LUKE HAS THE COOL HAND AT U.S. 36

By: Ray Cunningham

Osborn, Missouri (September 2, 2022)………Luke Howard of Overland Park, Kan. carved up the field on his way to victory in the 25-lap Wholesale Batteries USAC Midwest Wingless Racing Association Sprint Car feature on Friday night at Osborn, Missouri’s U.S. 36 Raceway.

The pace of the race for the first 14 laps was frantic with a war erupting for first place between Howard, Braydon Cromwell and Wyatt Burks as they brilliantly navigated traffic on the high side, low side and the middle, sometimes creating a sandwich with the drivers they were lapping while exchanging the lead back and forth.

Following a yellow flag for a spun car on lap 14, the top-three racers went at it again until Heath Murry flipped in front of the grandstand with second running Cromwell deftly avoiding the carnage during the spill.  Murry, the Tonganoxie, Kan. chauffeur, was okay.

Finally, on the final restart with four laps to go, Howard gained some valuable real estate between himself and Cromwell to hold on for the win over the Lone Jack, Mo. charger while Billings, Missouri’s Wesley Smith got past Burks for the final podium spot.

Burks of Topeka, Kan. scored a fourth-place result while Chad Goff, hailing from Spring Hill, Kan., rounded out the top-five.

For recent high school grads Howard and Cromwell, this event showcased the young teenagers’ talents, while the “old man” of the group, Smith, at age 22, drove a spirited race from 11th to 3rd after winning at U.S. 36 earlier in the MWRA season.

The second half of the top 10 at the Northwest Missouri speed plant was led by Chris Parkinson of Gladstone, Missouri who raced from 12th to 6th in the 24-car feature while Tom Curran of Kansas City, Mo., Zach Clark of Olathe, Kan., Dakota Earls of Independence, Mo. and Warren Johnson of Overland Park, Kan., who raced from 22nd to 10th and earned Hard Charger honors courtesy of JDL Justin Lawson Media.

Earlier in the evening, Earls added another heat race win to his MWRA resume by winning heat number one while Howard took the second heat.  Chad Goff won heat number three after narrowly escaping serious damage to his 9x after tangling with a lapper at the finish line.

The USAC Wholesale Batteries MWRA Sprint Cars will next be in action this Sunday night, September 4, at Bethany Speedway located on the grounds of the Northwest Missouri State Fairgrounds as the 2022 season marches on with another top-flight event this season.

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USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: September 2, 2022 – U.S. 36 Raceway – Osborn, Missouri

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 15E-Dakota Earls (1), 2. 4-Braydon Cromwell (3), 3. 69-Zach Sanders (5), 4. 65-Chris Parkinson (4), 5. 11x-Tom Curran (8), 6. 2-Michael Moore (2), 7. 65w-Chad Winfrey (7), 8. 90-Warren Johnson (6). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 2H-Luke Howard (2), 2. 11w-Wyatt Burks (6), 3. 12-Wesley Smith (3), 4. 26-Zach Clark (4), 5. 2G-A.J. Gilbert (1), 6. 37-Brian Beebe (5), 7. 41-Brad Wyatt (7), 8. T4-Tyler Graves (8). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 9-Chad Goff (1), 2. 03-Tyler Burton (2), 3. 93-Buddy Parker (3), 4. 88-Chad Tye (6), 5. 7X-Lance Silvers (4), 6. 27J-Justin Johnson (7), 7. 27G-Gary Gray (8), 8. 7M-Heath Murry (5). NT

FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Luke Howard (2), 2. Braydon Cromwell (5), 3. Wesley Smith (11), 4. Wyatt Burks (1), 5. Chad Goff (4), 6. Chris Parkinson (12), 7. Tom Curran (9), 8. Zach Clark (13), 9. Dakota Earls (3), 10. Warren Johnson (22), 11. Chad Tye (8), 12. Buddy Parker (10), 13. Brad Wyatt (20), 14. A.J. Gilbert (16), 15. Justin Johnson (15), 16. Tyler Burton (7), 17. Heath Murry (23), 18. Lance Silvers (14), 19. Gary Gray (24), 20. Brian Beebe (17), 21. Zach Sanders (6), 22. Tyler Graves (21), 23. Chad Winfrey (19). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Wyatt Burks, Laps 14-25 Luke Howard.

USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Wyatt Burks-1340, 2-Chris Parkinson-1200, 3-Dakota Earls-1010, 4-Chad Winfrey-975, 5-Brian Beebe-965, 6-A.J. Gilbert-965, 7-Chad Goff-930, 8-Brad Wyatt-910, 9-Warren Johnson-880, 10-Tom Curran-835.

NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINT CAR RACE: September 4, 2022 – Bethany Speedway – Bethany, Missouri