SMITH WINS USAC MWRA SHOOTOUT AT I-70

By: Ray Cunningham

Odessa, Missouri (April 20, 2024)………Wesley Smith won an old-fashioned 25-lap shootout on Saturday night at Odessa, Missouri’s I-70 Speedway.

The Nixa, Mo. gasser raced by Xavier Doney with three laps remaining to earn his first USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association Sprint Car feature of the season.  It was the 11th victory of Smith’s USAC MWRA career, second best all-time.

Smith described the racing surface as a “bad fast race track, slick all the way around to the wall” which allowed multiple groove passing and a slide for your life situation in the $3,000-to-win event co-sanctioned by the POWRi WAR Sprint Car League and the Western Iowa Non-Wing Sprints (WINS) for the second annual Open Wheel Classic sponsored by Rod End Supply.

Smith showed he was ready from the get-go on this night as the Wesley Smith Racing No. 44 set the fastest time in hot laps at 16.354 seconds.  Smith, however, had plenty of competition to navigate in the feature as he dealt with Doney (Odessa, Mo. in the Doney & Lawson No. 74 and third place finisher Samuel Wagner (Lone Jack, Mo.) who led the first half of the barnburner in his Jesse Hockett Racing/Wagner Boys No. 73.

Bonham, Texas chauffeur Kobe Simpson advanced seven spots to fourth after starting 11th, earning hard charger honors for the night while defending race winner Wyatt Burks of Topeka, Kan. ran fifth.

From “choose cone” restarts to navigating traffic and fending off the hard charging of Doney and Wagner, Smith was challenged repeatedly before taking the hard-fought victory.

While the top-five certainly came to race on this night, drivers who raced to positions sixth through 10th also shined brightly led by Little Canada, Minnesota’s Cam Schafer, the defending WINS Series champ who earned high points honors for the night after impressively winning the first heat race, then finished sixth in the feature.

Nesbit, Mississippi’s Chase Howard grabbed seventh as new USAC MWRA point leader Taylor Walton crossed in eighth.  Ninth went to Overland Park, Kan. racer Luke Howard while veteran Chad Goff (Spring Hill, Mo.) rounded out the top-10.

Earlier in the evening, Schafer took the first heat win over Riley Kreisel who advanced from seventh to second in spectacular fashion.  Samuel Wagner held off Smith for heat race win number two after Smith charged from last to first only to be collected after another car spun in front of him.  Smith restarted last again, and with four laps remaining, took over second.  Finally, Wyatt Burks dominated the third and final heat race.

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USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: April 20, 2024 – I-70 Speedway – Odessa, Missouri – Open Wheel Classic

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 97-Cam Schafer (5), 2. F5-Riley Kreisel (7), 3. 13-Chase Howard (6), 4. 03-Tyler Burton (1), 5. 38-Kevin Frisbie (3), 6. 15E-Dakota Earls (2), 7. 65w-Chad Winfrey (4). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 73-Samuel Wagner (5), 2. 44-Wesley Smith (7), 3. 2-Chad Goff (3), 4. 93w-Taylor Walton (4), 5. 21m-Michael Moore (2), 6. 27-Justin Johnson (6), 7. 7x-Lance Silvers (1). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 11w-Wyatt Burks (1), 2. 2H-Luke Howard (2), 3. 74-Xavier Doney (7), 4. 21K-Kobe Simpson (3), 5. 9-Cody Baker (4), 6. 93-Junior Parkinson (6). NT

ALSO AT THE TRACK: 77-Jack Wagner

FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wesley Smith (4), 2. Xavier Doney (5), 3. Samuel Wagner (2), 4. Kobe Simpson (11), 5. Wyatt Burks (7), 6. Cam Schafer (1), 7. Chase Howard (6), 8. Taylor Walton (10), 9. Luke Howard (8), 10. Chad Goff (9), 11. Justin Johnson (16), 12. Michael Moore (15), 13. Tyler Burton (12), 14. Kevin Frisbie (14), 15. Lance Silvers (18), 16. Riley Kreisel (3), 17. 93-Junior Parkinson (17), 18. Chad Winfrey (20). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Samuel Wagner, Laps 13-22 Xavier Doney, Laps 23-25 Wesley Smith.

USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Taylor Walton-420, 2-Wyatt Burks-385, 3-Luke Howard-375, 4-Kory Schudy-365, 5-Michael Moore-340, 6-Zach Clark-335, 7-Kobe Simpson-335, 8-Junior Parkinson-330, 9-Chad Winfrey-325, 10-Wesley Smith-325.

NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE: May 3, 2024 – Callaway Raceway - Fulton, Missouri – Non-Points Special Event