HUMBOLDT, KS (August 24, 2018) - Overtaking Riley Kreisel on the sixteenth lap, Wesley Smith of Nixa, Missouri ran away with the final nine laps of tonight's POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints League main event at Humboldt Speedway. Capitalizing on Kreisel's mistake on the turn two cushion, Smith turned it down the track and stormed by Kreisel to take the top spot and drove away unchallenged to win at Humboldt for his second-career feature victory with the WAR Sprints, following his first-career triumph in the season opener at Springfield.
Attracting 31 entries for the second-ever POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints League event at Humboldt Speedway, a format featuring four heat races and a semi-feature would be used to lineup tonight's main event. Wesley Smith scored Hinchman Racewear heat one, Anthony Nicholson won Bell Racing USA heat two, Wyatt Burks grabbed Schure Built Suspension heat three and Slater Helt took Wilwood Disc Brakes heat four. Chris Parkinson won the Hoosier Tire B-Main and transferred along with Mitchell Davis, Joe B. Miller and TJ Artz.
Earning LRB, Inc. #HighPointMan honors, Wesley Smith of Nixa, Missouri thought intently about taking the Valor Racing high point challenge, which is up to $1,500, but elected to keep his starting position up front. The feature inversion of four redrawn by Smith would slot a pair of young guns on the front row, as points leader Riley Kreisel of Warsaw, Missouri and Matt Moore of Bethany, Oklahoma in his WAR Sprints debut, would lead the field to the green flag.
Kreisel jumped to the early lead and looked poised for his third win on the season as he extended the early lead, but an adjustment in his racing line would soon allow Matt Moore to close. The red flag would fly on the seventh lap as Mitchell Davis went for a wild ride in turn two, suffering significant damage to his No. 56 machine. Davis would climb out of the car under his own power and Kreisel would lead Moore and Smith back to green with 18 to go.
Smith quickly roared to life on the restart as he maneuvered by Moore for the second spot with a powerful charge off the bottom of turn four. Reeling in race leader, Kreisel, Smith shot his Helm Racing No. 12 entry to the back bumper of Kreisel's No. 90 machine and was set to challenge for the top spot at the halfway mark.
Taking advantage of Kreisel's mistake on the turn two cushion, Smith cut to the bottom and drove right by Kreisel as he led the sixteenth lap. Storming away with the lead, Smith drove away unchallenged as Moore attacked Kreisel for the runner-up spot. Slipping in the closing laps, a three-car battle for the third spot emerged as Moore was swarmed with the competition of Wyatt Burks and Blake Hahn.
Ahead of all that, however, was Wesley Smith who ran away with a dominating victory at Humboldt Speedway to score his second-career win with the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints League. Leading the final nine laps, Smith snuck away from the field and raced into lap traffic with a healthy advantage and won the 25-lapper unchallenged in the closing laps. The win at Humboldt marked Smith's second-career victory and first since he won the season opener at Springfield.
Riley Kreisel came home with a second-place finish after leading the opening half and continued to extend his points lead as the chase for the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints League championship begins to wind down. Wyatt Burks rounded out the podium as he completed a late-charge to bring it home third in his home state of Kansas. Blake Hahn moved up from 11th-to-fourth as he secured a solid top five bid in a rare non-wing appearance. Matt Moore closed out his WAR Sprints debut with a strong top five finish in fifth after challenging for the lead in the beginning.
Closing out the top ten at Humboldt on Friday night was Forrest Sutherland (6th), Anthony Nicholson (7th), Joe B. Miller (8th), Kyle Clark (9th) and Quinton Benson (10th).
The POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints League will remain in Kansas for another night as the doubleheader at Humboldt Speedway concludes tomorrow, Saturday night, August 25th.
Hinchman Racewear Heat One (8 Laps):
- 12-Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (2); 2. 9-Matt Moore, Bethany, OK (4); 3. 15D-Andrew Deal, Caney, KS (1); 4. 82-Vinny Ward, Warrenton, MO (3); 5. 65-Chris Parkinson, Gladstone, MO (5); 6. 56-Mitchell Davis, Auburn, IL (7); 7. 24C-Craig Carroll, Collinsville, OK (6); 8. 13X-Garrett Bias, Broken Arrow, OK (DNS).
Bell Racing USA Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 16-Anthony Nicholson, Bartlett, TN (2); 2. 15B-Quinton Benson, Emma, MO (1); 3. 90-Riley Kreisel, Warsaw, MO (6); 4. 85-Forrest Sutherland, Cherryvale, KS (8); 5. 7JR-Warren Johnson, Overland Park, KS (3); 6. 31M-Joe B. Miller, Millersville, MO (7); 7. 30-Ryan Kent, Lone Jack, MO (4); 8. 41-Brad Wyatt, Kearney, MO (5).
Schure Built Suspension Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 11W-Wyatt Burks, Topeka, KS (1); 2. 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (2); 3. 52-Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (4); 4. 13W-Grant Wresche, Kellyville, OK (3); 5. 57-TJ Artz, Lincoln, NE (5); 6. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (6); 7. 4-Braydon Cromwell, Lee's Summit, MO (7); 8. 2-Zach Clark, Olathe, KS (DNS).
Wilwood Disc Brakes Heat Four (8 Laps):
- 22S-Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (1); 2. 9X-Chad Goff, Spring Hill, KS (2); 3. 9$-Kyle Clark, Sapulpa, OK (3); 4. 31W-Casey Wills, Sperry, OK (5); 5. 24H-Ty Hulsey, Owasso, OK (4); 6. 16M-Mike Martin, Yuma, AZ (6); 7. 19-Justin Dunn, Tulsa, OK (DNS).
Hoosier Tire B-Main (12 Laps, 4 Transfer):
- 65-Chris Parkinson (1); 2. 56-Mitchell Davis (4); 3. 31M-Joe B. Miller (5); 4. 57-TJ Artz (2); 5. 24H-Ty Hulsey (3); 6. 7JR-Warren Johnson (6); 7. 24C-Craig Carroll (10); 8. 16M-Mike Martin (8); 9. 41-Brad Wyatt (12); 10. 4-Braydon Cromwell (9); 11. 73-Samuel Wagner (7); 12. 30-Ryan Kent (11); 13. 2-Zach Clark (13); 14. 13X-Garrett Bias (DNS); 15. 19-Justin Dunn (DNS).
POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints League Main Event (25 Laps):
- 12-Wesley Smith (4); 2. 90-Riley Kreisel (1); 3. 11W-Wyatt Burks (5); 4. 52-Blake Hahn (11); 5. 9-Matt Moore (2); 6. 85-Forrest Sutherland (7); 7. 16-Anthony Nicholson (3): 8. 31M-Joe B. Miller (18); 9. 9$-Kyle Clark (12); 10. 15B-Quinton Benson (10); 11. 57-TJ Artz (20); 12. 31W-Casey Wills (13); 13. 13W-Ty Hulsey (20); 14. 77-Jack Wagner (8); 15. 65-Chris Parkinson (16); 16. 9X-Chad Goff (9); 17. 82-Vinny Ward (15); 18. 22S-Slater Helt (6); 19. 15D-Andrew Deal (14); 20. 56-Mitchell Davis (17).
Lap Leader(s): Kreisel 1-15, Smith 16-25.
Hard Charger(s): Miller +10 (18th-to-8th).