GRAIN VALLEY, MO. (June 7, 2019) – Scoring his fourth-career victory with POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League on Friday night, Riley Kreisel of Warsaw, Missouri maneuvered through a group of elite contenders and rose at the top, completing an impressive sixth-to-first drive with some rim-riding fun and several sliders along the way.
Catching the inversion just right, a pair of former WAR Sprint champions would lead the field to the green flag as Chris Parkinson of Gladstone, Mo. and Korey Weyant of Springfield, Ill. controlled the front row.
Parkinson paced the opening lap aboard his No. 65 machine, but Weyant racked up the momentum on the high side and pulled alongside on the second circuit, eventually snagging command of the lead by the third time around. While Weyant and Parkinson went at each other for P1, the rapidly approaching pair of Kreisel and Cody Baker made things interesting behind them.
A caution for a spun Wesley Smith would restack the field and create a hectic restart. Baker mounted a stunning drive to pull even with Weyant for the lead, but Weyant was up for the task and powered back by to retain the lead. It was far from over, however, as Baker, Kreisel and Parkinson went three-wide battling for second just as Wyatt Burks and Kory Schudy entered the back end of the top five.
Kreisel soon snagged control of second and set his sights on Weyant’s lead, and he brought an army with him to challenge the No. 99. A four-way fight for the lead broke out as Weyant, Kreisel, Parkinson and Burks brought the Valley Speedway crowd to their feet with an exciting joust for the top spot.
Eventually seizing command, Kreisel assumed the role as race leader, but the final restart gave Weyant, Burks, and a hoist of others one more shot at him. Tossing a slider his way, Weyant put forth one final effort to stop Kreisel, but the 18-year old Warsaw, Missouri native simply slapped the right rear off a thick cushion and drove around Weyant to maintain the lead.
From there, Riley Kreisel held on to earn his first POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League victory of the 2019 season and the fourth of his young career. Following Kreisel to the stripe was Wyatt Burks with a 10th-to-2nd bid and rounding out the podium was Chris Morgan of Topeka, Kansas with a stunning 19th-to-3rd charge. Closing out the top ten on Friday at Valley was Kory Schudy in fourth, Cody Baker in fifth, Mitchell Moore in sixth, Quinton Benson in seventh, Korey Weyant in eighth, Chad Goff in ninth and Taylor Walton in tenth.
Up next for the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League is a Saturday, June 8 appearance at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Missouri.
Hinchman Racewear Heat One:
- 54-Trey Gropp, Lincoln, NE (1); 2. 28-Kory Schudy, Springfield, MO (2); 3. 9-Casey Baker, Lone Jack, MO (3); 4. 57-TJ Artz, Lincoln, NE (6); 5. 30-Ryan Kent, Lone Jack, MO (7); 6. 41-Brad Wyatt, Kearney, MO (5); 7. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (4); 8. 14K-Kyle Lewis, Spring Hill, KS (8).
Bell Racing HQ Heat Two:
- 38-Cody Baker, Lone Jack, MO (2); 2. 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (4); 3. 9G-Chad Goff, Spring Hill, KS (3); 4. 22S-Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (6); 5. 73S-Lane Stone, Concordia, MO (5); 6. 4-Braydon Cromwell, Lone Jack, MO (8); 7. 85-Casey Lewallen, Oak Grove, MO (9); 8. 42-Warren Johnson, Overland Park, KS (1); 9. 21M-Michael Moore, Camden, MO (7).
Schure Built Suspensions Heat Three:
- 12-Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (1); 2. 11W-Wyatt Burks, Topeka, KS (2); 3. 99-Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (6); 4. 81A-Chris Morgan, Topeka, KS (4); 5. 93-Taylor Walton, Warrensburg, MO (7); 6. 2X-Zach Clark, Olathe, KS (5); 7. 37-Brian Beebe, Oak Grove, MO (8); 8. 88-Chad Tye, Independence, MO (3).
Wilwood Disc Brakes Heat Four:
- 90-Riley Kreisel, Warsaw, MO (5); 2. 15B-Quinton Benson, Emma, MO (7); 3. 65-Chris Parkinson, Gladstone, MO (6); 4. 51-Mitchell Moore, Edgerton, KS (4); 5. 2-Jason Billups, Holt, MO (1); 6. 03-Tyler Burton, Quincy, IL (8); 7. 77K-Katlynn Leer, Moulton, IA (2); 8. 31B-Joe B. Miller, Millersville, MO (3).
Hoosier Tire B-Main (4 Transfer):
- 51-Mitchell Moore (2); 2. 4-Braydon Cromwell (5); 3. 81A-Chris Morgan (1); 4. 41-Brad Wyatt (7); 5. 37-Brian Beebe (10); 6. 21M-Michael Moore (17); 7. 2X-Zach Clark (8); 8. 73-Samuel Wagner (11); 9. 85-Casey Lewallen (9); 10. 2-Jason Billups (6); 11. 88-Chad Tye (14); 12. 14K-Kyle Lewis (12); 13. 03-Tyler Burton (3); 14. 31B-Joe B. Miller (15); 15. 73S-Lane Stone (4); 16. 77K-Katlynn Leer (13); 17. 42-Warren Johnson (16).
POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League Main Event (25 Laps):
- 90-Riley Kreisel (6); 2. 11W-Wyatt Burks (10); 3. 81A-Chris Morgan (19); 4. 28-Kory Schudy (9); 5. 38-Cody Baker (3); 6. 51-Mitchell Moore (17); 7. 15B-Quinton Benson (5); 8. 99-Korey Weyant (2); 9. 9G-Chad Goff (14); 10. 93-Taylor Walton (16); 11. 12-Wesley Smith (8); 12. 77-Jack Wagner (4); 13. 22S-Slater Helt (12); 14. 57-TJ Artz (11); 15. 41-Brad Wyatt (20); 16. 9-Casey Baker (13); 17. 4-Braydon Cromwell (18); 18. 30-Ryan Kent (15); 19. 54-Trey Gropp (7); 20. 65-Chris Parkinson (1).