Belleville, IL. (08/28/2020) Making the only appearance of 2020 to Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois, the POWRi Lucas Oil Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League would not disappoint any in attendance on the pristine track. After twenty-five laps and countless breathtaking racing maneuvers, Garrett Aitken would stand victorious while notching his first career POWRi WAR feature win.
Early racing action would witness Joe B. Miller #97 set the fastest time in the hot lap sessions with a 16.071 lap time. Joe B. Miller would continue his streak of speed notching a heat race victory with Riley Kreisel #91 earning the top spot in his heat race as well. Paul Nienhiser #9 would gain the high point qualifying award, running from ninth to second place in his heat to earn a pole starting spot for the feature.
With High Point Qualifier Paul Nienhiser and a speedy Joe B. Miller making up the front row for the twenty-five-lap main event, competition would be fierce and all over the track with sometimes three and four wide battles for nearly every position. Nienhiser and Miller would battle back and forth for most of the race with neither driver giving up their preferred line of racing. Riley Kreisel would make his presence felt by trying to find a way around the top two lap after lap with Mitch Wissmiller #29 and Mario Clouser #6 all within striking distance as the laps started to dwindle.
Mid-Race caution flags would bunch the field back together at the halfway mark as Garrett Aitken #32 would fly to front. Using a low-to-high line to perfection Aitken would effortlessly pick off other frontrunners on his march to the top spot. Gaining the lead with less than ten laps left Aitken would not be stopped in his quest to his first-ever career POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League feature victory.
“After the caution half-way through the feature I knew the car was fast and had to pick my moment in one and two” Aitken would state in an incredibly happy victory lane. Garrett would go on to add, “It really came down to angling the corner just right, if you got to high you would scrub speed so I started to approaching at more of a diamond and the car was a rocket after that.”
One-time leader Paul Nienhiser would finish in a close second place by less than half a second, with lap traffic proving to be tricky to navigate for the frontrunners. Joe B. Miller would round out the podium finishers by showing speed all night and remaining in the hunt for the front the entire event. Riley Kreisel continued to add to his championship season by placing a solid fourth as Mitch Wissmiller placed fifth and a tight battle up front.
KSE Racing Products Top Time: #97 Joe B. Miller 16.071
Hinchman Racewear Heat Race 1 Winner: #97 Joe B. Miller
Bell Helmet Heat Race 2 Winner: #91 Riley Kreisel
AutoMeter High Point Qualifier Winner: #9 Paul Nienhiser
Super Clean Hard Charger: #99 Korey Weyant +10 (16th to 6th)
Lucas Oil Feature Winner: #32 Garrett Aitken
Feature Results from Central Missouri Speedway with the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League: (25 Laps) 1. 32-Garrett Aitken[5]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[1]; 3. 97-Joe B Miller[2]; 4. 91-Riley Kreisel[4]; 5. 29-Mitch Wissmiller[6]; 6. 99-Korey Weyant[16]; 7. 6-Mario Clouser[3]; 8. 4-Brad Greenup[8]; 9. 88-Terry Babb[9]; 10. 01-Justin Standridge[10]; 11. 27-Steve Thomas[7]; 12. 2-Jason Billups[12]; 13. 7S-Wade Seiler[14]; 14. 82-Vinny Ward[13]; 15. 90-Patrick Budde[15]; 16. 52F-Logan Faucon[17]; 17. 70-Pete Palazzolo[11]; 18. (DNS) 24-Landon Simon
Next up for the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League the final stop for the “Border-WAR”, on Saturday, August 30th at Valley Speedway. Pit Gates open at noon with Driver’s Registration 3-6 PM. Hot Laps start at 6:30 PM, with great racing action to follow.
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