WHEATLAND, Mo. – At last, Riley Kreisel was able to celebrate winning a sprint-car feature at Lucas Oil Speedway, a place he’s always wanted dearly to take home a feature triumph.
Kreisel took command early in the 25-lap POWRi WAR sprint car main event and held off a late charge from Jack Wagner to claim the win at the 11th annual Impact Signs Awnings Wraps Open Wheel Showdown.Other feature winners on Saturday night were Cannon McIntosh (Lucas Oil POWRI National Midget League) and Seth Bergman Lucas Oil ASCS Sooner/Warrior Region Sprints.
It was Kreisel’s first series win since 2020 and the 11th of his career. None have been at Lucas Oil Speedway and none have been sweeter for the 22-year-old. He had a good amount of fans on hand with his hometown less than an hour from Wheatland.
“This place has been on my bucket list to win since I started running sprint cars,” Kreisel said. “We came really close the first year I came here. It’s been harder and harder every time. So, this is really meaningful.
“I couldn’t get much closer to home. All my sponsors are local and we work really hard to field a really fast race car. This is huge, more just for everybody involved. It’s just a blessing to finally get one here.”
Kreisel made a move down the back straightaway to slip past early leader Kory Schudy for the lead on lap three. Three laps later, Wagner made his way into the runner-up position.
Kreisel and Wagner ran 1-2 until Zach Daum took over second on lap 15, trailing Kreisel by 2.5 seconds. The caution waved on lap 16 as Brad Wyatt spun to a stop in turn two.
Wagner moved back into second as action resumed, but Kreisel was able to open about a 10-car-length lead by lap 20 and he continued to check out from there until Wagner made a big run over the last two laps. As the two leaders darted through lapped traffic, Kreisel prevailed by .27 seconds.
“That was a fun time. Trying to run down Riley is hard anywhere, especially here,” Wagner said, congratulating Kreisel on the long-sought win.
Casey Shuman finished third, Steven Russell was fourth and Schudy came home fifth.
The finish:
1. 91-Riley Kreisel[4]; 2. 77-Jack Wagner[6]; 3. 77K-Casey Shuman[2]; 4. 1JR-Steven Russell[8]; 5. 28-Kory Schudy[1]; 6. 24LCR-Chris Morgan[7]; 7. 26-Zach Clark[3]; 8. 33-Bryson Smith[13]; 9. 16-Anthony Nicholson[11]; 10. 8D-Terry Babb[9]; 11. 31-Zach Daum[5]; 12. 73-Samuel Wagner[15]; 13. 2-Jason Billups[10]; 14. 88G-Garrett Hulsey[16]; 15. 27-Justin Johnson[17]; 16. 41-Brad Wyatt[12]; 17. 52B-Blake Bowers[14]; 18. 52-Dean Bowers[18]