3-IN-A-ROW FOR BURKS AT I-35
By: Ray Cunningham
Osborn, Missouri (September 2, 2023)………Wyatt Burks captured his third consecutive USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association Sprint Car victory of the season on Saturday night at Winston, Missouri’s I-35 Speedway.
For Burks (Topeka, Kan.), it was his sixth overall feature win of the year after grabbing the lead from Zach Clark (Raymore, Mo.) following a second lap restart and then methodically worked through lapped traffic on his way to a series-leading 16th all-time win.
Although the path for Burks to victory appeared to be easy at times, the competition behind the winner turned into a fierce battle among the rest of the contenders running for positions second through 10th.
All that action, however, followed the wildest moment of the night when the field barreled down the straightaway to complete the first lap of the feature, resulting in a multi-car accident that incapacitated the machines of Chad Winfrey (Gladstone, Mo.) and Independence, Mo. chauffeur Chad Tye. Both Chads were okay after the altercation, but their cars were not, with both leaving the track on the hook.
Once Burks took the lead for good, a dog fight ensued behind him for second, third and fourth with Luke Howard (Overland Park, Kan.) wrestling away second place after passing both third place finisher Clark and fourth place Chris Parkinson (Gladstone, Mo.) on his way to his best finish so far in 2023.
Behind then, Dakota Earls (Independence, Mo.) raced to fifth followed by Hard Charger recipient Buddy Parker (Wichita Falls, Texas) who advanced four positions from 10th to sixth, which for Parker, paid him a $100 bonus as well as an additional bonus of $100 from title sponsor Wholesale Batteries, Inc. en route to a career best finish with the MWRA.
Rounding out the top-10 were A.J. Gilbert (Tonganoxie, Kan.) with a season-best finish of seventh. Ben Woods (Newton, Iowa) came home eighth and the Johnsons (no relation) Justin Johnson (Parkville, Mo.) finished ninth with Warren Johnson 10th.
The finish for “JJ” Justin Johnson was also significant as it was his first top-10 finish with the MWRA and came after he battled very hard with Parker and others in the 25-lap feature. Show Me State racer Tye also received the Hard Luck award courtesy of Xtreme Color.
Earlier in the evening, Burks won his sixth heat race with the MWRA in 2023 while Parkinson took his first heat win with the series this season.
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USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: September 2, 2023 – I-35 Speedway – Winston, Missouri
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 11w-Wyatt Burks (4), 2. 2H-Luke Howard (6), 3. 11B-Ben Woods (2), 4. 65w-Chad Winfrey (7), 5. 2G-A.J. Gilbert (5), 6. 27J-Justin Johnson (1). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 65-Chris Parkinson (1), 2. 26-Zachary Clark (6), 3. 15E-Dakota Earls (4), 4. 2L-Warren Johnson (2), 5. 93-Buddy Parker (3), 6. 88-Chad Tye (5). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wyatt Burks (3), 2. Luke Howard (4), 3. Zach Clark (1), 4. Chris Parkinson (2), 5. Dakota Earls (6), 6. Buddy Parker (10), 7. A.J. Gilbert (9), 8. Ben Woods (7), 9. Justin Johnson (12), 10. Warren Johnson (8), 11. 7x-Lance Silvers (13), 12. Chad Tye (11), 13. Chad Winfrey (5). NT
USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Wyatt Burks-2305, 2-Chris Parkinson-2005, 3-Chad Winfrey-1935, 4-Brad Wyatt-1775, 5-Dakota Earls-1640, 6-Zach Clark-1620, 7-Justin Johnson-1620, 8-Kory Schudy-1580, 9-Buddy Parker-1555, 10-Luke Howard-1440.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Zach Clark, Laps 2-25 Wyatt Burks.
NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE: September 3, 2023 – Bethany Speedway – Bethany, Missouri