GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — Teenage sensation Xavier Doney added feature winner to his young driving résumé with the Lucas Oil POWR Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League at Valley Speedway Friday night.
Soaring into the initial start saw Wesley Smith outrun high-point qualifier and polesitter Kory Schudy in the first pair of corners to claim the front of the field for the opening few laps with all competitors running closely behind.
Leading through early cautions would find Smith battling Schudy for several laps as tire conservation and attrition would come into play with Schudy earning the front of the field around the midway point.
Guarding the lead, Schudy would try to hold the front to no avail as Xavier Doney was strategic in his late-race persistence to overtake using a high-side hustle in turns three and four and hold on to notch the first career POWRi WAR feature win.
“This means a lot to win the memorial event for my car owner making it even more special to earn my first win within WAR in the process. Everyone drove a clean race, I knew I had to get up on the wheel and had a lot of fun in this race” said Doney.
Maintaining a solid showing all night, Schudy finished second, with Wyatt Burks third.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 74-Xavier Doney[3]; 2. 28-Kory Schudy[1]; 3. 11W-Wyatt Burks[8]; 4. 12-Wesley Smith[2]; 5. 16-Anthony Nicholson[13]; 6. 1JR-Steven Russell[19]; 7. 31-Joe B Miller[4]; 8. 33L-Mark Lane[21]; 9. 41-Brad Wyatt[18]; 10. 77-Jack Wagner[10]; 11. 52B-Blake Bowers[17]; 12. 37-Brian Beebe[9]; 13. 73-Samuel Wagner[12]; 14. 33-Bryson Smith[11]; 15. 38-Cody Baker[7]; 16. 26-Zach Clark[14]; 17. 43-Ricky Lewis[6]; 18. 52-Dean Bowers[22]; 19. 88-Chad Tye[20]; 20. 2-Luke Howard[5]; 21. 33W-Rece Wommack[16]; 22. 11X-Tom Curran[15].