From Bill Wright
MEMPHIS, Mo. (June 15, 2018) – Evan Martin scored his first ever win with the Sprint Invaders aboard his Heidbreder Construction #4m at the Scotland County Speedway near Memphis, Missouri Friday night. The Lohman, Missouri native led every lap and picked up $1,500 for his victory.
Martin and Kyle Bellm started in row one of the 25-lap main event and traded the lead on lap one. At the stripe, it was Martin who had the advantage over Bellm, and his father Randy Martin. By the second lap, Jon Agan, who had won the Shake-up Dash and started fifth, was up to fourth.
Evan Martin entered lapped traffic on the eighth lap. A circuit later, Agan would work by Randy Martin for third. Evan Martin had opened up a straightaway lead on Bellm by lap eleven. Cody Wehrle who had the point lead entering the night made a run around the outside of Randy Martin for fourth on the seventeenth lap, but the two would tangle coming off turn two. Both would suffer heavy damage and be done for the night.
The only restart of the race, with eight laps to go, made things interesting, with Evan Martin leading Bellm and Agan back to green. Bellm made a move on the leader that fell short. Two laps later, Agan worked by Bellm for second, but no one would catch Martin.
Evan Martin’s win came over Agan, Bellm, hard-charger Brayden Gaylord and John Schulz. Tanner Gebhardt, Brady Barker, John Greenwood, Ryan Jamison and Randy Martin rounded out the top ten. Evan and Randy Martin both won heats, and Agan won the Shake-up Dash.
It was a bit of a night of attrition. Jarrod Schneiderman flipped over the top of turn three in his heat race and was done for the night. He was uninjured. Harold Pohren lost an engine in his heat race and was also done for the night.
“We’ve been really turning things around here the last two or three weeks,” said Evan Martin after his win. “We’ve been inching closer and closer to this win. I’m glad we got it here tonight. The car was awesome. Kyle is always a tough racer and tough competitor. I knew he’d be right there (on the late restart) on me. I just tried to play it smart, and tried to drive a good race.”
“Those guys up front were getting around there really well,” said Agan. “Kyle and Evan were doing a great job. We needed some traffic for sure. Unfortunately, (on the restart) the driver didn’t get a very good initial start and that hurt us quite a bit I think. Then I got driving the racecar too hard. I was overdriving the racetrack, and that hurt me at times. Those two were racing hard for the lead, and the third guy in line like that…sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I made a move on Kyle too soon…I may have been a little too aggressive. We’re really happy with the racecar and the motor.”
“I can’t thank Scott (Bonar) and the guys enough for letting me drive their car,” said Bellm. “I thought we might have a chance at it. Late in the race, I made a couple slides on the restart. I think we were a second-place car if it went green. We had to try something. You have to. When you get a yellow like that, if there’s a chance, you have to take it. First night out, we’ll take a podium. I can’t thank Scott and the guys enough for the chance to drive their car.”
The Sprint Invaders will next hit the track Thursday, July 11 at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa during the Cedar County Fair. For more information on the Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Sprint Invaders Mohrfeld Electric A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 4m, Evan Martin, Lohman, MO (1) 2. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (5) 3. 50, Kyle Bellm, Nixa, MO (2) 4. 13, Brayden Gaylord, Wever, IA (9) 5. 99, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (7) 6. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (8) 7. 007, Brady Barker, New Berlin, IL (10) 8. 1st, John Greenwood, Woodward, IA (11) 9. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (3) 10. 14, Randy Martin, California, MO (6) 11. 40c, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (4) 12. 84K, Wayne Kniffen, Fort Madison, IA (14) 13. 2D, Dave Keperling, Hannibal, MO (12) 14. 9, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (13) DNS – 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA, 50P, Harold Pohren, Lowell, IA. Lap Leader: E. Martin 1-25. KSE Hard-charger: Gaylord.
Randall’s Performance Heat one (started), 10 laps: 1. Randy Martin (2) 2. Kyle Bellm (3) 3. Ryan Jamison (4) 4. Cody Wehrle (7) 5. Brady Barker (1) 6. John Greenwood (5) 7. Harold Pohren (6) DNS – Dave Keperling
CenPeCo Lubricants Heat two (started), Top 16* in Passing Points to A main, 8 laps: 1. Evan Martin (1) 2. Jon Agan (6) 3. Tanner Gebhardt (2) 4. John Schulz (5) 5. Brayden Gaylord (3) 6. Jarrod Schneiderman (4) DNS – 9, Daniel Bergquist, 84K, Wayne Kniffen, Fort Madison, IA
Budweiser King of Beers – Golden Eagle Distributors Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Jon Agan (1) 2. Randy Martin (2) 3. Evan Martin (3) 4. Kyle Bellm (4) 5. Ryan Jamison (6) 6. Cody Wehrle (5)
Contingencies
Pyrotec – Wayne Kniffen
Saldana Racing Products – Cody Wehrle
Kreitz Oval Track Products – Ryan Jamison