Lonnie Wheatley, BELLEVILLE, Kan. (July 31, 2020) – Zach Blurton kicked off the Third Annual Belleville 305 Sprint Car Nationals by wiring the field in Friday night’s 20-lap preliminary feature to take the $2,500 winner’s share atop the ½-mile Belleville High Banks clay oval.
Blurton gunned into the lead from the third starting position in the opening pair of corners and then paced the field throughout aboard the J&K Trucking No. 11 Maxim Sprint Car.
After charging past front row starters Jed Werner and J.D. Johnson at the outset, the Quinter racer weathered just one caution after two circuits for Ty Williams, who suffered race-ending damage after getting a piece of the turns one and two retaining fence.
Blurton sailed on the high side throughout, lapping up to 13th and took the checkered flag with four lapped cars separating himself from runner-up Johnson. It was Blurton’s best Belleville 305 Nationals showing since placing sixth in the Saturday portion of the Inaugural event in 2018.
Goddard’s Johnson, the current United Rebel Sprint Series points leader, survived a perilous turn two encounter to post runner-up honors with Nebraska’s Stu Snyder filling out the podium in third.
Codell’s Jed Werner crossed the stripe fourth with Jetmore’s Jeremy Huish rounding out the top five. Jason Martin was sixth with Steven Richardson, 15th-starter Cody Ledger, Jeff Stasa and 20th-starter Matt Covington completing the top ten.
Jordan Knight, Blurton, Richardson, Johnson and Tyler Knight topped heat race action for the 45-car field with Jack Dover, Kyler Johnson, Toby Chapman and Blurton victorious in Qualifying Race action before Tyler Drueke and Jake Martens topped the “B” Mains.
Neil Nekolite and Connor Atkinson both flipped in separate heat four incidents. Neklolite returned to action while Atkinson was done for the night.
The Third Annual Belleville 305 Sprint Car Nationals wraps up with Saturday night’s $7,500-to-win tilt getting under way at 7:30 p.m.
Third Annual Belleville 305 Sprint Car Nationals Night One
July 31, 2020 Results:
Heat Races:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 10-Jordan Knight, 2. 911-Ty Williams, 3. 9-John Webster, 4. 91-Jeff Stasa, 5. 47-Cody Ledger, 6. 6-Jett Carney, 7. 74-Howard Van Dyke, 8. 05-Brandon Allen, 9. 28-Tom Belsky.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 11-Zach Blurton, 2. 5-Stu Snyder, 3. 82c-Christian Kinnison, 4. 7-Toby Chapman, 5. 53-Jack Dover, 6. 12-Tyler Drueke, 7. 27h-Fred Holz, 8. 2b-Brett Becker, 9. 21-Jody Reeves.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 0-Steven Richardson, 2. 45-Lonnie Cox, 3. 5x-Jason Martin, 4. 9d-Lance Davis, 5. 88J-Jeremy Huish 6. 95T-Trevor Grossenbacher, 7. 57b-Boyd Peterson, 8. 17s-Chad Salem, 9. 1o-Michael Oliver.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 98-J.D. Johnson, 2. 27b-Jake Martens, 3. 88-Mike Woodruff, 4. 95-Buddy Tubbs, 5. 45x-Kyler Johnson, 6. 33s-Jeremy Schultz, 7. 4-Josh Poe, 8. 74x-Connor Atkinson, 9. 12n-Neil Nekolite.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 11k-Tyler Knight, 2. 50-Jed Werner, 3. 72-Ray Seemann, 4. 17x-Taylor Velasquez, 5. 11b-Luke Cranston, 6. 911x-Matt Covington, 7. 43-Adam Trimble, 8. 17-Todd Plemons, 9. 75-Nick Nichols.
Qualifying Races (Top 16 in combined finishing/passing points from Heats and Qualifiers to “A” Main/Balance to two “B” Mains)
Qualifier One (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 72-Ray Seemann, 3. 0-Steven Richardson, 4. 9-John Webster, 5. 5-Stu Snyder, 6. 11b-Luke Cranston, 7. 27b-Jake Martens, 8. 43-Adam Trimble, 9. 05-Brandon Allen, 10. 12n-Neil Nekolite, 11. 21-Jody Reeves, 12. 74x-Connor Atkinson (DNS).
Qualifier Two (8 Laps): 1. 45x-Kyler Johnson, 2. 91-Jeff Stasa, 3. 98-J.D. Johnson, 4. 5x-Jason Martin, 5. 911x-Matt Covington, 6. 82c-Christian Kinnison, 7. 2b-Brett Becker, 8. 11k-Tyler Knight, 9. 27h-Fred Holz, 10. 6-Jett Carney, 11. 1o-Michael Oliver.
Qualifier Three (8 Laps): 1. 7-Toby Chapman, 2. 50-Jed Werner, 3. 911-Ty Williams, 4. 47-Cody Ledger, 5. 12-Tyler Drueke, 6. 10-Jordan Knight, 7. 9d-Lance Davis, 8. 17-Todd Plemons, 9. 74-Howard Van Dyke, 10.75-Nick Nichols, 11. 57b-Brody Peterson.
Qualifier Four (8 Laps): 1. 11-Zach Blurton, 2. 88J-Jeremy Huish, 3. 17x-Taylor Velasquez, 4. 95-Buddy Tubbs, 5. 95T-Trevor Grossenbacher, 6. 45-Lonnie Cox, 7. 28-Tom Belsky, 8. 33s-Jeremy Schultz, 9. 4-Josh Poe, 10. 17s-Chad Salem, 11. 88-Mike Woodruff.
“B” Mains (Top 4 from each advance to “A” Main)
“B” Feature One (12 Laps): 1. 12-Tyler Drueke, 2. 82c-Christian Kinnison, 3. 17x-Taylor Velasquez, 4. 43-Adam Trimble, 5. 11k-Tyler Knight, 6. 6-Jett Carney, 7. 57b-Brody Peterson, 8. 75-Nick Nichols, 9. 1o-Michael Oliver, 10. 33s-Jeremy Schultz, 11. 74-Howard Van Dyke, 12. 45-Lonnie Cox, 13. 2b-Brett Becker (DQ – Failed to meet minimum weight), 14. 88-Mike Woodruff (DNS), 15. 74x-Connor Atkinson (DNS).
“B” Feature Two (12 Laps): 1. 27b-Jake Martens, 2. 911x-Matt Covington, 3. 95-Buddy Tubbs, 4. 95T-Trevor Grossenbacher, 5. 17-Todd Plemons, 6. 9d-Lance Davis, 7. 28-Tom Belsky, 8. 17s-Chad Salem, 9. 05-Brandon Allen, 10. 12n-Neil Nekolite, 11. 21-Jody Reeves, 12. 11b-Luke Cranston, 13. 27h-Fred Holz, 14. 4-Josh Poe.
Belleville 305 Sprint Car Nationals Preliminary “A” Main
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 11-Zach Blurton (3), 2. 98-J.D. Johnson (2), 3. 5-Stu Snyder (4), 4. 50-Jed Werner (1), 5. 88J-Jeremy Huish (8), 6. 5x-Jason Martin (7), 7. 0-Steven Richardson (5), 8. 47-Cody Ledger (15), 9. 91-Jeff Stasa (12), 10. 911x-Matt Covington (20), 11. 27b-Jake Martens (18), 12. 45x-Kyler Johnson (11), 13. 82c-Christian Kinnison (19) 14. 12-Tyler Drueke (17), 15. 95-Buddy Tubbs (22), 16. 95T-Trevor Grossenbacher (24), 17. 10-Jordan Knight (16), 18. 72-Ray Seemann (9), 19. 17x-Taylor Velasquez (21), 20. 43-Adam Trimble (23), 21. 9-John Webster (14), 22. 53-Jack Dover (10), 23. 7-Toby Chapman (13), 24. 911-Ty Williams (6).
Lap Leaders: Zach Blurton 1-20.