Odessa, MO. (4/20/24) Wesley Smith would shine through high side hustling in the Second Annual Rod End Supply Open Wheel Classic presented by Start2Finish feature event at I-70 Speedway with the POWRi WAR Sprint League running in conjunction with the Midwest Wingless Racing Association as well as the Western Iowa Non-Wing Sprints; to notch the season-opening victory.
Racing onto the speedy surface with twenty-one talented entrants of traditional sprinters would see Wesley Smith set a quickest hot-lap time of 16.354-second lap with Cam Shafer, Samuel Wagner, and Wyatt Burks each earning heat racing victories.
Mesmerizing the crowd on the initial green flag start with high-point qualifier Cam Shafer and Samuel Wagner lined up in the front row as Samuel Wagner would gain the lead on the opening lap with Riley Kreisel, Xavier Doney, Wesley Smith, and Wyatt Burks all raced within the top five.
Leading the field for the first twelve laps, Samuel Wagner would appear to be the fastest driver on the smooth track with Xavier Doney sliding into the second spot as Wesley Smith rounded out the podium placements.
Overtaking briefly for the preferred spot, Xavier Doney would use a high side line to overtake Wager for first as Wesley Smith kept track of the leading pair as the laps began to wind down with Wyatt Burks and Kobe Simpson battling to stay within the top running contention.
Late race dramatics would be displayed with a battle waged for the top spot as Wesley Smith would smoke the competition to take the hard-fought victory after an intense and action packed twenty-five lap feature event to notch his thirteenth league win with Xavier Doney staying close in the runner-up spot.
Leading on the final trio of laps Wesley Smith would emerge victorious with the POWRi WAR Sprint League running in conjunction with the Midwest Wingless Racing Association as well as the Western Iowa Non-Wing Sprints at I-70 Speedway in the Second Annual Rod End Supply Open Wheel Classic presented by Start2Finish to notch his thirteenth league victory and pocket the $3K-payday.
“That was a lot of fun, I've always wanted to run the top side of I-70 and I think we just put on one of the best races at this place,” said victorious Wesley Smith in the Odessa, Missouri victory lane celebrations. Adding, "The choose cone really comes into play with how we think about restarts, I'm a big fan of it but tonight I was needing that single file restart with the long run of green.”
Challenging closely behind would find Samuel Wagner placing on the final podium placement from the starting second on the initial green flag. Kobe Simpson would be among the frontrunners all feature to hard-charge his way to finish fourth as Wyatt Burks would round out the top-five finishers for the POWRi WAR Sprint League running in conjunction with the Midwest Wingless Racing Association as well as the Western Iowa Non-Wing Sprints at I-70 Speedway in the Second Annual Rod End Supply Open Wheel Classic presented by Start2Finish.
I-70 Speedway | POWRi WAR Sprint League | 4/20/24:
Hoosier Racing Tire Quick Hot Lap Time: 44-Wesley Smith(16.354)
Flying A Motorsports Heat Race 1 Winner: 97-Cam Shafer
Engler Machine & Tool Heat Race 2 Winner: 73-Samuel Wagner
MVT Services Heat Race 3 Winner: 11W-Wyatt Burks
Victory Fuel High Point Qualifier: 97-Cam Shafer
Meru Safety Hard Charger: 21K-Kobe Simpson(+7)
Toyota Racing Development Feature Winner: 44-Wesley Smith
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 44-Wesley Smith[4]; 2. 74-Xavier Doney[5]; 3. 73-Samuel Wagner[2]; 4. 21K-Kobe Simpson[11]; 5. 11W-Wyatt Burks[7]; 6. 97-Cam Schafer[1]; 7. 13-Chase Howard[6]; 8. 93W-Taylor Walton[10]; 9. 2H-Luke Howard[8]; 10. 2-Chad Goff[9]; 11. 27-Justin Johnson[16]; 12. 21M-Michael Moore[15]; 13. 03-Tyler Burton[12]; 14. 38-Kevin Frisbie[14]; 15. (DNF) 7X-Lance Silvers[18]; 16. (DNF) F5-Riley Kreisel[3]; 17. (DNF) 93-Ralph Parkinson Jr[17]; 18. (DNF) 65W-Chad Winfrey[20]; 19. (DNS) 9-Cody Baker; 20. (DNS) 15E-Dakota Earls; 21. (DNS) 77-Jack Wagner.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cam Schafer[5]; 2. F5-Riley Kreisel[7]; 3. 13-Chase Howard[6]; 4. 03-Tyler Burton[1]; 5. 38-Kevin Frisbie[3]; 6. (DNF) 15E-Dakota Earls[2]; 7. (DNF) 65W-Chad Winfrey[4].
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 73-Samuel Wagner[5]; 2. 44-Wesley Smith[7]; 3. 2-Chad Goff[3]; 4. 93W-Taylor Walton[4]; 5. 21M-Michael Moore[2]; 6. 27-Justin Johnson[6]; 7. 7X-Lance Silvers[1].
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11W-Wyatt Burks[1]; 2. 2H-Luke Howard[2]; 3. 74-Xavier Doney[7]; 4. 21K-Kobe Simpson[3]; 5. 9-Cody Baker[4]; 6. 93-Ralph Parkinson Jr[6]; 7. (DNS) 77-Jack Wagner.
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Track details for I-70 Speedway including location and facility details can be found online at www.i70motorsportspark.com | 12773 Outer Road Odessa, MO 64076.
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