Lonnie Wheatley, BELLEVILLE, Kan. (August 5, 2023) – Wichita’s Jeremy Campbell made the most of his maiden Belleville 305 Sprint Car Nationals voyage by collecting the $7,000 winner’s share in Saturday night’s 30-lap finale of the Sixth Annual event atop the high-banked half-mile clay oval.
Campbell improved upon Friday night’s third-place finish aboard Ojar Peter’s Mid-America Millwright No. 51 to become the fifth different winner of the prestigious event.
The triumph came in unlikely fashion, as the victory fell Campbell’s way after race-long leader Kyle Jones fell 15 pounds short of the required minimum at the scales upon the completion of the 15-mile sprint.
“Fifteen pounds, the rule’s the rule, I’m gonna take the win for sure,” Campbell exclaimed in victory lane.
Campbell opened the night by establishing the overall quick time in qualifying and then redrew the pole for the feature event, only to surrender the point to fellow outside front row starter Jones as the engines roared to life.
“It was off the start, he pulled that outside line that was a better line off the start,” Campbell explained. “The middle of the track was real slick for me, he got out to the cushion real quick and just got a run.”
Fending off several bids for second from Friday night winner John Carney II, Campbell tried to muster a run on Jones for the point but to no avail until the scales tilted in his favor at the end of the night.
“It started taking rubber around midway. He was fast, I couldn’t catch him,” Campbell commented. “We were kind of reeling him in there at the end, but I don’t think I had enough to get him.”
After picking off preliminary night wins over each of the last two years, El Paso’s Carney settled for runner-up honors aboard the Coyote Candles No. 74b.
“We made a few changes and just weren’t quite as good as we need to be tonight,” Carney explained afterward.
With Campbell and Carney in the one-two positions, 2021 event champion Luke Cranston earned his third consecutive 305 Nationals podium finish after apparent fourth-runner Stu Snyder fell light at the scales along with Jones.
Texas shoe Landon Thompson claimed fourth with Nebraska’s Jack Dover charging from 17th to round out the top five. Jeremy Huish was sixth with Lee Goos, Jr., Joey Danley, Brandon Bosma and Jon Freeman completing the top ten.
Three caution flags interrupted feature proceedings including one after just two laps when 2022 Belleville 305 Nationals champ Ty Williams slowed with engine problems. Toby Chapman came to a stop as well soon after with an exploded powerplant bringing Koby Werkmeister to a stop after 16 laps.
After Campbell set the night’s quickest time of 16.686 seconds in qualifying, Huish, Goos, Jr., Carney and Thompson topped heat race action before Dover and Jordan Knight scored “B” Main wins.
The First “B” Main went red on the start when Trefer Walker, Tyler Knight and Jake Greenwood tangled on the frontstretch with each suffering race-ending damage following a botched start.
Sixth Annual Belleville 305 Sprint Car Nationals
August 5, 2023, Results:
United Rebel Sprint Series (URSS):
Qualifying Group One: 1. 9-Kyle Jones 16.711, 2. 5-Stu Snyder 16.717, 3. 31-Koby Werkmeister 16.819, 4. 88J-Jeremy Huish 16.873, 5. 16-Conner Thomas 16.972, 6. 32-Trefer Waller 17.119, 7. 37-Jack Hall 17.134, 8. 43-Jake Greenwood 17.283, 9. 2d-Dusty Ballenger 17.320, 10. 2J-Zach Blurton 17.504, 11. 6-Mason Day 17.866, 12. 11c-Cole Cloud NT.
Qualifying Group Two: 1. 51-Jeremy Campbell 16.686, 2. 20-Luke Cranston 16.772, 3. 17-Lee Goos, Jr. 16.823, 4. 11-Toby Chapman 17.004, 5. 10-Jordan Knight 17.010, 6. 17s-Chad Salem 17.260, 7. 15-Jack Potter 17.272, 8. 74e-Claud Estes 17.428. 9. 6b-Bayley Ballenger 17.458, 10. 11m-Kayla Martin 17.839, 11. 28-Madison Miller NT.
Qualifying Group Three: 1. 74b-John Carney II 16.827, 2. 2-Whit Gastineau 17.013, 3. 911-Ty Williams 17.113, 4. 27$-Blake Scott 17.155, 5. 22d-Daniel Nekolite 17.195, 6. 20d-Jacob Dye 17.292, 7. 88r-Ryder Laplante 17.307, 8. 75-Nick Nichols 17.477, 9. 31m-Eric Matthews 17.554, 10. 81x-Jared Jansen 18.324, 11. 53-Joe Miller NT.
Qualifying Group Four: 1. 23-Brandon Bosma 16.822, 2. 14-Joey Danley 16.941, 3. 7T-Landon Thompson 16.943, 4. 81-Jon Freeman 17.012, 5. 22c-Chad Koch 17.131, 6. 55L-Jack Dover 17.205, 7. 25x-Gunnar Pike 17.299, 8. 11k-Tyler Knight 17.385, 9. 0-Steven Richardson 17.420, 10. 74-D.J. Estes 17.890, 11. 23r-James Reed 18.098.
Heat One (8 Laps – Top Four Transfer): 1. 88J-Jeremy Huish (1), 2. 9-Kyle Jones (4), 3. 31-Koby Werkmeier (2), 4. 5-Stu Snyder (3), 5. 37-Jack Hall (7), 6. 2J-Zach Blurton (10), 7. 16-Conner Thomas (5), 8. 32-Trefer Waller (6), 9. 2d-Dusty Ballenger (9), 10. 43-Jake Greenwood (8), 11. 6-Mason Day (11), 12. 11c-Cole Cloud.
Heat Two (8 Laps – Top Four Transfer): 1. 17-Lee Goos, Jr. (2), 2. 51-Jeremy Campbell (4), 3. 11-Toby Chapman (1), 4. 20-Luke Cranston (3), 5. 10-Jordan Knight (5), 6. 15-Jack Potter (7), 7. 74e-Claud Estes (8), 8. 17s-Chad Salem (6), 9. 11m-Kayla Martin (10), 10. 6b-Bayley Ballenger. DNS: 28-Madison Miller.
Heat Three (8 Laps – Top Four Transfer): 1. 74b-John Carney II (4), 2. 2-Whit Gastineau (3), 3. 911-Ty Williams (2), 4. 27$-Blake Scott (1), 5. 22d-Daniel Nekolite (5), 6. 20d-Jacob Dye (6), 7. 88r-Ryder Laplante (7), 8. 75-Nick Nichols (8), 9. 31m-Eric Matthews (9), 10. 81x-Jared Jansen (10). DNS: 53-Joe Miller.
Heat Four (8 Laps – Top Four Transfer): 1. 7T-Landon Thompson (2), 2. 81-Jon Freeman (1), 3. 23-Brandon Bosma (4), 4. 14-Joey Danley (3), 5. 55L-Jack Dover (6), 6. 22c-Chad Koch (5), 7. 0-Steven Richardson (9), 8. 11k-Tyler Knight (8), 9. 25x-Gunnar Pike (7), 10. 74-D.J. Estes (10), 11. 23r-James Reed (11).
First “B” Main (12 Laps – Top Four Transfer): 1. 55L-Jack Dover (3), 2. 2J-Zach Blurton (5), 3. 16-Conner Thomas (1), 4. 0-Steven Richardson (6), 5. 15-Jack Potter (4), 6. 37-Jack Hall (2), 7. 31m-Eric Matthews (10), 8. 74-D.J. Estes (12), 9. 28-Madison Miller (14), 10. 25x-Gunnar Pike (9), 11. 6-Mason Day (13), 12. 32-Trefer Walker (7), 13. 11k-Tyler Knight (8), 14. 43-Jake Greenwood (11). DNS: 53-Joe Miller.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps – Top Four Transfer): 1. 10-Jordan Knight (1), 2. 22c-Chad Koch (3), 3. 88r-Ryder Laplante (5), 4. 22d-Daniel Nekolite (2), 5. 75-Nick Nichols (8), 6. 20d-Jacob Dye (4), 7. 2d-Dusty Ballenger (9), 8. 74e-Claud Estes (6), 9. 81x-Jared Jansen (12), 10. 11m-Kayla Martin (10), 11. 17s-Chad Salem (7), 12. 23r-James Reed (13), 13. 6b-Bayley Ballenger (11), 14. 11c-Cole Cloud (14).
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 51-Jeremy Campbell (1) [$7,000], 2. 74b-John Carney II (6) [$3,500], 3. 20-Luke Cranston (9) [$2,500], 4. 7T-Landon Thompson (3) [$2,000], 5. 55L-Jack Dover (17) [$1,800], 6. 88J-Jeremy Huish (4) [$1,700], 7. 17-Lee Goos, Jr. (7) [$1,600], 8. 14-Joey Danley (15) [$1,500], 9. 23-Brandon Bosma (5) [$1,400], 10. 81-Jon Freeman (10) [$1,300], 11. 0-Steven Richardson (23) [$1,200], 12. 2-Whit Gastineau (11) [$1,200], 13. 10-Tyler Knight (18) [$1,200], 14. 22d-Daniel Nekolite (24) [$1,100], 15. 2J-Zach Blurton (19) [$1,100], 16. 16-Conner Thomas (21) [$1,100], 17. 31-Koby Werkmeister (12) [$1,050], 18. 27$-Blake Scott (16) [$1,050], 19. 88r-Ryder Laplante (22) [$1,050], 20. 22c-Chad Koch (20) [$1,000], 21. 11-Toby Chapman (13) [$1,000], 22. 911-Ty Williams (14) [$1,000]. Disqualified: 9-Kyle Jones and 5-Stu Snyder (both failed to meet minimum weight requirements after taking the checkered flag in first and fourth, respectively.)
Lap Leaders: Kyle Jones 1-30.
- Bryan Hulbert on Aug 06, 2023
- Article Date: 8/6/2023