Stephanie Meents
Dupo, IL (September 27, 2015) A few short weeks ago, Michelle Decker and car owner, Stephanie Meents thought their season could possibly be over early. On August 21st, Decker was running second at 81 Speedway in Wichita, Kansas, when the oil filter bracket broke and caused the filter to come off the motor. As the car went up in flames, so did the thoughts of finishing out the 2015 season. Fortunately for Meents and Decker, internal damage was not nearly as bad as it could have been and thanks to expedited work by KBR Performance and Tranter Racing Engines, the Esslinger power plant was back together for the POWRi West race this past Saturday night at Port City Raceway.
While Decker has had a love/hate relationship with Port City in the past, this past weekend will go in the books as the night Michelle won her first POWRi West feature event; and the first midget feature win for owner, Stephanie Meents. In heat race action, Decker started outside the front row. As the green flag waved, she got the early lead and never looked back, leading all eight laps and picking up another heat race win this season. Based on passing points, this put her lining up fourth in the 25-lap A-main event. As the cars took the green flag, there would be contact between starters one thru three, allowing Decker to get by all of them and take the lead on lap one. As laps clicked off, Matt Sherrell would catch Decker and the two had an intense battle lap after lap. With Decker primarily running the low line and Sherrell up on the cushion, the two would swap the lead multiple times over the next series of laps. As these two were racing hard, rookie Anton Hernandez was able to join the pair and make his bid for the lead on a few occasions. Multiple caution flags would fly with Decker maintaining the lead at each one. The final caution flew with four laps to go and Decker on the point. As the race went back green, Sherrell would try everything to get around the Stephanie Meents Racing #4M, but to no avail; Decker held on to pick up her first POWRi West A-main win and her second career midget win.
It was a big celebration in Victory Lane as Decker and team had come so close before, but just had never been able to pull off a win. Decker credited her win to crew chief Mark Matejka, who called the shots from his Colorado home, and longtime crew member, Perry Williams who turned wrenches all night and all season long. This was the first night on the team’s fresh Tranter Esslinger and the crew guys had the Spike Chassis/Penske Shock combination on point. It was a total team effort and sends Michelle and her team into their final weekend of racing with a lot of confidence in their car and setups.
While the Tranter Esslinger ran superbly, there are a few issues the team has decided to have checked out before venturing to Illinois this coming weekend. It will be a busy week for the entire team, but they will return to action Friday night at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Illinois with the POWRi National series as they pay tribute to Meents’ mother with the Charlene Meents Memorial.
Michelle and Stephanie would like to thank everyone for their support both before and after their first victory.
Both enjoy racing with the POWRi West series and look forward to continuing to watch and help it grow. They would also like to thank all the sponsors that have helped make the entire season possible; without sponsors, the team would struggle to get to as many races and have as competitive equipment. A big thank you to Roof Bolt Xpress, Royal Purple, Jet-Hot High Performance Coatings, Superior Finish Powdercoating, Eaton Sandblasting, Real Racing Wheels, Hoosier Tire Midwest, Chris D, Millenium Components, KBR Performance, Mud-X, Penske Shocks, Schoenfeld, Simpson Race Products, Rod End Supply, and Eibach Racing.
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