{"id":23123,"date":"2016-03-06T21:39:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-06T21:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/?p=23123"},"modified":"2016-03-06T21:39:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-06T21:39:22","slug":"beckner-crowned-sportsman-king-of-the-blacktop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/front-page-news\/beckner-crowned-sportsman-king-of-the-blacktop\/","title":{"rendered":"Beckner crowned Sportsman King of the Blacktop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"7\"Heading into Saturday night’s Sportsman King of the Blacktop 100 at Desoto
\nSpeedway, Earl Beckner had a simple strategy: ride in the top 15 and then
\nget to the top 10 to get to the final 20-lap shootout.<\/p>\n

Beckner did just that, finishing in the top 10 in the first segment and
\nlanding in the perfect spot for the inversion of the final segment of the
\nelimination-style race. That gameplan \u2013 coupled with a little help from
\nLady Luck \u2013 saw Beckner take the main event and earn the crown of King of
\nthe Blacktop for the Sportsman for 2016.<\/p>\n

Polesitter Bill Vandevender grabbed the lead of the opening segment and
\nheld on to the top spot through a rash of cautions through the first 30
\nlaps. L.B. Skaggs, who had stalked Vandevender over the first portion of
\nthe event, grabbed the top spot as the field completed the 32nd lap.<\/p>\n

As Skaggs drove away from the rest of the field, the battle heated up for
\nthe 15th and final transfer spot to the second 30-lap segment. Richard
\nNelson. Mark Peterson, Roger Welsh and Tim Sozio. Sozio’s engine failed and
\nsprayed fluid on the track with two laps to go, forcing the segment to end
\nunder caution after several cars battling for the transfer spot spun in
\nturn four. Peterson got the final transfer spot, while Kenny Gibson was
\nvoted into the segment \u00a0<\/span>by the fans.
\n<\/span>
\nA five-car inversion gave Travis Roland the pole for the second segment,
\nbut it was Stuart Vandevender that got the jump on the restart from the
\noutside of the front row. Colin Allman would drive up to the top spot about
\nhalfway through the 30-lap segment, but Morris was on the move after
\nstarting at the rear of the 24-car field and found himself sitting fourth
\nwith just a handful of laps.<\/p>\n

Stuart Vandevender fell out of the race on the final lap with a mechanical
\nfailure, moving Morris up to second place behind Allman and locking Tom
\nZimmerman, who’d been battling with Peterson and Cody Allen for the 10th
\nand final transfer spot, into the 20-lap shootout. Brooke Storer earned the
\nfan vote to get into the final segment.<\/p>\n

Bill Vandevender found himself back in front of the field for the final
\n20-lap shootout thanks to a four-car inversion. The inversion also put
\nBeckner on the outside of the front row and he was able to get the lead on
\nthe restart.<\/p>\n

Becker fought off several challenges from Allman over the first half of the
\nsegment before he started inching away from the rest of the field. Allman
\nhad to fight off Morris to hold on to the runner-up spot in the closing
\nlaps, allowing the Apopka driver to claim the crown of King of the Blacktop.<\/p>\n

Beckner said the \u201cluck of the dice\u201d helped him in the battle against the
\nfaster cars of Allman and Morris.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround lap 43 we got a little loose, and thankfully we got a break to
\nadjust or else we wouldn’t be here right now,\u201d Beckner said. \u201cWe weren’t
\ngreat, but we were good enough to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Rendell and Steve Darvalics rounded out the top five.<\/p>\n

The Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series was also on hand for its maiden
\nrace at Desoto Speedway.<\/p>\n

Jason Kimball, who held off Mickey Kempgens to win one of the three heat
\nraces paced the field to start the 30-lap main event. Dave Steele, winner
\nof another one of the heats, started eighth and had already charged up to
\nsecond when the caution flew for Matthew Hall’s spin on the second lap.<\/p>\n

Steele was sent back to fourth for the restart, but quickly joined Kempgens
\nat the front of the field. The duo caught heavy traffic on the 10th lap and
\nSteele stayed directly in Kempgens’ tire tracks as the cars flew around the
\n3\/8-mile oval.<\/p>\n

The leaders cleared the traffic and Steele made his move for the top spot
\nwith an outside pass in turn four just past the halfway point of the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was definitely fast,\u201d Steele said. \u201cI think one thing that helped us
\nwhen we were approaching lapped traffic was that he kept getting dirty air
\noff their cars. Our car was good from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steele ran up on the pack of lapped traffic again in the final 10 laps,
\neven lapping the fast cars of usual Desoto contenders Troy DeCaire and
\nSport Allen in the waning laps.<\/p>\n

Kempgens used the lapped traffic to close in on Steele in the final laps,
\nbut was unable to do anything with the two-time Little 500 champion down
\nthe stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just running scared out there because we knew there were a lot of
\nfast cars,\u201d Steele said. \u201cIt was busy out there and you didn’t know who was
\nwho or who was where \u2013 so we ran like a scalded dog and hope we got there
\nfirst.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimball finished third. Shane Butler, winner of the final heat race,
\nfinished fourth and was the only other car on the lead lap.<\/p>\n

In other action Saturday, Roger Dufresne passed Blaine Baer in turn four on
\nthe final lap and won the LKQ Pick-Your-Part Pure Stock feature in a photo
\nfinish; Mike Belusar grabbed the lead with three laps to go and drove away
\nto win the 20-lap TQ Midget feature; Danny Caylor won the Take Aim Gun
\nRange Street Stock feature; Josh Todd won the Bomber feature; Darrin Ellis
\nwon the Pep Boys Speed Shop Modified Mini Stock feature; and Ren Wright Jr.
\nwon the Mini Stock feature.<\/p>\n

Desoto Speedway will be closed next weekend and returns to action on March
\n19 with the Street Stocks King of the Blacktop, Open Wheel Modifieds,
\nSportsman, Modified Minis, Bombers and Mini Stocks.<\/span><\/p>\n

03-05- 2016 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span>DESOTO SPEEDWAY <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>RACE RESULTS <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sprints <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 33 David Steele<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 5 Mickey Kempgens<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3. 79 Jason Kimball<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 18 Shane Butler<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 56 Blake Rose<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>6. 22g Johnny Gilbertson<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>7. 91 Troy Decaire<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>8. 55 Tommy Nichols<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>9. 88 Sport Allen<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>10. 99 Matthew Hall <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>11. 2 Clayton Donaldson<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>12. 86 J.J. Dutton<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>13. 15 Troy Thompson<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>14. 11 Mike Tharp<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>15. 22x Carlie Yent<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>16. 85 Rex Hollinger<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>17. 3 Jeff Firestine<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>18. 44 Gary Wiggins<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>19. 1 Ty Decaire<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>20. 84 Ernie Teed<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>21. 39 Terry Taylor<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>22. 4 Travis Bliemister<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>23. 44 Bill Pettijon<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sportsman <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 71 Earl Beckner Apopka<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 67 Colin Allman Plant City<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3. 56 Brandon Morris Mulberry<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 157 Jason Rendell Lakeland<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 1 Steve Darvalics Venice<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>6. 84 Bill Vandevender North Port Myers<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>7. 01 Tom Zimmerman Largo<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>8. 71s L. B. Skaggs North Fort Myers<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>9. 4r Travis Roland Lake Alford<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>10. 73 Mark Peterson Sarasota<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>11. 9 Brooke Storer Zephyrhills<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>12. 98x Cody Allen Lehigh<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>13 80 Richard Nelson Punta Gorda<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>14. 93 Kenny Gibson Venice <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>15. 36 Stuart Vandevender North Fort Myers <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>16. 172 Joey Sims Ft. Myers<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>17. 4d Rick Reed Punta Gorda<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>18. 98w Roger Welch St. Pete<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>19. 16 Tim Sozio Debary<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>.20. 25 Timmy Todd St. Cloud<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>21. 42 Eric Borges Naples<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>22. 29 Bobby Mobley Eagle Lake<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Street Stock <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 7 Danny Caylor <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 45 Mike Kerrivan<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3. 23 Todd Brown<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 29 Roger Blevins<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 11 Travis Barfield<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>6\u2019 74 Bobby Huffstutler<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>7. 33 Ronnie Brock Jr. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>8. 75 Garrett Thompson<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>9. 93 Jeff Firestine<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>10. 63 Kyle Best<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>11, 4 Jeff Webster<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>12. 1 Tyler Lau <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pure Stock<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 72 Roger Dufresne<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 7 Blaine Baer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3. 51 Scott McKay<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 57 Aaron Holmes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 74 Paul Huffstutler<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>6. 25<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>7. 27 Gerald Fossa<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>8. 3 Sherry Best<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>9. 67 Jimmie Best Jr. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bombers<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 15 Josh Todd <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 57 Aaron Holmes <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3. 123 Brandon Duchscherer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 22 Randy Spicer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 23 Kenny Gibson<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>6. 1 Rick Norman <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>7. 24 Jeff Pacheco<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>8. 25. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>9. 10 Mark Palmer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>10. 12 Randy Radley<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>11. 18 Brian Harbin<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>12. 23b Adam Briggs<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>13. 88 Jimmy Castleberry <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Modified Mini<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 72 Darrin Ellis<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 4 Donnie Powers<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3.17 Brad Blanton<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 81 Travis Kirby<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 6d Dave Davis D.N.S.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mini Stock<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 008 Ren Wright<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 37w Todd Wozniak<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3. 77 Laura Mammina<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 10 Kristan Milthaler<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 67 Bobby Frisch<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>6. 99 Johnny Marra<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>37g Jerry Groves<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T.Q. Midgets<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>1. 63 Mike Belesar Punta Gorda<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>2. 7 Rob Kohler Naples<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>3. 4 Ernie Teede Sr. Sarasota<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>4. 11 Jimmy Wilkens Fort Pierce<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>5. 2 Sam Mancuso Naples<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>6. 58 Stu Carmbrehain Bokeelia <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>7. 42 Phil Huddard Ruskin<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>8. 13 Mike Nelson Brandon<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heading into Saturday night’s Sportsman King of the Blacktop 100 at Desoto Speedway, Earl Beckner had a simple strategy: ride in the top 15 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,11,22,3,4,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","category-desoto-speedway","category-featured","category-front-page-news","category-race-results","category-racing-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23125,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23123\/revisions\/23125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}