Axsom picks up first POWRi National Midget Series triumph; Smith, Timms also earn Lucas Oil Speedway wins

 

WHEATLAND, MO. (April 24, 2021) – Emerson Axsom picked up his first POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League victory Saturday night, taking the 30-lap feature during the 10th annual Impact Signs, Awning and Wraps Open Wheel Showdown at Lucas Oil Speedway.

 

Axsom, a 16-year-old from Franklin, Indiana, passed Brenham Crouch with six laps remaining and went on to prevail over Crouch by 2.5 seconds.

 

Other feature winners on the program included Wesley Smith (POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints) and Ryan Timms (ASCS Warrior Region/Sooner Region Sprints).

 

Axsom started the feature in the sixth position and worked his way into the top three by lap 16, when the race took a sudden turn.

 

Daison Pursley started on the inside of row two and took over the lead on the second lap. The 16-year-old Oklahoma native cruised from there, opening a 2.4-second lead over Crouch, when disaster struck on lap 16 as Pursley hit the wall in turn four.

 

Bringing out the race’s second caution, Crouch inherited the lead with Axsom second and Bryan Wiedeman third.

 

Axsom battled Crouch until lap 24 and made the decisive pass, on the inside coming off turn four of the 30-lapper.

 

“We’ve been close. We were real fast,” Axsom said. “Every time we’ve ran this year we’ve had a shot to win. I was just driving it as hard as I could. We weren’t that great in the heat. We just made the right changes and obviously it paid off.

 

“There’s tons of cars that can win every night. You just put yourself in the right spot, it helps a lot.”

 

Smith eanrs second POWRi WAR Sprints win: Wesley Smith of Nixa took over the lead with 10 laps remaining and went on to earn his second POWRi War Sprint feature win of the season, beating Quinton Benson to the checkers.

 

“Everybody says before you move up, you have to be the best where you’re at and I think that’s what we’re trying to do,” Smith said. after his sixth career POWRi Sprint victory and first at Lucas Oil Speedway. “I think we’re on our way and ready to move onto bigger and better things and it starts here with the WAR Series at Lucas Oil Speedway.”

 

Xavier Doney took the lead at the drop of the green from his outside front-row staring position with pole-starting Smith and Colten Cottle trading second and third over the first 15 laps.

 

That’s when Dustin Clark slipped his car in turn two to bring the race to a halt. By that point, Mario Clouser had advanced into third behind Doney and Smith with Cottle falling back to fourth with 10 to go.

 

Cottle spun on the restart, taking himself out of contention for the win. Then, after another caution before a green-flag lap could be completed, Doney took a spin in turn two to eliminate himself from a possible first career win.

 

“Hats off to Xavier Doney. I hated to see him lose like that. He was definitely one of the cars to beat,” Smith said. “I’m not saying we didn’t have anything for him, but … I think me and him … it was going to be a helluva show.”

 

“We worked for this one. I feel bad for Doney,” Smith said. “I think we would have had a great race in the end with him as well as Clouser and Benson coming up on the bottom. We had a fast car all night, I can’t thank this team enough.”

 

That elevated Smith to the top spot. Benson moved past Clouser by lap 20 and was 2.2 seconds behind Smith when another caution flew on lap 22.

 

Smith held on for the win, crossing the line 3.1 seconds in front of Benson with Clouser third and Joe B. Miller fourth after starting back in 17th.

 

Timms hangs on for ASCS triumph: Ryan Timms took over the lead on lap seven and then held off Ayrton Gennetten over the final few laps of the ASCS Warrior Region/Sooner Region main event.

 

The 14-year-old Timms, of Oklahoma City, picked up his second career win but it wasn’t easy as Timms survived contact with a lapped car and Gennetten’s final-lap charge, including a sliding try to get past the winner on the final turn.

 

Timms wound up clipping the wall after the checker flews. In victory lane, he joked “that wasn’t ideal, but I guess it was better than during the race.”

 

Kyle Bellm of Nixa led the first seven laps beore Timms sailed past on lap seven. A caution on lap 10 slowed the field and during the caution, Bellm had to pit for mechanical issues, ending his night.

 

Gennetten moved into second and trailed Timms by one second as a lap-14 caution came out. Timms and Gennetten were weaving thorugh lapped traffic when, on lap 18, the leader made contact with Jonathan Cornell while trying to lap him and Cornell’s car flipped to bring out a red flag.

 

“It was just wrong place, wrong time for both of us,” Timms said. “I’m lucky that nothing broke.”

 

Timms withstood Gennetton’s charge from there as the final seven laps remained green. He captured the victory by one second with Brandon Anderson finished third with Sean McClelland fourth and Jeremy Campbell fifth.

 

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY RESULTS (April 24, 2021)

10th annual Impact Signs Awnings Open Wheel Showdown

ASCS Warrior Region/Sooner Region Sprints

A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 5T-Ryan Timms[4]; 2. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[3]; 3. 55B-Brandon Anderson[5]; 4. 1-Sean McClelland[7]; 5. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[1]; 6. 11-Austin O’Neal[20]; 7. 9$-Kyle Clark[13]; 8. 8-Alex Sewell[10]; 9. 7M-Chance Morton[9]; 10. 75-Tyler Blank[18]; 11. 91T-Tyler Thomas[19]; 12. 2-Chase Porter[15]; 13. 73-Samuel Wagner[11]; 14. 77-Jack Wagner[14]; 15. 86-Timothy Smith[17]; 16. 28-Jonathan Cornell[8]; 17. 50Z-Zach Chappell[6]; 18. 22S-Slater Helt[12]; 19. 14E-Kyle Bellm[2]; 20. 8M-Kade Morton[16]

B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 2-Chase Porter[3]; 2. 8M-Kade Morton[7]; 3. 86-Timothy Smith[9]; 4. 75-Tyler Blank[4]; 5. 91T-Tyler Thomas[5]; 6. 11-Austin O’Neal[1]; 7. 21-Gunner Ramey[10]; 8. 85-Forrest Sutherland[8]; 9. 0-Corey Nelson[12]; 10. 4-Evan Martin[6]; 11. 11C-Mason Campbell[2]; 12. 1S-Joey Schmidt[11]; 13. 28V-Gabe Verardi[13]

Schure Built Suspensions Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland[1]; 2. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[6]; 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell[5]; 4. 11C-Mason Campbell[4]; 5. 73-Samuel Wagner[8]; 6. 75-Tyler Blank[7]; 7. 91T-Tyler Thomas[9]; 8. 1S-Joey Schmidt[2]; 9. 21-Gunner Ramey[3]

Lightning Wings Powder Coating Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[3]; 2. 5T-Ryan Timms[8]; 3. 50Z-Zach Chappell[7]; 4. 8-Alex Sewell[6]; 5. 2-Chase Porter[5]; 6. 77-Jack Wagner[9]; 7. 8M-Kade Morton[2]; 8. 86-Timothy Smith[4]; 9. 28V-Gabe Verardi[1]

Smith Titanium Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14E-Kyle Bellm[3]; 2. 7M-Chance Morton[1]; 3. 9$-Kyle Clark[2]; 4. 55B-Brandon Anderson[7]; 5. 22S-Slater Helt[8]; 6. 11-Austin O’Neal[9]; 7. 4-Evan Martin[4]; 8. 85-Forrest Sutherland[6]; 9. 0-Corey Nelson[5]

 

POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints

Lucas Oil A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 44-Wesley Smith[1]; 2. 15B-Quinton Benson[4]; 3. 6-Mario Clouser[5]; 4. 31-Joe B Miller[17]; 5. 11W-Wyatt Burks[10]; 6. 54-Trey Gropp[19]; 7. 16-Anthony Nicholson[8]; 8. 24C-Craig Carroll[7]; 9. 24H-Ty Hulsey[9]; 10. 91-Riley Kreisel[21]; 11. 56-Mitchell Davis[6]; 12. 9H-Mitchell Moore[11]; 13. 26-Zach Clark[14]; 14. 5D-Zach Daum[20]; 15. 53-Brett Wilson[13]; 16. 41-Brad Wyatt[16]; 17. 74-Xavier Doney[2]; 18. 5C-Colten Cottle[3]; 19. 28-Kory Schudy[18]; 20. 7R-JD Black[22]; 21. 93-Taylor Walton[12]; 22. 76-Dustin Clark[15]; 23. 18-Wyatt Siegel[23]

Super Clean B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 31-Joe B Miller[2]; 2. 28-Kory Schudy[5]; 3. 54-Trey Gropp[1]; 4. 5D-Zach Daum[7]; 5. 91-Riley Kreisel[14]; 6. 7R-JD Black[3]; 7. 13-Brad Ryun[13]; 8. 37-Brian Beebe[8]; 9. 2-Kyle Lewis[6]; 10. 35-JC Wilson[18]; 11. ST1-Lane Stone[9]; 12. 27-Steve Thomas[15]; 13. 82-Christie Thomason[19]; 14. 69-Zach Sanders[12]; 15. 86-Zac Taylor[4]; 16. 17K-Braden Knipmeyer[10]; 17. 18-Wyatt Siegel[16]; 18. 97-Kevin Cummings[17]; 19. (DNS) 56X-Mark Chisholm

Advanced Racing Suspension Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Wesley Smith[6]; 2. 5C-Colten Cottle[8]; 3. 53-Brett Wilson[3]; 4. 26-Zach Clark[2]; 5. 2-Kyle Lewis[1]; 6. 86-Zac Taylor[7]; 7. 17K-Braden Knipmeyer[5]; 8. ST1-Lane Stone[9]; 9. 35-JC Wilson[4]

MVT Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Mario Clouser[5]; 2. 56-Mitchell Davis[7]; 3. 11W-Wyatt Burks[6]; 4. 24H-Ty Hulsey[9]; 5. 28-Kory Schudy[3]; 6. 37-Brian Beebe[1]; 7. 91-Riley Kreisel[2]; 8. 13-Brad Ryun[8]; 9. 82-Christie Thomason[4]

Auto Meter Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9H-Mitchell Moore[1]; 2. 15B-Quinton Benson[8]; 3. 24C-Craig Carroll[7]; 4. 76-Dustin Clark[2]; 5. 7R-JD Black[4]; 6. 5D-Zach Daum[3]; 7. 56X-Mark Chisholm[5]; 8. 27-Steve Thomas[6]; 9. 97-Kevin Cummings[9]

Rod End Supply Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 74-Xavier Doney[6]; 2. 93-Taylor Walton[2]; 3. 16-Anthony Nicholson[7]; 4. 54-Trey Gropp[1]; 5. 31-Joe B Miller[5]; 6. 41-Brad Wyatt[8]; 7. 69-Zach Sanders[3]; 8. 18-Wyatt Siegel[4]

 

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series

Lucas Oil A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 15-Emerson Axsom[6]; 2. 97-Brenham Crouch[1]; 3. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[4]; 4. 08-Cannon McIntosh[8]; 5. 86-Brent Crews[5]; 6. 85T-Ryan Timms[10]; 7. 72-Sam Johnson[11]; 8. 21K-Karter Sarff[13]; 9. 49-Joe B Miller[17]; 10. 3N-Jake Neuman[15]; 11. 91T-Tyler Thomas[2]; 12. 00-Trey Gropp[12]; 13. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[7]; 14. 3X-Xavier Doney[18]; 15. 67K-Cade Lewis[19]; 16. 25-Taylor Reimer[21]; 17. 71K-Daison Pursley[3]; 18. 44X-Wesley Smith[9]; 19. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[22]; 20. 3B-Shelby Bosie[14]; 21. 44-Branigan Roark[20]; 22. 2C-Trevor Casey[16]

Super Clean B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 49-Joe B Miller[4]; 2. 3X-Xavier Doney[2]; 3. 67K-Cade Lewis[1]; 4. 44-Branigan Roark[11]; 5. 25-Taylor Reimer[7]; 6. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[5]; 7. 56X-Mark Chisholm[6]; 8. 5H-Casey Hicks[8]; 9. 14-Eric Fenton[3]; 10. 89JR-Todd McVay[10]; 11. 21-Emilio Hoover[9]; 12. 33-Bryson Smith[12]; 13. 33GC-George Campbell Jr[13]

Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 91T-Tyler Thomas[4]; 2. 00-Trey Gropp[1]; 3. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[7]; 4. 44X-Wesley Smith[8]; 5. 67K-Cade Lewis[5]; 6. 5H-Casey Hicks[3]; 7. 21-Emilio Hoover[2]; 8. (DNS) 33-Bryson Smith

MVT Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[2]; 2. 71K-Daison Pursley[6]; 3. 86-Brent Crews[7]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[4]; 5. 49-Joe B Miller[3]; 6. 25-Taylor Reimer[5]; 7. 44-Branigan Roark[1]

Auto Meter Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 08-Cannon McIntosh[1]; 2. 85T-Ryan Timms[3]; 3. 15-Emerson Axsom[7]; 4. 21K-Karter Sarff[5]; 5. 3X-Xavier Doney[4]; 6. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[6]; 7. 89JR-Todd McVay[2]

Rod End Supply Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Brenham Crouch[7]; 2. 72-Sam Johnson[3]; 3. 3B-Shelby Bosie[1]; 4. 2C-Trevor Casey[2]; 5. 14-Eric Fenton[4]; 6. 56X-Mark Chisholm[6]; 7. (DNS) 33GC-George Campbell Jr

 

Weekly Racing Series resumes May 1: Racing at Lucas Oil Speedway resumes next Saturday as KY3 presents round 3 of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series with special $5 ticket prices for all adults, seniors and youth. Kids 5-and-under, as always, are admitted free.

 

The O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will be featured with a 25-lap, $750-to-win main event. They’ll be joined by the Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Models, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds and the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods.

 

Gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.

 

For ticket information for any event during the 2021 Lucas Oil Speedway season, contact McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or via email at Nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com. Fans also can use the online ticketing system

Category: Missouri