Belleville, IL. (5/6/23) Chase Johnson would find the seat of Riley Kreisel’s hotrod to his liking with the POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League to capture the Lucas Oil Speedway’s Twelfth Annual Open Wheel Showdown feature event victory and notch his first career feature win after receiving the call to fill-in earlier in the day.
Early on-track accomplishments would witness Chase Johnson clock fast-time in hot laps with a 15.289-second lap as Chase Johnson and Xavier Doney would each earn heat racing wins.
Contesting on the initial green flag start would find high-point qualifier Chase Johnson battle against front-row companion Jack Wagner into the first pair of corners with a cushion-running Johnson gaining the early race lead as Jack Wagner, Xavier Doney, Kory Schudy, and Wesley Smith attempted to run down the speedy leader.
Leading the first ten laps, Chase Johnson would appear to be in fine form until Jack Wagner waged a great battle for the front of the field. Blasting to the lead, Jack Wagner would hold the point for the next ten laps with outstanding battles behind the leading pair.
Cruising to contend for his first POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League feature victory, Chase Johnson would overtake for the front with five laps remaining as Jack Wagner continued to stay within striking distance.
Holding steady in the final chaotic few laps, Johnson would not be denied in picking up the feature victory as a speedy Jack Wagner would place in a close runner-up placement with Xavier Doney finishing third.
“This is pretty awesome, from getting off the plane today to getting to contend for a win against the JHR 77 with this crowd at this track, what more can I add,” said a celebratory Chase Johnson in the Lucas Oil Speedway Victory Lane. Adding, “It was a bad situation with Riley, but the Kreisel’s gave me a great car here tonight and I was just happy to hang on.”
Maintaining a solid showing all night, Kory Schudy would wheel his way to finish fourth as eighth-starting Anthony Nicholson rounded out the top-five finishers in the POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League feature event at Lucas Oil Speedway for the Twelfth Annual Impact Signs, Awnings, and Wraps Open Wheel Showdown.
POWRi WAR Sprint League | Lucas Oil Speedway | 5/6/23:
Hoosier Racing Tire Quick Hot-Lap Time: 91-Chase Johnson(15.289)
Advanced Racing Suspension Heat Race 1 Winner: 91-Chase Johnson
Auto Meter Heat Race 2 Winner: 74-Xavier Doney
MVT Services High Point Qualifier: 91-Chase Johnson
Super Clean Hard Charger: 52-Dean Bowers(+5)
Toyota Racing Development Feature Winner: 91-Chase Johnson
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 91-Chase Johnson[1]; 2. 77-Jack Wagner[2]; 3. 74-Xavier Doney[3]; 4. 28-Kory Schudy[4]; 5. 16-Anthony Nicholson[8]; 6. 87-Jason Billups[5]; 7. 73-Samuel Wagner[11]; 8. 52-Dean Bowers[13]; 9. 33-Bryson Smith[9]; 10. 44-Wesley Smith[6]; 11. 15B-Quinton Benson[7]; 12. 52B-Blake Bowers[10]; 13. 45-Jesse Bebee[12]; 14. 11X-Tom Curran[14].
Advanced Racing Suspension Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 91-Chase Johnson[6]; 2. 77-Jack Wagner[7]; 3. 87-Jason Billups[3]; 4. 33-Bryson Smith[1]; 5. 52B-Blake Bowers[4]; 6. 45-Jesse Bebee[5]; 7. (DNS) 11X-Tom Curran
Auto Meter Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 74-Xavier Doney[3]; 2. 28-Kory Schudy[1]; 3. 44-Wesley Smith[2]; 4. 15B-Quinton Benson[4]; 5. 16-Anthony Nicholson[6]; 6. 73-Samuel Wagner[7]; 7. 52-Dean Bowers[5].
Next up the POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League will see action at Moberly Motorsports Park on Saturday, May 13th.
Follow along for more information such as race recaps, updates, full results, and press releases online at www.powri.com, on Twitter & Instagram at @POWRi_Racing, or on Facebook at POWRi.
Photo Credit: Richard Bales