Esh Wins 4th in Clyde Martin 600’s; Logeman Snaps Rutherford’s 270cc Win Streak on August 22nd
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Esh Wins 4th in Clyde Martin 600’s; Logeman Snaps Rutherford’s 270cc Win Streak on August 22nd
Newmanstown, PA – Jared Esh felt as though he “gave one away” on August 15, and he used that thought as motivation on Saturday night at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. And it worked…it really worked!
Esh blasted to his division leading fourth win of the season in the Worley & Obetz Green Energy 25-lap feature for the 600cc Micro-Sprints. Joining the Millersville, Pa. wheel-twister in victory lane were: Billy Logeman (270cc), Devin Adams (Sportsman), William Manotti (125cc), and Jarrett Imler (250cc Four-Stroke).
With event sponsor Worley & Obetz of Manheim touting their bio-fuel and propane offerings, it was pure methanol that fueled Jared Esh’s mount to victory in the 600cc main.
When pole sitter and early race leader Jarid Kunkle was momentarily hung up behind a slower car on lap 11, Esh took advantage, zipping past Kunkle to snare the top spot as they rocketed down the front stretch. It was just one week earlier that Esh, while in command of the feature, got stuck for just a second or two behind a lapped car on the final trip around the oval. Kyle Spence pounced on the opportunity and ducked under Esh, then won the drag race to the finish line to record the victory.
Esh was not about to let that happen again; he deftly maneuvered around and (sometimes) through heavy lapped traffic…on a few occasions, he needed to thread the needle, slipping through incredibly narrow openings as two cars in front of him ran side by side.
Behind the leader, Kunkle fought off repeated attacks from Heath Hehnly in an entertaining battle for the runner-up position, while Kenny Miller III battled Spence for fourth place.
At the checkered, it was Esh scoring his fourth triumph of the year, winning by slightly more than 1.5-seconds over Kunkle, who held off Hehnly for second place cash. Miller finished fourth and Spence settled for fifth ahead of point leader Mike Rutherford.
With his third-place finish, Hehnly chopped 14 points off Rutherford’s 32-point margin in the championship standings. With only three point shows remaining, Rutherford’s lead is now a slim 18 points over Hehnly.
There were 25 of the 600cc Micros in action on Saturday. Heat race victories went to K. Miller III, Esh, and Hehnly. When Chris Panczner scratched from the consolation race, Chris Oraschin led the field to the ceremonial checkered flag because all of the remaining starters qualified for the main.
“I hate starting on the pole because those are the hardest races to win,” said Billy Logeman after he did just that (win) in the 270cc feature. It was Logeman’s second triumph of the season and in the process, he snapped Mike Rutherford’s impressive four race win streak in the 270cc division. If his wingless victory on the Fourth of July is included, Rutherford has now won five of the last seven features run by the 270’s at the Clyde.
Logeman, from Reinholds, darted from his inside front row starting spot to open a comfortable lead over Tyler Ulrich and Mike Uhrich who waged a fierce battle for the runner-up position.
Eleventh-starting Rutherford, also the 270cc point leader, navigated his way to fifth by the halfway mark of the 25-lapper, then methodically picked off one car at a time until he found himself running second to Logeman with six to go.
While he hung within a few car lengths of the leader, Rutherford was not able to mount a serious challenge and Logeman netted his second win of the season by 0.189-seconds. Kyle Spence used a late race charge to finish third, with Ulrich scoring his second consecutive top-five by placing fourth and Kenny Miller III wound up fifth.
Spence, Uhrich, and Collin Ginther were victorious in qualifying heats for the 27-car field of 270’s. The consolation victory went to Mike Miller.
Devin Adams, from Jonestown, Pa., stacked up three-wide on the start of the Sportsman feature with pole-sitter Anthony Yerger and his front row mate, Kerry Lengle.
Lengle emerged with the lead and Adams tucked into second behind him.
Curtis R. Miller rambled past Adams and began an assault on the leader, but his No. 7c broke just after Adams moved back around him to reclaim the runner-up slot.
Adams then wrestled the top spot from Lengle on the eighth trip around the clay as Jason Swavely, the previous week’s Sportsman Class winner, made his presence known inside the top five.
Swavely throttled his way to second position with 12 circuits scored and 12th starter Mike Rutherford sliced into third place with 11 tours remaining. Swavely blew up with five to go, handing the runner-up spot to Rutherford. A final caution period with three to go set the stage for possible late race dramatics, but Adams maintained his composure and flew to his second Sportsman division triumph of the campaign, winning by nearly one second over Rutherford.
Jas Hehnly wound up third with John Davis finishing fourth and Sheena Schaefer earning fifth place money.
Another terrific field of 30 Sportsman entered Saturday’s event. Qualifying heat victories fell to Dave Schroeder, Rutherford, and Swavely. Dave Ravel won the consolation race.
Lancaster driver William Manotti chased early leader Tajae Adams for the first eight circuits of the 125cc main event before snatching the top spot from Adams after a restart with nine laps complete.
Manotti waltzed away to win his fourth of the season (but first victory since June 13) by almost three seconds over Adams, who held off Chase Gutshall to finish second. Point leader Dave Grube wound up fourth and Justin Harrington finished fifth.
Zack Hollinger and Manotti won heat races for the 20-car field of 125cc competitors.
Scott Renninger set the pace for the first half of the 250cc Four-Stroke main event. Unfortunately for Renninger, mechanical gremlins popped up in his No. 8, forcing him to retire prematurely. Renninger’s misfortune handed the top spot to Jarrett Imler, who made the most of his golden opportunity and drove to his second triumph of the year in Four-Stroke competition.
When teammates Zack Hollinger and Brian Kramer tangled and flipped as they battled for second position, Zak Vickers inherited the spot and he followed Imler to the checkered flag. Point leader and two-time winner Eddie Nocera finished third with Donna Geib and Ronald Wechter completing the top five.
Imler also captured the lone heat race for the 11 Four-Strokes.
Drivers went through the stands and the pit area with helmets in hand on Saturday night, taking up a collection for three-year-old Hudson Myles, who is battling cancer in the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Myles, the middle of three boys from Ephrata, had two cancerous brain tumors removed but still faces six months of rigorous chemotherapy treatments. His parents were forced to take a leave of absence from their jobs, creating some financial hardship for the family to go along with the stressful and emotional trauma facing them and Hudson during this difficult time.
The Lanco racing community came through with flying colors on Saturday, as they always do, raising $1,125 for the Myles family. Lanco officials, on behalf of the Myles family, wish to thank all of the drivers who participated in the helmet drive as well as all those who contributed to this worthy cause.
Racing action returns this Saturday, August 29, with another five division show of Micro-Sprint competition featuring the weekly classes: 600cc, 270cc, Sportsman, 125cc, and 250cc Four-Strokes. Only three point races remain as the battles for the 2015 championships become even more intense.
Gates will open at 3:30 on Saturday, with warm-ups getting underway at 5 p.m. The first heat race goes green at 6:00.
Coming up in less than two weeks is the annual Labor Day Shootout, presented this year by Kim’s Kreations, Jared Davis Motorsports, OMS Racing, Hyper Racing, and West Fabrications. Complete racing programs will be held on both Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6.
Saturday is Wing Night, as the 600cc, 270cc, Sportsman, and 125cc classes compete with wings. Thirty-lap mains will highlight the evening of high speed adventure, and the 270cc Micros will take part in the Charlotte Hartman Memorial Race. If 25 – 39 cars enter the Hartman Memorial, the winner will receive $1,500. If the car count reaches 40 or more, the winner’s share jumps to $2,000! There will also be additional cash awards, such as lap money, for the 270cc competitors.
On Sunday, the wings will come off as the 600cc and 270cc Micros go topless in non-wing mayhem with 30-lap features capping off the night of action. Joining the wingless 600’s and 270’s will be the All Star Slingshots in the third annual Slide at the Clyde. With a field of 30 or more Slingers, the winner of the Slide at the Clyde will be paid $1,600, and there is lots of lap money and other cash prizes to be handed out as well.
Things are heating up at the Clyde, meaning you’ve just gotta come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!
RESULTS:
600cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Jared Esh, 2.Jarid Kunkle, 3.Heath Hehnly, 4.Kenny Miller III, 5.Kyle Spence, 6.Mike Rutherford, 7.Chris Gerhart, 8.Brittany Brown, 9.Dan Souder, 10.Bret Cronrath, 11.Shaun Brandel, 12.Matt Carr, 13.Zach Light, 14.Taylor Troxel, 15.Ryan Groff, 16.Hank Stellar, 17.Rebecca LaMothe, 18.Chris Oraschin, 19.Amber Oraschin, 20.Patrick Ely, 21.Brooklyn Gable, 22.Jenna Heagy, 23.Dylan Binkley, 24.Jason Swavely.
DNQ: Chris Panczner.
270cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Billy Logeman, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.Kyle Spence, 4.Tyler Ulrich, 5.Kenny Miller III, 6.Nick Skias, 7.Ken Miller, 8.Dan Lane Jr., 9.Brian Sholley, 10.Mike Miller, 11.Dave Grube, 12.Dylan Adams, 13.Cameron Bellinger, 14.Christi Sweigart, 15.Mark Ludwig, 16.Nate Weidman, 17.Mike Uhrich, 18.Collin Ginther, 19.Terry Ellex, 20.Brock Whisler, 21.Dustin Fox, 22.Nick Sweigart, 23.Toby Blumenshine, 24.Bradley Brown.
DNQ: Austin Graby, Daryl Davis, Nicole Whisler.
Sportsman Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Devin Adams, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.Jas Hehnly, 4.John Davis, 5.Sheena Schaefer, 6.Sami Schenck, 7.Patrick Kirn, 8.Kerry Lengle, 9.Dave Ravel, 10.Robert Shanaman, 11.Dave Schroeder, 12.Anthony Yerger, 13.Adam Harnish, 14.Ken Miller, 15.Michael Kreiser, 16.Steve Smith Sr., 17.Brandon Bucher, 18.Toby Blumenshine, 19.Jason Swavely, 20.Ava Bellinger, 21.Curtis R. Miller, 22.Megan Mercado, 23.Ricky Sechrist, 24.Adam Minzer.
DNQ: Brian Becker, Cody Sechrist, Jeff Boyer, Dennis Fenstermacher, Kevin Mundis, Angelo Mercado.
125cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.William Manotti, 2.Tajae Adams, 3.Chase Gutshall, 4.Dave Grube, 5.Justin Harrington, 6.Brandon Gibble, 7.Zack Hollinger, 8.Jas Hehnly, 9.Alexis Sheely, 10.Corey Schmuck Jr., 11.Kyler Heiney, 12.Jarrett Imler, 13.Walt Wampole, 14.Austin Graby, 15.Kody Hibshman, 16.Kelsey Heiney, 17.Jason Hehnly, 18.Jimmy Wampole, 19.Dustin Adams. DNS: Shane Davis.
250cc Four-Stroke Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Jarrett Imler, 2.Zak Vickers, 3.Eddie Nocera, 4.Donna Geib, 5.Ronald Wechter, 6.Kassidy Michael, 7.Zack Hollinger, 8.Lewis Kepple Jr., 9.Brian Kramer, 10.Scott Renninger, 11.Brandon Yoder.
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