Grain Valley, Missouri (September 28, 2024)………Ricky Lewis notched the victory and Wyatt Burks captured another series crown during Saturday night’s USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association Sprint Car season finale at Grain Valley, Missouri’s Valley Speedway.
Twenty-seven cars checked in at Valley Speedway for the 7th Annual John E. Helm Memorial to honor the Colonel. For the 13th and final feature of 2024, 23 cars made the call for the 25-lap feature. Burks jumped out to the early lead, but after one lap was completed, Zach Clark (Raymore, Mo.) flipped, bringing out the red flag. Clark was okay, but his machine was not as his number 26 went off on the hook.
On the single file restart Burks resumed his lead as Baker (Lone Jack, Mo.) attempted to hold off Lewis (Camarillo, Calif.). for second place. The Californian, however, had other plans aa he motored by Baker, then Burks on the outside to grab a lead he never relinquished.
For the next several laps, the top-five set a torrid pace, which was led by Lewis into heavy lapped traffic. Sometimes racing three and four wide, Burks valiantly tried to stay as close as possible to Lewis while Wesley Smith (Nixa, Mo.) charged from seventh to third and young gun Kobe Simpson (Bonham, Texas) held down fourth. Baker went off the rim between turns one and two before coming back on the track to remain in the fast five.
With only three laps remaining, Lewis had his sizable lead evaporate after teammate Todd Pratt (Las Vegas, Nev.) spun to bring out the first yellow of the feature.
On the restart, Lewis was able to maintain the lead and roared to his first win of the MWRA season, and second win all-time with the series after also winning the 2023 Helm Memorial as well.
Burks finished second to secure his record-breaking fourth career USAC MWRA driving title in a five-year span (2020-2021-2023-2024). He clinched the deed after successfully transferring through his heat race to earn the $10,000 top prize from Wholesale Batteries.
Smith placed third in the feature to reach the podium for the fifth time in seven starts at the Helm Memorial since 2018, including a second place in 2023 and three-straight wins in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Simpson and Baker, meanwhile, rounded out the top-five.
Luke Howard (Overland Park, Kan.) advanced from 13th to sixth to win the Country Kids Day Care of Olathe Hard Charger award, while second place points finisher Dakota Earls (Independence, Mo.) ran seventh. Taylor Walton (Odessa, Mo.) took eighth with Tom Curran (Kansas City, Mo.) ninth and Junior Parkinson (Wichita Falls, Texas) 10th.
For the veteran Parkinson, it was a night to remember as he also won his first ever USAC MWRA heat race, and then started on the pole following the redraw. Furthermore, Baker won his fourth heat race win of the season to earn high point honors for the night. For Clark, it was his third series heat victory of 2024, and Lewis’ first.
Throughout the night, several contingency prizes were awarded by John Helm as well as C & C Motorsports. Among those were Chris Parkinson (draw 12), Ricky Lewis (furthest tow), Tyler Burton & Mark Lane (shortest tow), Wyatt Burks (Sportsman), Luke Howard (Hard Charger), Junior Parkinson (Reverse Charger), Dakota Earls (Best Appearing), Tom Curran (FT Feature), Todd Pratt (ST Feature), Justin Johnson (12th place) and Zach Clark (Hard Luck).
USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: September 28, 2024 – Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, Missouri
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 9H-Cody Baker (4), 2. 21K-Kobe Simpson (5), 3. 1-Chris Desselle (1), 4. 85A-Kyle Gorham (6), 5. 44-Jared McCarty (7). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 93-Junior Parkinson (3), 2. 15E-Dakota Earls (1), 3. 93w-Taylor Walton (4), 4. 2-Luke Howard (6), 5. 03-Tyler Burton (5). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 26-Zach Clark (2), 2. 11w-Wyatt Burks (3), 3. 11x-Tom Curran (4), 4. 27J-Justin Johnson (5), 5. 7-Jake Richards (6), 6. 7x-Lance Silvers (7), 7. 65-Chris Parkinson (1). NT
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 41-Ricky Lewis (2), 2. 12-Wesley Smith (3), 3. 604-Danny Billings (5), 4. 33L-Mark Lane (1), 5. ST1-Lane Stone (4), 6. 46m-Dusty Murray (7), 7. 33-Bryson Smith (6). NT
ALSO AT THE TRACK: 88-Chad Tye
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Ricky Lewis (3), 2. Wyatt Burks (2), 3. Wesley Smith (7), 4. Kobe Simpson (5), 5. Cody Baker (4), 6. Luke Howard (13), 7. Dakota Earls (9), 8. Taylor Walton (10), 9. Tom Curran (11), 10. Junior Parkinson (1), 11. Danny Billings (8), 12. Justin Johnson (14), 13. Jake Richards (16), 14. Lane Stone (19), 15. Tyler Burton (18), 16. Chris Desselle (15), 17. Mark Lane (17), 18. 17-Todd Pratt (23), 19. Kyle Gorham (12), 20. Jared McCarty (21), 21. Lance Silvers (20), 22. 66m-Max Grogan (22), 23. Zach Clark (6). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Wyatt Burks, Laps 3-25 Ricky Lewis.
FINAL USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Wyatt Burks-2010, 2-Dakota Earls-1840, 3-Junior Parkinson-1735, 4-Chad Winfrey-1710, 5-Zach Clark-1700, 6-Kobe Simpson-1630, 7-Luke Howard-1625, 8-Justin Johnson-1480, 9-Tyler Burton-1470, 10-Wesley Smith-1385.
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