by John Rittenoure
SALINA, Okla. (July 18, 2020) – Alex Sewell took advantage of his pole starting position and held off the charges of Robert Sellers to win his second AmeriFlex / OCRS Sprint Car feature of the season Saturday at Salina Highbanks Speedway.
Sewell became the second two-time winner this season. Kinzer Edwards also has two wins.
“It seems like we have picked up some momentum lately and it is nice to be in victory lane again,” said Sewell who won the week before at Caney Valley Speedway.
Sewell roared out to an early lead with Whit Gastineau and Sellers giving chase. Gastineau and Sellers swapped the runner-up position on laps 2-3 with Sellers taking over the spot for good on lap 5.
The red flag waved on lap 11 for Terry Easum who took a hard end-over-end flip on the backstretch. Brayden Voigt also got involved and flipped into the infield. Fortunately no one was hurt.
On the restart Sellers resumed the chase and challenged Sewell on lap 16. But he could not complete the pass.
“We were running the top early and I knew the rubber was going to have to come in at some point,” Sewell said. “I just kept watching the race track. The first time I saw a lap car push down on the bottom I decided to go to the bottom. He (Sellers) did pull up beside me. I saw a red nose wing.
“It i one of those things. When you are in the lead early you don’t always know where to go and when, but you know it is coming and you have to pay attention.”
Sewell retained his lead to pick up the win. Gastineau briefly got around Sellers for second on lap 18 then passed him back to finish second. Gastineau settled for third followed by Andrew Deal and Joe Bob Lee who worked his way from 13th to 5th earning him the DDR Discount Tire Hard Charger contingency.
AmeriFlex / OCRS Results
Salina Highbanks Speedway
July 18, 2020
AmeriFlex Hose Accessories A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Alex Sewell[1]; 2. 22-Robert Sellers[4]; 3. 2C-Whit Gastineau[3]; 4. 15D-Andrew Deal[2]; 5. 5-Joe Bob Lee[13]; 6. 9E-Kinzer Edwards[8]; 7. 50Z-Zach Chappell[7]; 8. 55-Johnny Kent[11]; 9. 31-Casey Wills[5]; 10. 6X-Cameron Hagin[16]; 11. 65L-Nicholas Lucito[9]; 12. 14-Stephanie Chappell[12]; 13. 22C-Charlie Crumpton[10]; 14. 22T-Frank Taft[14]; 15. 62-James Shoun[19]; 16. 2L-Brandon Leland[25]; 17. 39-Kimberly Tyre[24]; 18. 30J-Larry Bratti[20]; 19. 88-Terry Easum[6]; 20. B52-Brayden Voigt[15]; 21. 6-Alison Slaton[17]; 22. 6N-Emily Lowry[18]; 23. P78-Perry Pickard[21]; 24. 9-Casey Buechler[22]; 25. 54-JC Wilson[23]
Car Fleet Parts Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15D-Andrew Deal[2]; 2. 9E-Kinzer Edwards[3]; 3. 88-Terry Easum[5]; 4. 14-Stephanie Chappell[4]; 5. 22T-Frank Taft[6]; 6. 62-James Shoun[1]; 7. 6-Alison Slaton[8]; 8. 30J-Larry Bratti[9]; 9. 2L-Brandon Leland[7]
A & W Aluminum Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Casey Wills[2]; 2. 22-Robert Sellers[6]; 3. 2C-Whit Gastineau[8]; 4. 5-Joe Bob Lee[4]; 5. B52-Brayden Voigt[5]; 6. 6N-Emily Lowry[3]; 7. 54-JC Wilson[1]; 8. 9-Casey Buechler[7]
WESMAR Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 50Z-Zach Chappell[2]; 2. 8-Alex Sewell[8]; 3. 22C-Charlie Crumpton[1]; 4. 65L-Nicholas Lucito[6]; 5. 55-Johnny Kent[7]; 6. 6X-Cameron Hagin[5]; 7. P78-Perry Pickard[4]; 8. 39-Kimberly Tyre[3]
Lap Leaders: Alex Sewell 1-20.
Margin of victory: .0835 seconds.
Contingency Winners
AmeriFlex Hose & Accessories winner: Alex Sewell
Car & Fleet Heat 1: Andrew Deal
M & W Aluminum Heat 2: Casey Wills
WESMAR Heat 3: Zach Chappell
AMSOIL High Point: Alex Sewell
DFR Discount Tire Hard Charger: Joe Bob Lee +8