BAKER COOKS IN NEVADA'S USAC MWRA SPRINT OPENER
By Ray Cunningham
Nevada, Missouri………The USAC MWRA Sprints kicked off the 2021 Season with a bang Saturday night at Nevada Speedway!
Cody Baker of Lone Jack, Missouri, driving for his grandfather Ted Hall would be victorious in the 25 lapper after holding off the advances of Battlefield, Missouri’s Kory Schudy driving the JSR Racing #28 of Jon Sawyer, and Chris Parkinson in his #65 CPR non winged sprint.
In a great effort by all involved, including Jerry Davis of Nevada Speedway, the rain that fell on the track both Friday, and Saturday, would not keep the show from going on.
29 Non Winged Sprints from Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Illinois, and Iowa, made the trip to Nevada for the first time in series history to race in front of a near capacity crowd.
Kansas Cities Tom Curran won the first heat over Zach Clark, and Brian Beebe. While in a stacked 2nd heat, Kory Schudy would get the W over Cody Baker who started in 6th place, and defending series champ Wyatt Burks in the Rumsey #11w.
In heat number 3, Springfield, Illinois, chauffeur Vinnie Ward came home victorious over Lane Stone, and 2020 Most Improved driver Dakota Earls. And in heat number 4, Higginsville racer Brad Ryun won over Chris Parkinson, and Danny Billings.
After the redraw which saw high point man Baker role a zero to start on the pole for the main event. Spring Hills Kyle Lewis won the B feature in impressive fashion over Wesley Smith racing the WSR/ Helm #12, J.d. Black, Luke Howard, Mitchell Moore, and rookie Heath Murry, competing for the first time in a sprint car. Setting the field for the 22 car A feature.
A wild and exciting race saw Baker hold off Schudy throughout the 25 lap contest. Including some nail biting restarts where Kory would pull almost even with Cody coming out of the second turn, before Baker would race past the Springfield area driver going down the backstretch to lead the entire distance.
When the checkers flew, Baker would take his first ever MWRA feature win, while Schudy would come 2nd, and Parkinson raced his way to the podium finishing in 3rd place. Photos by John Lee HighFly-nphotos.com
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USAC MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 8, 2021 – Nevada Speedway – Nevada, Missouri
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. 11x-Tom Curran, 2. 26-Zach Clark, 3. 37-Brian Beebe, 4. 9x-Chad Goff, 5. 9-Jeff Seesholtz, 6. 7x-Lance Silvers, 7. 82-Christie Thomason, 8. 5BB-Robert Talley. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. 28-Kory Schudy, 2. 9H-Cody Baker, 3. 11w-Wyatt Burks, 4. 74-Xavier Doney, 5. 12-Wesley Smith, 6. 7JR-JD Black, 7. 88-Chad Tye. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. 82v-Vinny Ward, 2. ST1-Lane Stone, 3. 15E-Dakota Earls, 4. 69-Zach Sanders, 5. 2H-Luke Howard, 6. 17K-Braden Knipmeyer, 7. 7m-Heath Murry. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. 13-Brad Ryun, 2. 65-Chris Parkinson, 3. 11-Danny Billings, 4. 81A-Chris Morgan, 5. 2-Kyle Lewis, 6. 51-Mitchell Moore, 7. 22R-Chris Rupard. NT
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Lewis, 2. Wesley Smith, 3. J.D. Black, 4. Luke Howard, 5. Mitchell Moore, 6. Heath Murry, 7. Braden Knipmeyer, 8. Jeff Seesholtz, 9. Christie Thomason, 10. Lance Silvers, 11. Chris Rupard, 12. Robert Talley, 13. Chad Tye. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Cody Baker (1), 2. Kory Schudy (3), 3. Chris Parkinson (5), 4. Zach Sanders (8), 5. Brad Ryun (4), 6. Lane Stone (7), 7. Wyatt Burks (14), 8. Wesley Smith (18), 9. Tom Curran (2), 10. Chad Goff (12), 11. Luke Howard (20), 12. Heath Murry (22), 13. Dakota Earls (10), 14. Brian Beebe (11), 15. Vinny Ward (6), 16. Zach Clark (9), 17. Danny Billings (15), 18. Mitchell Moore (21), 19. Kyle Lewis (17), 20. Chris Morgan (13), 21. Xavier Doney (16), 22. J.D. Black (19). NT
USAC MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Cody Baker-200, 2-Kory Schudy-185, 3-Chris Parkinson-180, 4-Zach Sanders-175, 5-Brad Ryun-170, 6-Lane Stone-165, 7-Wyatt Burks-160, 8-Wesley Smith-155, 9-Tom Curran-150, 10-Chad Goff-145.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR RACES: May 21-22, 2021 – Lakeside Speedway – Kansas City, Kansas – Co-Sanctioned by the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship & USAC Wingless Sprints Oklahoma
