Lonnie Wheatley
, ODESSA, Mo. (May 27, 2022) – Ty Williams wasn’t letting another I-70 Motorsports 305 Sprint Car Nationals title slip from his grasp.
After leading more than half of last year’s finale before getting bogged down in traffic, the Arcadia, OK, racer capitalized on the pole starting position and wasn’t to be stopped as he led all 30 rounds to take the payday worth $4,700 that included $1,700 in lap money along with the $3,000 posted winner’s share atop the 4/10-mile clay oval.
While Williams scored the lucrative victory, J.C. Morton and Burl Woods both pocketed $1,000 by topping the accompanying USRA B Modifed and USRA Stock Car features, respectively.
After redrawing the pole position for the championship feature after a heat race win, Williams outgunned fellow front row starter Jay Russell for the point at the outset aboard the Steve Hilker Trucking/Cattletrucks.com No. 911 while Friday night preliminary winner Monty Ferriera needed just two laps to charge from sixth to second.
Williams weathered four cautions in the early going that kept him clear of lapped traffic before the final 19 laps ran off in non-stop fashion.
Williams repelled a pair of charges from Ferreira on restarts and then stretched his lead to nearly a straightaway over Ferriera and Stu Snyder, who engaged in a torrid battle for second for nearly 15 laps.
Lapped traffic proved to be no problem for Williams this time until the closing rounds when he found himself stranded behind a lapped car for several circuits. In the meantime, Ferriera and Snyder began to chop into his lead as they swapped the runner-up position numerous times.
Williams finally put the lapped car behind him in the final handful of circuits to secure the win while the battle for second finally resulted in contact exiting turn four that sent Snyder climbing and bouncing off the retaining wall.
Ferriera escaped the battle for runner-up honors while Snyder somehow saved his machine to salvage the show position.
Russell scored fifth with Trevor Grossenbacher rounding out the top five as Jon Freeman, 13th-starter Curtis Evans, Luke Cranston, Jacob Dye and John Webster completed the top ten. Webster earned a front hub assembly from Taylor Weld by earning Hard Charger honors after rallying from 18th to tenth.
A pair of the early cautions affected leading contenders third-runner Jeremy Huish losing power after eight rounds and then Luke Cranston slowing a lap later with a cut tire while battling among the top five. While Huish’s weekend was cut short, Cranston bounced back from the tail of the field for an eighth-place finish.
In the 20-lap USRA B Modified main event, J.C. Porter needed just four laps to battle into the lead from sixth and never looked back en route to taking the checkered flag ahead of 12th-starter Gabriel Hughes, Kyle Slader, Galen Hassler and 21st-starter Brad Smith.
While Burl Woods led the 20-lap USRA Stock Car feature to the green flag, it was Jaylen Wettengel pacing the opening lap before Chad Clancy took command. But when Wettengel slowed with a cut tire after five rounds, Clancy surrendered the point under the caution when he pulled to the work area with race-ending woes.
Woods assumed the point and emerged from a three-wide battle for the lead before slipping away to secure the win ahead of Daniel King with 18th-starter James McMillin, Gary Donaldson and Rodney Schwizer rounding out the top five.
I-70 Motorsports Park 305 Sprint Car Nationals
Saturday, May 28, 2022 Results:
United Rebel Sprint Series (URSS):
Qualifying Group One: 1. 5-Stu Snyder 15.927, 2. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher 16.087, 3. 1-Greg Murry 16.303, 4. 17s-Chad Salem 16.511, 5. 74v-Howard Van Dyke 16.628, 6. 38-Kevin Frisbie 16.843.
Qualifying Group Two: 1. 911-Ty Williams 15.705, 2. 88J-Jeremy Huish 15.724, 3. 81-Jon Freeman, 4. 76-Jay Russell 15.891, 5. 9-John Webster 15.973, 6. 1p-Curtis Evans 15.978.
Qualifying Group Three: 1. 20-Luke Cranston 15.659, 2. 15-Jack Potter 15.870, 3. 20d-Jacob Dye 16.051, 4. 45-Monty Ferriera 16.170, 5. 75-Cash Beeson 16.430, 6. 17-Connor Atkinson NT.
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher, 2. 5-Stu Snyder, 3. 17s-Chad Salem, 4. 74v-Howard Van Dyke, 5. 1-Greg Murry, 6. 38-Kevin Frisbie.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 76-Jay Russell, 2. 88J-Jeremy Huish, 3. 81-Jon Freeman, 4. 911-Ty Williams, 5. 1p-Curtis Evans, 6. 9-John Webster.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 45-Monty Ferriera, 2. 20d-Jacob Dye, 3. 20-Luke Cranston, 4. 15-Jack Potter, 5. 75-Cash Beeson, 6. 17-Connor Atkinson.
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 911-Ty Williams (1) [$4,700], 2. 45-Monty Ferriera (6) [$2,450], 3. 5-Stu Snyder (3) [$1,670], 4. 76-Jay Russell (2) [$1,170], 5. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher (4) [$800], 6. 81-Jon Freeman (8) [$700], 7. 1p-Rusty Potter (13) [$650], 8. 20-Luke Cranston (5) [$600], 9. 20d-Jacob Dye (9) [$550], 10. 9-John Webster (20) [$500], 11. 17s-Chad Salem (10) [$475], 12. 38-Kevin Frisbie (16) [$450], 13. 75-Cash Beeson (15) [$425], 14. 15-Jack Potter (11) [$400], 15. 1-Greg Murry (14) [$400], 16. 74v-Howard Van Dyke (12) [$400], 17. 88J-Jeremy Huish (8) [$510], 18. 17-Connor Atkinson (DNS) [$400].
Lap Leaders: Ty Williams 1-30.