Great show from start to finish. POWRi did a great job. Hot laps started at the advertised time 6 pm, and then the heats and the 2 semi-features for the midgets and micros clicked off like clock work. The track was reworked 2 times and both action packed features were finished before 10 pm. By the way the track was great all night long with cars using the top, middle and bottom. No dust! This was the Arnie Knepper Memorial race and it was nice that he was honored respectfully and this portion of the program wasn't rushed at all. If you haven't been to a POWRi midget race at Belle-Clair Speedway you have no idea what you are missing. Our group had a great time.

Well said!..What a SHOW!...

Clauson Claims Knepper Memorial, Andruskevitch Scores Micro Victory
Monday, August 10th 2014


Belleville, IL. - Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana overcame a flat left rear tire on lap 11 and raced his way back up front to claim the 23rd Annual Arnie Knepper Memorial, Clauson's 23rd career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series win and his first of the 2014 season at the high-banked 1/5th mile Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Illinois. Aaron Andruskevitch of Riverton, Illinois took his second POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series win of the 2014 season.

Pole-sitter Austin Brown of Millstadt, Illinois powered his KBR Performance-BOSS Chassis into the early lead and began working the top side of the high-banked 1/5th mile Belle-Clair Speedway, while Nick Knepper of Swansea, Illinois chased down Zach Daum. Knepper, driving the K&K Garage-sponsored, Esslinger-powered Spike, would repeatedly slide Daum, but Knepper officially made it stick for second on lap eight. With 10 laps in the books, Andy Malpocker would jump the cushion in turns three and four, ramping the outside wall and rolling his Esslinger-powered Spike, bringing out the first red flag of the evening. Malpocker would be alright, but damage sustained to the car would be enough to end his evening. Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana would enter the work area during the red flag after suffering a flat left rear tire aboard his Rusty Kunz Racing/Curb-Agajanian entry.

When green flag racing resumed, Brown would again power into the lead, but this time Knepper would stay close enough to begin to mount a charge. Within striking distance, Knepper would attempt to slide Brown for the lead, but the move would hardly faze Brown. Just as the battle for the lead began to heat up, Dave Camfield, Jr.'s spun machine in the middle of turns one and two would bring out the caution, bunching the field up.

With 16 laps in the books, Brown would lead the field back to green flag racing with Knepper and Daum in tow. As Brown took back off, Shane Cottle would slide Zach Daum for third. Entering turns three and four, Knepper would take a charge at Brown ending with the duo making contact exiting turn four, racing down the front stretch. When both drivers entered turn one, they would dive to the bottom side of the racetrack making contact resulting in both cars coming to an abrupt stop on the track with enough damage that both cars would be done for the evening.

Inheriting the lead, Shane Cottle in the RAB Racing, Fontana-powered Spike would lead the field to green with Daum, Andrew Felker, Darren Hagen, and Bryan Clauson right behind. As Cottle took to the high-side, Darren Hagen would try to slide Daum for second, ultimately slowing the momentum of Daum and Felker enough that Clauson would be able to slide all the way to second in one move. With enough steam left to his charge, Clauson would reel in Cottle and with three laps left, Clauson would make his move, sliding Cottle for the lead and never looking back. Following 2014 Chili Bowl Nationals Champion Bryan Clauson to the line were Zach Daum and Shane Cottle, side by side for second. Coming in fourth was Tyler Thomas of Owasso, Oklahoma and rounding out the top five was Darren Hagen of Riverside, California.

"I can't thank everyone enough," said a victorious Bryan Clauson. "I'm not quite sure what popped the left rear, I think I had to get on the brakes real hard to keep from hitting the 22 car when he turned over and maybe just peeled it off the bead. This thing was a rocket ship. I always enjoy coming over to run these POWRi races. Man, we have a lot of fun. I always tell people little Belleville [Belle-Clair Speedway] is one of my, if not my favorite midget track in the country."

"It was real fun right there at the end," said second place finisher Zach Daum. "Bryan drove a heck of a race. The track got better as the race went on and hopefully we put a show on."

"This place is just awesome," explained third place finisher Shane Cottle. "I love coming here and running. I don't come here very often, but when I do, it sure is fun. I have to congratulate Bryan. We just got beat."

Driving the GMS Racing Engines, Suzuki-powered Stallard Chassis, Aaron Andruskevitch of Riverton, Illinois won the nail-bitter 20 lap POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series Feature. "That's the first time we got the car working good here in the past two months," explained Andruskevitch. "We've been struggling. I have to thank my mom for running to the drug store to get some medicine. I picked up a sinus infection this morning. I felt pretty weak right before the feature, but I feel pretty good right now. Definitely a good night for points."
Second place finisher Jeremy Camp of Blue Mound, Illinois showed his Suzuki-powered Sawyer Chassis would be a threat all night after dominantly winning his heat race from fourth and starting outside the second row for the feature. "Second place is not what we came for, but pretty much where we seem to be going," explained a disappointed Camp. "We'll take it; it puts us up front in the points. It would be nice to get a few wins before the end of the year, but we'll keep plugging away at it and see what happens."

Third place finisher Joey Wirth started on the pole, with high point honors, a career best for the driver of the Engler-injected Sawyer Chassis. "We're doing real good," said third place finisher Joey Wirth. "I got my first pole with POWRi tonight. We were fifth in points last week and we'd really like to get a podium in points this year. We're here to finish the season strong."

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 63 - Bryan Clauson 2. 5D - Zach Daum 3. 57 - Shane Cottle 4. 91T - Tyler Thomas 5. 56 - Darren Hagen 6. 88 - Terry Babb 7. 57D - Daniel Robinson 8. 2 - Seth Motsinger 9. 32 - Garrett Aitken 10. 11A - Andrew Felker 11. 9P - Parker Price Miller 12. 39 - Spencer Bayston 13. 79J - Jacob Patton 14. 86C - Dave Camfield Jr. 15. 5C - Colten Cottle 16. 15 - Tim Siner 17. 31 - Kyle Schuett 18. 35T - Tyler Robbins 19. 7 - Austin Brown 20. 55 - Nick Knepper 21. 25 - Jake Blackhurst 22. 22 - Andy Malpocker 23. 7X - Gage Walker

POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series Feature Results (20 Laps): 1. 21 - Aaron Andruskevitch 2. 23 - Jeremy Camp 3. 77W - Joey Wirth 4. 52 - Jason Harms 5. 51B - Joe B. Miller 6. 21A - Austin VanToll 7. 30T - Tyler VanToll 8. 42M - Spencer Montgomery 9. 00 - Matt Ponder 10. 14 - Kurt Westerfield 11. 9K - Kyle Schuett 12. 3N - Jake Neuman 13. 28V - Luke Verardi 14. 19 - Natasha Cox 15. 45 - Lucas Pejakovich 16. 33M - Ryan Mueller 17. 87 - Kyle Stearns 18. 08C - Allen Cope 19. 145 - Tony Lawrence 20. 72 - Heath Ross 21. 2B - Nathan Benson 22. 44 - Ayrton Gennetten

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POWRi Media
Derek.schuett@gmail.com
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Another enjoyable evening at Belle - Clair! POWRi does a great job of running the program off quickly and redoing the track without excessive downtime. As a bonus, I always get to enjoy some of the great brisket at Hick's BBQ every time I go to Belle - Clair. Love this place!

I got thinking about this night a few years ago at Duquoin on the drive home last night. https://www.indianaopenwheel.com/showthread.php?t=44940

It took awhile to get Bryan to run there,but he sure has taken a liking to the place since.

Another great POWRi show. I just can't say enough about how well this organization runs the show, the excellent announcing job that Jim Childers does, the excellent track prep at Belleville, the friendly staff at the track, easy parking and in and out of the track, and the number of really good drivers who run with POWRi. They really get to shine at this track. In short, when POWRi runs this track you have the total package, a great fan experience. All the positive comments on this thread are right on. If you haven't been to Belleville yet, you really owe it to yourself to go. I would also strongly recommend the POWRi shows at Lincoln and Macon Illinois this weekend.
What can you say about BC? By sheer luck I happened to be at Lincoln Park a few years ago to see his first sprint victory. I have seen many others over the years and still occasionally make the mistake of thinking that the task on some particular night is too difficult. Thought that the last night of the midget portion of the Western World at Canyon last year. Even BC couldn't make up that much ground in the last 1/3 lap to snatch the win. Oops, wrong again. Last night was another of those times. He drew the pole for his heat race, which guaranteed that he wouldn't start very well for the feature because he couldn't accumulate any passing points. That got him a 9th place start and he started working forward. Then he got a flat from someone else's mess, and had to change it and start at the back. The rest of the race consisted of excellent racing among the top 5 or 6 positions with passing and slide jobs galore (and probably throughout the field, but I only have two eyes), and BC working his way to the front. I saw the move from 5th to 2nd in one turn and still have trouble believing it. I really, really hope the race was being taped so we can enjoy it again. Nights like last night are why I go to races. Note to self: Never, never think that the situation looks impossible for BC. I may be wrong again.

Bryan looking like he's having fun in hotlaps


Tyler Thomas looks to be having fun as well

Dave Camfield III not so much fun....

The Knepper Family would like to thank everyone who attended and/or participated in the Knepper Memorial Race. A great job again by POWRi and the racers and another thanks to the St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club for working the 50/50 drawing for the benefit of the Arnie Knepper Memorial Scholarship Fund at Rankin Technical College. It is amazing that after 20+ years that fans still remember Arnie and support the race and his favorite class of midget auto racing. Hope to see you all again next year. Wanda Knepper

Andrew, your becoming quite the photographer, great shots. Again, what a show we all got to witness.