Lonnie Wheatley
WACO, Texas (May 14, 2010) – Two-time American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region champion Brandon Berryman snared his first series win of the year by racing to victory lane in Friday night’s 25-lap main event at Heart O’ Texas Speedway.
The Missouri City, TX, shoe gunned into the lead from the front row outside starting position and led all the way aboard the Shark-powered Baytown Ford/Sport Performance No. 31 Maxim for his eighth career ASCS Gulf South triumph.
Berryman, who topped a Gulf South vs. Sooner Shootout at Heart O’ Texas en route to the first of back-to-back series titles in 2007, beat Lucas Oil ASCS National rookie contender Joshua Hodges of Tijeras, NM, to the line, with siblings Travis Elliott and Bean Elliott in third and fourth, respectively.
Ray Allen Kulhanek rounded out the top five, with Jason Johnson, Greg Rilat, Gary Watson, 16th-starter Scottie McDonald and Claud Estes completing the top ten.
Gunning for a third ASCS Gulf South feature win in a row, Jason Johnson was slated to start the main event from the pole position until flipping in turn two as the field buzzed the track prior to aligning for the main event. At the same time, fellow front row starter Kolt Walker spun in turn four to create the new front row of Hodges and Berryman.
While Johnson raced from the tail of the field to sixth, Walker flipped on the frontstretch after eleven laps to bring out a red flag.
Walker, Travis Elliott, Hodges, Chad Wilson and Klint Angelette topped heat race action for the 37-car field, with Brandon Corn and Logan Bledsoe topping the twin 12-lap “B” Mains. Originally slated to start the feature from third, Wilson was unable to make the call with engine woes.
ASCS Gulf South Region Results from Heart O’ Texas Speedway:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 45k-Kolt Walker, 2. 35-Greg Rilat, 3. 67-Rodney Henderson, 4. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 5. 5c-Chris Coker, 6. 85-Tommy Bryant, 7. 51w-Wes Miller, 8. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 15T-Travis Elliott, 2. 30x-Bean Elliott, 3. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 4. 88-Scottie McDonald, 5. 76-John Ricketts, 6. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 69-Larry Howery.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 74e-Claud Estes, 4. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 51s-Beau Smith, 6. 93-Chris Sweeney, 7. 28-James Cooper.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 20-Chad Wilson, 2. 3-Gary Watson, 3. 30-Brandon Corn, 4. 31-Brandon Berryman, 5. 11-Justin Melton, 6. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 7. 14-Michael Lang.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 19-Klint Angelette, 2. 5m-Glenn Martin, 3. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 4. 79-Ryan Hall, 5. 71-Channin Tankersley, 6. 22-Koby Barksdale, 7. 61-Travis Knighton.
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 30-Brandon Corn, 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 3. 88-Scottie McDonald, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 61-Travis Knighton, 7. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 8. 67-Rodney Henderson, 9. 28-James Cooper, 10. 5c-Chris Coker, 11. 71-Channin Tankersley, 12. 85-Tommy Bryant.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 2. 51s-Beau Smith, 3. 76-John Ricketts, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 79-Ryan Hall, 6. 14-Michael Lang, 7. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 8. 51w-Wes Miller, 9. 69-Larry Howery, 10. 93-Chris Sweeney, 11. 22-Koby Barksdale.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 31-Brandon Berryman, 2. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 3. 15T-Travis Elliott, 4. 30x-Bean Elliott, 5. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 6. 41-Jason Johnson, 7. 35-Greg Rilat, 8. 3-Gary Watson, 9. 88-Scottie McDonald, 10. 74e-Claud Estes, 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12. 76-John Ricketts, 13. 30-Brandon Corn, 14. 19-Klint Angelette, 15. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 16. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 17. 51s-Beau Smith, 18. 45k-Kolt Walker, 19. 5m-Glenn Martin, 20. 20-Chad Wilson.
ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brandon Berryman 584, 2. Aaron Reutzel 560, 3. Scottie McDonald 537, 4. Ray Allen Kulhanek 532, 5. Tommy Bryant 514, 6. Gary Wright 499, 7. Channin Tankersley 463, 8. Greg Rilat 443, 9. Wes Miller 436, 10. Chris Sweeney 432.