Swavely Rockets To Clyde Martin 600cc Win; Birthday Boy Lane Takes 270cc Victory on Saturday, 8/29
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Swavely Rockets To Clyde Martin 600cc Win; Birthday Boy Lane Takes 270cc Victory on Saturday, 8/29
Newmanstown, PA – “Yeah, it’s certainly been an up and down season. The last few weeks, the car just didn’t have the drive we needed, and we weren’t sure if it was the engine or the chassis. But I think we have it figured out now,” said Jason Swavely on Saturday night, after the 600cc Micro-Sprint feature at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway.
Swavely and his family-run team definitely had their Heffner Construction/ Timmy’s Shock Lab/ RTS No. 14 dialed in on Saturday, as the “Rocket Man from Fleetwood” blasted to his third victory of the Clyde’s 2015 campaign.
Dan Lane Jr. celebrated his 20th birthday by winning his second of the year in the 270cc main event, and Mike Rutherford notched his sixth Sportsman triumph of the season. William Manotti made it two straight in 125cc competition and Donna Geib registered her third win of 2015 in the feature for the 250cc Four-Stroke Micros.
While Saturday’s program was important in the chase for each division’s championship – there are only two point-paying events remaining on the schedule – it also served as a final tune up for this weekend’s lucrative Labor Day Shootout, the two-day Micro-Sprint extravaganza slated forSeptember 5 & 6.
Saturday’s 600cc feature had rookie Ryan Groff jump into the early lead and it wasn’t long before Swavely maneuvered his way from fourth to the runner-up position, passing Bret Cronrath for that spot on the second trip around the clay.
Swavely zipped past Groff for the top spot and was scored as the leader on lap six, just before the yellow appeared for a second time. As Swavely built a comfortable lead after the restart, the battles behind him raged furiously with four-time winner Jared Esh finally finding a way around Groff to take over the second position and Chris Gerhart threading a path into the top five.
One final caution period with four to go did not hamper Swavely’s drive to the winner’s circle, as Jason flew under Tim Gehret’s checkered flag with a half-second margin over Esh, who completed his month of August with a pair of runner-up finishes to go along with two victories.
Groff recorded his best finish of the season with a strong third place effort while Gerhart and Kyle Lick rounded out the top five.
With an eighth-place finish, Mike Rutherford extended his point lead over Heath Hehnly, who struggled to finish 13th.
A fine field of 29 cars took part in the 600cc portion of Saturday’s show, with heat race victories going to Greg Stevens, Esh, and Cronrath. Brittany Brown won the consolation race.
Like Swavely in the 600’s, Dan Lane Jr. started fourth in the 270cc main and he too powered into the runner-up slot with just two laps scored. But Lane’s path to victory lane then detoured from the road that Swavely used, as Bradley Brown throttled his No. 23 around the top to sweep past Lane and early leader Dylan Adams on the tenth revolution.
Lane was hooked up on the bottom while Brown planted his right-rear firmly on the cushion at both ends of the speedway, and the duo engaged in a crowd-pleasing duel for the lead over the next five laps before Lane gained command for good with ten to go.
The Elverson, Pa. college student went on to score his second win of the season and cap off his 20th birthday celebration in style, beating Brown to the checkered by almost three-quarters of a second.
Tenth starting Kenny Miller III finished third with Toby Blumenshine and point leader Mike Rutherford completing the top five.
With 27 of the 270’s on hand, K. Miller III, Brian Sholley, and Mike Miller were victorious in the qualifying heat races. The consolation victor was Brock Whisler.
Mike Rutherford, from Lititz, earned his sixth win of the season and his first since June 13 in the 25-lap main for the Sportsman division.
Rutherford took the lead from Kerry Lengle on a restart with nine laps in the books, then went on to win handily over Lengle, Angelo Mercado, Sheena Schaefer, and Sami Schenck.
Sportsman point leader Toby Blumenshine had to qualify through the consolation, then raced his way from 19th on the original start to finish seventh.
A terrific field of 31 Sportsman Micros entered Saturday’s event with Sheena Schaefer, Jason Swavely, and Rutherford winning heat races. Blumenshine scored the consolation victory.
Lancaster’s William Manotti inherited the lead when Tajae Adams’ No. 63k suddenly slowed and stopped on the track with just eight circuits remaining in the 125cc feature. Adams had set the pace up to that point, although Manotti was putting the pressure on when Adams suffered his misfortune.
Manotti went on to record his second consecutive triumph and fifth of the campaign, with Zack Hollinger notching a 125cc career best finish of second. Jas Hehnly, Chase Gutshall, and point leader Dave Grube made up the rest of the top five.
Heat race victories went to Jason Hehnly and Manotti as 22 of the 125cc racers signed in for competition on Saturday.
Manheim’s Donna Geib registered her third win of the year in the 25-lapper for the 250cc Four-Strokes, starting on the pole and leading all the way and cruising to a 1.5-second triumph over Scott Renninger.
Renninger shook off the recent string of horrible luck that plagued him to finish in the runner-up spot, with point leader Eddie Nocera increasing his lead in the championship standings with a third place effort in Saturday’s feature. Devin Adams and Jarrett Imler finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Four-Strokes went non-stop in their 25-lapper with Geib taking the checkered flag in just five minutes, 11.782 seconds.
Zak Vickers and Jarrett Imler won the two heat races for the 13 Four-Strokes who took part in Saturday’s event.
The stage is now set for this weekend’s Labor Day Shootout which will be sponsored by Hyper Racing, West Fabrications, Kim’s Kreations, and Jared Davis Motorsports, along with OMS Used Parts Outlet and a host of contingency sponsors.
Saturday, September 5, will be a “wing thing” featuring the winged 600cc, 270cc, 125cc, and Sportsman Micro-Sprints. The 270’s will compete in the Charlotte Hartman Memorial Race that will pay the winner, dependent upon car count, $1500 (if 26 – 30 cars enter) or up to $2,000 (if more than 40 cars sign in). In addition, there will be cash bonuses and lap money awarded, making this one of the highest paying 270cc races in the northeast.
On Sunday, September 6, the All Star Slingshots will join Wingless 600’s and 270’s, as the Slingers participate in the Slide at the Clyde 3, a National Tour Race that will pay $1,600 to win (based on 30 or more cars) plus lap money and plenty of special cash and contingency prizes.
The winged and wingless 600cc and wingless 270cc A-Mains will also offer a $1,000 payday to the winner (based on car count). And there will be lap money for all classes during the action packed, fun filled, and lucrative weekend of Micro-Sprint Mania known as the Labor Day Shootout.
All of the details, along with the complete purse for all divisions, can be found at www.lancomicrosprint.com.
Gates will open at 2 p.m. on both days, with pill draw ending and driver’s meeting beginning at 3:45. Warm-ups are slated for 4:00 and the first heat race goes green at 4:30. All A-Mains on Saturday and Sunday will be a distance of 30-laps.
It’s gonna be awesome…winged and wingless ground pounding action plus the All Star Slingshots mean you’ve just gotta come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco and the Labor Day Shootout!
RESULTS:
600cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Jason Swavely, 2.Jared Esh, 3.Ryan Groff, 4.Chris Gerhart, 5.Kyle Lick, 6.Bret Cronrath, 7.Tanner Gray, 8.Mike Rutherford, 9.Zach Light, 10.Kenny Miller III, 11.Jason Sechrist, 12.Jered Hook, 13.Heath Hehnly, 14.Shaun Brandel, 15.Jarid Kunkle, 16.Brittany Brown, 17.Will Urkuski, 18.Nate Prazenica, 19.Patrick Ely, 20.Dan Souder, 21.Greg Stevens, 22.Chris Panczner, 23.Ryan Hook, 24.Amber Oraschin.
DNQ: Troy Musselman, Chris Oraschin, Rebecca LaMothe, Jenna Heagy, Brooklyn Gable.
270cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Dan Lane Jr., 2.Bradley Brown, 3.Kenny Miller III, 4.Toby Blumenshine, 5.Mike Rutherford, 6.Billy Logeman, 7.Ken Miller, 8.Tyler Ulrich, 9.Kyle Spence, 10.Brian Sholley, 11.Brian Marriott, 12.Mike Miller, 13.Dave Grube, 14.Christi Sweigart, 15.Nate Weidman, 16.Brock Whisler, 17.Dylan Adams, 18.Dustin Fox, 19.Austin Graby, 20.Elizabeth Helmick, 21.Nicole Whisler, 22.Nick Skias, 23.Mark Yoder, 24.Shane Davis.
DNQ: Troy Hoffman, Matt Hoffman, Nick Sweigart.
Sportsman Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Mike Rutherford, 2.Kerry Lengle, 3.Angelo Mercado, 4.Sheena Schaefer, 5.Sami Schenck, 6.John Davis, 7.Toby Blumenshine, 8.Jas Hehnly, 9.Dave Ravel, 10.Ricky Sechrist, 11.Jeff Harnish, 12.Curtis R. Miller, 13.Patrick Kirn, 14.Adam Minzer, 15.Michael Kreiser, 16.Steve Smith Sr., 17.Ava Bellinger, 18.Dave Schroeder, 19.Brandon Bucher, 20.Devin Adams, 21.Jason Swavely, 22.Megan Mercado, 23.Anthony Yerger, 24.Robert Shanaman.
DNQ: Jeff Boyer, Zach Young, Dennis Fenstermacher, Brian Becker, Austin Graby, Mike Miller, Katelin Vragovich.
125cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.William Manotti, 2.Zack Hollinger, 3.Jas Hehnly, 4.Chase Gutshall, 5.Dave Grube, 6.Corey Schmuck Jr., 7.Jason Hehnly, 8.Justin Harrington, 9.Austin Graby, 10.Brandon Gibble, 11.Bradley Brown, 12.Kyler Heiney, 13.Kelsey Heiney, 14.Jarrett Imler, 15.Jimmy Wampole, 16.Kody Hibshman, 17.Tajae Adams, 18.Alexis Sheely, 19.Matthew Donley, 20.Heath Hehnly, 21.Walt Wampole. DNS:Dustin Adams.
250cc Four-Stroke Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Donna Geib, 2.Scott Renninger, 3.Eddie Nocera, 4.Devin Adams, 5.Jarrett Imler, 6.Zack Hollinger, 7.Zak Vickers, 8.Brian Kramer, 9.Dick Huzzard, 10.Ronald Wechter, 11.Lewis Kepple Jr., 12.Brandon Yoder, 13.Kassidy Michael.
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