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Shirshekan Sure Can for ASCS Warrior Win at Double X!

CALIFORNIA, Mo. (July 24, 2011) – Farmington, Missouri’s Mark Shirshekan turned his recent run of misfortune around by taking his first win under the ASCS banner in Sunday night’s 25-lap Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior main event atop the ¼-mile Double X Speedway clay oval.

Piloting the Wesmar-powered Cooper Racing No. 3 J&J, the 20-year-old held off Jonathan Cornell for the top spot in the Ninth Annual Clyde Wood Memorial, with Randy Martin, Tyler Blank and Kyle Bellm chasing the lead duo to the stripe.

After starting outside Cornell on the front row, Shirshekan set a torrid pace running the cushion in the early rounds until action was stopped on lap eight for a Matt Close roll over in turn one. One lap later, Jay Russell suffered race-ending front end damage on the front stretch.

Back under green, Shirshekan led Cornell and Randy Martin until the yellow flew on lap 16 for a Brad Loyet spin in turn four that forced Bryan Grimes to a stop as well. Both rejoined the chase at the tail.

Shirshekan took off again on the cushion, but Cornell got a good run on the bottom and used a perfect slide job to take the lead. Cornell led the next pair of laps until slipping too high on lap 19, allowing Shirshekan to motor back into the lead down the straightaway.

Cornell had one last opportunity when Chad Corken spun off of turn four to bring out the yellow with 20 laps in the books.

Shirshekan was flawless on the cushion in the final handful of laps, keeping Cornell at bay as he raced on to the checkered flag. Cornell settled for second in the Kiowa Line Builders/VKCC Motorsports Ostrich-powered Maxim, with Randy Martin in the show position.

Tyler Blank came on strong in the closing rounds to claim fourth, with Kyle Bellm rounding out the top five. Evan Martin was sixth, while Loyet rebounded to finish seventh and preserve his ASCS Warrior points lead in the process. Lanny Carpenter, Josh Stephens and Adam Jones completed the top ten.

Heat races for the 28-car field were won by Sean McClelland, Jones, Cody Baker, and Randy Martin while Jay Russell won the B Feature. McClelland lost an engine as the checkered flag flew on his heat race and was unable to make the call for the main event.

Haley Arnold was uninjured after contact sent her into a wild series of flips while leading her heat.

Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Results from Double X Speedway:

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland, 2. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 3. 6-Bryan Grimes, 4. 4-Evan Martin, 5. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 6. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 7. 165-Haley Arnold.

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1a-Adam Jones, 2. 75-Tyler Blank, 3. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 4. 05-Brad Loyet, 5. 65-T.J. Muths, 6. 72-Curtis Boyer, 7. 49-Tyler Elliott.

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 9m-Cody Baker, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 86-Kyle Bellm, 4. 09-Josh Stephens, 5. 76-Jay Russell, 6. 53-Tony Crank, 7. 48-David Brown.

Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 14-Randy Martin, 2. 775-Andy Korte, 3. 3v-Tyler Utz, 4. 5-Matt Close, 5. 11-Chad Corken, 6. 29-Rusty Quick, 7. XX-A.J. Wirts.

“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 76-Jay Russell, 2. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 3. 09-Josh Stephens, 4. 65-T.J. Muths, 5. 72-Curtis Boyer, 6. 29-Rusty Quick, 7. 53-Tony Crank, 8. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 9. 48-David Brown, 10. XX-A.J. Wirts, 11. 49-Tyler Elliott. DNS: 165-Haley Arnold.

"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 14-Randy Martin, 4. 75-Tyler Blank, 5. 86-Kyle Bellm, 6. 4-Evan Martin, 7. 05-Brad Loyet, 8. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 9. 09-Josh Stephens, 10. 1a-Adam Jones, 11. 775-Andy Korte, 12. 17-Kyle Carpenter, 13. 11-Chad Corken, 14. 6-Bryan Grimes, 15. 3v-Tyler Utz, 16. 65-T.J. Muths, 17. 76-Jay Russell, 18. 5-Matt Close, 19. 9m-Cody Baker, 20. 1-Sean McClelland (DNS).

Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brad Loyet 1,241, 2. Randy Martin 1,152, 3. Kyle Bellm 1,122, 4. Jonathan Cornell 1,073, 5. Mark Shirshekan 1,052, 6. Cody Baker 994, 7. Josh Stephens 970, 8. Tyler Blank 836, 9. Austin Alumbaugh 725, 10. Evan Martin 647.

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