Lonnie Wheatley
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (July 28, 2018) – Flirting with a potential victory lane visit during much of the season, Cannon McIntosh put it all together on Saturday night to become the 13th different Lucas Oil POWRi West Midget League presented by Executive Concrete NWA feature winner of the year by topping the 25-lap main event at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
After earning the BOSS Performance High Point Driver of the Night in heat race action aboard the RL Hudson/Toyota-TRD No. 08 entry, the 15-year-old from Bixby, OK, gunned into the lead at the outset and led the entire distance to post his second career series win and first of the 2018 season.
“It turned out that getting a good start was important, especially when I felt it grab some rubber off of two about four laps in,” McIntosh said afterward. “I didn’t expect it to do that and definitely not that early.”
Gunning into the lead at the drop of the green flag paid dividends, although fellow front row starter and current series points leader Kory Schudy along with third-starter Matt Sherell kept the heat on for a handful of laps before McIntosh began to stretch out of his lead.
His advantage was quickly erased when A.J. Burns got upside down without injury in turn three after nine laps. Schudy and Sherrell kept pace when action resumed until McIntosh worked the first pair of lapped cars to perfection to slip away by several car-lengths.
But another pair of lapped cars soon after tightened things up again in the final handful of laps until a final caution flew with four laps to go when fourth-running Andrew Deal came to a stop in turn two with a flattened right rear tire.
Set for a four-lap dash to the stripe, McIntosh bolted away from the field and breezed to the stripe without challenge over the closing laps.
“I knew there were just a few laps to go, so I just went hard to get there,” McIntosh commented.
Sherrell battled past Schudy in the final rounds to snare his second runner-up finish of the season with Schudy earning his eighth podium showing of the year by crossing the stripe in third. Racing amongst the top-five throughout, Hunter Fischer took the checkered flag in fourth with defending series champion Grady Chandler rounding out the top five.
Hank Davis climbed from 10th to sixth with 14th-starter Wesley Smith in seventh. Cody Brewer was eighth with Hannah Adair in ninth while Travis Scott turned in the night’s top passing performance by racing from 18th to complete the top ten.
The podium trio of Schudy, Sherrell and McIntosh flexed their muscle early on by topping heat race action for the 23-car field.
In addition to Lucas Oil and Executive Concrete NWA, additional POWRi West Midget League supporting sponsors include Two-Eight Drilling, American Discount Auto Care, R&M Race Trailer, A1 Machine, Rod End Supply, Pyrotech, Esslinger Engineering Performance and MyChron Tom/AIM.
The POWRi West Midget League returns to action next weekend on Friday and Saturday, August 3-4, in conjunction with the Lucas Oil POWRI National Midget League at Pevely, Missouri’s Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway.
Lucas Oil POWRi West Midget League presented by Executive Concrete NWA Results
I-44 Riverside Speedway (Oklahoma City, OK) – July 28, 2018
Smith Ti Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 28-Kory Schudy (3), 2. 24-Hunter Fischer (2), 3. 4b-Grady Chandler (5), 4. 42-Hank Davis (6), 5. 2s-Travis Scott (1), 6. 44-Wesley Smith (8), 7. 5b-Bobby Brewer (4), 8. 52-Craig Oakes (7).
Keizer Wheels Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 7u-Matt Sherrell (3), 2. 15d-Andrew Deal (4), 3. 96-Cody Brewer (4), 4. 4m-Michelle Decker (6), 5. 9u-Doug McCune (7), 6. 19-Pierce Urbanosky (8), 7. 72-Eric Fenton (2), 8. 721-Brendon Wiseley (1-DNS).
Saldana Products Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 08-Cannon McIntosh (6), 2. 71wg-Weston Gorham (1), 3. 23-Hannah Adair (4), 4. 27b-A.J. Burns (5), 5. 83-Brad Thompson (2), 6. 84s-Shaun Shapel (7), 7. 84-Phil Shapel (3-DNS).
“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 08-Cannon McIntosh (1), 2. 7u-Matt Sherrell (3), 3. 28-Kory Schudy (2), 4. 24-Hunter Fischer (6), 5. 4b-Grady Chandler (5), 6. 42-Hank Davis (10), 7. 44-Wesley Smith (14), 8. 96-Cody Brewer (8), 9. 23-Hannah Adair (9), 10. 2s-Travis Scott (18), 11. 4m-Michelle Decker (11), 12. 5b-Bobby Brewer (19), 13. 9u-Doug McCune (13), 14. 19-Pierce Urbanosky (15), 15. 721-Brendon Wiseley (23), 16. 52-Craig Oakes (22), 17. 83-Brad Thompson (17), 18. 15d-Andrew Deal (4), 19. 71wg-Weston Gorham (7), 20. 27b-A.J. Burns (12), 21. 72-Eric Fenton (21), 22. 84s-Shaun Shapel (16), 23. 84-Phil Shapel (20-DNS).
BOSS Performance High Point Driver: Cannon McIntosh.