WHEATLAND, MO. (May 4, 2019) – Taking advantage of a green-white-checkered finish, Kory Schudy of Springfield, Missouri mastered the final restart with a pitch-perfect slidejob on Korey Weyant to take the lead on lap 23 at Lucas Oil Speedway and hang on for his first-career POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League victory on Saturday night.
A stout field of 36 entries came to play at the Wheatland, Missouri facility as the WAR Sprints hit the track for just the second time in what has been a rain-shortened Spring. Heat race victories on Saturday went to Brad Wyatt (Hinchman Racewear Heat 1), Wyatt Burks (Bell Racing HQ Heat 2), Jack Wagner (Schure Built Suspension Heat 3) and Slater Helt (Wilwood Brakes Heat 4). A 9th-to-3rd heat race made Schudy the LRB, Inc. #HighPointMan, but the redraw slotted him outside of row three.
The 25-lap POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League main event started with a bang as the outside polesitter, Wyatt Burks, went spinning on the frontstretch in front of the field. On the ensuing restart, Mitchell Davis of Auburn, Illinois capitalized on his new spot and roared around Weyant to assume the early lead.
With a lighting fast race car, Schudy immediately went forward and was hounding Weyant and Davis for the top spot in a three-way war for the lead. By lap five, Schudy was out front and running away. Lap traffic presented his biggest challenge as the backmarkers allowed Weyant to track Schudy back down and make a bid for the lead at halfway.
Storming around the outside with seven to go, Weyant put the No. 99 on the top shelf and blasted by Schudy for the top spot. Much like Schudy early on, Weyant began to check out and appeared as if he was on his way to another Lucas Oil win, but a lap 24 caution changed it all.
Lining up for a green-white-checkered restart, Schudy saw his golden opportunity and seized it going into turn one. He threw a big slider Weyant’s way and although Weyant crossed up enough to run him side-by-side down the backstretch, Schudy’s run on the top was too much as he sealed the deal driving around the outside of turns three and four coming to the white flag.
A 34-year old native of Springfield, Missouri, Kory Schudy, held on throughout the closing lap to cap off his late-race heroics and park the No. 28 in victory lane at Lucas Oil Speedway. The thrilling triumph marks Schudy’s first-career win with the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League.
Korey Weyant held on for a strong second-place bid, while early-leader Mitchell Davis rounded out the podium in third-place. Closing out the top five was Slater Helt with a Lucas Oil career-best of fourth-place and hard-charging Anthony Nicholson in fifth-from-14th. Filling out the top ten was Quinton Benson (sixth), Joe B. Miller (seventh), Jack Wagner (eighth), Riley Kreisel (ninth), and James Lyerla (tenth).
Up next for the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League is a two-day trip through the heartland. On Friday, May 10, the WAR Sprints visit Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kansas before the league debut at the Salina Highbanks in Salina, Oklahoma on Saturday, May 11.
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Hinchman Racewear Heat One (8 Laps):
- 41-Brad Wyatt, Kearney, MO (2); 2. 15B-Quinton Benson, Emma, MO (1); 3. 28-Kory Schudy, Springfield, MO (9); 4. 65-Chris Parkinson, Gladstone, MO (4); 5. 24H-Ty Hulsey, Owasso, OK (8); 6. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (6); 7. 39-Kimberly Tyre, Kiefer, OK (5); 8. 9-Casey Baker, Lone Jack, MO (3); 9. 21M-Michael Moore, Camden, MO (7).
Bell Racing HQ Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 11W-Wyatt Burks, Topeka, KS (2); 2. 90-Riley Kreisel, Warsaw, MO (1); 3. 12-Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (9); 4. 77K-Katlynn Leer, Moulton, IA (3); 5. 1X-Donovan Wise, Choctaw, OK (4); 6. 2X-Zach Clark, Olathe, KS (5); 7. 24C-Craig Carroll, Collinsville, OK (7); 8. 42-Warren Johnson, Overland Park, KS (8); 9. 31X-Dylan Kadous, Topeka, KS (6).
Schure Built Suspension Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (1); 2. 7R-JD Black, Grain Valley, MO (2); 3. 11-James Lyerla, Hillsboro, IL (4); 4. 16-Anthony Nicholson, Bartlett, TN (5); 5. 31B-Joe B. Miller, Millersville, MO (7); 6. 54-Trey Gropp, Lincoln, NE (8); 7. 57-TJ Artz, Lincoln, NE (9); 8. 4-Braydon Cromwell, Lone Jack, MO (3); 9. 31-Austin Sears, Macomb, IL (6).
Wilwood Disc Brakes Heat Four (8 Laps):
- 22S-Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (1); 2. 99-Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (4); 3. 56-Mitchell Davis, Auburn, IL (7); 4. 2H-Luke Howard, Overland Park, KS (5); 5. 53-Brett Wilson, Coweta, OK (3); 6. 37-Brian Beebe, Oak Grove, MO (9); 7. 5$-Danny Smith, Sand Springs, OK (6); 8. 90X-Patrick Budde, Bartelso, IL (2); 9. 2-Jason Billups, Holt, MO (8).
Hoosier Tire B-Main (12 Laps):
- 65-Chris Parkinson (2); 2. 54-Trey Gropp (4); 3. 37-Brian Beebe (1); 4. 77K-Katlynn Leer (3); 5. 2X-Zach Clark (9); 6. 4-Braydon Cromwell (15); 7. 57-TJ Artz (7); 8. 2-Jason Billups (16); 9. 39-Kimberly Tyre (12); 10. 1X-Donovan Wise (5); 11. 24C-Craig Carroll (10); 12. 53-Brett Wilson (6); 13. 90X-Patrick Budde (17); 14. 42-Warren Johnson (13); 15. 73-Samuel Wagner (8); 16. 5$-Danny Smith (11); 17. 9-Casey Baker (14); 18. 21M-Michael Moore (18); 19. 31X-Dylan Kadous (19); 20. 31-Austin Sears (20).
POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League Main Event (25 Laps):
- Kory Schudy (6); 2. 99-Korey Weyant (1); 3. 56-Mitchell Davis (4); 4. 22S-Slater Helt (8); 5. 16-Anthony Nicholson (14); 6. 15B-Quinton Benson (10); 7. 31B-Joe B. Miller (16); 8. 77-Jack Wagner (7); 9. 90-Riley Kreisel (11); 10. 11-James Lyerla (12); 11. 12-Wesley Smith (5); 12. 37-Brian Beebe (19); 13. 7R-JD Black (9); 14. 65-Chris Parkinson (17); 15. 24H-Ty Hulsey (13); 16. 54-Trey Gropp (18); 17. 2H-Luke Howard (15); 18. 41-Brad Wyatt (3); 19. 77K-Katlynn Leer (20); 20. 11W-Wyatt Burks (2).
Lap Leader(s): Davis 1-4, Schudy 5-17, Weyant 18-23, Schudy 24-25.
Hard Charger(s): Nicholson +9.