Successful Practice Night Attended By 99 Race Teams; Clyde Martin’s 58th Season Opener Set For This Saturday, April 11
Newmanstown, PA – A total of 99 race teams took advantage of last Saturday’s pre-season Practice Night at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway – along with seven ARDC Midgets – in anticipation of this week’s Spring Has Sprung Season Opener presented by Shred Racing Products.
Micro-Sprints representing all five of the Clyde’s weekly divisions – 600cc, 270cc, 125cc, Sportsman, and 250cc Four-Stroke – took part in the nearly four-hour long hot lap sessions. Many observers commented on the large number of cars that looked very fast on the re-graded, progressively banked oval, as well as the incredible amount of eye-catching paint and graphics packages that adorned a vast array of racecars.
When they look that good and run that fast, it’s gonna be a great season at the Lanco sanctioned race place in Newmanstown, PA!
With practice now complete, the attention turns to this Saturday’s Spring Has Sprung Season Opener presented by Shred Racing Products.
Gates will open at 3:30 p.m., with warm-ups commencing at 5:00. The first heat race of the new season will take the green flag at 6:00, and the order of events for the first show of 2015 is as follows:
Warm-Ups: Four-Strokes, Sportsman, 270cc, 600cc, 125cc.
Heats: Four-Strokes, Sportsman, 600cc, 270cc, 125cc.
Intermission
Consolations: Sportsman, 270cc, 600cc, 125cc.
25-lap Features: Four-Strokes, 600cc, 270cc, Sportsman, 125cc.
“Meaningful” heat races are guaranteed at the Clyde because, with a maximum of 24 cars starting each main event, the pre-season inspection numbers have dictated that some teams will be forced to watch the features and try again to qualify the next week. The Sportsman and 270cc entries (at inspection) each totaled 36, while the number of 600cc members was 32. Add in 27 of the 125cc racers, and one can see that it will be an accomplishment just to qualify for the feature every Saturday night in 2015.
Please note that only Lanco club members whose cars passed inspection will be eligible for this Saturday’s opener. The Tech Committee will perform re-inspections prior to warm-ups this week; there will not be any new inspections until the second event on April 18. Non-members are welcome to compete beginning with the second race on the 18th.
The seven ARDC Midgets who participated in Practice Night included defending champion Steve Drevicki, 2013 point king Trevor Kobylarz, Ryan Greth, Jim Radney, Jared Esh, Danny Stratton, and Brett Wanner.
The mighty Midgets were gettting dialed in for their first-ever Lanco appearance on the Fourth of July, when they will headline the Star Spangled Havoc event at the Clyde. They’ll be joined that night by wingless 600cc and wingless 270cc Micro-Sprints.
Practice Night confirmed that the ARDC cars can get around the Chili Bowl sized oval at Lanco in fine fashion, as the speeds and stability of the cars increased with each session. By the final set of hot laps, Greth and Wanner were executing slide jobs on one another and “having a blast out there” according to Greth.
“Re-grading the track and getting rid of that ‘shelf’ at the top of the corners is allowing us to run all the way up to the fence, and you can really haul down the chute and into the corner,” stated Greth, who’s won some big 600cc races at the Clyde, including a $10,000 event just a few years ago. “And a few of the guys said there was a nice groove on the bottom, too, and that’s what we need on the Fourth of July. If we get a two-groove race track, this is gonna be an awesome show.”
First up, however, is this Saturday’s season opening event, as the battle for the coveted 2015 track championship begins in the five weekly classes.
Keep up with all of the Lanco news, whether you’re at the track on Saturday nights or during the week, by logging on to www.lancomicrosprint.com. The Clyde is also active on social media, with its Facebook page (facebook.com/
It’s time to kick off the 2015 racing season, and that means you’ve just gotta come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
