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Lonnie Wheatley, CALIFORNIA, Mo. (May 29, 2011) – The winningest driver in its series history, Randy Martin picked off his first Warrior win under the ASCS banner by racing to victory lane in Sunday night’s 25-lap Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior main event at Double X Speedway.
The hometown driver and four-time Warrior champ took command on the fifth round and led the rest of the way aboard the Roush/Yates Ford-powered Diamond Pet Foods No. 14 J&J for his 42nd career Warrior win before a capacity crowd.
While Martin took the victory, the fast-closing duo of runner-up Brad Loyet and third-place Mark Shirshekan escaped the night tied atop the point charts after flip-flopping podium finishes from the April 9 season opener at LA Raceway.
With Martin starting the feature inside the second row, it was front row outside starter Russ Hall outgunning polesitter Austin Alumbaugh for the point at the drop of the green flag. Wading through three caution flags in the initial four circuits, Hall held the point until Martin rallied by on the top side of turns one and two to take command on the fifth round.
While Martin slipped away from Hall and Kyle Bellm, who took third from Alumbaugh on the fourth round, 10th-starter Shirshekan and 11th-starter Loyet were on the move, cracking the top five by the tenth circuit.
As Martin worked traffic, Shirshekan and Loyet worked past Bellm for third and fourth by the 12th round and then both climbed another position by disposing of Hall on successive laps 17 and 18. Two laps later, one final caution flew when sixth-running Alumbaugh spun in turn two to set up a six-lap dash to the stripe.
With a pair of lapped cars between himself and his pursuers, Martin opened just enough ground to seal the deal. Loyet took the runner-up slot away from Shirshekan on the 22nd round and was closing in on the leader only to run out of laps.
Shirshekan claimed the show position, with Hall and ninth-starter Tyler Blank rounding out the top five. Bellm was sixth, with Cody Baker, Jonathan Cornell, T.J. Muths and Lanny Carpenter completing the top ten.
Cornell, Bryan Grimes, Martin and Baker topped heat race action for the 28-car field, with Tyler Utz nursing an ailing engine home to win the “B” Main. Loyet led the initial two circuits of the night’s third heat until he was turned around in turn three by eventual winner Martin. Loyet rebounded for third in the heat to salvage a sixth-row starting position.
Tyler Elliott got upside down entering turn three on the opening lap of the “B” Main. He was uninjured.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Results from Double X Speedway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 2. 45c-Russ Hall, 3. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 4. 75-Tyler Blank, 5. 26-Rafe Essary, 6. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 7. 48-David Brown.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 6-Bryan Grimes, 2. 4-Evan Martin, 3. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 4. 3v-Tyler Utz, 5. 11-Chad Corken, 6. 9c-Tony Crank. DNS: 775-Josh Fisher.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 14-Randy Martin, 2. 86-Kyle Bellm, 3. 05-Brad Loyet, 4. 94-Joey Potter, 5. 5-Matt Close, 6. 49-Tyler Elliott. DNS: 1x-Brad Ryun.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 9m-Cody Baker, 2. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 3. 65-T.J. Muths, 4. 7j-J.D. Black, 5. 09-Josh Stephens, 6. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 7. 8-Jeff Wingate.
“B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 3v-Tyler Utz, 2. 11-Chad Corken, 3. 09-Josh Stephens, 4. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 5. 9c-Tony Crank, 6. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 7. 1x-Brad Ryun, 8. 48-David Brown, 9. 5-Matt Close, 10. 49-Tyler Elliott. DNS: 8-Jeff Wingate, 775-Josh Fisher.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14-Randy Martin, 2. 05-Brad Loyet, 3. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 4. 45c-Russ Hall, 5. 75-Tyler Blank, 6. 86-Kyle Bellm, 7. 9m-Cody Baker, 8. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 9. 65-T.J. Muths, 10. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 11. 26-Rafe Essary, 12. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 13. 09-Josh Stephens, 14. 94-Joey Potter, 15. 11-Chad Corken, 16. 7j-J.D. Black, 17. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 18. 6-Bryan Grimes, 19. 4-Evan Martin, 20. 3v-Tyler Utz.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region Points (Top Ten): 1. (tie) Brad Loyet and Mark Shirshekan 277, 3. Randy Martin 256, 4. Tyler Blank 255, 5. Kyle Bellm 230, 6. Austin Alumbaugh 218, 7. (tie) Jonathan Cornell and Josh Stephens 214, 9. (tie) Evan Martin and Rafe Essary 208.