Cornell Captures Warrior Opener at Valley!!
by Cody Morris
Valley Speedway offered up its' 1/3 mile dirt oval as the site of the 2012 Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region season opener.
Starting 5th in the 25 lap Warrior main event, Sedalia, Missouri's Jonathan Cornell steadily picked his way forward, overtaking Australian gasser Chad Ely on the 14th round before cruising on to season opening ASCS Warrior honors aboard the Ostrich powered VKCC Motorsports no. 28 Yeager Cycle Maxim.
Starting outside front row of the main event, Ely would ultimately settle for the same spot despite leading the first half of the 25 lap affair. Grain Valley's hometown pilot "Blackjack" Brian Brown advanced from the inside 4th row to snare show positions honors at the finish line.
Nixa, Missouri native Kyle Bellm finished as he started in the 4th spot, with Tyler Blank advancing from 9th to complete the top 5 running order.
A season removed from being upset by sprint car rookie Brad Loyet for the inaugural ASCS Warrior Region Championship, four time series' champion (under Winged Outlaw Warrior sanction) and California, Missouri native Randy Martin appeared in form to reestablish his favorite form.
Martin drew the pole position starting spot for the 25 lap main event, but fellow front row starter Chad Ely jumped to the early lead. Martin was pacing the rounds in the 3rd after succombing to Cornell's charge, but retired from action with 5 laps remaining having jumping the cushion 1 round before.
Topeka, Kansas native and mini sprint standout Wyatt Burks earned Hard Charger honors, advancing 8 positions to finish 11th at the finish line.
Haley Arnold, Brian Brown, and Jonathan Cornell each took heat race honors over the 22 car field.
The 2012 Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior campaign marches on to LA Raceway in LaMonte, Missouri for a Saturday night finale to the season opening ASCS Warrior weekend.
2012 Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region
Valley Speedway / Grain Valley, Missouri
4-13-2012 / Round 1 of 24
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell[5]; 2. 9m-Chad Ely[2]; 3. 21-Brian Brown[7]; 4. 86-Kyle Bellm[4]; 5. 75-Tyler Blank[9]; 6. 6-Haley Arnold[6]; 7. 38-Cody Baker[11]; 8. 5M-Miranda Arnold[15]; 9. 76-Jay Russell[16]; 10. 33-Austin Alumbaugh[3]; 11. 11w-Wyatt Burks[19]; 12. 01-Mike Trent[12]; 13. 48-David Brown[10]; 14. 0-Jeff Osborn[14]; DNF 14-Randy Martin[1]; DNF 1A-Adam Jones[8]; DNF 89-Todd McVay[18]; DNF 33c-Jordan Creason[17]; DNF 55-Greg Clemons[20]; DNF 09-Joshua Stephens[13]; DNS 2A-Randy Hibbs; DNS 775-Chris Morgan
Lap Leaders: Ely 1-13, Cornell 14-25
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Haley Arnold; 2. 14-Randy Martin; 3. 1A-Adam Jones; 4. 48-David Brown; 5. 38-Cody Baker; 6. 09-Joshua Stephens; 7. 11w-Wyatt Burks; DNS 775-Chris Morgan
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown; 2. 86-Kyle Bellm; 3. 9m-Chad Ely; 4. 0-Jeff Osborn; 5. 76-Jay Russell; 6. 33c-Jordan Creason; 7. 2A-Randy Hibbs
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell; 2. 33-Austin Alumbaugh; 3. 75-Tyler Blank; 4. 01-Mike Trent; 5. 5M-Miranda Arnold; 6. 89-Todd McVay; DNS 55-Greg Clemons
Martin Wins on Fumes
by Cody Morris
Wheatland, Missouri (5-5-2012) - The Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region invaded Wheatland, Missouri’s “Diamond of Dirt Tracks”. Thirty Eight teams checked in for the first of four ASCS events at the state-of-the-art Lucas Oil Speedway.
A multiple title winner under the Winged Outlaw Warrior banner before the Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior took the reigns in 2011, California, Missouri’s Randy Martin took a close win over Elwood, Kansas native Jay Russell.
Martin likely redefined close, running out of fuel on the final circuit of the 25 lap Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region main event. A photo finish at the finish line with Russell charging by, Martin bested Russell by a scant 0.023 seconds for his first ASCS Warrior Region victory of the 2012 season aboard the Roush/Yates powered Diamond Pet Foods no. 14 J&J.
An ASCS Warrior winner in season opening action at Valley Speedway, Jonathon Cornell settled into an early lead, approaching lapped traffic early on. As Cornell reached the tail of the field, the Sedalia, Missouri shoe could not avoid being snagged in a Miranda Arnold flip.
Martin inherited the lead, fighting off a spirited assault from defending Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region champion Brad Loyet until the latter spun to a lap 16 stop.
A second Loyet spin would set up the classic green-white-checkered finish for the field. Six event stoppages took an apparent toll on Martin’s setup, but the cagy veteran was able to glide across the finish line with the slightest of margins.
Russell settled for runner up honors with Josh Fisher blasting from 18th to third at the finish line. Fisher’s charge through the field easily netted the Smithton, Missouri pilot Hard Charger status.
Grain Valley, Missouri’s “Blackjack” Brian Brown battled up from 15th in the initial starting order to cross the finish line fourth, with Nixa, Missouri’s Kyle Bellm also making an impressive charge from 16th to complete the top five finishing order.
One night removed from an American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region score that followed his first career Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MavTV victory, Snohomish, Washington’s Seth Bergman finished sixth with Wichita’s Mike Peters, Arizona’s Logan Forler, Cornell, and Mike Trent rounding out the top ten.
Brad Loyet, Austin Alumbaugh, Johnathon Cornell, Randy Martin, and Wyatt Burks each took heat race wins over the impressive 38 car field. Brian Brown and Kyle Bellm each took winning style transfer in the twin 12 lap B Feature events.
The 2012 Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region campaign will take a couple of weeks off to prepare for a duel with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MavTV on Friday, May 23rd at Grain Valley, Missouri’s Valley Speedway. That event will launch a trio of Memorial Day Weekend events, as a Saturday, May 24th stop LA Raceway will play rubber match before a Sunday, May 25th stand at California, Missouri’s Double X Speedway.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region
May 5th, 2012 / Event 3 of 24
Lucas Oil Speedway / Wheatland, Missouri
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14-Randy Martin[4]; 2. 76-Jay Russell[1]; 3. 86X-Josh Fisher[18]; 4. 21-Brian Brown[15]; 5. 86-Kyle Bellm[16]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[11]; 7. 51-Mike Peters[17]; 8. 5h-Logan Forler[3]; 9. 28-Jonathan Cornell[2]; 10. 01-Mike Trent[19]; 11. 33-Austin Alumbaugh[7]; 12. 11w-Wyatt Burks[9]; 13. 81au-Gavin Punch[13]; 14. 05-Brad Loyet[8]; 15. 9m-Chad Ely[6]; 16. 38-Cody Baker[14]; 17. 4J-Jon Corbin[10]; 18. 5M-Miranda Arnold[20]; 19. 2A-Randy Hibbs[5]; 20. 75-Tyler Blank[12]
Lap Leaders: Johnathon Cornell 1-7, Randy Martin 8-25
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 2. 51-Mike Peters[1]; 3. 01-Mike Trent[10]; 4. 5-Matt Close[5]; 5. 29-Brandon Hahn[4]; 6. 04-Brad Graham[11]; 7. 2-Dustin Morgan[7]; 8. 9-Gary Wright[2]; 9. 6-Haley Arnold[12]; 10. 49-Tyler Elliott[9]; DNS 65-Trevor (T.J.) Muths; DNS 3z-Zach Davis
Top 3 advance to A Feature
B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Bellm[1]; 2. 86X-Josh Fisher[3]; 3. 5M-Miranda Arnold[6]; 4. 22-Dustin Barks[2]; 5. 4-Evan Martin[5]; 6. 1A-Adam Jones[7]; 7. 23F-Matt Fox[8]; 8. 47-Matt Simpson[4]; 9. 0-Jeff Osborn[9]; 10. 93-Taylor Walton[10]; 11. 72-Curtis Boyer[11]; DNS 77-Chris Morgan
Top 3 advance to A Feature
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet; 2. 81au-Gavin Punch; 3. 22-Dustin Barks; 4. 23-Seth Bergman; 5. 5-Matt Close; 6. 5M-Miranda Arnold; 7. 1A-Adam Jones; 8. 72-Curtis Boyer
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Austin Alumbaugh; 2. 38-Cody Baker; 3. 9m-Chad Ely; 4. 86X-Josh Fisher; 5. 47-Matt Simpson; 6. 23F-Matt Fox; 7. 01-Mike Trent; 8. 04-Brad Graham
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell; 2. 51-Mike Peters; 3. 86-Kyle Bellm; 4. 9-Gary Wright; 5. 21-Brian Brown; 6. 2-Dustin Morgan; 7. 49-Tyler Elliott; 8. 6-Haley Arnold
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Randy Martin; 2. 2A-Randy Hibbs; 3. 76-Jay Russell; 4. 29-Brandon Hahn; 5. 4-Evan Martin; 6. 0-Jeff Osborn; DNS 77-Chris Morgan
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 11w-Wyatt Burks; 2. 4J-Jon Corbin; 3. 5h-Logan Forler; 4. 75-Tyler Blank; 5. 3z-Zach Davis; 6. 65-Trevor (T.J.) Muths; 7. 93-Taylor Walton
