Summer Sizzler Night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway saw humid and overcast conditions as race teams and fans descended upon Newmanstown on the final Saturday of August. The weather was warm, but the on-track action would be what was sizzling on this evening. Excellent racing throughout the night culminated with four fantastic features that saw multi-groove racing and wheel-to-wheel action at every turn. When all was said and done, Mike Coen picked up his second 125/4 Stroke victory in three weekends with a wire-to-wire performance. Jason Swavely was nearly as dominant en route to his third 270 win of the season, and the victory drew him right back to within striking distance of Nick Skias in the championship fight. A four-car battle for the win in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature saw Bret Cronrath come out on top for the fourth time in 2021, making the points battle a near dead heat with two races remaining. In the final feature, T. J. Greve and Jesse Maurer waged an epic battle for victory in the Hyper Racing 600 main event, with Greve coming out on top by just 0.064 seconds.
With seven features on the docket for Boyer’s Tavern of Rexmont Luau Night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, there was bound to be a little bit of just about everything throughout the course of the evening. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, there was a mixture of new winners, familiar faces, and a former champion making a triumphant return to the Clyde. Jamie Flickinger and Alex Lukacs finally broke through for their first Lanco wins in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman and 125/4 Stroke divisions, respectively. Nick Skias picked up two wins on the evening, one in the 270 makeup feature and the other in the Hyper Racing 600 main event. Toby Blumenshine picked up win number six on the season in the regularly scheduled Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature. Former champion William Manotti shook off the rust after a few years away and found his way back into the winner’s circle in the second 125/4 Stroke feature. And Brent Shearer closed the night with an impressive charge from 16th to win the final feature of the evening in the 270s.
Pink Out Night Presented by KDM Skunkworks Race Engines annually serves as one of the most special nights of the year at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. Organized by Kim Glass of the Kim’s Kreations Novelty Stand and TT’s Troops, the night raises funds for breast cancer research while also turning the Clyde into a sea of pink, with pink t-shirts aplenty and even pink accenting on some of the race cars. At intermission, a special presentation was held to honor and recognize all cancer survivors. It was a recognition of their courage, strength, and bravery in dealing with this terrible disease. It was a night where only five drivers could take feature race victories. But on this night, there were far more true winners than just those who would cross the finish line first.
As USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Tour veteran Justin Grant and rising 600 Micro Sprint star Steven Snyder, Jr. descended upon Newmanstown’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday night, both drivers entered looking to get a proverbial monkey off of their backs. For Grant, a consistent season of racing amongst the best midget drivers in the country had seen him garner four second-place finishes, but no victories as the calendar flipped to August. For Snyder, Jr., a breakout 2021 campaign had seen him take victories at multiple different racetracks. But despite always being one of the strongest cars in the field, Snyder, Jr. was still waiting to park his No. 21s in the Clyde’s victory lane. So perhaps it was only fitting that on this night, the wait would come to an end for both drivers, as Grant would outduel Emerson Axsom and Buddy Kofoid to pick up the checkered flag in the 40-lap USAC feature, while Snyder, Jr. would lead wire-to-wire to pick up his first Lanco win in the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 main event.
Every year, the Clyde Martin Memorial serves as one of the most prestigious and biggest races of the season, while also serving as one of the most crucial in the championship battle. The 2021 edition of the Clyde Martin Memorial Presented by Gold Rush Trailer Sales would be no different. Four 35-lap features for each of the weekly racing divisions would see a combination of thrills, spills, and championship implications in races which paid double points. But when the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Chase Layser, Pete Skias, Toby Blumenshine, and Jesse Maurer were the ones standing in victory lane with trophies in hand, earning the right to be referred to as winners of the Clyde Martin Memorial.
If you had watched Daison Pursley compete on Friday and Saturday at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway without knowing any of his background, you would think that he was a seasoned veteran, with thousands upon thousands of laps around the progressively banked bullring. You never would have imagined that Pursley’s only experience at the Clyde was driving a USAC midget, and that that was the extent of his driving experience at any of the racetracks on the 2021 Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek calendar, if he had any experience at all. But after a week where the Locust Grove, OK native went to school competing at some of the best micro sprint tracks in the northeast, he took the field to school on Friday and Saturday at the Clyde, taking home victories in the $2,000-to-win Keizer Wheels Preliminary Night A-Main on Friday and in the $10,000-to-win Rodota Trucking and Excavating Finale on Saturday, giving him a grand total of $12,000 over both days.
At a fast, tight bullring such as the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, it oftentimes takes a driver who is willing to straddle the edge between control and chaos in order to pick up a victory. On a racetrack that featured a big cushion and produced even bigger excitement, no driver was able to walk the proverbial tightrope better than young hot shoe Daison Pursley. The Oklahoma “invader,” who entered the evening with prior experience driving a USAC midget at the speedway, was able to rip the top like no other en route to a dominating, wire-to-wire victory on Keizer Wheels Preliminary Night, bagging $2,000 for himself in the process and establishing himself as a clear favorite for Saturday night’s $10,000 prize. The win also put Pursley within striking distance for the overall Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek championship, as Colin White’s tumultuous night allowed closest challenger Christian Bruno to close the gap to six points entering the finale, with Pursley just 22 markers back in third.
It was a night of racing at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway which saw drivers be forced to race more than just their competitors, as inclement weather threatened the area for most of the early evening. But not even Mother Nature could move as fast as Jason Swavely, as he led the Hyper Racing 600 drivers across the finish line in a riveting 25-lapper that would conclude just before the skies opened up, ending the evening prematurely. The feature races for the 125/4 Strokes, 270s, and Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans would be washed out, with those races slated to be made up at a to-be-determined date in the future.
Any fan knows that racing, particularly at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, is a game of inches. However, it may have come down to even less than that to decide the victor of Saturday night’s Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature. As Bret Cronrath pulled alongside of Clinton Hauser exiting turn 4, both drivers rushed toward head starter Mike Fry, who waved the twin checkers over what seemed to be a dead heat at the finish line. When the numbers popped up on the electronic scoring system, the margin of victory showed 0.001 seconds, the closest finish possible short of an exact tie. It was Hauser who had withstood the challenge by just that much to pick up his first victory of the season, while Cronrath would have to settle for the agonizingly close runner-up result.
On 4th-of-July-weekend races, it’s always easy to say that the fireworks going off above the racetrack will correlate to fireworks on the racetrack. Sometimes that proves to be true, while other times the racing doesn’t always live up to the excitement of the atmosphere. But ask just about any race fan who spent their 4th of July Sunday at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, and they’ll tell you that the excitement on the racetrack was simply unrivaled. The evening started with Mike Rutherford picking up his third 270 win of the season in a wild and chaotic 30-lap main event. Next, the wingless Hyper Racing 600s put in a convincing submission for race of the year, as Christian Bruno outdueled Steven Synder, Jr. in an epic battle for the victory. Then, T. J. Greve spoiled the party for Chase Layser, who had rallied from the back to the front and seemed destined for victory before losing power in turns 3 and 4 on the final lap, allowing Greve to rocket past for the 125/4 Stroke victory. Finally, Scott Neary turned in a dominant performance to pick up the win in the All Star Slingshots’ second appearance of the season.
Sometimes all it takes is one night to serve as a reminder that the old guard is still capable of getting the job done. For multiple-time track champions Mike Miller and Heath Hehnly in particular, it would be this night that they would find themselves back to a place they were more than familiar with. Miller followed up his third-place effort in the 125/4 Strokes two weekends prior with a riveting drive from fourth to the win in the 270 feature. Hehnly, meanwhile, would bypass Holden Eckman on a restart to take home his first win of the season in the Hyper Racing 600s. The Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman feature also saw a new winner in 2021, as Anthony Yerger finally turned weeks of consistent runs into a victory, taking advantage of a late issue for then-race-leader Charles Hellinger. In the 125/4 Stroke division, it would be Matt Fernsler getting his second victory of the season in dominating fashion.
It’s a simple rule in racing. If you keep putting yourself in position to win races, then sooner or later, wins will start coming your way. Jason Swavely entered Saturday night as one of the most consistent drivers of the 2021 season so far, holding down the early season points lead in both the Hyper Racing 600 and 270 divisions. However, Swavely’s run to the top of the championships had come with a notable absence of a points-paying victory in either division. So perhaps it was only fitting on this night that weeks of consistent finishes finally paid off in the form of not one, but two victories. Swavely started on pole in both the 270 and Hyper Racing 600 features and led wire-to-wire on both occasions to make his first stops back to the winner’s circle since the season-opening No Wing Spring Fling. Perhaps a similar mantra also rang true for Corey Schmuck, Jr., who was able to turn around his fortunes after a season of bad luck to take home the victory in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division. While the other three features were all won from the pole, it was Billy Logeman who opened up the night by putting on a riveting drive from 12th to first to take home back-to-back points-paying victories in the 125/4 Stroke division.
When life gives you lemons, sometimes the best thing you can do is make lemonade. You might even be surprised with how good the lemonade turns out to be. This metaphor may be the perfect way to summarize the sequence of events that unfolded at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway throughout the weekend. The decision came early Saturday morning to cancel the previously planned night of racing slated to take place that evening due to inclement weather. However, with a long Memorial Day weekend, an off weekend next Saturday, and almost all other local tracks also cancelling their events, officials made the decision to hold a special, non-points event on Memorial Day, dubbed as Memorial Day Monday Mayhem.
On a warm and somewhat humid Scout Night at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, four drivers were able to withstand both the heat and the competition to take victories on Saturday night. Zach Light picked up his first Lanco win of 2021 in the Hyper Racing 600s, just one night after accomplishing the same feat at Linda’s Speedway. Billy Logeman hopped in the Harrington’s No. 76b machine and took it straight to victory lane in the 125/4 Stroke class. Mike Rutherford picked up his second victory in as many weekends in the 270s. Last on the evening, Toby Blumenshine would continue his early season dominance of the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division with his fourth win in the first six races.
Some things were old, some things were new, and some things simply stayed the same on a full night of racing from the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. But when the dust settled over Newmanstown on Saturday night, a half-dozen deserving winners had taken their well-earned places in victory lane. Justin Harrington and Nick Skias picked up their second wins on the season in the 125/4 Stroke and Hyper Racing 600 classes, respectively. Mike Rutherford and Andrew Dietrich took their first wins of 2021 in the 270 division, while Bret Cronrath added a victory in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman class. Meanwhile, it was Matt Fernsler who finally broke through to get his first Lanco win in the second 125/4 Stroke feature of the evening.
The stage was set for another excellent night of racing at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. Unfortunately, it was Mother Nature who had her way on Mother’s Day Eve. Track crews had done an excellent job in getting the track prepared to start on time after early afternoon showers had struck the speedway, but it only took until the third group of warmups for the 125/4 Stroke division before the rain came once again. Although persistent efforts were made to get the track dried and ready for action, another heavy pop-up shower just after 7:00 made it impossible to get the full slate of racing for the evening in.
Good things come to those who wait. That’s how the saying goes, anyway. But that mantra rang eerily true within the confines of the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday night. After the rains came and washed out all feature racing one weekend ago, the six-pack of features that commenced throughout the evening wound up going down as unarguably some of the best so far in this young 2021 season. First-time winners were the theme in the two makeup features, as Dave Williams and Preston Lattomus took home their first victories in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans and Hyper Racing 600s, respectively. The main card of racing saw a return to relative normalcy, as Nick Skias and T. J. Greve picked up their second wins of the season in the 270s and Hyper Racing 600s, respectively, while Toby Blumenshine went back to victory lane for the third time in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsmans. In the 125/4 Strokes, it was Chase Layser who held off Alex Lukacs and Justin Harrington to take home his first victory of 2021.
It had been three straight weeks of beautiful and, most importantly, dry weather at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. However, the luck unfortunately ran out on Saturday night, as persistent rain began to fall just before the start of the opening feature. Since all heat races were completed, makeup features have been scheduled for all four classes. The Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division and the Hyper Racing 600s will make up their features next Saturday night, while the 125/4 Stroke class and the 270s will make up their main events in two weeks.
Adaptability is key in dirt-track racing. The ability to adapt to changing track conditions, the ability to adapt to different lines on the track in order to find more speed or maneuver through traffic, and, in some cases, the ability to adapt to different types of cars are all crucial parts of the sport. That last point in particular is an area where specifically T. J. Greve and Nick Skias have been able to thrive so far in this young 2021 season. Greve picked up the victory Saturday night in the Hyper Racing 600s, marking his third victory in as many weekends and in as many different classes. Skias, meanwhile, followed up his victory in the 600s a weekend ago with a triumph in the 270s. Elsewhere, Brent Shearer held off a hard-charging Justin Harrington by half-a-car-length to take home victory in the 125/4 Stroke class. Dave Carraghan left no doubt after a dominating performance to win in the All Star Slingshots’ 2021 debut. In the final feature of Yuri’s/World Space Party Night, Toby Blumenshine continued his dominant start to 2021 with a riveting 11th-to-1st drive in the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman division.
Perhaps the word of the night on what turned out to be a wild, action-packed opening points night of the 2021 season was patience. All four of Saturday night’s victors had to patiently battle their way through the field of leaders, through lapped traffic, and in some cases, both at the same time. But when all was said and done, Toby Blumenshine and T. J. Greve made trips to victory lane for the second time in as many weekends, winning the Skeet Craft Collision Sportsman and 270 features, respectively. Nick Skias pulled off a grand slam of sorts in the Hyper Racing 600s, setting the quick time in hot laps, winning his heat race, and taking the checkers in the 25-lap main event while also turning the fastest lap of the race. Meanwhile, Justin Harrington bounced back after jumping the initial start to take home the win in the 125/4 Stroke division.
