Belleville, IL. (9/6/2021) Offering a fast-paced double-header holiday weekend of racing excitement on tap at the picturesque Vado Speedway Park, the POWRi Desert Wing Sprint Series would not disappoint with outstanding action aplenty around the smooth as glass three-eighths-mile oval. Doubling down on the feature victories would find Farmington, New Mexico wheelman Josh Grady sweeping the weekend of racing excitement.
Grabbing the early advantages would find Jesse Baker, Troy Treharn, and Stevie Sussex III all earning heat racing wins with an intermission re-draw shuffling the front few feature starting spots.
Racing to an early lead would find Eric Wilkens the initial pacesetter as Caleb Saiz and Stevie Sussex III were battling for the runner-up position. Josh Grady would quickly work his way through the field from an eleventh-place grid to battle up front for the lead.
Just past mid-point of the feature Josh Grady would strike for the front, overtaking Wilkens for the lead and holding the prized position for the remainder of the race with Dylan Harris sneaking to place runner-up from starting sixth leaving one-time leader Eric Wilkens to place third. Caleb Saiz would fade slightly late finishing fourth as Lorne Wofford rounded out the POWRi DWSS top-five for Night One at Vado Speedway Park.
With a fresh night of action in store for night two at Vado Speedway Park with the POWRi Desert Winged Sprint Series, Josh Grady, Eric Wilkens, and Tuesday Calderwood would all earn heat racing victories.
Rolling onto the track for their thirty-lap main event, Jesse Baker and Tuesday Calderwood share the front-row for the initial start as Baker gained the lead early from the pole and immediately stretched the field on the lightning-fast track. With the leading Baker beginning to work through lapped traffic, his front wing would break causing the leader to spin and ending his night.
Poised for a weekend sweep Josh Grady would inherit the lead after the caution flag was lifted and was able to withstand a last-lap last-attempt slide job by runner-up finisher Stevie Sussex III to win his second straight feature victory.
Racing from the fourteenth starting spot, Wes Wofford would finish the event in third place as Nick Parker finished fourth. From starting seventeenth, Rick Ziehl would hard-charge his way through the field to round out the top-five feature finishers for the POWRi Desert Wing Sprint Series in Night Two at Vado Speedway Park.
POWRi Desert Wing Sprints Results from Vado Speedway Park on September 4:
- 12J | Josh Grady | Farmington, NM | 11 | Hard Charger (+10)
- 1 | Dylan Harris | El Paso, TX | 6
- 44 | Eric Wilkins | El Mirage, AZ | 2
- 1HA | Caleb Saiz | Albuquerque, NM | 5
- 18 | Lorne Wofford | Alamogordo, NM | 15
- 22B | Jesse Baker | Grants, NM | 3 | Heat Race Winner
- 19 | Wes Wofford | Alamogordo, NM | 9
- 2 | Alex Pettas | Tempe, AZ | 10
- 40X | Mike Archuleta | Las Cruces, NM | 12
- 4 | Tuesday Calderwood | Goodyear, AZ | 16
- 7X | Troy Treharn | Peralta, NM | 1 | Heat Race Winner
- 2WILD | Ricky Holden | Las Cruces, NM | 20
- 1M | Mike Wells | El Paso, TX | 17
- 20Z | Rick Ziehl | Las Cruces, NM | 7
- 11 | Robert Herrera | Las Cruces, NM | 19
- 57 | Stevie Sussex III | Laveen, AZ | 4 | Heat Race Winner
- 115 | Nick Parker | Tucson, AZ | 13
- 4J | Jonathan O’Brien | Bosque Farms, NM | 18
- 92 | Tim Shallenberger | El Paso, TX | 21
- 73 | Nick Rael | Albuquerque, NM | 14
- 116 | Vance Wofford | Alamogordo, NM | 8
POWRi Desert Wing Sprints Results from Vado Speedway Park on September 5:
- 12J | Josh Grady | Farmington, NM | 4 | Heat Race Winner
- 57 | Stevie Sussex III | Laveen, AZ | 3
- 19 | Wes Wofford | Alamogordo, NM | 14
- 115 | Nick Parker | Tucson, AZ | 8
- 20Z | Rick Ziehl | Las Cruces, NM | 17 | Hard Charger (+12)
- 1 | Dylan Harris | El Paso, TX | 7
- 116 | Vance Wofford | Alamogordo, NM | 10
- 40X | Mike Archuleta | Las Cruces, NM | 11
- 44 | Eric Wilkins | El Mirage, AZ | 5 | Heat Race Winner
- 4J | Jonathan O’Brien | Bosque Farms, NM | 20
- 2WILD | Ricky Holden | Las Cruces, NM | 16
- 1M | Mike Wells | El Paso, TX | 15
- 11 | Robert Herrera | Las Cruces, NM | 21
- 4 | Tuesday Calderwood | Goodyear, AZ | 2 | Heat Race Winner
- 22B | Jesse Baker | Grants, NM | 1 | DNF
- 81 | Devon Jobin | Alamogordo, NM | 13 | DNF
- 73 | Nick Rael | Albuquerque, NM | 18 | DNF
- 7X | Troy Treharn | Peralta, NM | 12 | DNF
- 2 | Alex Pettas | Tempe, AZ | 9 | DNF
- 92 | Tim Shallenberger | El Paso, TX | 21 | DNF
- 18 | Lorne Wofford | Alamogordo, NM | 18 | DNF
- 1HA | Caleb Saiz | Albuquerque, NM | 22 | DNF
POWRi Desert Wing Sprint Series would like to thank all the amazing series sponsors including SmartestSeller.com, Jackson Compaction, Baker Auto-Diesel, Performance Plus Racing Engines, Ortega’s Appliance, Gibson Photography, Mosher Racing, Grady’s Press Trailers, Derek Neil Schaefer’s Specialized Lubricants, Hal Burns Truck and Equipment, XXX Race Chassis, DMI, and CSI Shocks. Look for more racing in 2021 from the Desert Wing Sprints as Vado Speedway Park, Aztec Speedway, and Fairgrounds Speedway.
Follow along for more information on the further growth of the POWRi Desert Winged Sprint Car Series presented by MVT Services and items such as race recaps, updates, full results, and press releases online at www.powri.com, or on Twitter & Instagram at @POWRi_Racing and Facebook at POWRi. POWRi League rules, contingencies, forms, and payouts can be found under the info tab at the top of the POWRi website.