GRANITE CITY, ILL. (June 28, 2019) – After storming around the outside of Colten Cottle on the second circuit, Korey Weyant went the distance on Friday night at Tri-City Speedway to win the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League debut at the Granite City, Ill. 3/8th-mile. Fending off a hard charging Riley Kreisel in the closing laps, Weyant of Springfield, Ill. held on for his 14th-career triumph, extending his record as the winningest driver in WAR history.
Attracting a strong group of 32 racers for WAR’s inaugural race at Tri-City Speedway, the evening got off to a slow start with a short rain delay, but the action quickly resumed with some hot and heavy heat races. Riley Kreisel (Hinchman Racewear Heat 1), Korey Weyant (Bell Racing Heat 2), Zach Daum (Schure Built Suspension Heat 3) and Jack Wagner (Wilwood Heat 4) topped preliminary action, while Mario Clouser won the Hoosier Tire B-Main.
Drawing a six-car inversion as the LRB, Inc. High Point Man after his eighth-to-first heat race bid, Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Ill. was relegated to the third row of the main event while Korey Weyant and Colten Cottle of Kansas, Ill. brought the field to the green flag.
Cottle, a WAR winner at Champaign (Ill.) Fairgrounds last July, assumed the initial lead after outlasting a three-wide battle into turn one with Weyant and Anthony Nicholson. As Cottle crept around the bottom, Weyant wound up the outside and put his No. 99 against the cushion, driving around Cottle for the lead on the second lap.
While Weyant pulled away in command, attention turned to second as the battle for the runner-up spot was heating up between Cottle, Daum and Kreisel. Ripping around the top, Kreisel drove by both of his competitors and set his sights on Weyant at the halfway mark.
Throwing a line out and reeling Weyant in like a fish on the water, Kreisel quickly tracked down the No. 99 and was set to offer a thrilling fight for the lead. As Kreisel elected to tread the cushion all the way around, Weyant was keen to the bottom of turns three and four. However, with lap traffic looming and Kreisel hot on his heels, Weyant made the move to the top all the way around, a potential race-saving move.
The final restart fired off with ten laps to go and Weyant yanked Kreisel down the frontstretch to begin the short run with a strong advantage. The Warsaw, Mo. teenager threw it all out there in the closing laps as he put it against the fence and narrowed the gap between he and Weyant, but unfortunately it was not enough to make a move.
In the end, Korey Weyant of Springfield, Ill. held on to find victory lane in the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League debut at Tri-City Speedway with a commanding run. Marking his 14th-career triumph, Weyant extended his record as the winningest driver in the young eight-year history of the WAR Sprints.
The defending POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League champion, Riley Kreisel, brought the No. 90 home with a close second-place finish after closing in on Weyant. Rounding out the podium with an impressive tenth-to-third charge was Mitchell Davis of Auburn, Ill. aboard his No. 56.
Mario Clouser earned hard charger honors with a magnificent 17th-to-fourth haul and points leader, Kory Schudy, rounded out the top five with a 14th-to-fifth bid. Closing out the top ten at Tri-City was Wesley Smith in sixth, Anthony Nicholson in seventh, Mitch Wissmiller in eighth, Joe B. Miller in ninth and Don Droud Jr. in tenth.
The POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League rolls on tomorrow Saturday, June 29 with a return trip to Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Ill. with a $2,000 to win, $200 to start feature. For those unable to attend, you can watch a live broadcast of the racing program at www.speedshifttv.com.
For more information on the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League, visit www.powri.com online, follow @WARSprints on Twitter, or like POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints on Facebook.
Hinchman Racewear Heat One (8 Laps):
- 90-Riley Kreisel, Warsaw, MO (3); 2. 22S-Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (1); 3. 29-Mitch Wissmiller, Saybrook, IL (5); 4. 11-James Lyerla, Hillsboro, IL (6); 5. 28-Kory Schudy, Springfield, MO (8); 6. 75-Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, AUS (7); 7. 7S-Craig Campton, Pardeeville, WI (4); 8. 2-Jason Billups, Holt, MO (2).
Bell Racing HQ Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 99-Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (1); 2. 16-Anthony Nicholson, Bartlett, TN (5); 3. 4X-Brad Greenup, Channahon, IL (4); 4. 12-Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (3); 5. 54-Trey Gropp, Lincoln, NE (8); 6. 8D-Justin Standridge, Springfield, IL (7); 7. 44-Cory Bruns, Lincoln, IL (6); 8. 90X-Patrick Budde, Bartelso, IL (2).
Schure Built Suspension Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 5D-Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL (8); 2. 77K-Katlynn Leer, Moulton, IA (6); 3. 31M-Joe B. Miller, Millersville, MO (5); 4. 56-Mitchell Davis, Auburn, IL (7); 5. 20-Steve Thomas, Rantoul, IL (1); 6. 70-Pete Palazzolo, St. Louis, MO (4); 7. 4-Braydon Cromwell, Lone Jack, MO (3); 8. 71S-Doug Schenck, Cottage Grove, WI (2).
Wilwood Disc Brakes Heat Four (8 Laps):
- 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (1); 2. 5C-Colten Cottle, Kansas, IL (4); 3. 52F-Logan Faucon, Elkhart, IL (2); 4. 1M-Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (5); 5. 6-Mario Clouser, Auburn, IL (6); 6. 21X-Steve Stroud, St. Charles, MO (3); 7. 10S-Jeremy Standridge, Springfield, IL (8); 8. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (7);
Hoosier Tire B-Main (12 Laps):
- 6-Mario Clouser (3); 2. 12-Wesley Smith (2); 3. 1M-Don Droud Jr. (1); 4. 8D-Justin Standridge (5); 5. 10S-Jeremy Standridge (7); 6. 70-Pete Palazzolo (8); 7. 44-Cory Bruns (10); 8. 7S-Craig Campton (11); 9. 20-Steve Thomas (6); 10. 90X-Patrick Budde (15); 11. 4-Braydon Cromwell (12); 12. 21X-Steve Stroud (9); 13. 73-Samuel Wagner (13); 14. 75-Glen Saville (4); 15. 71S-Doug Schenck (16); 16. 2-Jason Billups (14).
POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League Main Event (25 Laps):
- 99-Korey Weyant (1); 2. 90-Riley Kreisel (4); 3. 56-Mitchell Davis (10); 4. 6-Mario Clouser (17); 5. 28-Kory Schudy (14); 6. 12-Wesley Smith (18); 7. 16-Anthony Nicholson (3); 8. 29-Mitch Wissmiller (8); 9. 31M-Joe B. Miller (9); 10. 1M-Don Droud Jr. (19); 11. 5C-Colten Cottle (2); 12. 52F-Logan Faucon (16); 13. 77K-Katlynn Leer (5); 14. 77-Jack Wagner (7); 15. 54-Trey Gropp (15); 16. 5D-Zach Daum (6); 17. 8D-Justin Standridge (20); 18. 4X-Brad Greenup (12); 19. 11-James Lyerla (13); 20. 22S-Slater Helt (11).
Lap Leader(s): Cottle 1, Weyant 2-25.
Hard Charger(s): Clouser +14.
Photo Credit: Brad Plant Photography