Lonnie Wheatley, NIXA, Mo. (November 5, 2015) – Kyle Bellm was well on his way to finishing off his initial campaign with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour in strong form during last weekend’s weather-plagued Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, AR.
After strong performances in heat race and qualifying race action on Thursday night, the only night that wasn’t wiped out by Mother Nature, Bellm battled near the top five most of the way in the 25-lap STN Sprint Screamer aboard the PPG Automotive Finishes/Colorvision No. 14k Sprint Car.
Unfortunately, another potential top-five finish was cut short by mechanical problems just a half-dozen laps shy of the checkered flag.
“We were right there with Crawley, I think we would have been sixth at worst,” Bell said afterward. “It’s frustrating to finish like that, I wish we could have got another night in.”
Still, Bellm showed good speed throughout the night amongst the field of 67 competitors in the Schure Built Suspensions/Christian County Collision Repair machine.
“I felt like we had a good car, we were right there all night, so that’s an encouraging way to finish out the year,” Bellm commented.
Bellm was nipped at the checkered flag in his heat race and then held off a host of challengers to win his qualifying race to earn the ninth starting position in the main event aboard the Bybee Lawn Care/Dynotech Racing Engines entry.
Bellm battled amongst the top ten throughout and had worked his way up to seventh when mechanical gremlins forced the Scheaffer’s Oil machine pitside after 19 laps.
Rather than a solid top-ten finish, Bellm settled for an official finish of 17th in what proved to be his season finale after Friday’s festivities were washed out.
With the 28th edition of the Short Track Nationals officially in the books, at least for 2015, Bellm finished out the season ranked seventh in Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour points and captured Rookie of the Year honors.
And now the planning and preparation for the 2016 season begins.
Up Next: The off-season awaits.
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 Nov 05, 2015
- Article Date: 11/5/2015 by Lonnie Wheatley