California, MO(July 24, 2011)-Finally shaking the bad luck that has plagued him over the past few weeks, Mark Shirshekan picked up his first Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior region win on Sunday in the Ninth Annual Clyde Wood Memorial at Double X Speedway.
Shirshekan set a torrid pace running the cushion as he was chased by dash winner Jonathan Cornell over the first few laps until action was stopped on lap eight for a Matt Close roll over in turn one. A lap later, Jay Russell suffered front end damage on the front stretch which would end his night.
Once green again, Shirshekan was followed by Cornell and Randy Martin until the yellow flag was waved on lap sixteen for a Brad Loyet spin in turn four that forced Bryan Grimes to come to a stop as well. Both would continue.
Shirshekan again took off on the cushion as Cornell got a good run on the bottom and used a perfect slide job to take the lead. Cornell would lead the next pair of laps until getting too high on lap nineteen allowing Shirshekan to out drag him down the straightaway and back into the lead.
Cornell was given one last shot when Chad Corken spun off of turn four to bring out the yellow after twenty laps had been completed.
Shirshekan drove perfectly on the cushion and went on to his second career Warrior win in his Cooper Racing Products J&J powered by a Wesmar motor. Cornell was a solid second in the Kiowa Line Builders/VKCC Motorsports Ostrich-powered Maxim. Martin was third in his Diamond Pet Foods J&J with a Roush-Yates Ford under the hood. Tyler Blank came on strong late to take fourth as Kyle Bellm rounded out the top five.
Heat races for the twenty-eight car field were won by Sean McClelland, Adam Jones, Cody Baker, and Martin while Jay Russell won the B Feature.
Haley Arnold was uninjured after contact from another car sent her into a wild series of flips while leading her heat.
Cole Melby of Sedalia was the Clyde Wood Memorial micro midget winner for the third straight year. Melby was followed by Dean Hathman of Columbia and Nathan Benson of Concordia. Corey Nelson of Eugene and Scott Hathman of Columbia rounded out the top five.
John Brooks of Warrensburg just edged Ray Smith of Centertown for the win in the Cooper Racing street stocks. Following closely behind the lead pair was Tim Cressley of Tipton and Andrew Roark of Tipton. Point leader John Clancy of California rounded out the top five.
In the Robbie D’s Hobby Stocks, Kyle Smith of Stover picked up the win over point leader Will Register of Sedalia. Rodger Detherage of Smithton was third with Chris Brocket of Eldon and Bridget Clifford of California rounding out the top five.
Weekly action will continue next Sunday July 31st with the sprints, street stocks and hobby stocks being joined by the ULMA Late Models, who will be making their second appearance of 2011 at Double X. Brandon Imhoff picked up the win during their initial appearance. Admission will be $12 with pit passes costing $25. Gates will open at 5:00 with hot laps at 7:00 and racing at 7:30. Please go to www.xxspeedway.com for any additional information you might need.
Double X Speedway Warrior Results for July 24th-
1st Heat- 1. 1 Sean McClelland, Tulsa, OK(5) 2. 24 Lanny Carpenter, Clarksburg, MO(2) 3. 6 Bryan Grimes, Slater, MO(3) 4. 4 Evan Martin, Lohman, MO(7) 5. 17 Kyle Carpenter, Marshfield, MO(4) 6. 11C Dakota Carroll, LaMonte, MO(6) 7. 165 Haley Arnold, Sedalia, MO(1)
2nd Heat- 1. 1A Adam Jones, Wright City, MO(1) 2. 75 Tyler Blank, California, MO(3) 3. 3 Mark Shirshekan, Farmington, MO(6) 4. 05 Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills, MO(7) 5. 65 T.J. Muths, Sedalia, MO(2) 6. 72 Curtis Boyer, New Haven, MO(4) 7. 49 Tyler Elliott, California, MO(5)
3rd Heat- 1. 9M Cody Baker, Lone Jack, MO(3) 2. 28 Jonathan, Cornell, Sedalia, MO(5) 3. 86 Kyle Bellm, Nixa, MO(7) 4. 09 Josh Stephens, Buckner, MO(2) 5. 76 Jay Russell, Elwood, KS(4) 6. 53 Tony Crank, Sedalia, MO(6) 7. 48 David Brown, Marshall, MO(1)
4th Heat- 1. 14 Randy Martin, California, MO(3) 2. 775 Andy Korte, California, MO(1) 3. 3V Tyler Utz, Sedalia, MO(2) 4. 5 Matt Close, LaMonte, MO(4) 5. 11 Chad Corken, Centennial, CO(6) 6. 29 Rusty Quick, Lebanon, MO(7) 7. XX A.J. Wirts, California, MO(5)
Dash(finishing order determined the first four rows of the A Main)- 1. 28 Cornell 2. 3 Shirshekan 3. 4 E. Martin 4. 14 R. Martin 5. 75 Blank 6. 86 Bellm 7. 9M Baker 8. 1A Jones
B Feature- 1. 76 Russell(3) 2. 17 Carpenter(2) 3. 09 Stephens(1) 4. 65 Muths(5) 5. 72 Boyer(8) 6. 29 Quick(4) 7. 53 Crank(7) 8. 11C Carroll(6) 9. 48 Brown(11) 10. XX Wirts(10) 11. 49 Elliott(9) DNS: 165 Arnold
A Feature- 1. 3 Shirshekan(2) 2. 28 Cornell(1) 3. 14 R.Martin(4) 4. 75 Blank(5) 5. 86 Bellm(6) 6. 4 E. Martin(3) 7. 05 Loyet(9) 8. 24 L. Carpenter(10) 9. 09 Stephens(18) 10. 1A Jones(8) 11. 775 Korte(11) 12. 17 K. Carpenter(17) 13. 11 Corken(15) 14. 6 Grimes(12) 15. 3V Utz(13) 16. 65 Muths(19) 17. 76 Russell(16)-DNF 18. 5 Close(14)-DNF 19. 9M Baker(7)-DNF 20. 1 McClelland(DNS)