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Brian McClelland Tops ASCS Regional Clash at Springfield!
by: Lonnie Wheatley
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (July 2, 2011) – In the first event pitting the ASCS Sooner
and ASCS Warrior forces against one another, it was Tulsa’s Brian McClelland
taking the winner’s loot back to the Sooner State by winning Saturday
night’s 25-lap feature event atop the ¼-mile Springfield Raceway clay oval.
The two-time
American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region champion, a Springfield winner
in 2009, gunned into the lead at the outset and weathered three cautions
over the last half of the race to beat Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior rep
Jonathan Cornell to the checkered flag.
“I didn’t really
mind the cautions, they at least kept me out of traffic,” McClelland
explained after his seventh career ASCS Sooner triumph. “I wasn’t sure how
close behind me they were though, I figured with those cautions the lapped
cars I had in there earlier were probably getting picked off.”
Which, in fact,
they were. While four lapped cars separated McClelland from his chasers
when the race’s first caution flew after 11 laps, three cautions and seven
laps later found Cornell on McClelland’s tailtank for the final seven-lap
dash to the stripe.
McClelland proved
too strong though aboard the Wesmar-powered Maxwell Oil No. 87, crossing the
stripe ahead of Cornell with current Sooner points leader Joe Wood, Jr.,
current Warrior points leader Brad Loyet and Oklahoma shoe Jonathan Beason
rounding out the top five.
McClelland and
Loyet led the feature field to the green flag with McClelland gunning into
the lead. Third-starter Wood, Jr., surged past Loyet as well on the opening
circuit, with Loyet countering back on the top side by the third round with
fourth-starter Cornell making his way past Wood, Jr., as well for third by
the fifth round.
The leader was in
lapped traffic by the seventh round and picked off a handful of lapped cars
by the time Cody Whitworth sailed off the top of turn three and into the
weeds. Cornell worked past Loyet for second by the time the caution flew
again five laps later when Mark Shirshekan spun off the top of turn one and
then had finished off the lapped traffic by the time the final caution flew
for a Cameron Hagin stop on the backstretch after 18 laps.
While on
McClelland’s tail on the final restart, Cornell was unable to mount a
serious challenge and settled for runner-up honors.
“I was trying to
save my tires, so I wasn’t pushing quite as hard as I could have,” Cornell
explained. “Turns out I had plenty left, I could almost kick myself.
Still, we’re happy with second tonight.”
Wood, Jr., made his
way past Loyet on the 19th lap to claim the show position, with
Loyet and fellow Midget ace gone Sprint shoe Beason filling out the top
five.
Kyle Bellm raced
from tenth to sixth, with four-time Warrior champion Randy Martin climbing
from 15th to seventh. Cody Baker was eighth, with Michelle
Decker and 19th-starter Matt Covington completing the top ten.
Loyet, Whitworth,
Josh Stephens and Cornell topped heat race action for the 34-car field, with
Cameron Hagin winning the 15-lap “B” Main.
American Bank of
Oklahoma ASCS Sooner vs. Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Results from
Springfield Raceway:
First Heat (8
Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet, 2. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 9m-Cody Baker, 4.
36-Jonathan Beason, 5. 04-Brad Graham, 6. 11c-Matt Covington, 7. 775-Andy
Korte, 8. 75-Tyler Blank. DNS: 17-Kyle Carpenter.
Second Heat (8
Laps): 1. 50-Cody Whitworth, 2. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 3. 92j-J.R. Topper, 4.
7-Michelle Decker, 5. 29-Rusty Quick, 6. 110-Cameron Hagin, 7. 165-Haley
Arnold, 8. 31L-Lee Little, 9. 55-Greg Clemons.
Third Heat (8
Laps): 1. 09-Josh Stephens, 2. 87-Brian McClelland, 3. 14-Randy Martin, 4.
86-Kyle Bellm, 5. 21-Mike Trent, 6. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 7. 010-Brian Roberts,
8. 2a-Randy Hibbs.
Fourth Heat (8
Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 2. 00-Kacee Frazier, 3. 3p-Rusty Potter, 4.
85-Forrest Sutherland, 5. 11-Chad Corken, 6. 51-Terry Lindsey, 7. 35-Rick
Wright, Jr., 8. 65L-Nick Lucito.
“B” Main (15
Laps): 1. 110-Cameron Hagin, 2. 29-Rusty Quick, 3. 11c-Matt Covington, 4.
21-Eric Todd, 5. 2a-Randy Hibbs, 6. 010-Brian Roberts, 7. 04-Brad Graham, 8.
11-Chad Corken, 9. 775-Andy Korte, 10. 35-Rick Wright, Jr., 11. 51-Terry
Lindsey, 12. 165-Haley Arnold, 13. 31L-Lee Little, 14. 5m-Miranda Arnold,
15. 65L-Nick Lucito, 16. 55-Greg Clemons. DNS: 75-Tyler Blank, 17-Kyle
Carpenter.
"A" Feature (25
Laps): 1. 87-Brian McClelland, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr.,
4. 05-Brad Loyet, 5. 36-Jonathan Beason, 6. 86-Kyle Bellm, 7. 14-Randy
Martin, 8. 9m-Cody Baker, 9. 7-Michelle Decker, 10. 11c-Matt Covington, 11.
00-Kacee Frazier, 12. 09-Josh Stephens, 13. 110-Cameron Hagin, 14. 21-Eric
Todd, 15. 85-Forrest Sutherland, 16. 29-Rusty Quick, 17. 3-Mark Shirshekan,
18. 3p-Rusty Potter, 19. 50-Cody Whitworth, 20. 92j-J.R. Topper.
American Bank of
Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Joe Wood, Jr. 1,060, 2.
Michelle Decker 974, 3. Matt Covington 960, 4. Andy Shouse 842, 5. Cameron
Hagin 671, 6. Rick Wright, Jr. 655, 7. Claud Estes 617, 8. Lee Little 591,
9. Tony Bruce, Jr. 566, 10. Brady Bacon 556.
Speedway Motors
ASCS Warrior Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brad Loyet 853, 2. Randy Martin
782, 3. Kyle Bellm 722, 4. Jonathan Cornell 689, 5. Cody Baker 682, 6. Mark
Shirshekan 654, 7. Josh Stephens 651, 8. Tyler Blank 571, 9. Austin
Alumbaugh 512, 10. Miranda Arnold 463.
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