By Kasey Kreider
(Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
It was a mixture of what’s old and what’s new at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday night, as for the first time in series history, the PA Micro Midgets made an appearance at the Newmanstown bullring. While the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 competitors had the night off to continue recovering from Speedweek, four former Lanco champions all graced victory lane in the main events for the other regular points-paying divisions.
Chris Gerhart stormed to the lead just four laps into Saturday night’s EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 A-Main and never looked back en route to his first win of the year. Nick Skias and Billy Logeman put on an epic battle for the win in the Border Magic 270s, with Skias executing a last-lap pass to collect his sixth win of the season. Brandon Heist dominated the Yeti Fence Sportsmans and extended his points lead with win number five in 2026. Justin Harrington racked up his fourth win of the campaign in a nonstop Gretna Graphics 125/4 Stroke 25-lapper. And it was Chase Frey and Addison Noble who etched their names into history as the inaugural race winners for the PA Micro Midgets at the Clyde.
EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600
After a season plagued by more than his fair share of bad luck, Chris Gerhart responded to the adversity in a big way on Saturday night, as he rallied from seventh to the lead in just the first four laps of the A-Main and then sped away from championship contenders Brent Ely and Bradley Brown to claim his first win of 2026 in the EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600s.
Young guns Charlie Allaband and Giancarlo Ramessar led the field to the green for the start of the 25-lap feature. Allaband set the early pace around the low groove of the speedway, while Ramessar worked to keep track veterans Holden Eckman, Ely, and eventually Gerhart behind. After a collision between Ramessar, Eckman, and Ely allowed Gerhart to move up a couple of places, he found himself running in the fourth spot prior to a lap 3 restart.
At the race’s resumption, Gerhart blasted to the top of the speedway and went from fourth to second in the first half-lap after the restart. As he continued to wind up momentum on the outside groove, the 2010 track champion flew past Allaband on the high side of turn 4 to take the top spot away at the completion of the fourth circuit.
As the race moved forward, so too did Ely and Brown – the top two drivers in the point standings. Ely grabbed the runner-up spot just prior to halfway and experimented with both the bottom and the top grooves to try and make gains on Gerhart’s machine. Meanwhile, Brown rolled the bottom up into the third spot, having to commit to that line fully as a result of lingering fuel issues in his No. 23.
But ultimately, neither driver could mount much of a threat to the Gerhart Motorsports No. 51 West Fab Chassis, as Gerhart kept command during the rest of the race – and through a green-white-checkered restart – to score a well-earned triumph.
Behind Gerhart, Ely held on for second, marking his seventh runner-up finish of the season. Brown came from 11th to finish third and kept his points lead at 55 over Ely with six races to go. James Fries was the highest finishing “Wingless regular” with a great fourth-place effort, and Ramessar rounded out the top five at the finish.
Results:
1. 51-Chris Gerhart[7]; 2. 17-Brent Ely[3]; 3. 23-Bradley Brown[11]; 4. 1F-James Fries[5]; 5. 81G-Giancarlo Ramessar[2]; 6. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[12]; 7. 11R-Tommy Rinck[16]; 8. 11X-Logan Falini[14]; 9. 28-Charlie Allaband[1]; 10. 11H-Holden Eckman[4]; 11. 13-Kenneth Beinhower III[18]; 12. 32D-Donny Smith[13]; 13. 10L-Lukas Kostic[9]; 14. 99G-Gordon Greenlaw[17]; 15. 25-Pat Kelly[6]; 16. 75R-Brevan Rothermel[15]; 17. 21B-Mason Beinhower[8]; 18. 73-Andrew Rothermel[19]; 19. 14-Jason Swavely[10]; 20. 5A-Anthony Yerger[20]
Points (Top 5) (After 10 of 16 Races):
1. 23-Bradley Brown[980]; 2. 17-Brent Ely[-55]; 3. 51-Chris Gerhart[-164]; 4. 71-Brian Kramer[-220]; 5. 14-Jason Swavely[-258]
Chris Gerhart claimed his first win of 2026 in Saturday night’s EVO Fuel Injection Winged 600 feature at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Border Magic 270
In another dramatic, late-race duel in the Border Magic 270s, it was Nick Skias who rose to the top once again with a last-lap pass on Billy Logeman to park his Denver Meats No. 3 Viper Chassis in the winner’s circle for the sixth time this season.
Skias started the main event from the ninth position, while Logeman was on pole and set a commanding early pace around the speedway. Skias’ charge through the pack was methodical, but still happened in a hurry, as the four-time defending track champion used both the high and low grooves to make his way into the runner-up spot by the end of the ninth lap.
The game seemed to change after a caution flag and ensuing restart with 10 laps left. Skias once again began to work the top line of the speedway upon the drop of the green flag, and started winding up the momentum to make a charge for the lead down to the entry of the turn.
Skias’ first move came with five laps to go, as he ducked to the inside of Logeman on the run down the frontstretch and into turn 1. That move nearly ended Skias’ race, however, as the No. 3 slid dead sideways into the corner. Skias was able to save the car while only losing one position, but a caution flag before the lap could be completed negated the mistake entirely, and put Skias back in the runner-up place with five laps still remaining to craft another attack.
Still in clean air, Logeman got a great restart. For a moment, it appeared that Skias might not get the chance to make another move. But on the penultimate lap, Skias closed back onto the tail tank of the No. 27o, and set himself up for one last dive. Skias took his shot down into turn 1 on the final lap, and this time, the move stuck. Skias throttled up off the bottom of the corner, won the drag race with Logeman into turn 3, and held on off the final turn to claim a six-pack of 270 wins in dramatic style.
Nick Skias (No. 3) fended off Billy Logeman (No. 27o) at the finish line to claim his sixth win of the season in Border Magic 270 competition at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
Mike Skias – Nick’s brother – rounded out the podium, while Toby Blumenshine charged from 14th to fourth and Jason Swavely rebounded from a first-lap spin to claim fifth. With the win, Skias was able to open up his points lead to 159 over Brandon Heist with just five races remaining. But the damage could’ve been worse, as Heist did storm from 19th to seventh at the final flag en route to picking up the Border Magic Hard Charger Bonus.
Results:
1. 3-Nick Skias[9]; 2. 27O-Billy Logeman[1]; 3. 8S-Mike Skias[3]; 4. 1J-Toby Blumenshine[14]; 5. 92-Jason Swavely[10]; 6. 39M-Austin Mieczkowski[5]; 7. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[19]; 8. 41-Mike Boyer[15]; 9. 5-Bret Cronrath[4]; 10. 96W-Chase Walker[7]; 11. 77G-Isaac Graby[11]; 12. 5A-Anthony Yerger[21]; 13. 6-Danial Boyer[13]; 14. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[16]; 15. 34-Christi Sweigart[18]; 16. 81-Dylan Holmes[24]; 17. 30-Ryan Heckman[20]; 18. 11-Mike Uhrich[12]; 19. 28S-Brian Sholley[22]; 20. 29-Steve Simmons[23]; 21. 11R-Tommy Rinck[2]; 22. 27T-Michael Rutherford[6]; 23. 3X-Josh Stoyer[8]; 24. 16-Seth Gregory[17]
DNQ: 94-Dallas Sanders; 47X-Ernie Newmaster III; 4S-Kiptyn Stratton
Points (Top 5) (After 10 of 15 Races):
1. 3-Nick Skias[1018]; 2. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[-159]; 3. 92-Jason Swavely[-173]; 4. 5-Bret Cronrath[-346]; 5. 27O-Billy Logeman[-363]
Nick Skias extended his points lead and captured yet another checkered flag in Saturday night’s Border Magic 270 A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
Yeti Fence Sportsman
School was in session once again in the Yeti Fence Sportsmans on Saturday night, as Brandon Heist once again proved to be the class of the field, taking his PWE Racing Engines No. 99 RTS Chassis into the winner’s circle for the fifth time in Sportsman competition in 2026.
Unlike most weeks, Heist didn’t have to fight for clean air on this occasion, as the Jonestown native led the field to green for the start of the 25-lap A-Main. But from that point, it was all Heist putting on a show, as the 2024 track champion used an 18-lap green-flag run to help assert his dominance over the rest of the field.
Over the course of that stretch, Heist built up a lead of over five seconds on second-place running Billy Logeman, and his No. 99 put all but the top six drivers at least one lap down before the caution finally waved with seven laps left.
After the restart, Logeman was able to at least keep Heist in shouting distance, but the late-race caution flag didn’t change the overall outcome, as Heist went wire-to-wire to claim the triumph. In the process, Heist ballooned his lead in the point standings to 148 markers over second-place Justin Harrington.
Logeman finished in second for the second time on Saturday night, while Masen Stapleton was the big gainer on that final restart, elevating into a podium position. Matt Fernsler finished in the fourth spot, and Dave Ravel came home with fifth.
Results:
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[1]; 2. 97-Billy Logeman[7]; 3. 17-Masen Stapleton[6]; 4. 23K-Matt Fernsler[3]; 5. 21V-David Ravel[5]; 6. 30-Ryan Heckman[8]; 7. 5-Bret Cronrath[10]; 8. 77-Michael Kreiser[9]; 9. 31M-Noah Merkey[11]; 10. 31-Tyler Martin[2]; 11. 21D-Dave Williams[12]; 12. 3S-Jonathan Hellinger[15]; 13. 9R-Mason Ruffner[13]; 14. 75-Justin Harrington[14]; 15. 26-Corey Schmuck Jr[16]; 16. 94-Dallas Sanders[17]; 17. 77J-Jade Smith[4]
Points (Top 5) (After 10 of 16 Races):
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[979]; 2. 75-Justin Harrington[-148]; 3. 5-Bret Cronrath[-158]; 4. 77-Michael Kreiser[-206]; 5. 21V-David Ravel[-234]
Brandon Heist put on a clinic to win Saturday night’s Yeti Fence Sportsman feature at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
Gretna Graphics 125/4 Stroke
After a heartbreaking engine failure at the end of June, Justin Harrington thought that his quest for a third Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway championship could be in jeopardy. But with a new powerplant strapped to the side of his Harrington Motorsports No. 76 RTS Chassis, Harrington got back on the horse on Saturday night and re-announced his presence to the rest of the competition, as he led all 25 laps of a nonstop Gretna Graphics 125/4 Stroke feature to head back into the winner’s circle.
While Harrington started from pole position, it wasn’t exactly just a Saturday night cruise for the pilot out of Manheim, as he had to work through lapped traffic for much of the race with the Mongooses of Dave Schroeder and Seth Gregory not too far behind.
But Harrington managed things well throughout a race that never saw a caution flag and only took five minutes and 16 seconds to complete. Schroeder mounted one charge to close in on the No. 76 inside the final 10 laps, but never got closer than about five car lengths off the back bumper of Harrington’s mount.
So it was Harrington who flashed across the finish line first to collect his fourth win of the season and grow his points lead to 73 over Trevor Waegel with six races left in the points-paying campaign. Schroeder held on for his first podium of the year in second, and Gregory completed the podium. Waegel came home fourth, and it was Alyssa Holmes capping off the top five finishers.
Results:
1. 76-Justin Harrington[1]; 2. X-Dave Schroeder[2]; 3. 14-Seth Gregory[4]; 4. 44S-Trevor Waegel[5]; 5. 15-Alyssa Holmes[3]; 6. 3H-Corey Harting[6]; 7. 4W-Brandon Worthington[7]; 8. 5-Keegan Stratton[8]; 9. 26C-Michael Coen[11]; 10. 112-Dylan Yeingst[9]; 11. 23-Asher Kempton[13]; 12. 68-Kevin Jones[16]; 13. 74-Paige Rothermel[14]; 14. 3H2-Holly Harting[12]; 15. 8-Michael Spadafora[10]; 16. 19-Matt Fernsler[15]
Points (Top 5) (After 10 of 16 Races):
1. 76-Justin Harrington[994]; 2. 44S-Trevor Waegel[-73]; 3. 3H-Corey Harting[-159]; 4. 14-Seth Gregory[-170]; 5. 15-Alyssa Holmes[-208]
Justin Harrington pocketed win number four of the 2026 season in Saturday night’s Gretna Graphics 125/4 Stroke A-Main. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
PA Micro Midget 500
Making their inaugural appearance at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway and the first of two in four weeks, a strong field of 26 PA Micro Midgets signed in for competition in the 500 division, with each driver looking to etch their name into a little bit of Lanco history. When the checkers flew on Saturday night, it was Chase Frey garnering those honors, as he led all 20 laps of the A-Main to chalk up his first PA Micro Midget victory of the 2026 season.
Frey started on the outside pole and took the lead right off the start from Paul Craley, as the Airville native set the pace aboard his Wire Nuts Racing No. 9F RTS Chassis. While there was great racing all throughout the field during the race, most of it took place behind Frey, as he held a smooth and steady line around the bottom of the speedway and never allowed his competition a chance to pounce.
PA Micro Midget 500 division points leader Mason Noble put on a late rally to try and challenge for the win, but his effort fell two car lengths short at the checkered flag. Frey dashed across the finish line first to grab the victory and with it, a crucial momentum boost entering the PA Micro Midgets’ Speedweek.
Noble ended up second, while Josh Forry rounded out the podium in third. Multi-time PA Micro Midget champion Todd Walls came home fourth, and Matt Kiefert raced from 11th to finish off the top five.
Results:
1. 9F-Chase Frey[2]; 2. 48N-Mason Noble[8]; 3. 1XJR-Josh Forry[3]; 4. 33-Todd Walls[4]; 5. 7-Matt Kiefert[11]; 6. 21M-JD Myers[10]; 7. 55-Ryan Wells[12]; 8. 21K-Asher Paxton[6]; 9. 30-Jeremy Sperlein[7]; 10. 21-Daniel Feltch[16]; 11. 41N-Paul Craley[1]; 12. 17G-Landon Godfrey[14]; 13. 16-Ryan Rost[24]; 14. 17T-Dakota Thomas[26]; 15. 9W-Maddox Wire[9]; 16. 87S-Hunter Smith[19]; 17. 4L-Lily Barrett[18]; 18. 9B-Luke Baker[20]; 19. 28-Nick Decker[17]; 20. 22-Keenan Wade[21]; 21. 927-George Reed[5]; 22. 3K-Katelyn Johnson[15]; 23. 71B-Byron Urey[22]; 24. 88-Edward Schill Jr[23]; 25. 10G-Bobby Geiman[13]; 26. (DNS) 81H-Timothy Hartle
Chase Frey was victorious in Saturday night’s PA Micro Midget 500 division feature at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Hohler Photography)
PA Micro Midget 300
Despite being involved in a heat race crash and having to start at the back of Saturday night’s 15-lap feature, nothing could keep Addison Noble out of victory lane in the PA Micro Midget 300 division’s maiden trip to the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway.
A heat race scuffle put Noble – the points leader in the PA Micro Midget 300 class – out of competition and with damage to repair prior to the main event. Noble’s axle was still slightly bent by the time the A-Main rolled around, but with her Susan Wood @ Ideal Mortgage Group No. 12N Hyper Chassis fixed up enough to at least be competitive, she set off to work at the drop of the green flag when the feature rolled around.
With a great start, Noble found herself in second place by the end of the opening lap, and was chasing Owen Bull around the speedway in a hunt for the victory. Biding her time behind Bull’s No. 1s, Noble finally saw a chance to strike on the eighth lap, as she raced inside of Bull in the run down to turn 3. After going side-by-side through the corner and down the straightaway, Noble completed the move for good into turn 1, and led the rest of the way for her class-leading fourth PA Micro Midget win of the season.
Camden Spangler took the second spot in the closing laps, while Bull held on for third. Maddie Myers came home fourth, with Mya Gordon finishing in fifth.
Results:
1. 12N-Addison Noble[5]; 2. 5-Camden Spangler[3]; 3. 1S-Owen Bull[1]; 4. 73-Maddie Myers[2]; 5. 11M-Mya Gordon[4]
Addison Noble scored the triumph of Saturday night’s PA Micro Midget 300 division feature at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos)
With an off week scheduled for next weekend, the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway will roar back to life on Saturday, Aug. 8, with a regular points show featuring all five of the weekly classes. Gates for the event open at 4:30 p.m., with hot laps beginning the on-track festivities at 6 p.m. General grandstand admission is $10 per person, but for those unable to attend, live streaming coverage will be provided by The Cushion.