
Alex Swift put the Johnny Blanda Racing No. 15 in the winner’s circle at the end of Saturday’s Labor Day Shootout for the Border Magic 270s. (Photo Courtesy of Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway/Facebook)
Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman
With a win in the Winged 600s already under his belt, Jason Swavely decided to double-up in Saturday’s Labor Day Shootout A-Main for the Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman. Running a new car out of the stable for Mike Rice, Swavely put together a perfect night, sweeping time trials, the heat race, and the feature for his fifth Shootout win in the Sportsman division.
The end result was never in much question, as Swavely’s flawless run through preliminary action put him in prime position to draw the pole for the feature. With the spiffy No. 2x lining up at the front, Swavely’s run in the 30-lap feature was more like a Saturday night joyride, as he cruised to the win over two seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
For Swavely, the victory was his fifth in the Sportsman edition of the Labor Day Shootout, but his first in that class since 2018. Adding onto his Winged 600 win from earlier in the night, Swavely’s Sportsman win was his 12th Labor Day Shootout triumph across all divisions.
2020 Shootout winner Bret Cronrath finished in second, as he continued his strong efforts in a return to the Sportsman division. An issue in time trials put two-time Shootout winner and defending track champion Brandon Heist behind the eight ball, but the driver of the No. 99 still rallied from 10th to claim third. Tommy Rinck bounced back from a mid-race spin to take fourth, and Dave Ravel brought home the final spot in the top five.
Results:
1. 2X-Jason Swavely[1]; 2. 5-Bret Cronrath[4]; 3. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[10]; 4. 88M-Tommy Rinck[6]; 5. 21V-David Ravel[12]; 6. 75-Justin Harrington[7]; 7. 19-Matt Fernsler[13]; 8. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[5]; 9. 0-Charles Chance III[3]; 10. 28A-Alan Durham[14]; 11. 31-Tyler Martin[19]; 12. 15-Bradley Brown[2]; 13. 1J-Brent Shearer[21]; 14. 22J-Jonathan Hellinger[16]; 15. 17-Masen Stapleton[18]; 16. 5A-Anthony Yerger[11]; 17. 28-Austin Graby[9]; 18. 18-Dylan Devault[8]; 19. 44E-Trevor Waegel[20]; 20. 9R-Mason Ruffner[23]; 21. 21D-Dave Williams[17]; 22. 25X-Daniel Lane Jr[15]; 23. 31M-Noah Merkey[22]
Jason Swavely won his second Labor Day Shootout of the night in Saturday’s 30-lap A-Main for the Step Brothers Concrete & Fence Sportsman division. (Photo Courtesy of Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway/Facebook)
Gretna Graphics 125/4 Stroke
After clicking off five straight wins the Gretna Graphics 125/4 Strokes, some self-diagnosed motor issues had kept John Maurer out of victory lane for the past couple of weeks leading into Saturday’s Winged Labor Day Shootout. But with the problems resolved, the No. 82 looked back up to snuff for the Fleetwood native, and Maurer made an early-race move for the lead to take an advantage that he would never relinquish en route to his first Labor Day Shootout victory.
While Maurer was the quickest driver overall in time trials, he would roll off third for the 30-lap feature trailing David Kirkner and Asher Kempton, who were both looking for their first-ever wins at the Clyde.
The Delaware native Kirkner controlled the pace of the race in the early laps, while Maurer had to battle with Mike Coen and Trevor Waegel to keep his track position. After some early restarts, Maurer eventually worked back into the third spot, and then set off after the two young guns ahead of him.
Maurer used the bottom of turn 2 to slip under Kempton for second on the fifth lap. Then a few circuits later, Maurer got a good drive off of turn 4 to move inside of Kirkner and take the top spot away down into turn 1.
Once getting to the lead, Maurer was dominant, as he was able to lap all but the top eight cars during a long green-flag stint. Even with a caution coming with four laps remaining, Maurer still was able to open up a margin of victory of 2.787 seconds over the run to the checkers.
The last restart did see a change for second, as Kempton motored past Kirkner and grabbed his first Lanco podium in style with a runner-up finish. Kirkner still held on for third – an effort made more impressive considering his limited laps at the speedway. Trevor Waegel racked up another good run with fourth, and Seth Gregory finished off the top five.
Results:
1. 82-John Maurer[3]; 2. 23-Asher Kempton[2]; 3. 24K-David Kirkner[1]; 4. 44S-Trevor Waegel[6]; 5. 14-Seth Gregory[8]; 6. 19-Matt Fernsler[14]; 7. 26C-Michael Coen[5]; 8. 04-Steve Simmons[12]; 9. X-Dave Schroeder[7]; 10. 3H-Corey Harting[9]; 11. 112-Dylan Yeingst[11]; 12. 13S-Blaire Shoenly[13]; 13. 89-Rilynn Hannula[15]; 14. 15-Mitchell Gibson[17]; 15. 17-Aspen Groff[19]; 16. 74-Paige Rothermel[21]; 17. 3H2-Holly Harting[16]; 18. 9-James Miller[18]; 19. 76-Brent Shearer[10]; 20. 18-Dylan Devault[4]; 21. 78C-Justin Harrington[20]
John Maurer picked up his first Labor Day Shootout win in Saturday night’s event for the Gretna Graphics 125/4 Strokes. (Photo Courtesy of Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway/Facebook)
The Labor Day Shootout continues into Sunday, Aug. 31 with the always entertaining Wingless Night at the Clyde. The Hyper Racing Wingless 600s will be joined by rare wingless appearances from the Border Magic 270s and the Gretna Graphics 125/4 Strokes. Drivers in those classes will also be competing to earn points and bonus prize money in the Winged/Wingless Challenge as part of this year’s Shootout. Also competing on Sunday night will be the Junior Sprints, as they contest their inaugural Clash at the Clyde. Gates open at 3 p.m., with group time trials kicking off the on-track action at 5 p.m. General grandstand admission remains at $10, and for those unable to attend in-person, live streaming coverage will be provided courtesy of The Cushion.