By Lonnie Wheatley
MESQUITE, Texas (July 24, 2010) – Kolt Walker prevailed in a last-lap, three-wide scramble for the lead to win Saturday night’s 25-lap American Sprint Car Series Gulf South vs. Lone Star main event atop the storied ½-mile Devil’s Bowl Speedway clay oval.
After starting eighth, the Kermit, TX, native outdueled Gary Wright and Andy Shouse on the final circuit to snare his second career ASCS Regional triumph aboard the ASI-powered Jars Inc./Texas Moon No. 45k Maxim.
While Walker and Wright worked forward from the fourth row, Shouse took the lead away from fellow past ASCS Sooner champion Brian McClelland on the sixth round and led it all the way to the white flag.
Circling the big track with no brakes over the last half of the race, Shouse went high in turns one and two on the final circuit with Walker pulling alongside in the middle of turn two and Wright on the low side.
Shouse slipped off the backstretch, with Walker then beating “The Texan” through the final pair of corners for the win. Shouse settled for the show position, while Kevin Ramey rallied from 19th to fourth.
Current ASCS Lone Star points leader Eric Baldaccini was fifth, with Michael Lang, ASCS Gulf South points leader Ray Allen Kulhanek, Claud Estes, John Ricketts and Travis Elliott completing the top ten.
Estes, Baldaccini, Justin Spoerl, Preston Peebles II and Wright topped heat race action for Saturday night’s 40-car field, with Martin Edwards and Chris Sweeney winning the “B” Mains.
ASCS Gulf South vs. Lone Star Results from Devil’s Bowl Speedway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 74e-Claud Estes, 2. 45k-Kolt Walker, 3. 45x-Martin Edwards, 4. 25-Brian McClelland, 5. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 6. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 1r-Scott Reneau.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 2. 29-Larry Long, 3. 14-Michael Lang, 4. 51s-Beau Smith, 5. 2L-Logan Payne, 6. 88-Scottie McDonald, 7. 30x-Bean Elliott, 8. 77-Colt Treharn.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 6-Justin Spoerl, 2. 76-John Ricketts, 3. 11-Justin Melton, 4. 19-Klint Angelette, 5. 69-Larry Howery, 6. 20-Chad Wilson, 7. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 8. 10-George White.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 2. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 15T-Travis Elliott, 5. 8-Bruce Crockett, 6. 51w-Wes Miller, 7. 31-Brandon Berryman, 8. 12b-Logan Bledsoe.
Fifth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 14e-Todd Evans, 3. 93-Chris Sweeney, 4. 45-J.P. Bailey, 5. 30-Brandon Corn, 6. 85-Tommy Bryant, 7. 5c-Chris Coker, 8. 16-Ray Welnack.
First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 45x-Martin Edwards, 2. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 3. 19-Klint Angelette, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 85-Tommy Bryant, 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 7. 1r-Scott Reneau, 8. 20-Chad Wilson, 9. 30x-Bean Elliott, 10. 8-Bruce Crockett, 11. 10-George White. DNS: 77-Colt Treharn.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 93-Chris Sweeney, 2. 51s-Beau Smith, 3. 2L-Logan Payne, 4. 88-Scottie McDonald, 5. 31-Brandon Berryman, 6. 5c-Chris Coker, 7. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 8. 30-Brandon Corn, 9. 16-Ray Welnack, 10. 12b-Logan Bledsoe. DNS: 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 51w-Wes Miller.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 45k-Kolt Walker, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 14-Michael Lang, 7. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 8. 74e-Claud Estes, 9. 76-John Ricketts, 10. 15T-Travis Elliott, 11. 45x-Martin Edwards, 12. 11-Justin Melton, 13. 93-Chris Sweeney, 14. 69-Larry Howery, 15. 19-Klint Angelette, 16. 2L-Logan Payne, 17. 6-Justin Spoerl, 18. 29-Larry Long, 19. 4-J.P. Bailey, 20. 51s-Beau Smith, 21. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 22. 88-Scottie McDonald, 23. 25-Brian McClelland, 24. 14e-Todd Evans.
ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Ray Allen Kulhanek 1,625 2. Tommy Bryant 1,540, 3. Brandon Berryman 1,482, 4. Aaron Reutzel 1,457, 5. Scottie McDonald 1,397, 6. Travis Elliott 1,373, 7. Chris Sweeney 1,330, 8. Wes Miller 1,225, 9. Beau Smith 1,189, 10. Logan Bledsoe 1,163.
ASCS Lone Star Region Points (Top 10): 1. Eric Baldaccini 1,538, 2. Claud Estes 1,448, 3. Justin Melton 1,358, 4. Preston Peebles II 1,333, 5. Martin Edwards 1,317, 6. John Ricketts 1,287, 7. Brandon Corn 1,270, 8. Brian McClelland 1,205, 9. Kolt Walker 1,152, 10. Scott Reneau 1,122.