Lonnie Wheatley, NIXA, Mo. (July 29, 2015) – Kyle Bellm keeps climbing up the charts in Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour competition.
Following on the heels of a pair of seventh-place runs in Montana, Bellm moved up to sixth at Wyoming’s Gillette Thunder Speedway last Wednesday before posting a podium finish at Rapid City’s Black Hills Speedway aboard the PPG Automotive Finishes/Colorvision No. 14k Sprint Car on Friday night.
The third-place run at the half-mile South Dakota oval was the second podium finish of the season for the leading Rookie of the Year contender with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.
With Bellm’s first tour of the Northwest and Northern Plains finishing off on a strong note with five consecutive top-ten runs, the driver of the Schure Built Suspensions/Christian County Collision Repair Sprint Car will be in action Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway on Thursday and Friday.
“It’s another pretty big track, it’ll help us get ready for Knoxville,” Bellm says. “Half miles for me have sometimes been kind of hit or miss, but running a few big tracks in a row before Knoxville should help us. The more we race on them, the better we go.”
That would appear to be the case, particularly coming off a strong third-place run at Black Hills Speedway on Friday.
“We were really good,” Bellm said of Friday’s run in the Bybee Lawn Care/Dynotech Racing Engines machine. “I was actually kind of surprised, we had our older engine in but we were really hooked up.”
“We ran third or fourth most of the race, Aaron (Reutzel) was gone but we were right there with Johnny (Herrera) and Wayne (Johnson),” Bellm explained. “I just made one or two little mistakes in traffic, that was the only difference.”
As Reutzel slowed in the closing laps, Bellm took advantage to claim the third step on the podium.
Two nights earlier, Bellm battled near the top five much of the way at Gillette Thunder Speedway before crossing the stripe sixth in the Scheaffer’s Oil machine
“We were okay,” Bellm said of his Wednesday night in Wyoming. “We didn’t have a great car, but we kept our nose clean and got the most out of it.”
“We actually ran about fifth most of the race until Bergman got us right at the end,” Bellm explains.
A solid seventh in ASCS National points with an eye on gaining another position or two, it’s more new territory for Bellm on Thursday and Friday at I-80 Speedway.
“I hear it’s a large and in charge kinda place, I’m looking forward to it,” Bellm wraps up.
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action continues with the Road to Knoxville event at Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway on Thursday and Friday.
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.
- Kyle Bellm on Jul 29, 2015
- Article Date: 7/29/2015 by Lonnie Wheatley