MARION, Ill. (June 25, 2011)—Christopher Bell won the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series’ 66 Mike Phillips Memorial and its $10,000 paycheck Saturday at Southern Illinois Raceway.
“It’s by far the biggest win I’ve had in my life and will be for a while,” the 16-year-old from Norman, Okla., said. “I’m still in shock. It’s unbelievable.”
Trent Beckinger, of Evansville, Ind., led the opening 30 laps and had to settle for second place and a $5,000 paycheck.
“It would have been nice to win the $10,000, but second place and $5,000 isn’t too bad,” Beckinger said.
Scott Sawyer, of Broken Arrow, Okla., finished third, earning $3,250. Andrew Felker, of Carl Junction, Mo., was fourth and Dereck King, of Vienna, Ill., was fifth.
The $10,000-to-win purse, the largest in the United States this year, and $35,000 total payout for Saturday’s feature attracted 113 entries for 24 starting positions.
Bell passed Beckinger with 10 laps remaining in the 40-lap feature on the 1/8th-mile track and drove away to win by 10 car lengths. He had started sixth and was up to third by the end of the initial lap. Bell passed second-running Ryan Guyett on the 15th lap, which was followed by a red flag for Brad Meyer’s crash that left his car upside down beneath the flag stand.
Beckinger, who started on the front row, opened up a comfortable advantage over Bell on the restart.
The third-place running Guyett, of Springfield, Ill., brought out a caution for a flat tire that eliminated him with 20 laps completed.
On the restart, Bell passed a lapped car that was between him and Beckinger on the inside in Turn One and immediately began pressuring Beckinger.
“I felt like I had to get past the lapped car entering Turn One,” Bell said. “It needed to be as soon as possible.”
Bell and Beckinger dueled for the lead for three laps, racing side-by-side at times and exchanging the lead several times. It began with Bell diving inside Beckinger in Turn Three on the 28th lap. Beckinger used the same slide-job tactics to try to keep the lead, but Bell finally pulled clear on the 31st.
“That was probably the most fun part of the race,” Bell said. “We raced hard, but we gave each other room.”
Bell had one restart as the leader, on lap 35, and it was Beckinger with a lapped car between them. Bell jumped into a strong lead and was never threatened.
Bell had finished sixth in Friday’s opening round of the Phillips Memorial, the final position that guaranteed a spot in Saturday’s feature. He had been third in his heat, third in his qualifier and started 18th in the feature.
“It’s amazing,” Bell said. “We didn’t win a heat or a qualifier, had to start in the back on Friday and started sixth in the feature (Saturday).”
Bell’s car came alive midway through the feature. “I made some early adjustments that paid off,” he said. “I had to free the car up and when the track got slick, I was able to get out to the cushion on the outside.”
Beckinger’s car slowed down in the changing track conditions and Bell’s got faster.
“I think it was a combination of both,” Beckinger said. “We had a perfect setup for the beginning of the race, but the track started getting slick and I got loose and couldn’t hold it up on the cushion. The track came to his car.”
Sawyer started third, but he dropped back to sixth by the 15th lap.
“We went backwards early,” Sawyer said. “We thought the bottom was going to be better and by the time we got to the top, we were eighth or 10th place. I dialed the wing in, putting downforce in the back, and adjusted the shocks. Really, I think it was just my experience with the cushion that got us going. The track was really good on top.”
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series results (40 laps): 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Trent Beckinger, 3. Scott Sawyer, 4. Andrew Felker, 5. Dereck King, 6. Frank Flud, 7. Jacob Patton, 8. Ryan Greth, 9. Jake Rosario, 10. Layne Himebaugh, 11. Travis Senter, 12. Jeremy Camp, 13. Nate Lauderbaugh, 14. Jake Palmisano, 15. Rick King, 16. Trent Wilson, 17. Ryan Smith, 18. Tyson Hall, 19. Jordan Campbell, 20. Eric Bodine, 21. Will Harvey, 22. Ryan Guyett, 23. Blake Hahn, 24. Brad Meyer.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.