ODESSA, Mo. — Wesley Smith would shine through high-side hustling in the Second Annual Rod End Supply Open Wheel Classic feature event at I-70 Speedway with the POWRi WAR Sprint League to notch the season-opening victory.
The event was run in conjunction with the Midwest Wingless Racing Association as well as the Western Iowa Non-Wing Sprints.
Racing onto the speedy surface with 21 talented entrants of traditional sprinters would see Wesley Smith set a quickest hot-lap time of 16.354-second lap with Cam Shafer, Samuel Wagner and Wyatt Burks each earning heat racing victories.
Mesmerizing the crowd on the initial green flag start with high-point qualifier Shafer and Wagner lined up in the front row as Wagner would gain the lead on the opening lap with Riley Kreisel, Xavier Doney, Smith and Burks all raced within the top five.
Leading the field for the first 12 laps, Wagner would appear to be the fastest driver on the smooth track with Doney sliding into the second spot as Smith rounded out the podium placements.
Overtaking briefly for the preferred spot, Doney would use a high side line to overtake Wager for first as Smith kept track of the leading pair as the laps began to wind down with Burks and Kobe Simpson battling to stay within the top running contention.
Late race dramatics would be displayed with a battle waged for the top spot as Smith would smoke the competition to take the hard-fought victory after an intense and action packed twenty-five lap feature event to notch his thirteenth league win with Doney staying close in the runner-up spot.
Leading on the final trio of laps Smith would emerge victorious with the POWRi WAR Sprint League to notch his 13th league victory and pocket the $3,000 payday.
“That was a lot of fun, I’ve always wanted to run the top side of I-70 and I think we just put on one of the best races at this place,” said Smith in the Odessa, Mo., victory lane celebrations. “The choose cone really comes into play with how we think about restarts, I’m a big fan of it but tonight I was needing that single file restart with the long run of green.”
Challenging closely behind would find Wagner placing on the final podium placement from the starting second on the initial green flag. Simpson would be among the frontrunners all feature to hard-charge his way to finish fourth as Burks would round out the top-five finishers for the POWRi WAR Sprint League.
Feature (25 Laps)
1. 44-Wesley Smith[4]; 2. 74-Xavier Doney[5]; 3. 73-Samuel Wagner[2]; 4. 21K-Kobe Simpson[11]; 5. 11W-Wyatt Burks[7]; 6. 97-Cam Schafer[1]; 7. 13-Chase Howard[6]; 8. 93W-Taylor Walton[10]; 9. 2H-Luke Howard[8]; 10. 2-Chad Goff[9]; 11. 27-Justin Johnson[16]; 12. 21M-Michael Moore[15]; 13. 03-Tyler Burton[12]; 14. 38-Kevin Frisbie[14]; 15. (DNF) 7X-Lance Silvers[18]; 16. (DNF) F5-Riley Kreisel[3]; 17. (DNF) 93-Ralph Parkinson Jr[17]; 18. (DNF) 65W-Chad Winfrey[20]; 19. (DNS) 9-Cody Baker; 20. (DNS) 15E-Dakota Earls; 21. (DNS) 77-Jack Wagner