By Kasey Kreider
(Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
To say that the racing on Saturday night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway was exciting doesn’t quite cover it. Simply put, the stars and cars of the Newmanstown bullring put on a show across five divisions of competition at the racetrack. The established champions and veterans of the speedway reminded the race fans – and their fellow competitors – of what makes them so good. And it’s fair to say some new stars were born as well, shining bright under the lights while making daring maneuvers and carving across the clay.
Bradley Brown bested a hungry Matt Warner and the rest of a stout field of cars to score the win of a wildly entertaining EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 feature. That race was perhaps only outdone by the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s in a 25-lap A-Main that went down as an instant classic. When the top three drivers all crashed on the final lap, Luke Hess seized the opportunity and grabbed his first Lanco win. Brent Shearer put an end to Nick Skias’ winning streak in the Border Magic 270s – but not before a great battle for the win. Former champions Billy Logeman and Bret Cronrath duked it out in the Yeti Fence Sportsmans, with Logeman coming out on top. And Justin Harrington continued his return to championship form with his second triumph of the season in the Gretna Graphics 125/4 Strokes.
EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600
Racing amongst the largest car count of the season so far in the EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 class, “The Highsider” Bradley Brown got sweet redemption for the heartbreaking loss two weeks prior and claimed his fourth win of 2026 in the class. But the pilot of the Reanimated Art Tattoo Studio No. 23 RTS Chassis had to earn his money on Saturday night, fending off fierce charges from Jason Swavely and Matt Warner to hold on for the win.
The race began with a 15-lap green-flag run that saw Brown control things all the way from his pole position start. The racing behind him was great, as young gun Easton Loomis battled amongst Brian Kramer and Dominic Schmidt for the second spot.
When the first yellow flag finally flew with 10 laps to go, things got kicked up a notch courtesy of the three-time defending track champion Jason Swavely – who was also in search of his third win in a row. Swavely had a restart that was nothing short of bonkers, as he blasted around the top of the speedway – barely fitting his car outside of a few others – to go from eighth to third in the span of just a lap.
The next crucial moment came on a lap 18 restart, when this time it was Schmidt who shot out of a cannon from the outside of the second row. But he and Loomis came together under the flagstand, sending Loomis’ No. 9E spinning and out of contention for the win.
Loomis’ misfortune moved Swavely up to second, and he gave Brown a run for his money on a restart with six laps to go, but was unable to clear the No. 23 down into turn 1. Bad luck struck Swavely with just two circuits remaining, as his No. 14 snapped a rear axle and came to a stop on the frontstretch.
The driver that had put himself in position to capitalize was Warner, as he had aggressively – yet methodically – moved his way from 10th starting spot up to second for the green-white-checkered restart. Warner had a few cracks at the 2024 track champion, and looked as if he may have made the race-winning move on the second of what turned out to be three restarts before it was called back by the yellow. But on the decisive third and final restart, Brown built up just enough of an advantage to keep Warner from executing a clean pass for the win.
Exorcising the demons from a loss on May 16 when Brown blew a water line off his car on the final lap and spun out, this time the Ephrata native withstood the rash of late restarts to score his third points-paying win of 2026, giving him back the lead in the championship standings. Brown got to celebrate in victory lane – even paying tribute to the late Kyle Busch with a trademark “Rowdy bow.”
Looking for his first win at the Clyde, Warner attempted to make a move on Brown in each of the last two sets of turns, but ultimately had to settle for second. Meanwhile, Schmidt made his first Winged start of the season a successful one, as he rounded out the podium in third. Chris Gerhart and Brent Ely each motored from row six at the drop of the green flag to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
Results:
1. 23-Bradley Brown[1]; 2. 98-Matthew Warner[10]; 3. 08-Dominic Schmidt[6]; 4. 51-Chris Gerhart[12]; 5. 17-Brent Ely[11]; 6. 09-Vincent Gueci[15]; 7. 71-Brian Kramer[3]; 8. 75R-Brevan Rothermel[14]; 9. 9E-Easton Loomis[2]; 10. 11R-Tommy Rinck[13]; 11. 43-Caleb Scarborough[8]; 12. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[16]; 13. 11X-Logan Falini[20]; 14. 73-Andrew Rothermel[17]; 15. 82-Rayce Martin[4]; 16. 14-Jason Swavely[9]; 17. 707-Jax Wittmer[22]; 18. 32D-Donny Smith[19]; 19. 28-Charlie Allaband[18]; 20. 90-Trent Warner[7]; 21. 11H-Holden Eckman[21]; 22. 15P-Christopher Panczner[5]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 16 Races):
1. 23-Bradley Brown[554]; 2. 17-Brent Ely[-9]; 3. 51-Chris Gerhart[-61]; 4. 71-Brian Kramer[-93]; 5. 14-Jason Swavely[-132]
Bradley Brown posed in victory lane with Miss South Central PA — Taelor Martin — after scoring the win of Saturday night’s EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Hyper Racing Wingless 600
It was hard not to be awestruck at the conclusion of Saturday night’s 25-lapper for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600s. In a race that featured four different leaders, eight lead changes – with those just being the ones that were recorded at the start-finish line – and an ending that you had to see to believe, Luke Hess utilized both luck and skill to park his E.S.P. Concrete Pumping No. 2L Hyper Chassis in Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway victory lane for the very first time.
Hess started from the outside pole, and made the pass on a wounded Brent Shearer car for the top spot on a lap 3 restart. Hess set the pace for the next few trips around the clay, but had challengers in the form of Cole Gerber and, eventually, defending track champion Dominic Schmidt.
On lap 6, Schmidt had a big restart, allowing him to pull a slider through turns 1 and 2 and grab the top spot from the third position. Although Hess briefly battled back, it was Schmidt who led the pack for the next seven laps. Meanwhile, Matt Warner moved his way into the picture and occupied the third position, while Gerber and Abel Engler began to chop it up for the fourth spot.
On the next restart with 13 laps to go, Schmidt chose the top groove, allowing both Hess and Warner to attack Schmidt’s No. 3 Groff Motorsports machine through the first few corners. With all three cars trading sliders and crossovers in the first lap after the restart, it was Hess who found a way back to the top of the heap, with Schmidt second and Warner remaining third.
Hess remained ahead until a series of mistakes looked as if it may have taken away his chance at career win number one. First, with nine laps to go, Hess rode the guardrail in turn 2, allowing Schmidt to mow down a four-car length deficit and retake the top spot. Then, on a double-file restart with eight laps left, Hess was called for jumping the start, docking his No. 2L two positions back to fourth in the order.
Those miscues seemingly left Schmidt, Warner, and Engler in the hunt for the victory – with the latter two searching for their first career wins at the speedway. An epic battle took place after the lap 18 restart, as Schmidt and Warner traded multiple sliders for the front position, with Engler still stalking behind both of them.
With the close loss in the Winged car still in the back of his mind, Warner finally ripped away the top spot with a huge slider down into turn 1. Warner and Schmidt rubbed wheels down the backstretch, before the defending track champ threw a slider of his own into turn 3. While Engler planted the bottom and briefly made it three wide out of turn 4, it was Warner who crossed back through the middle of the speedway to take control – seemingly for good – with just three laps left.
As Warner dashed away to a five-car length lead, it seemed like his Dave Ulrich-owned No. 98 had it in the bag. But everything unraveled on the final lap and in the final trip down to turn 3. While hastily approaching the back of the field, Warner made contact with a lapped car, jamming both vehicles up against the guardrail at the entrance to the turn. With Schmidt and Engler both already committed to the top groove, they could do nothing but pile into the back of Warner’s machine. All four cars grinded to a halt at the top of the banking, opening the door for Hess – who was the fourth-place occupant – to re-inherit the lead ahead of a one-lap sprint.
Leaders Matt Warner (No. 98), Dominic Schmidt (No. 3), and Abel Engler (No. 34) — along with the lapped car of Matt Chowns (No. 33c) — all piled up on the final lap of Saturday night’s Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main at the Clyde. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
Hess still had to capitalize on the golden opportunity that was gifted to him, as he battled Cooper Fegely for the win over the final rapid revolution of the speedway. Fegely threw a nice slider down into turn 1 on the restart, but Hess was able to perfectly execute the crossover, driving out of slide-job territory entering the last corner and dashing under the twin checkers with an improbable – and bordering on inconceivable – victory.
While Hess’ win could have been considered an upset – as his previous best finish at the Clyde was a seventh-place result – the speed of the young Benton racer had been on full display throughout the early portion of the season. And although it wasn’t a flawless 25 laps, Hess put himself in the right place at the right time and capitalized in the most crucial moments to claim his first Lanco triumph.
Fegely put together another outstanding charge for the second-straight race – this time climbing from 16th to finish as the runner-up. Gerber also held on for a best-ever result at the Clyde, as he came home third. Keeping with the theme, Aden Myers finished a career-best fourth, before Cole Perez rounded out the top five.
Results:
1. 2L-Luke Hess[2]; 2. 24-Cooper Fegely[16]; 3. 14-Cole Gerber[6]; 4. 01M-Aden Myers[8]; 5. 17-Cole Perez[14]; 6. 10L-Lukas Kostic[9]; 7. 25-Trevor Gach[23]; 8. 99-Kaden Wenger[15]; 9. 11H-Holden Eckman[19]; 10. 9G-Grady McGrew[10]; 11. 16-Logan Dontonville[11]; 12. 12-Tucker Gordner[13]; 13. 33C-Matthew Chowns[24]; 14. 98-Matthew Warner[5]; 15. 3-Dominic Schmidt[7]; 16. 34-Abel Engler[17]; 17. 15Q-Quinn Llewellyn[18]; 18. 2J-Jace Marshall[21]; 19. 9E-Easton Loomis[12]; 20. 1F-James Fries[4]; 21. 32-Justin Burr[20]; 22. 28-Brent Shearer[1]; 23. 99G-Gordon Greenlaw[22]; 24. 5-Chase Rodgers[3]
DNQ: 89S-Brett Greenlee; 4-Kiptyn Stratton
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 14 Races):
1. 3-Dominic Schmidt[425]; 2. 10L-Lukas Kostic[-19]; 3. 14-Cole Gerber[-23]; 4. 17-Cole Perez[-23]; 5. 24-Cooper Fegely[-64]
Luke Hess claimed his first Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway victory in dramatic fashion in Saturday night’s Hyper Racing Wingless 600 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Border Magic 270
The question entering Saturday night’s Border Magic 270 feature was whether anybody could slow down Nick Skias in pursuit of his fifth-straight win at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. As it turned out, Manheim native Brent Shearer held the magic formula, as he outdueled Skias in an enthralling battle to collect his first Lanco win of 2026.
Shearer motored into the lead on a lap 2 restart, taking it away from polesitter Isaac Graby. And while Shearer’s Alfred & Sam’s Italian Bakery No. 1A RTS Chassis looked plenty strong out front, it was only a matter of time before the familiar Skias No. 3 worked its way into the fray. From his sixth starting spot, Skias was the runner-up by the end of the third lap, and began his pursuit of last year’s Pistol Pete Duels winner.
Both Shearer and Skias found themselves searching for a line that worked best for them while combating a racetrack that was very different on either end. As the two drivers continued to flip-flop lines, Skias seemed to provide the biggest threat to Shearer while running the bottom groove of turns 3 and 4.
On a couple of occasions, some tight wheel-to-wheel racing ensued as Shearer looked to defend the lead against Skias and cover off the bottom lane. Just inside of 10 laps to go, Shearer made the line change to the low groove for good, and that seemed to be the golden ticket. From that point forward, the Jake Dupler-owned No. 1A motored through the slick better than anyone else on the speedway, and Shearer pulled away from Skias down the stretch to finally bring an end to the four-time track champion’s winning streak.
Although the streak ended at four-in-a-row, Skias still came home with a runner-up finish, while Shearer’s teammate Toby Blumenshine rounded out the podium after a daring three-wide pass on a mid-race restart. Jarid Kunkle sped up from the 24th starting spot all the way to fourth at the finish aboard the Greg Stevens No. 25s, securing the Border Magic Hard Charger Bonus. And Chase Walker capped off a great weekend of racing in Lebanon county with a fifth-place result.
Results:
1. 1A-Brent Shearer[4]; 2. 3-Nick Skias[6]; 3. 1J-Toby Blumenshine[8]; 4. 25S-Jarid Kunkle[24]; 5. 96W-Chase Walker[5]; 6. 27O-Billy Logeman[21]; 7. 8S-Mike Skias[7]; 8. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[9]; 9. 92-Jason Swavely[15]; 10. 27T-Michael Rutherford[18]; 11. 29-Steve Simmons[12]; 12. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[11]; 13. 11-Mike Uhrich[14]; 14. 28-Kyle Lindsey[19]; 15. 28S-Brian Sholley[20]; 16. 47X-Ernie Newmaster III[22]; 17. 5-Bret Cronrath[2]; 18. 11R-Tommy Rinck[13]; 19. 81-Dylan Holmes[23]; 20. 1L-Logan Hess[16]; 21. 94-Dallas Sanders[17]; 22. 77G-Isaac Graby[1]; 23. 5A-Anthony Yerger[10]; 24. 16-Dan Lane Jr[3]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 15 Races):
1. 3-Nick Skias[595]; 2. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[-113]; 3. 92-Jason Swavely[-161]; 4. 27T-Michael Rutherford[-236]; 5. 8S-Mike Skias[-238]
Brent Shearer bested Nick Skias and a stout field of Border Magic 270s on Saturday night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
Yeti Fence Sportsman
Two former champions of the Clyde battled right from the drop of the green flag in Saturday night’s Yeti Fence Sportsman A-Main, as Billy Logeman and Bret Cronrath each searched for their first win of the year at the bullring. After a fun battle in the opening laps, it was eventually Logeman who took control and held on through lapped traffic to secure his first win in the Sportsman class since August of 2020.
Cronrath started on pole for the A-Main, but it was Logeman who threw a big slider into the first turn to try and grab the lead on the initial lap. The two frontrunners ran wing-to-wing for the opening couple of circuits before Logeman settled in with the top spot.
However, Cronrath wasn’t done yet, as the three-time champion dialed his No. 5 car back in on the bottom and raced back to the inside of Logeman just a few laps later. The drivers resumed their side-by-side tussle, with the 2007 Sportsman champion once again shutting the door on Cronrath’s advances and holding onto the lead.
As Logeman migrated fully to the bottom groove, he began to pull away over the second half of the race. And while lapped traffic gave Cronrath a brief opportunity to make things interesting, he was simply too far back with too few laps remaining to mount a challenge.
Logeman put his Weinhold’s Poultry No. 97 RTS Chassis into the winner’s circle for the first time in 2026, leading Cronrath and third-place finisher Justin Harrington across the stripe. Dave Ravel and Dylan Pennypacker made up the remainder of the top five.
Results:
1. 97-Billy Logeman[2]; 2. 5-Bret Cronrath[1]; 3. 75-Justin Harrington[4]; 4. 21V-David Ravel[11]; 5. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[9]; 6. 11H-Chason Hauck[8]; 7. 31-Tyler Martin[5]; 8. 31M-Noah Merkey[12]; 9. 77-Michael Kreiser[13]; 10. 94-Dallas Sanders[10]; 11. 21D-Dave Williams[16]; 12. 20-Max Fasnacht[3]; 13. 19-Wes Fasnacht[15]; 14. 9R-Mason Ruffner[14]; 15. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[6]; 16. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[7]; 17. 2T-Doug Pearson[17]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 16 Races):
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[530]; 2. 27-Dylan Pennypacker[-87]; 3. 75-Justin Harrington[-92]; 4. 77-Michael Kreiser[-97]; 5. 21V-David Ravel[-117]
Billy Logeman raced to his first win of the season in the Yeti Fence Sportsman division on Saturday night. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Gretna Graphics 125/4 Stroke
After finally breaking through with the 4 Stroke for the first time earlier in the season, Manheim’s Justin Harrington brought the Harrington Motorsports No. 76 RTS Chassis back into the winner’s circle for the second time in 2026, allowing the two-time track champion to extend his points lead in this year’s standings.
The wildest portion of Harrington’s night was actually the heat race, in which Harrington had to hold off the fast cars of Mike Coen and Trevor Waegel despite running the entire 10-lap sprint with a flat left front tire. Harrington persevered and barely held on to grab that win, and that effort helped set him up to start on pole for the 25-lap A-Main.
With all four tires fully inflated for the feature, Harrington never faced much of a challenge during the race, with the exception of a few close calls in lapped traffic. When Coen suffered a motor issue from second with just two laps left, Harrington had to endure a green-white-checkered. But Waegel was unable to swoop in and steal the triumph, as Harrington pulled away and grabbed the win by five car lengths at the finish.
Behind Waegel, Corey Harting came home with third for his best-ever result in a Winged car at the Clyde. Keegan Stratton also had a great run, coming from last and bouncing back from an early-race spin to finish fourth. Dylan Yeingst finished off the top five.
Results:
1. 76-Justin Harrington[1]; 2. 44S-Trevor Waegel[4]; 3. 3H-Corey Harting[3]; 4. 5-Keegan Stratton[15]; 5. 112-Dylan Yeingst[2]; 6. 3H2-Holly Harting[11]; 7. 15-Alyssa Holmes[9]; 8. 17-Aspen Groff[10]; 9. 68-Kevin Jones[12]; 10. 74-Paige Rothermel[8]; 11. 26C-Michael Coen[5]; 12. 8-Michael Spadafora[7]; 13. 4W-Brandon Worthington[13]; 14. X-Dave Schroeder[6]; 15. 23-Asher Kempton[14]; 16. 14-Seth Gregory[16]
Points (Top 5) (After 5 of 16 Races):
1. 76-Justin Harrington[545]; 2. 44S-Trevor Waegel[-74]; 3. 3H-Corey Harting[-79]; 4. 82-John Maurer[-122]; 5. 19-Matt Fernsler[-130]
Justin Harrington tallied win number two of the season in Saturday night’s Gretna Graphics 125/4 Stroke A-Main at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
The Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway has a scheduled off week next Saturday, June 6. But the speedway returns to action on Saturday, June 13, with another five-division points show. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m., with warmups and racing beginning at 6 p.m. Grandstand admission remains at just $10. For those unable to attend, live streaming coverage will be provided by The Cushion.