SMITH SOARS TO LAWSON MEMORIAL VICTORY AT I-35 IN USAC MWRA GO
By: Ray Cunningham
Winston, Missouri (September 4, 2021)………Saturday night at I-35 Speedway Wesley Smith, driving the John Helm/WSR #12, broke the curse of bad results to win the inaugural Lawson Memorial for USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association Sprint Cars.
Wyatt Burks took second over Kory Schudy, Luke Howard, Don Droud Jr., Chris Parkinson, Tom Curran, Chad Goff and Brad Wyatt with Chad Frewaldt rounding out the top-10 in the 22-car field.
The change of fortune for the Billings, Missouri chauffeur came after rains blasted the greater Kansas City area, causing cancellations throughout the region on Saturday night.
As a result, it led to a lightning fast and tacky surface at I-35 Speedway which was perfect for Smith who blasted his way to victory using both the high side, and then the low side, to pass the leader Burks for his third Wholesale Batteries USAC MWRA Sprint Car victory of 2021 and a career best “Lucky Number 7” sprint car win in all groups this season after a DNF cost him the points lead at the Winston track last time out.
“The Sheriff” Wyatt Burks from Topeka, Kansas, had a great night of racing as well, driving the Wyatt Burks Racing #11w, finishing second place, after taking the lead at the start of the 25 lapper until being passed by Smith.
Point Leader Kory Schudy of Battlefield, Mo., racing the JSR #28 of Jon Sawyer, continued to impress with yet another finish on the podium in MWRA after winning the first two races at I-35 Speedway in 2021.
Overland Park, Kansas driver “Cool Hand Luke” Howard, fresh off the football field playing under the Friday Night Lights, topped his best result from earlier this year of fifth place at the Northwest Missouri track by coming home in fourth, and Lincoln, Nebraska’s Don Droud Jr., racing the Mark Burch #1m, duplicated his fifth place result from the last time they ran at I-35 on August 21.
After sitting out a few races for health concerns, Chris Rupard of Kansas City, Kansas won the Design Source Flooring Hard Charger Award, racing from 21st place to 12th. Earlier, Parkinson, Burks, and Smith, took the three heat race victories.
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USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RESULTS: September 4, 2021 – I-35 Speedway – Winston, Missouri
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 65-Chris Parkinson (3), 2. 1m-Don Droud Jr. (6), 3. 4F-Chad Frewaldt (7), 4. 33L-Mark Lane (1), 5. 7x-Lance Silvers (4), 6. 45-Jesse Bebee (2), 7. 7J-Nathan James (8), 8. 717-Garrett Alexander (5). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 11w-Wyatt Burks (2), 2. 2-Luke Howard (4), 3. 26-Zach Clark (1), 4. 2x-Kyle Lewis (6), 5. 81A-Chris Morgan (3), 6. 41-Brad Wyatt (7), 7. 22R-Chris Rupard (5). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 12-Wesley Smith (2), 2. 28-Kory Schudy (4), 3. 11x-Tom Curran (1), 4. 74-Xavier Doney (6), 5. 9-Chad Goff (3), 6. 27J-Justin Johnson (5), 7. 93-Buddy Parker (7). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wesley Smith (5), 2. Wyatt Burks (2), 3. Kory Schudy (7), 4. Luke Howard (6), 5. Don Droud Jr. (3), 6. Chris Parkinson (4), 7. Tom Curran (11), 8. Chad Goff (16), 9. Brad Wyatt (14), 10. Chad Frewaldt (1), 11. Zach Clark (10), 12. Chris Rupard (21), 13. Mark Lane (12), 14. Lance Silvers (13), 15. Buddy Parker (20), 16. Jesse Bebee (19), 17. Justin Johnson (17), 18. Chris Morgan (15), 19. Xavier Doney (9), 20. Garrett Alexander (22), 21. Kyle Lewis (8), 22. Nathan James (18). NT
USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Kory Schudy-1990, 2-Wesley Smith-1930, 3-Chris Parkinson-1710, 4-Chad Goff-1640, 5-Wyatt Burks-1450, 6-Xavier Doney-1355, 7-Luke Howard-1230, 8-Zach Clark-1220, 9-Dakota Earls-1150, 10-Heath Murry-905.
NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR RACE: September 5, 2021 – Bethany Speedway – Bethany, Missouri
