Lonnie Wheatley
CALIFORNIA, Mo. (July 3, 2011) – In a Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior feature event that included more twists and turns a typical country back road, Kyle Bellm came away with his first career ASCS win in Sunday night’s 25-lapper at Double X Speedway.
The 20-year-old from Nixa, MO, raced into the lead on a lap 23 restart after a wild chain of events and paced the final three circuits around the tight, ¼-mile clay oval to post his first Warrior win aboard Jerry and Jeff Smith’s PPG Automotive Paint/Colorvision No. 86 Maxim after Evan Martin, Taylor Walton and Brad Loyet each enjoyed previous stints at the head of the pack.
Martin, seeking a first ASCS win as well, paced a majority of feature laps only to spin and collect second-runner Jonathan Cornell less than two laps shy of the checkered flag, handing the lead off to a resurgent Loyet who then fell victim to a flat right rear tire that opened the door for an opportunistic Bellm.
With Bellm starting seventh, Evan Martin and Taylor Walton led the feature field to the green flag only to have the first start inadvertently waved off when fourth-starter Loyet did a quick 360-degree spin in turn two. Despite not stopping, the current ASCS Warrior points leader was sent tailback.
Martin gunned into the lead on the restart ahead of Walton and third-starter Mark Shirshekan only to have the red flag fly in short order when Cody Baker dumped his mount in turn three on the second lap.
Following another caution with three laps in the books for Jon Corbin and Austin Alumbaugh on the backstretch, Martin paced the field on the low side with Walton moving in to challenge for the point on the high side.
Walton’s topside efforts paid off as he raced into the lead on the eighth round. The 19-year-old’s run up front was short-lived however, as he tagged the wall exiting turn two on the tenth circuit and limped to a stop in turn three with right rear damage.
Martin reassumed the point on the lap ten restart in front of Shirshekan, Bellm, Sean McClelland and Jonathan Cornell, with Loyet already back up to sixth after breaking back into the top ten in just three laps.
With Martin still working the low side, Shirshekan challenged on the cushion as Cornell and Bellm began exchanging sliders for third after McClelland tested the turn four wall and lost several positions.
After being passed earlier by Walton and then challenged by Shirshekan, the younger Martin finally moved to the topside and opened up an advantage of several car-lengths as action intensified in his wake among Shirshekan, Cornell, Bellm and Loyet.
Loyet slid past Bellm for fourth on the 17th round, with Cornell taking second away from Shirshekan on the 20th circuit and setting his sights on Martin. Shirshekan fell another spot when Loyet slid past for third on the 22nd lap.
Martin, less than two laps away from his first career ASCS win and making it a Martin sweep of ASCS Warrior events at Double X Speedway events in 2011 after father Randy Martin won during Memorial Day weekend, then spun entering turn one on the 24th lap and collected Cornell in the process. Both were forced pitside with race-ending damage.
After being sent tailback on the initial start, Loyet now found himself in the lead with just three laps remaining. However, after clipping one of the cars in the Martin-Cornell skirmish, Loyet’s right rear was slowly deflating and ultimately flat by the time action resumed.
Hobbled on the final restart, Loyet was no match for Bellm and company. Bellm blasted into the lead in turns one and two and raced on to his first feature win outside of Lake Ozark Speedway, with Shirshekan taking runner-up honors. Fourteenth-starter Tyler Blank worked up to sixth by the midway point and took advantage of the late-race mayhem to claim the show position.
McClelland held on to post a fourth-place finish, with Lanny Carpenter rounding out the top five. Randy Martin was sixth, while Loyet slipped to seventh in the final rounds. R.J. Johnson rebounded from the lap two incident with Baker to claim eighth, with Bryan Grimes and Curtis Boyer completing the top ten.
Bellm, Loyet, Grimes and McClelland topped heat race action for the 29-car field, with Jon Corbin winning the 12-lap “B” Main.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Results from Double X Speedway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Bellm, 2. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 3. 93-Taylor Walton, 4. 775-Andy Korte, 5. 48-David Brown, 6. 49-Tyler Elliott, 7. 55-Greg Clemons, 8. XX-A.J. Wirts.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet, 2. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 3. 75-Tyler Blank, 4. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 5. 4j-Jon Corbin, 6. 04-Brad Graham, 7. 5-Matt Close.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 6-Bryan Grimes, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 14-Randy Martin, 4. 9m-Cody Baker, 5. 72-Curtis Boyer, 6. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 7. 65-T.J. Muths.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland, 2. 71-R.J. Johnson, 3. 92j-J.R. Topper, 4. 4-Evan Martin, 5. 09-Josh Stephens, 6. 11-Chad Corken, 7. 53-Bill Porter.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 4j-Jon Corbin, 2. 72-Curtis Boyer, 3. 09-Josh Stephens, 4. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 5. 04-Brad Graham, 6. 5-Matt Close, 7. 48-David Brown, 8. 11-Chad Corken, 9. 53-Bill Porter, 10. 65-T.J. Muths, 11. 49-Tyler Elliott, 12. 55-Greg Clemons. DNS: XX-A.J. Wirts.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Bellm, 2. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 3. 75-Tyler Blank, 4. 1-Sean McClelland, 5. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 6. 14-Randy Martin, 7. 05-Brad Loyet, 8. 71-R.J. Johnson, 9. 6-Bryan Grimes, 10. 72-Curtis Boyer, 11. 775-Andy Korte, 12. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 13. 92j-J.R. Topper, 14. 4-Evan Martin, 15. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 16. 93-Taylor Walton, 17. 09-Josh Stephens, 18. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 19. 4j-Jon Corbin, 20. 9m-Cody Baker.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brad Loyet 972, 2. Randy Martin 904, 3. Kyle Bellm 872, 4. Mark Shirshekan 796, 5. Jonathan Cornell 789, 6. Cody Baker 772, 7. Josh Stephens 747, 8. Tyler Blank 706, 9. Austin Alumbaugh 606, 10. Evan Martin 525.