Belleville, IL. (09/08/2020) The highly anticipated return of the POWRi Lucas Oil Southwest Lightning Sprints would hit the fast-paced lap times of Barona Speedway on Saturday, September 5th for the third feature event of 2020. Hardly showing any signs of rust, open-wheel competitors would battle intensely with Grant Sexton grabbing the lead halfway through and on to his first feature win this season.
Extreme winds and nearby wildfires due to high temperatures would threaten the evening of racing before the heated on-track battles would even get a chance to shine. Despite the hazards and with temperatures reaching over 115 degrees, fourteen POWRi SWLS drivers would log into the hot Lakeside California raceway.
Early racing would see San Diego, CA resident #29 AJ Bender drive his Triple Z Racing Henchcraft to the front of the first heat race. Heat race two honors would go to one of the newest recipients of a California driver’s license Grant Sexton, finding the fastest route around Barona Speedway in his Sexton-Gatlin Racing ride.
Giving the Southwest California evening temperatures time to cool, the POWRi Lucas Oil Southwest Lightning Sprint feature event would fly to the track with #10 Brett Horn grabbing the lead once the green flag dropped. Horn would race into the first pair of corners on a mission, without looking back Horn would appear to have the lightning sprint to beat leading the first ten highly contested laps.
Speedy SWLS racing would halt at the midway point when red flag conditions occurred, contact involving #3F Brandon Leedy and #18 Dalton Sexton would see Dalton up in the air and flipping down the backstretch. Both drivers were unharmed but unable to continue in the feature event.
Once racing resumed with ten laps remaining Grant Sexton would seize the restarting opportunity snagging the lead away from Brent Horn in a great display of driving skills. AJ Bender #29 would follow the same line as Sexton moving around Horn on lap thirteen to settle into the second place.
Laps would then click away with clean racing throughout the field as Grant Sexton would cruise to his first feature victory of the season. The 2019 POWRi Lucas Oil Lightning Sprint Nationals Night One Winner Sexton, continues to impress every time he hits the racing surface. Bender and Horn would have quite the battle late for the runner-up spot with AJ earning the edge leaving Horn to round out the outstanding feature’s podium finishers.
911EDA, Inc. PCB Layout Services Hard Charger Award Winner was SWLS First-time out rookie racer Kevin Bates #20 out of San Diego, CA. Bates would start in the tenth position, driving his way to finish fourth. Cakes by Kim Highest Finishing Rookie $25 Bonus would also be won by Bates as the Express Pipe & Supply Santee 5th place $50 Bonus money went to fellow Rookie driver Rudy Padilla who raced into position from starting ninth. Lap Leaders: 1-10 Brent Horn collecting and extra $200, 11-20 Grant Sexton also gaining the bonus winnings.
POWRi Lucas Oil Southwest Lightning Sprint Feature Results from Barona Speedway 9/5/2020:
- Grant Sexton #3
- AJ bender # 29
- Brent Horn # 10
- Kevin Bates #20
- Rudy Padilla #47D
- Chris Crowder #3X
- Wyatt Boczanowski
- Dalton Sexton #18
- Brandon Leedy #3F
- DJ Dumas #15
- Parker Dumas #83
- Clint Newman #6
- Brent Sexton #44
- Dale Gamer #17
Round four of SWLS racing action continues next on Saturday, September 19th back at the home-turf of Barona Speedway. Pit Gates open at Noon with Driver’s Registration 1-3 PM. Hot Laps begin at 5 PM as great racing action follows.
POWRi Lucas Oil Southwest Lightning Sprints would also like to thank their 2020 sponsors Sexton Fire Protection, Victory Graphix, United Cleaning Company, Express Pipe & Supply Santee, BK Wings. For more visit online at www.raceswls.com. Follow along and “Like” POWRi SWLS on Facebook for updates and driver profiles.
For more information on the POWRi Lightning Sprint League and all POWRi related leagues, visit online at www.powri.com, like POWRi Racing on Facebook, and follow @POWRi_Racing on Twitter.