Hehnly, Lengle, & Geib Beat The Rain At Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on June 20
Newmanstown, PA – Lanco’s officials did everything they could to beat the rain on Saturday night…they started a bit earlier than normal, didn’t take an intermission, and skipped victory lane photos and interviews after the first three main events. But the wet stuff moved in with six laps complete in the 125cc feature, and the radar showed that it wouldn’t end quickly. The rest of the show was postponed; the remaining 19 laps of the 125cc main and the entire 270cc feature will be made up on July 11.
Prior to the precipitation, though, three feature races were completed, and they produced a trio of first time winners this season. Heath Hehnly finally broke through and notched his initial triumph of the campaign, winning the 600cc main event. Kerry Lengle notched his first victory of the year (at the Clyde) in the Sportsmann feature, and Donna Geib did likewise in the 25-lapper for the 250cc Four-Stroke Micros.
Will Urkuski darted from his pole position starting spot to lead the first five trips around the lightning quick oval as the 600cc jockeys hustled to beat the impending weather. With five circuits complete, Patrick Ely bounced off the tires that line the entrance gate in turn four, and his No. 55L came to a stop at the top of the fourth turn banking. Race leader Urkuski was running the high side in turns three and four, and his No. 05 clipped the left-rear of Ely’s car, forcing Urkuski to come to a halt, too. Both cars, unfortunately, were unable to continue.
Heath Hehnly inherited the lead at that point, and the Manheim resident made the most of his opportunity, driving to his first triumph of the season. The victory was also the first for Hehnly and car owner Gary Hunter as a team. Only two caution flags slowed the pace, the second yellow flying with 5 tours remaining.
Kenny Miller III finished second and Jared Esh roared from 13th on the starting grid to finish third. Dan Souder and Austin Bishop finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
With 21 of the 600cc racers in the pit area on Saturday, heat races went to Zach Light and James Morris.
Kerry Lengle of Myerstown started on the pole, survived an early four-car battle at the head of the pack with Joe Ilg, Angelo Mercado, and Devin Adams, and went on to win his first Lanco Sportsman feature of the season.
With Lengle leading, eighth-starting Devin Adams moved up to challenge Angelo Mercado for second. The pair had exchanged slide jobs earlier in the race, while dueling for third. Adams and Mercado traded slide jobs again and muscled one another in repeated attempts to secure the spot and try to zero in on the high-flying Lengle.
A final caution, with just five laps to go, did not change the outcome. Lengle flashed under the black and white, winning comfortably over Mercado, Adams, Toby Blumenshine (who started tenth), and Tyler Ulrich, who was driving the car normally operated by Mike Rutherford.
Qualifying heat victors included Ulrich, Devin Adams, and Bret Habecker. The consolation race triumph went to Sami Schenck. A total of 30 Sportsman cars made up the field on Saturday.
Donna Geib snatched the top spot from Ronald Wechter on lap 2 in the main event for the 250cc Four Strokes, then held off Wechter over the course of the evening’s first feature. Devin Adams eventually worked past Wechter to take over the runner-up spot.
Zach Hollinger passed Adams for second with seven to go, with Zak Vickers and Kassidy Michael completing the top five. The final 23 laps were run non-stop and the Four-Strokes completed their 25-lap feature in 6:46.948.
Michael and Geib won heat races for the 13 Four Strokes on hand.
With six laps scored in the 125cc feature, and Dave Grube setting the pace over Chase Gutshall, the skies opened and the rest of the program had to be rescheduled. The date of July 11 was chosen to make up both the 125cc and 270cc mains that were washed out on Saturday.
Gutshall and Grube were victorious in 125cc heat races as 18 of the 125cc racers signed in for battle.
With 27 of the 270cc Micros entered in Saturday’s event, three qualifying heats were needed. The three heat victors included Billy Logeman, Toby Blumenshine, and Dan Lane Jr. The consolation winner was Richie Hartman.
Two huge events are now set to take center stage at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. ThisSaturday, June 27, is the third annual Slide at the Clyde for the All Star Slingshots. The race will award National Tour points, and, with 30 or more cars signed in for action, the feature will pay $1,000 (plus lap money) to the winner.
On the same night, a special race will be run by the 270cc division. The Charlotte Hartman Memorial will pay a cool $1,000 to the winner, as long as there are at least 24 cars entered in the night’s program. Kim’s Kreations, OMS Racing, and Jared Davis Motorsports are sponsoring the colossal night of action, and the other four weekly divisions will join the Slingshots and 270cc Micros on the busy card this Saturday.
In less than two weeks, on the Fourth of July, Star Spangled Havoc will take place at the Clyde. The ARDC Midgets will make their first-ever appearance at the Clyde, along with the Wingless 600cc Micros in Firecracker Frenzy, and wingless 270cc Micros in the Clash at the Clyde. Hyper Racing, Bud’s Spring and Suspension, and Dayton Parts will sponsor the Star Spangled Havoc program.
For additional information on these and other racing events, log on to www.lancomicrosprint.com or to the track’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway). If you prefer Twitter, the Clyde can be found @LancoCMMS.
RESULTS:
600cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Heath Hehnly, 2.Kenny Miller III, 3.Jared Esh, 4.Dan Souder, 5.Zach Light, 6.Austin Bishop, 7.James Morris, 8.Mike Rutherford, 9.Chris Panczner, 10.Brent Ely, 11.Chris Gerhart, 12.Jarid Kunkle, 13.Kyle Lick, 14.Shaun Brandel, 15.Rebecca LaMothe, 16.Brittany Brown, 17.Luke Thomas, 18.Jenna Heagy, 19.Will Urkuski, 20.Patrick Ely. DNS: Troy Musselman.
Sportsman Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Kerry Lengle, 2.Angelo Mercado, 3.Devin Adams, 4.Toby Blumenshine, 5.Tyler Ulrich, 6.Ken Miller, 7.Jas Hehnly, 8.Curtis R. Miller, 9.John Davis, 10.Ava Bellinger, 11.Matt Abers, 12.Patrick Kirn, 13.Sami Schenck, 14.Robert Shanaman, 15.Michael Kreiser, 16.Brandon Mundis, 17.Bret Habecker, 18.Ricky Sechrist, 19.Chris Heagy, 20.Joe Ilg, 21.Brandon Bucher, 22.Anthony Yerger, 23.Steve Smith Sr., 24.Megan Mercado.
DNQ: Dennis Fenstermacher, Cody Sechrist, Jeff Boyer, Brian Kramer, Cody Boyer, Adam Minzer.
250cc Four-Stroke Feature, 25 laps: 1.Donna Geib, 2.Zach Hollinger, 3.Devin Adams, 4.Zak Vickers, 5.Kassidy Michael, 6.Mike Coen, 7.Jarrett Imler, 8.Eddie Nocera, 9.Ronald Wechter, 10.Lewis Kepple Jr., 11.Brandon Yoder, 12.Dick Huzzard.
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