LEWIS LOOTS HELM MEMORIAL FOR WIN #13
By: Ray Cunningham
Grain Valley, Missouri (September 9, 2023)………Everything was lined up perfectly for Ricky Lewis to score his 13th feature win of the 2023 non-winged sprint car season during Saturday night's Helm Memorial for the USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association at Missouri’s Valley Speedway.
The Camarillo, Calif. wheelman was fast all night and the early results showed just that. Lewis, who has raced out of Indiana this summer, ran second in his heat after starting seventh to earn high point honors going into the redraw. After starting on the outside of the front row, he grabbed the lead early to win his first ever series feature event.
The race for the win on this night, however, wasn’t easy for Lewis or any other driver running in the 24-car field at the sixth annual event in honor of the “Colonel” John E. Helm. Lewis had to survive, among other issues, a stacked field, a technical track, point leader Wyatt Burks and a smoking issue that developed during the race as well as multiple restarts and a green, white, checker finish that led to Lewis pocketing $2,500 for his victory. Out of the grand total, $1,500 came courtesy of Lies Trash Service of Blue Springs, Mo. who also gave $1,000 dollars total to 10 different drivers running in the back half of the field.
At the finish line, point leader Wyatt Burks (Topeka, Kan.) took second with Kory Schudy (Battlefield, Mo.) third, Samuel Wagner (Lone Jack, Mo.) fourth and three-time Helm Memorial winner Wesley Smith (Nixa, Mo) taking fifth in a car owned by John Helm, son of the race’s namesake.
Intense competition was also present for those completing the top-10 with Chad Goff (Spring Hill, Kan.) earning a sixth while a surging Tom Curran (Kansas City, Mo.) advanced from 21st to seventh to earn Hard Charger honors. Broc Elliott (California, Mo.) ran eighth while teammates Chad Winfrey and Chris Parkinson, both hailing from Gladstone, Mo., advanced 10 and 13 spots, respectively, to round out the top-10 in the 25-lap finale.
Earlier in the evening, Zach Clark flipped out of the track during hot laps, but walked away uninjured. Unfortunately, his car was not and his night of racing ended right there. The three heats were taken by Samuel Wagner, Wesley Smith and Kory Schudy who collected his series-leading eighth heat race victory of 2023.
Besides Lies Trash Service adding to the purse, John Helm, son of the late John E. Helm, pitched in several contingency cash awards, including $112.12 in honor of his father’s racing number “12,” which was awarded to 12th place finisher Luke Howard.
Garrett Hulsey won the “Reverse Charger” award while Burks was named the sportsman of the race. Lewis had the longest tow of anybody in the field while Dakota Earls made the shortest tow.
Xtreme Color gave out the hard luck award to Cody Baker. Liberty Cycle provided a cash award to 20th place finisher Chad Tye. Drake Barker Racing dished out exactly 112 dollars to Chad Goff Motorsports after Goff drew the number twelve during the pill draw.
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USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: September 9, 2023 – Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, Missouri – Helm Memorial
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 73-Samuel Wagner (1), 2. 9-Chad Goff (2), 3. 11w-Wyatt Burks (8), 4. 2H-Luke Howard (5), 5. 41w-Brad Wyatt (9), 6. 21m-Michael Moore (3), 7. 88-Chad Tye (4), 8. 27J-Justin Johnson (7), 9. 38-Kevin Frisbie (6). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 12-Wesley Smith (2), 2. 00-Broc Elliott (5), 3. 90-Warren Johnson (1), 4. 15E-Dakota Earls (6), 5. 88G-Garrett Hulsey (7), 6. 93-Buddy Parker (3), 7. 66m-Max Grogan (8). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 28-Kory Schudy (1), 2. 41-Ricky Lewis (7), 3. 15B-Quinton Benson (2), 4. 77-Jack Wagner (6), 5. 9H-Cody Baker (8), 6. 65w-Chad Winfrey (3), 7. 11x-Tom Curran (4), 8. 65-Chris Parkinson (5). NT
ALSO AT THE TRACK: 26-Zach Clark
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Ricky Lewis (2), 2. Wyatt Burks (3), 3. Kory Schudy (6), 4. Samuel Wagner (5), 5. Wesley Smith (1), 6. Chad Goff (7), 7. Tom Curran (21), 8. Broc Elliott (4), 9. Chad Winfrey (19), 10. Chris Parkinson (23), 11. Dakota Earls (9), 12. Luke Howard (13), 13. Michael Moore (17), 14. Buddy Parker (18), 15. Brad Wyatt (8), 16. Chad Tye (20), 17. Warren Johnson (14), 18. Jack Wagner (10), 19. Quinton Benson (12), 20. Cody Baker (11), 21. Kevin Frisbie (24), 22. Max Grogan (16), 23. Justin Johnson (22), 24. Garrett Hulsey (15). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Wesley Smith, Laps 3-25 Ricky Lewis.
USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Wyatt Burks-2675, 2-Chris Parkinson-2325, 3-Chad Winfrey-2245, 4-Brad Wyatt-2065, 5-Dakota Earls-1945, 6-Justin Johnson-1840, 7-Buddy Parker-1825, 8-Zach Clark-1790, 9-Luke Howard-1775, 10-Kory Schudy-1760.
NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACES: September 29-30, 2023 – U.S. 36 Raceway – Osborn, Missouri
