Ayrton Gennetten Won his second Sprint Invaders feature of the year in Moberly Sunday (MF Photography)
(Bill W) Moberly, MO, July 5, 2020 – Ayrton Gennetten won his second consecutive Sprint Invaders start at Randolph County Raceway near Moberly, Missouri Sunday night. The Gravois Mills, Missouri driver outdueled Austin Alumbaugh to take home the $2,000 prize aboard the Ozark Barge & Dock #3 sprint car. Thanks to The Stuart House and Midwest Custom Trucks of Moberly, the feature purse was boosted to $2,000 to win and $325 to start. Richard Martin also chipped in to ensure all 25 cars started the main event.
The 25-lap main event had a rocky start. Contact from another car sent Tanner Gebhardt spinning in turn one. He collected two-time and defending series champion, John Schulz and Ben Brown, who tipped over. On the ensuing start, Gunner Ramey, making his Sprint Invaders debut, crashed hard in turn three. No one was injured.
Once underway, Ayrton Gennetten, who won his heat and the Dash, shot from his third place starting spot to the lead in front of fellow Missourians Kyle Bellm and Alumbaugh. Alumbaugh got by Bellm to take over second on lap three.
The leaders entered lapped traffic on the sixth circuit. Washington state visitor JJ Hickle entered the top five by lap nine. Heavy lapped traffic challenged the leaders, and Alumbaugh reeled in Gennetten.
He shot by the leader, dicing through traffic on lap 13. Gennetten would shoot back by to the point on lap 16. Alumbaugh would return the favor on lap 17, but Gennetten got by for good in the fifth and final lead change.
A spin by 15 year-old Cam Martin on lap 22, set up a three-lap dash for the win. Gennetten pulled away, while Alumbaugh held off a late charge by Bellm for second. Hickle was fourth, followed by Chris Martin. Mason Campbell, Miles Paulus, Cody Wehrle, hard-charger Kaley Gharst and Riley Goodno rounded out the top ten. Bellm and Campbell joined Gennetten as heat winners.
“For some reason, this track suits me,” said Gennetten. “Alumbaugh’s been racing a lot longer than I have, and he’s raced here a lot longer. This is kind of his place, so to beat him tonight is a really good run for us. I was challenged by him, and I didn’t want that starting up front. I set a decent pace, but he came on strong. I made a mistake and he capitalized, but then he made a mistake and I capitalized. Lapped traffic was a big factor in the race. Luckily, we got through there at the right times. The yellow flag kind of saved me at the end. The left rear was going flat on the restart and I could feel it. I was glad it was three laps and not five. I don’t think we would have made it.”
“We struggled one lap, and it was one of those racetracks that was real treacherous. It was all about momentum. I got into the hole real bad down here in one and two, and it really upset the car. It was just about getting the rhythm back. Lapped traffic was sketchy, because you just didn’t know where those cars were going. You’d get a run on them, and then you had to come off the top, because they were there. That would set you up to get slid. It was a fun race. You know racing with Gennetten and Bellm…they’re going to race you as clean as they possibly can. It was just a good, clean, fun night. I love this track. I usually say I’d run here for just the trophy, but I like those checks!”
“This was the first night out in Scott’s (Bonar) car this year,” said Bellm. “We seem to click usually. I made a wrong choice there to stay on the bottom on the start. The top in one and two wasn’t great all night long, but it was in the feature after they put the water on. After we got going, we weren’t bad. I think Gennetten and Alumbaugh were a little better early. That last restart I thought maybe we’d have something for Alumbaugh and get second back, but overall we’re on the podium. It wasn’t a bad night.”
The Sprint Invaders next action will be Thursday, July 30 at the Dubuque Speedway in Dubuque, Iowa. For more information on the Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.com or look us up on Facebook.
Sprint Invaders A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (3) 2. 33, Austin Alumbaugh, Higginsville, MO (7) 3. 50, Kyle Bellm, Nixa, MO (1) 4. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (13) 5. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (9) 6. 11c, Mason Campbell, New Berlin, IL (5) 7. 21, Miles Paulus, Marshall, MO (14) 8. 40c, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (10) 9. 78, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (20) 10. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (21) 11. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (22) 12. 0, Jake Griffin, Quincy, IL (2) 13. 29w, Wyatt Wilkerson, Morning Sun, IA (19) 14. 51J, Blaine Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (16) 15. 69, Justin Buchholz, Davenport, IA (24) 16. 9, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (17) 17. 86, Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO (25) 18. 44m, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (18) 19. 75, Tyler Blank, California, MO (4) 20. 4, Bailey Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (24) 21. 21R, Gunner Ramey, Sedalia, MO (8) 22. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (6) 23. 99, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (11) 24. 13, Brayden Gaylord, Wever, IA (12) 25. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (15). Lap Leaders: Gennetten 1-12, Alumbaugh 13-15, Gennetten 16, Alumbaugh 17, Gennetten 18-25. KSE Hard-charger: Gharst.
Randall’s Performance Heat one (started), 8 laps: 1. Ayrton Gennetten (6) 2. Cody Wehrle (1) 3. John Schulz (2) 4. Austin Alumbaugh (8) 5. Miles Paulus (5) 6. JJ Hickle (9) 7. Kaley Gharst (4) 8. Colton Fisher (3) 9. Riley Goodno (7)
CenPenCo Lubricants Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Mason Campbell (2) 2. Tanner Gebhardt (4) 3. Tyler Blank (8) 4. Chris Martin (7) 5. Ben Brown (5) 6. Daniel Bergquist (6) 7. Wyatt Wilkerson (3) 8. Justin Buchholz (1)
Paisano’s Ristorante of Preston, Illinois Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Kyle Bellm (3) 2. Jake Griffin (4) 3. Brayden Gaylord (1) 4. Gunner Ramey (8) 5. Blaine Jamison (2) 6. Cam Martin (5) 7. Bailey Goldesberry (7) 8. Timothy Smith (6)
Budweiser King of Beers – Golden Eagle Distributors Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Ayrton Gennetten (1) 2. Tyler Blank (2) 3. Mason Campbell (4) 4. Tanner Gebhardt (5) 5. Kyle Bellm (3) 6. Jake Griffin (6)
Contingencies
Pyrotec – Brayden Gaylord
Saldana Racing Products – Justin Buchholz
Kreitz Oval Track Products – Daniel Bergquist