Felker Strikes Again with Little Belleville Win
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (April 29, 2016) – Andrew Felker of Carl Junction, Missouri overtook Zach Daum in the final laps of the Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget Series feature event to earn his sixth-career victory with the series, on a two-in-a-row victory streak after his win last week at Macon Speedway.
In typical thrilling Belle-Vegas fashion, Felker would come from eighth, as Christopher Bell and Austin Brown shared the front row for the start of the 30 lap feature. At the drop of the green, Bell would take the lead with Zach Daum in tow. Struggling to keep the front wheels on the ground, Daum worked overtime to reel in Bell. The gap between the two drivers would shorten as Bell quickly closed in on lap traffic and the caution flew for Holly Shelton spun at the bottom of turn two.
With 13 laps in the books, Bell would quickly use the two lap cars between himself and Daum to create a large gap between first and second place, all the while as Felker worked his way into the top three. Working lap traffic, Bell would hit misfortune as he found himself upside down exiting turn four, diminishing his chances for victory. He would be alright and would restart at the tail end of the field.
Zach Daum would inherit the lead with 19 laps down, followed by Andrew Felker and the veteran driver Terry Babb of Decatur, Illinois. Coming back to green flag racing, Daum would quickly distance himself from Felker, until Garrett Aitken took a wild ride down the front stretch bringing out the second red of the evening. Dereck King was also involved. Both drivers would be alright, but the damage to their machines was extensive enough to put an end to their evenings. Returning to green, Felker’s Stanton SR-11-powered BOSS Chassis would begin to smoke, but that was not enough to deter the head of steam that Felker had as he took the lead on lap 23 from Daum. Terry Babb would bring home the third position, while Bryan Clauson was fourth. Tucker Klaasmeyer rounded out the top five.
“We’re out of sponsorship,” said Andrew Felker. “We have to win just to keep showing up. I think this shows how much work we put in over the off season. We have a good package here.”
“Turn one killed us tonight,” explained Zach Daum. “I kept hitting that hole and we just couldn’t find a way to get through it. It cost us the race.”
“I had Bryan Clauson all over me. I’ve got to thank him for running me clean. He gave me room every time. Coming off four that one time, he could have crashed me. That’s what you want when you run with a good racecar driver.”
Midgets
Speedway Motors Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: 71W – CHRISTOPHER BELL, Heat 2: 63 – BRYAN CLAUSON, Heat 3: 27 – TUCKER KLAASMEYER, Heat 4: 7 – AUSTIN BROWN, Heat 5: 5D – ZACH DAUM
Semi-Feature Winners: 67 – TANNER THORSON, 97 – SPENCER BAYSTON
Great Clips Feature Winner: 11A – ANDREW FELKER
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 11A – ANDREW FELKER 2. 5D – ZACH DAUM 3. 88 – TERRY BABB 4. 63 – BRYAN CLAUSON 5. 27 – TUCKER KLAASMEYER 6. 7 – AUSTIN BROWN 7. 67 – TANNER THORSON 8. 97 – SPENCER BAYSTON 9. 71K – CARSON MACEDO 10. 71W – CHRISTOPHER BELL 11. 71 – RYAN ROBINSON 12. 5X – JUSTIN PECK 13. 3N – JAKE NEUMAN 14. 50 – DANIEL ADLER 15. 22 – ANDY MALPOCKER 16. 5C – COLTEN COTTLE 17. 67K – HOLLY SHELTON 18. 1K – BRAYTON LYNCH 19. 32 – GARRETT AITKEN 20. 91 – DERECK KING 21. 9K – KYLE SCHUETT 22. 55 – NICK KNEPPER 23. 41 – AUSTIN PROCK
For more information, visit www.powri.com.
Contact:
Derek Schuett
POWRi Media
info@powri.com
(Photo courtesy of Collin Markle)
