Lonnie Wheatley, NIXA, Mo. (March 23, 2016) – Kyle Bellm kicked off his second tour of duty with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour on a strong note with the opening weekend highlighted by a strong run from deep in the field to capture seventh in Saturday’s Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals in Mesquite, TX.
With the opening pair of events in the books, Bellm and the Resource Asset Management Solutions (RAMS) No. 14k Sprint Car team venture to a new pair of tracks in Texas this weekend for more ASCS National Tour action.
“We had a lot of good speed both nights,” Bellm said of last weekend’s opening pair of events. “It gives us some good momentum going into the next couple of weekends.”
Last week’s action kicked off at Waco’ Heart O’ Texas Speedway on Thursday night with Bellm drawing the pole of a stacked heat race aboard the PPG Automotive Finishes/Colorvision Sprint Car.
And a questionable new start procedure came into play right away, with Bellm put back a row for an alleged jump.
“I’m a little frustrated with the new start procedure,” Bellm explained of the procedure that has moved the chalk line further down the racetrack. “I don’t understand exactly what it is that they’re trying to accomplish.”
Put back a row and on the inside proved a hefty penalty. “The outside took off and we’re stuck on the bottom, we were buried before we even got going.”
Bellm battled back with a “B” Feature win in the Schure Built Suspensions/Christian County Collision Repair machine and was moving forward in “A” Main action before Lady Luck intervened.
“We had a good car, but broke a spark plug and had to pull off,” Bellm explains.
Following a Friday night rainout that chiseled the Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals from one night to two, Bellm and the Bybee Lawn Care/Dynotech Racing Engines team were strong from the outset on Saturday night in Mesquite, TX.
“We were really good on Saturday, gained a couple of positions in the heat to put us in position,” Bellm comments. “I like the new qualifier format with the big car counts, it evens things out. But I made a mistake in the qualifier, so that put us starting 13th in the feature.”
Ultimately, last year’s series Rookie of the Year worked his way forward to a strong seventh-place finish in the Schaeffer Oil/Pro Designs/Racinboys machine.
“I wish we would have had a few more laps, the car just kept getting better and better the longer that we went,” Bellm explains. “It was tough to gain many positions in a short amount of time. You couldn’t pick off two or three in a lap, it was one of those deals that you would have to run six or seven laps to reel in a guy and then another six or seven to get to the next one.”
It was a run that instills confidence going into this weekend’s ASCS National events at Paige’s Cotton Bowl Speedway on Friday and then Cleveland’s Bronco Raceway Park on Saturday.
“We feel like we’re right in the mix,” Bellm says. “We can take that and turn it into top-fives and then turn those into podiums, then hopefully a win is coming soon.”
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, TX, on Friday and then Bronco Raceway Park in Cleveland, TX, on Saturday night.
Keep Track: Keep track of Kyle Bellm’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.kylebellm.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KyleBellmRacing?fref=ts or on Twitter at @kylebellmracing.
If you would like Kyle Bellm Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley