SMITH STOPS SCHUDY’S MWRA WIN STREAK AT NEVADA
By: Ray Cunningham
Nevada, Missouri (July 29, 2023)………Wesley Smith of Nixa, Mo. took advantage of a late race bobble to grab his first victory of the USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association Sprint Car season on Saturday night at Missouri’s Nevada Speedway.
Kory Schudy, who entered the race on a three-race series winning streak, grabbed the lead from the start and screamed around the Nevada short track while riding the rim. Smith came from the second row to take over second and Burks settled into third after starting fifth.
Schudy was flying high in his Jon Sawyer Racing No. 28 and appeared to be well on his way to his fourth win in a row, a feat only accomplished once before in MWRA history when “The Sheriff” Burks won four-in-a-row aboard the Don Rumsey No. 11w on his way to the 2020 title.
Second running Smith also looked destined to finish on the podium for the fifth time in six starts in 2023, with no victories up to this point. It’s a place that Smith, a previous winner of eight points-paying races with the MWRA in three seasons, wasn’t accustomed to.
But then the slightest of mistakes occurred, changing the fate of both drivers on this night. Coming out of the second turn, Schudy went over the edge of the cushion, and by the time he corrected, Smith and his WSR Racing No. 44 had blasted by for the lead and subsequently the win at the end of the 25-lap finale.
Afterwards, a jubilant Smith celebrated by spinning donuts in the first turn after winning for the second year in a row at Nevada, and his ninth points paying feature victory with the MWRA. Dakota Earls advanced from 11th to seventh to earn the MWRA Hard Charger Award.
Earlier in the evening, a short rainstorm blew through the southwestern Missouri facility, dropping the temperature from a blistering hot 100 to a nice and cozy summer evening that brought out a big crowd and helped juice up the track.
That was evident in the heat races when Wyatt Burks came from sixth to first in heat race number one to earn high point honors while Chris Parkinson passed five cars in his drive from eighth to third. Kory Schudy won the second heat from the pole for his sixth heat win this season, followed by Smith who advanced three spots to second from fifth. Meanwhile, Luke Howard raced to third after starting sixth.
For the second night in a row, the high point man (this time Burks) rolled a three for the invert, sending him to the third row. That, in turn, sent a red-hot Schudy to the pole for the 25-lapper.
At the checkered flag Battlefield, Mo. wheelman Kory Schudy finished second with Wyatt Burks (Topeka, Kan.) third, Luke Howard (Overland Park, Kan.) fourth and Chris Parkinson (Gladstone, Mo.) fifth.
Chad Winfrey (Gladstone, Mo.) grabbed sixth, Dakota Earls (Independence, Mo.) seventh, Buddy Parker (Wichita Falls, Texas) eighth, Bryson Smith (Nixa, Mo.) ninth and Brad Wyatt (Kearney, Mo.) 10th.
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USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: July 29, 2023 – Nevada Speedway – Nevada, Missouri
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 11w-Wyatt Burks (6), 2. 65w-Chad Winfrey (2), 3. 65-Chris Parkinson (8), 4. 41-Brad Wyatt (5), 5. 21m-Michael Moore (7), 6. 15E-Dakota Earls (3), 7. 57-Buddy Parker (4), 8. 27J-Justin Johnson (1). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 28-Kory Schudy (1), 2. 12-Wesley Smith (5), 3. 2H-Luke Howard (6), 4. 26-Zach Clark (3), 5. 88G-Garrett Hulsey (2), 6. 7x-Lance Silvers (7), 7. 33-Bryson Smith (4). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wesley Smith (3), 2. Kory Schudy (1), 3. Wyatt Burks (5), 4. Luke Howard (4), 5. Chris Parkinson (6), 6. Chad Winfrey (2), 7. Dakota Earls (11), 8. Buddy Parker (12), 9. Bryson Smith (13), 10. Brad Wyatt (7), 11. Zach Clark (9), 12. Justin Johnson (14), 13. Lance Silvers (15), 14. Garrett Hulsey (10), 15. Michael Moore (8). NT
USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Wyatt Burks-1705, 2-Chris Parkinson-1525, 3-Brad Wyatt-1520, 4-Chad Winfrey-1510, 5-Kory Schudy-1230, 6-Justin Johnson-1210, 7-Dakota Earls-1150, 8-Zach Clark-1140, 9-Buddy Parker-1140, 10-Braydon Cromwell-1125.
NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION RACE: August 18, 2023 – Lakeside Speedway – Kansas City, Kansas – Weld Memorial