7/7/2017
Kyle Bellm
Bellm Banks another Win on Three Top-Five Weekend
Lonnie Wheatley, NIXA, Mo. (July 7, 2017) – Nixa, Missouri’s Kyle Bellm offered up his own version of fireworks over the Fourth of July holiday weekend by racking up his third win of the year aboard the Resource Asset Management Solutions (RAMS) No. 14k Sprint Car before posting another pair of fourth-place finishes to round out the weekend.
After adding his third win and running his top-five season total to nine, Bellm and crew will take the weekend off before returning to action at Lake Ozark Speedway next Saturday night, July 15.
This past weekend’s four-race set was cut to three after the Friday opener at Fulton’s Callaway Raceway fell victim to rain. Bellm was in the lead mix over the remaining portion of the Missouri weekend aboard the PPG Automotive Finishes/Colorvision machine.
“It’s a lot less stressful, I’m driving better and having more fun,” Bellm said of the mid-season schedule change from full-time National Tour status to pick-and-choose mode on race selection. “It was a good weekend money-wise too.”
Following the Friday rainout, action got under way with ASCS Warrior Region action at Eldon’s Lake Ozark Speedway. And, for the second Saturday night in a row, Bellm ended the night in victory lane.
Bellm set the stage by racing from fourth to win his heat race and then redrew the front row outside for the feature event.
“We took off on the start, then we were side-by-side with Jonathan Cornell for several laps,” Bellm said of the race. “We held him off on a mid-race restart and then stayed mistake-free the rest of the way to win it.”
Gunning for a third win in a row on Sunday night at California’s Double X Speedway aboard the VP Racing Fuels/Schure Built Suspensions entry, Bellm had his work cut out for him from the ninth starting position in the feature.
“We missed the setup, we were way too free,” Bellm explains.
Despite missing the setup, Bellm worked his way forward to finish fourth. “We salvaged a fourth-place finish, so we couldn’t complain about that,” Bellm says.
The weekend wrapped up with Monday night’s $4,000-to-win Firecracker Special at Lake Ozark Speedway with Bellm gunning for a third straight win atop the 3/8-mile oval aboard the Christian County Collision Repair/Bybee Lawn Care machine.
After winning his heat race from third, Bellm redrew the fourth row outside for the 35-lap main event.
Slipping back several positions in the early going, Bellm rallied back to post another fourth-place finish in the Schaeffer Oil/Prater Designs/The Engine Heater entry.
“We fell back to around 12th or 13th early, I think I started driving mad after that,” Bellm says.
It worked, as Bellm worked his way back towards the front of the pack in short order, sitting eighth when the race’s first caution flew after 19 laps and then cracking the top five when the second and final caution flew three laps later.
“We probably didn’t need that last caution, I had cleared (Dustin) Barks (who finished second) and had the next two cars set up,” Bellm recalls. “I don’t know if we would have had anything for (Brad) Loyet, but we had at least a second place car.”
“I probably ricocheted off the fence one too many times,” Bellm said of rousing top-five run. “I had Barks and TBJ in my sights, then (Austin) Alumbaugh showed me his nose. Instead of being aggressive, I turned on the defense over the last couple of laps to make sure we held on to fourth.”
With another successful weekend in the books, Bellm and crew will get back to action at Lake Ozark Speedway next Saturday night.
2017 Quick Stats: 21 races, 3 wins, 9 top-fives, 9 top-tens.
Up Next: Lake Ozark Speedway (Eldon, MO) on Saturday, July 15.
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
