By: Ray Cunningham
Butler, Missouri (April 21, 2023)………Braydon Cromwell corralled the field in thrilling fashion to pick up his first career USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association victory on Friday night at Butler, Missouri’s Electric City Speedway.
The Lone Jack, Mo. gasser beat a stellar field to the stripe in the 25-lapper, besting 2021 MWRA champion Kory Schudy (Battlefield, Mo.), Wesley Smith (Nixa, Mo.) and Quinton Benson (Sweet Springs, Mo.) with defending MWRA champion Wyatt Burks (Topeka, Kan.) rounding out the top-five.
Early race leader Jack Wagner (Lone Jack, Mo.) took sixth ahead of Brad Wyatt (Kearney, Mo.), Craig Carroll (Collinsville, Okla.) and Bryson Smith (Nixa, Mo.) with Chad Winfrey (Gladstone, Mo.) completing the top-10.
The field of 20 took part in three eight-lap heat races with Schudy, Wagner and Benson taking home the wins in the first ever completed program for the MWRA at Electric City Speedway. The first attempt for the series at ECS came last July in a program that was canceled after rain swept over the track following heat race action.
As a side notes, the First MWRA win for Cromwell wouldn’t have taken place without the help of Rick Horn, a noted open wheel car owner in the area who provided the Cromwell family race team an engine for Friday night’s program.
Samuel Wagner, driving the Wagner Boys Racing sprinter, passed five cars in the feature to win the Midwest Wingless Racing Association Hard Charger Award. Lauri, Mo. chauffeur Jesse Bebee collected the Xtreme Color Hard Luck Award after crashing his car at the start of the third heat race. Bebee was okay after the accident, but his number 45 racer suffered damage that kept him from competing for the rest of the evening.
Next up for the USAC MWRA Sprint Cars is a trip to Odessa, Missouri’s I-70 Motorsports Park next Saturday night for the Open Wheel Classic featuring the MWRA vs. the POWRi WAR Sprint Car League.
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USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: April 21, 2023 – Electric City Speedway – Butler, Missouri
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. 28-Kory Schudy (1), 2. 44-Wesley Smith (2), 3. 9-Cody Baker (4), 4. 11w-Wyatt Burks (6), 5. 65-Chris Parkinson (5), 6. 7JR-J.D. Black (3), 7. 73-Samuel Wagner (7). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. 77-Jack Wagner (1), 2. 4-Braydon Cromwell (4), 3. 41-Brad Wyatt (2), 4. 24c-Craig Carroll (3), 5. 24H-Ty Hulsey (5), 6. 2-Chad Frewaldt (7), 7. 15E-Dakota Earls (6). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. 15B-Quinton Benson (3), 2. 65w-Chad Winfrey (1), 3. 33-Bryson Smith (5), 4. 88-Chad Tye (4), 5. 27J-Justin Johnson (6), 6. 45-Jesse Bebee (2). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Braydon Cromwell (4), 2. Kory Schudy (1), 3. Wesley Smith (6), 4. Quinton Benson (3), 5. Wyatt Burks (9), 6. Jack Wagner (2), 7. Brad Wyatt (10), 8. Craig Carroll (12), 9. Bryson Smith (5), 10. Chad Winfrey (7), 11. Cody Baker (8), 12. Chris Parkinson (14), 13. Ty Hulsey (15), 14. Samuel Wagner (19), 15. J.D. Black (17), 16. Chad Tye (11), 17. Justin Johnson (13), 18. Chad Frewaldt (16), 19. Dakota Earls (20), 20. Jesse Bebee (18). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Jack Wagner, Laps 11-25 Braydon Cromwell.
USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Braydon Cromwell-200, 2-Kory Schudy-185, 3-Wesley Smith-180, 4-Quinton Benson-175, 5-Wyatt Burks-170, 6-Jack Wagner-165, 7-Brad Wyatt-160, 8-Bryson Smith-150, 9-Chad Winfrey-145, 10-Cody Baker-140.
NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE: April 29, 2023 – I-70 Motorsports Park – Odessa, Missouri