ELLEVILLE, Ill. – Championship night for the I-70 Motorsports Park grand re-opening and the Lucas Oil POWRi WAR Sprint League did not disappoint a packed house in attendance Saturday night.
Outstanding action all over the well-prepared facility was capped by Wyatt Burks emerging victorious in the WAR sprint car feature.
Limited to the top 24 drivers in the POWRi WAR standings for entrants by I-70 Motorsports Park, attrition came into the equation as four drivers were unable to continue after the previous night’s event.
With a total of 20 entries, three heats were required to help set the feature field based on the POWRi passing points system, with Wesley Smith, Cody Baker, and Joe B. Miller winning the early on-track battles.
Pacing the field for the feature race would see high-point qualifier Smith and outside front-row starter Burks run side-by-side for the top spot, with Smith pulling away with the early lead. Burks battled back, however, to take the lead from Smith.
Zach Daum, Baker, and Jack Wagner tried to run down the top-two speedsters as the feature went uninterrupted from the green flag to the checkered flag.
With Burks leading the pack of POWRi WAR drivers, Baker and Wagner charged to the top of the leaderboard, getting around Burks only to see Burks claim the top honors back.
Late race heroics by Daum propelled him into second as Baker and Wager waged their own battle within the top five.
In the closing laps, Baker squeezed by Wagner and Smith to grab the third spot, with Wagner racing his way to fourth and Smith rounding out the action-packed feature’s top-five finishers.
The finish:
1. 11W-Wyatt Burks [2]; 2. 311-Zach Daum [3]; 3. 9-Cody Baker [4]; 4. 77-Jack Wagner [6]; 5. 31-Joe B. Miller [5]; 6. 44-Wesley Smith [1]; 7. 16-Anthony Nicholson [9]; 8. 37-Brian Beebe [7]; 9. 86-Zac Taylor [12]; 10. 6-Mario Clouser [16]; 11. 26-Zach Clark [8]; 12. 28-Kory Schudy [18]; 13. 93-Taylor Walton [11]; 14. 9H-Mitchell Moore [15]; 15. ST1-Lane Stone [10]; 16. 7R-J.D. Black [19]; 17. 73-Samuel Wagner [13]; 18. 27-Steve Thomas [14]; 19. 82C-Christie Thomason [17]; 20. 52-Blake Bowers [20].