BELLINO CLAIMS 5TH FEATURE WIN AT SAS!

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The Sportsman feature started with the following lineup: Garfield Shanklin (#6), Frank Johnson (#16), Tator Mason (#12), Charlie Earnhardt (#33), Justin Oates (#0), Tom Casey (#15), Marcus Bellino (#20), Billy Becka (#29), Greg Rohmer (#21), Oscar Solis (#5), Craig Crawley (#4), Dwayne Markgraf (#3), Mark Rahn (#46), Skip Trammell (#44), Gus DeLeon (#2), and Chris Hansen (#9) Did Not Start.

 

On the first lap, the caution was thrown due to debris on the track. When the racing went back to green, Oates moved up to 2nd, Bellino advanced to 3rd, and Rohmer was in 4th. Three laps later, DeLeon spun out and the yellow flag was thrown again.

 

Following the restart, Johnson went high and Oates took the lead. Johnson continued to experience handling problems and was also passed by Bellino, Rohmer, Mason and Casey. Then on Lap 7, Solis spun out and brought out the third caution of the race. For the next five laps, Oates and Bellino put on a great show for the fans. They raced door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper and exhibited good, clean racing skills. Oates tried to hold his lead on the outside groove, but Bellino finally passed him on Lap 14. On Lap 15, Earnhardt, Shanklin and Rahn made pit stops.

 

With only four laps to go, Solis spun out on the front straightaway and brought out the fourth caution of the Sportsman feature. Both Bellino and Oates barely managed to miss hitting Solis’ car.

 

Bellino took the checkered flag by finishing the race about 4-5 car lengths ahead of Oates. They were followed by Rohmer, Mason and Casey. Bellino’s victory was the fifth feature win this season.

 

Bellino’s car had suffered some major damage from a few weeks ago, and he said he was trying “to work out all the bugs.” Regarding his battle with Oates, Bellino commented, “I knew it was gonna be tough, and we were both getting loose, so I got lucky.” He also enjoyed the competition with Oates and stated, “He did super good job and gave me plenty of room to race.” Oates said that his car got a little push, and he also felt that the competition with Bellino “was real exciting.”

 

Sponsors for Bellino are Croft Truck and Trailers, Industrial Brake and Clutch, Alexander’s House Leveling, Trevino’s Mexican Restaurant, Kenny Hurley Race Cars, Story Construction, Mobile Doctor Automotive and Whiteside’s Fuel Station.

 

Marcus Bellino is currently in the Sportsman points’ lead and is 33 points ahead of Greg Rohmer with only six races left to run this season.