From POWRi
WHEATLAND, MO (September 17, 2026) — Rylan Gray would not be denied on Night One of the 16th Annual Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway, leading all twenty-five laps with the POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League to earn his first career feature victory.
Night One competition would find thirty talented traditional sprint car competitors in attendance as Rylan Gray set the quickest qualifying hot-lap time of 15.025 seconds. Justin Zimmerman, Kobe Simpson, Riley Kreisel, and Rylan Gray each earned heat-race victories, with Jake Kouba winning the semi-feature.
Launching from the front row alongside Riley Kreisel, high-point qualifier Rylan Gray would take command on the opening lap as Kreisel and Ricky Lewis battled for the runner-up position.
Remaining steady at the front of the field despite multiple challenges for the top spot, Gray would complete a perfect night by leading every lap and securing his inaugural POWRi WAR feature victory.
“These guys made me earn it up front and made a great race of it tonight. Hats off to the track crew because this place was racy tonight,” said Rylan Gray in Lucas Oil Speedway Victory Lane. “Let’s try to sweep the weekend now. This crew gives me the car to do it; I just have to drive it.”
Charging into the runner-up position late, Jack Wagner would challenge for the lead before finishing second, with Mario Clouser claiming the final podium position. Justin Zimmerman finished fourth, while Wyatt Burks rounded out the top five on Night One of the 16th Annual Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial
POWRi WAR Sprint Car League
Lucas Oil Speedway
Wheatland, Missouri
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Big R Stores Qualifying Group 1 (3 Laps)
1. 00-Nathan Schank, 15.423[1]
2. 97-Cam Schafer, 15.449[7]
3. 77-Jack Wagner, 15.563[8]
4. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman, 15.690[5]
5. 76-Edison Aldrich, 15.961[4]
6. 6K-Jake Kouba, 16.376[6]
7. 24LCR-Brett Combs, 16.569[3]
8. 00W-Noah Whitehouse, 19.422[2]
Big R Stores Qualifying Group 2 (3 Laps)
1. 44-Wesley Smith, 15.074[2]
2. 11W-Wyatt Burks, 15.269[6]
3. 6-Mario Clouser, 15.550[5]
4. 21K-Kobe Simpson, 15.565[3]
5. 79F-Cooper Sullivan, 15.614[1]
6. 2-Luke Howard, 16.173[4]
7. 11-James Lyerla, 16.297[8]
8. 98P-Ryan Padgett, 21.000[7]
Big R Stores Qualifying Group 3 (3 Laps)
1. 91-Riley Kreisel, 15.081[6]
2. 41-Ricky Lewis, 15.529[7]
3. 73-Samuel Wagner, 15.829[5]
4. 13-Chase Howard, 15.878[2]
5. 27-Justin Johnson, 16.181[3]
6. 33X-Justin Patocka, 16.518[4]
7. 99-Jarrett Weyant, 16.885[1]
Big R Stores Qualifying Group 4 (3 Laps)
1. 1-Rylan Gray, 15.025[3]
2. 33-Bryson Smith, 15.096[2]
3. 34-RJ Miller, 15.303[1]
4. 11X-Tom Curran, 15.593[6]
5. 6W-Isaac Chapple, 20.001[4]
6. 52-Dean Bowers, 20.002[5]
7. B52-Blake Bowers, 20.003[7]
Flying A Motorsports Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[1]
2. 77-Jack Wagner[2]
3. 97-Cam Schafer[3]
4. 76-Edison Aldrich[5]
5. 6K-Jake Kouba[6]
6. 00-Nathan Schank[4]
7. 24LCR-Brett Combs[7]
8. 00W-Noah Whitehouse[8]
Eibach Racing Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 21K-Kobe Simpson[1]
2. 11W-Wyatt Burks[3]
3. 6-Mario Clouser[2]
4. 2-Luke Howard[6]
5. 98P-Ryan Padgett[8]
6. 79F-Cooper Sullivan[5]
7. 44-Wesley Smith[4]
8. 11-James Lyerla[7]
MVT Services Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 91-Riley Kreisel[4]
2. 41-Ricky Lewis[3]
3. 13-Chase Howard[1]
4. 73-Samuel Wagner[2]
5. 27-Justin Johnson[5]
6. 33X-Justin Patocka[6]
7. 99-Jarrett Weyant[7]
Engler Machine Tool Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 1-Rylan Gray[4]
2. 11X-Tom Curran[1]
3. 34-RJ Miller[2]
4. 33-Bryson Smith[3]
5. 52-Dean Bowers[6]
DNS: 6W-Isaac Chapple
DNS: B52-Blake Bowers
RaceTech Titanium B-Feature (12 Laps)
1. 6K-Jake Kouba[2]
2. 44-Wesley Smith[6]
3. 27-Justin Johnson[5]
4. 73-Samuel Wagner[1]
5. 11-James Lyerla[12]
6. 33X-Justin Patocka[7]
7. 52-Dean Bowers[3]
8. 99-Jarrett Weyant[10]
9. 00W-Noah Whitehouse[11]
10. 24LCR-Brett Combs[9]
DNS: 00-Nathan Schank
DNS: 79F-Cooper Sullivan
DNS: 6W-Isaac Chapple
DNS: B52-Blake Bowers
Start2Finish A-Feature (25 Laps)
1. 1-Rylan Gray[1]
2. 77-Jack Wagner[7]
3. 6-Mario Clouser[11]
4. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[6]
5. 11W-Wyatt Burks[3]
6. 11X-Tom Curran[9]
7. 44-Wesley Smith[18]
8. 34-RJ Miller[10]
9. 13-Chase Howard[14]
10. 97-Cam Schafer[8]
11. 73-Samuel Wagner[20]
12. 41-Ricky Lewis[4]
13. 11-James Lyerla[21]
14. 6K-Jake Kouba[17]
15. 33-Bryson Smith[13]
16. 27-Justin Johnson[19]
17. 33X-Justin Patocka[22]
18. 76-Edison Aldrich[15]
19. 91-Riley Kreisel[2]
20. 2-Luke Howard[12]
21. 98P-Ryan Padgett[16]
22. 21K-Kobe Simpson[5]