Belleville, IL. (05/16/2021) Back at the familiar home-racing surfaces of Barona Speedway, the Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprints would find drivers from all-around California testing their talents on the bustling bullring. Grabbing the feature win for the second straight event, Grant Sexton of Lakeside California would not be denied notching his series-leading second feature POWRi SWLS victory in 2021.
Outstanding lightning sprint early action would find Matt Sotomayor, Braden Chiaramonte, and Grant Sexton all claim heat race victories, ramping up the excitement for the twenty-lap shootout. With a dice-roll during Intermission used to set the feature field, Jim Squire III and Rudy Padilla would lead the pack of hungry competitors to the initial start.
Showing speed right from the drop for the green, heat race winners Sexton and Sotomayor would not hesitate on their march to the front. With Sexton launching from sixth and Sotomayor starting seventh, their work was cut out for them as both drivers were able to rise to the competition.
Late-race strategy by Grant Sexton in track conditions would be the advantage needed to separate himself from the field, claiming his fourth career POWRi Lightning Sprint feature victory. Matt Sotomayor would finish in a hard-fought runner-up placement with Rudy Padilla holding steady and finishing third. Hard-Charging Parker Dumas would finish fourth as pole-sitter Jim Squire III rounded out the feature’s top five finishers at Barona Speedway with the Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprints.
POWRi SWLS Feature Results from Barona Speedway on Saturday, May 15th:
- 3 | Grant Sexton | Lakeside, CA | (6) | Heat Race Winner
- 9 | Matt Sotomayor | Alpine, CA | (7) | Heat Race Winner
- 47D | Rudy Padilla | CA | (2)
- 83 | Parker Dumas | San Diego, CA | (9)
- 54 | Jim Squire III | Lakeside, CA | (1)
- 73 | Braden Chiaramonte | El Cajon, CA | (8) | Heat Race Winner
- 99 | Darren Brent | Lakeside, CA | (10)
- 2 | Jason Arnolde | San Diego, CA | (4)
- 20 | Kevin Bates | (13)
- 15 | Jon Squire | El Cajon, CA | (11)
- 15X | DJ Dumas | El Cajon, CA | (5)
- 13 | Peter Benker | Alpine, CA | (3)
- 80 | Ryan Dumas | San Diego, CA | (12)
- 44 | David Bezio | El Cajon, CA | DNS/DNF
- 7 | Robert Early | California, CA | DNS/DNF
- 36 | Wyatt Boczanowski | CA | DNS/DNF
With only a couple of weeks remaining until the Midwest Lightning Sprints serve as the hosting series for the rapidly approaching Third Annual POWRi Lightning Sprint Nationals, many area competitors have been busy finalizing and finely tuning their hotrods for the rapidly approaching two-day racing weekend at Central Missouri Speedway in Warrensburg Missouri on May 29-30.
After the POWRi Lightning Sprint Nationals will find the Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprints next racing on Saturday, June 12th with a return visit to Barona Speedway. POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprints, 360 Non-Wing Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Northern Sport Mods, IMCA Sport Compact, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Dwarfs, Masters Mini Dwarfs, Sportsman Mini-Dwarfs, and Junior Sprints are scheduled to compete for a great night of racing action.
SWLS at Barona Speedway on May 15th Details:
Pits Open – 12:00 PM
Grandstands Open – 1:00 PM
Drivers Registration – 1:00-3:00 PM
Drivers Meeting – 4:00 PM
Hot Laps – 4:30 PM
Racing to follow.
The Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series would like to thank the following sponsors for making the 2021 racing season possible: Lucas Oil, Sexton Fire Protection, RTL Traffic Control & Equipment, Victory Graphix, United Cleaning Company, BK Wing, and A.M. Ortega Construction Inc. For updates on the Lucas Oil POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series, visit the series website at www.raceswls.com or “Like” their Facebook page.
Follow along for more information on the further growth of all the POWRi Lightning Sprints and items such as race recaps, updates, full results, and press releases online at www.powri.com, for on Twitter & Instagram at @POWRi_Racing or on Facebook at POWRi. POWRi League rules, contingencies, forms, and payouts can be found under the info tab at the top of the POWRi website.