Stopped Short in The City
The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume V, No. 9
Lonnie Wheatley, OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (March 24, 2017) – It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort. But, ultimately, Mother Nature prevailed in stopping short Friday night’s opening leg of the Fourth Annual POWRi Midget “Turnpike Challenge” at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
With 65 Midgets on hand along with another 90-ish Micros in two classes, the skies finally opened up enough after the first of two POWRi “B” Mains to bring a halt to the evening just prior to the midnight mark.
The balance of the card including the second POWRi Midget “B” Main and “A” Main event will be completed on Saturday with hot laps beginning at 4:00 p.m. and then the full Saturday night tilt to follow atop the 1/5-mile clay oval.
The kill shot from Mother Nature followed two earlier rain delays including one just prior to the first Midget heat race of the night and then another as the Micro heats were wrapping up.
Along the way, eight Midget heats along with the two “C” Mains and the first “B” Main were logged into the books with Carl Junction, Missouri’s Andrew Felker landing the pole starting position for the feature by winning the seventh heat of the evening from the fifth starting position.
Felker will be joined on the front row by “T-Bone” Travis Scott of Washington, OK, who battled past Holly Shelton to win the night’s final Midget heat race from fourth. Keith Kunz Racing rep Holly Shelton will grid inside the second row alongside Kansan Tucker Klaasmeyer.
Along with Felker and Scott, other heat race winners included reigning POWRi West champ Steven Shebester, Logan Seavey, Jody Rosenboom, Christopher Bell, Austin Brown and Tanner Carrick.
Returning to his I-44 Riverside roots, current Camping World NASCAR Truck Series points leader Bell posted the most dominant heat win of the night and will start the feature from ninth.
After getting collected in a heat race scrum that resulted in just one of two cautions for the eight heats, Tyler Courtney rebounded to win the First “C” Main with Aidan Roosevans besting the second “C” Main.
Jake Neuman won the first “B” Main while Courtney rallied from the tail to steal the fifth and final transfer from Brayton Lynch on the final circuit.
The Wheatley Chronicles shifts gears on Saturday with the NCRA Sprint Car “Air Capital Shootout” double-dip at 81 Speedway in Wichita, KS, that culminates with a $15,000-to-win feature event.
The Box Score…
Heat One (8 Laps) – 1. 82m-Steven Shebester (1), 2. 1k-Brayton Lynch (3), 3. 8-Alex Sewell (6), 4. 5d-Zach Daum (7), 5. 85-Matt Johnson (4), 6. 96-Cody Brewer (5), 7. 31-David Budres (2), 8. 71w-Jodie Robinson (8), 9. 84-Shaun Shapel (9).
Heat Two (8 Laps) – 1. 4a-Logan Seavey (2), 2. 97-Spencer Bayston (4), 3. 91T-Tyler Thomas (3), 4. 32-Trey Marcham (6), 5. 8m-Kade Morton (7), 6. 4b-Shane Sellers (5), 7. 4m-Michelle Decker (8), 8. 10J-John Hunt (1).
Heat Three (8 Laps) – 1. 14r-Jody Rosenboom (2), 2. 39bc-Justin Grant (3), 3. 77s-Danny Stratton (6), 4. 08-Cannon McIntosh (1), 5. 24-Hunter Fischer (4), 6. 7u-Joe B. Miller (7), 7. 28-Ace McCarthy (5). DNS: 3T-Blake Battles.
Heat Four (8 Laps) – 1. 21-Christopher Bell (2), 2. 8k-Jonathan Beason (3), 3. 57d-Daniel Robinson (1), 4. 00-Grady Chandler (7), 5. 27mk-Kyle Keeler (5), 6. 9-Matt Moore (6), 7. 52-Andrew Deal (8), 8. 88w-Dustin Weland (4).
Heat Five (8 Laps) – 1. 7-Austin Brown (1), 2. 42-Chris Andrews (5), 3. 59-Austin Shores (4), 4. 27z-Zane Hendricks (3), 5. 9$-Kyle Clark (8), 6. 0r-Jason Botsford (6), 7. 99-Jay Mounce (7), 8. 25-Dylan Peterson (2).
Heat Six (8 Laps) – 1. 71k-Tanner Carrick (1), 2. 71-Ryan Robinson (5), 3. 3n-Jake Neuman (6), 4. 44-Wesley Smith (7), 5. 10-George White (2), 6. 89-Nick Bailey (8), 7. 17w-Tyler Courtney (4), 8. 7jr-J.D. Black (3).
Heat Seven (8 Laps) – 1. 37-Andrew Felker (5), 2. 28-Kory Schudy (3), 3. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer (8), 4. 37x-Terry Babb (7), 5. 6a-Aidan Roosevans (1), 6. 39-Zeb Wise (6), 7. 77-Noah Harris (4), 8. 41-Brad Thompson (2).
Heat Eight (8 Laps) – 1. 2s-Travis Scott (4), 2. 67k-Holly Shelton (6), 3. 5b-Bobby Brewer (1), 4. 73-Jason McDougal (5), 5. 56x-Mark Chisholm, 6. 22-Curtis Jones (8), 7. 23-Hannah Adair, 8. 91k-Kevin Bayer (2).
First “C” Main (8 Laps – 2 Transfer ) – 1. 17w-Tyler Courtney, 2. 9-Matt Moore, 3. 39-Zeb Wise, 4. 4b-Shane Sellers, 5. 52-Andrew Deal, 6. 31-David Budres, 7. 23-Hannah Adair, 8. 71w-Jodie Robinson, 9. 10J-John Hunt, 10. 25-Dylan Peterson, 11. 10-George White, 12. 41-Brad Thompson.
Second “C” Main (8 Laps – 2 Transfer ) – 1. 6a-Aidan Roosevans, 2. 28-Ace McCarthy, 3. 4m-Michelle Decker, 4. 91k-Kevin Bayer, 5. 77-Noah Harris, 6. 96-Cody Brewer, 7. 99-Jay Mounce, 8. 88w-Dustin Weland, 9. 84-Shaun Shapel, 10. 0r-Jason Botsford, 11. 7jr-J.D. Black.
First “B” Main Transfers (12 Laps) 3n-Jake Neuman, 7-Austin Brown, 8k-Jonathan Beason, 5d-Zach Daum, 17w-Tyler Courtney.
Balance of Program postponed by rain to Saturday, March 25.
Tentative Second “B” Main Lineup (12 Laps – Top 5 Transfer):
82m Steven Shebester – 71k Tanner Carrick
39bc Justin Grant – 28 Kory Schudy
00 Grady Chandler – 37x Terry Babb
32 Trey Marcham – 91T Tyler Thomas
57d Daniel Robinson – 8m Kade Morton
89 Nick Bailey – 08 Cannon McIntosh
85 Matt Johnson – 7u Joe B. Miller
6a Aidan Roosevans – 28 Ace McCarthy
Tentative “A” Main Lineup:
37 Andrew Felker – 2s Travis Scott
67k Holly Shelton – 27 Tucker Klaasmeyer
42 Chris Andrews – 71 Ryan Robinson
4a Logan Seavey – 14r Jody Rosenboom
21 Christopher Bell – 97 Spencer Bayston
8 Alex Sewell – 77s Danny Stratton
3n Jake Neuman – TBD
7 Austin Brown – TBD
8k Jonathan Beason – TBD
5d Zach Daum – TBD
17w Tyler Courtney – TBD
The Wheatley Chronicles brings insight and highlights from all variety of racing series throughout the nation in 2017 and beyond along with the Open Wheel Power Rankings on a regular basis. Please send any comments, questions or advertising inquiries regarding The Wheatley Chronicles at www.sprintcarmania.com to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
