Wilmot, WI (August 4, 2018) - On a record setting night in more ways than one, it was Princeton, Indiana's Kyle Cummins who showed up to Wilmot Raceway and kicked off his POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Wildcard Sprint League career with a bang, as he triumphed in his first-ever attempt with the league. Surging by early leader Korey Weyant and into the top spot on the seventh circuit, Cummins ensued to run away from the field in dominating fashion for a cool $2,000 payday in the Badger State.
Attracting a staggering count of 44 entries for the Saturday night event at Wilmot Raceway, the tally set a new league record for car count, a record that has been broken for what is the third time in 2018 alone. Running a program with five heat races, two semi features and a main event, the league debuted in Wisconsin with a marvelous showing.
Following a set of five, eight-lappers that saw Kyle Cummins win Hinchman Racewear heat one, Doug Schenck take Bell Racing USA heat two, Matt Vandervere claim Schure Built Suspension heat three, Jimmy Sivia score Wilwood Disc Brakes heat four, and Rob Caho Jr. earn High Side Design heat five, it was Korey Weyant who topped all in the passing points department to earn LRB, Inc. #HighPointMan honors with an eighth-to-second charge. After Weyant declined the newly-introduced high point challenge, his decision paid off as he drew a feature inversion of zero, and slotted himself on the pole.
Before the 25-lap main event started, a pair of 12-lap semi features took to the track with only three finishers advancing from the two, 14-car races. Dennis Spitz won the first Hoosier Tire B-Main and transferred along with Jake Kouba and Natalie Klemko, while Jimmy Kouba won the second Mesilla Valley Transportation B-Main and moved on with Craig Lager and Patrick Haynes.
Rolling out for the main event with the inaugural WAR winner in Wisconsin to be determined, the 22-car feature field was led to the green flag by Korey Weyant and Kyle Cummins. Following a side-by-side sprint into turn one, Weyant came down the backstretch with the early lead as he finessed the bottom underneath Cummins, who committed to the cushion. Keeping Weyant at bay, Cummins stayed within sight and patiently bided his time before attacking Weyant for the top spot.
After Weyant crossed over Cummins' initial slider on the fifth lap, Cummins' second attempt paid dividends as he secured the lead and crossed the line with the lead on the seventh lap. Quickly pulling away with command of the field, Cummins continued to rip the top around the 3/8th-mile oval and extend his advantage into lap traffic.
Sneaking away unchallenged and driving by lapper-after-lapper, Cummins seemed to be on his way to a green-to-checkered victory, until a caution on lap 17 bunched everyone back up. The final restart was setup with eight to go, following unfortunate contact between frontrunners Landon Simon and Matt Vandervere, that send Vandervere around and ended his valiant fourth-place bid.
Hauling the mail in his No. 3C entry, Kyle Cummins again stormed away on the final restart and scored a dominating WAR Wildcard victory at Wilmot Raceway. Not only marking the league's debut in Wisconsin, but his debut with the league as well, Cummins started his career with the WAR Sprints a perfect one-for-one as the Princeton, Indiana native found victory lane right from the get-go. His victory extended the unreal level of parity that the WAR Sprints have produced this year, making it 14 different winners in 18 races with the Wildcard League seeing seven winners in seven races.
Coming home with a second-place finish after leading early on was Korey Weyant in the No. 99. Finishing third and challenging Weyant late for the second spot was Mitch Wissmiller in his No. 1 entry. Ending up fourth and rallying in the closing laps was Rob Caho Jr. aboard his No. 78 machine. Rounding out the top five and maintaining his points lead with WAR Wildcard was Landon Simon aboard the Mount Baker Vapor No. 24. Closing out the top ten was Slater Helt (6th), TJ Artz (7th), Mitchell Davis (8th), Jordan Mattson (9th) and Doug Schenck (10th).
On tap next for the WAR Wildcard Sprints will be a Sunday night showdown at one of the most iconic dirt tracks in the country. Heading northwest to the tune of just over one hour, the League will conclude their inaugural trip to the Bader State with an appearance at Sun Prairie, Wisconsin's Angell Park Speedway. Following Sunday's show at Angell Park, a day off will be taken on Monday night before the action resumes on Tuesday with a visit to Oskaloosa's Southern Iowa Speedway for the "Ultimate Challenge."
Hinchman Racewear Heat One (8 Laps):
- 3C-Kyle Cummins, Princeton, IN (5); 2. 99-Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (8); 3. 1-Mitch Wissmiller, Saybrook, IL (9); 4. 8D-Katlynn Leer, Moulton, IA (7); 5. 22-Jeff Pellersels, Woodbury, MN (3); 6. 6B-Vince Bartolotta, Muskego, WI (6); 7. 4G-George Gaertner Jr., Salem, WI (1); 8. 31-Austin Sears, Macomb, IL (4); 9. 38-Mike Dapra, Knoxville, IA (2).
Bell Racing USA Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 71S-Doug Schenck, Cottage Grove, WI (1); 2. 2-Jordan Mattson, Milwaukee, WI (2); 3. 11-James Lylera, Hillsboro, IL (9); 4. 6-Jake Kouba, Minneapolis, MN (5); 5. 29-Randy Stanford, Kenosha, WI (3); 6. 20X-Natalie Klemko, Bristol, WI (7); 7. 0-Brandon Stevenson, Holstein, IA (8); 8. 9-Greg Olsen, Round Lake Heights, IL (6); 9. 20-Steve Thomas, Rantoul, IL (4).
Schure Built Suspension Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 15V-Matt Vandervere, Wilmot, WI (3); 2. 57-TJ Artz, Lincoln, NE (1); 3. 22S-Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (6); 4. 2K-Jimmy Kouba, Byron, MN (4); 5. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, Waupaca, WI (5); 6. 41-Dennis Spitz, Lewisburg, KY (9); 7. 5-Bryan Walters, Wilmot, WI (7); 8. 7X-Clinton Bruns, Little Rock, IA (8); 9. 39-William Huck, Mukwonago, WI (2).
Wilwood Disc Brakes Heat Four (8 Laps):
- 91-Jimmy Sivia, Winthrop Harbor, IL (2); 2. 19-Jori Hughes, Tower, MN (3); 3. 24-Landon Simon, Brownsburg, IN (8); 4. 52-Craig Lager, Union Grove, WI (5); 5. 94-Jim Wehrman, Kenosha, WI (1); 6. 70-Chris Klemko, Bristol, WI (7); 7. 7-Steve Clott, Madison, WI (4); 8. 4-Jordan Paulsen, Trevor, WI (6); 9. 12-Dan Swim, Wilmot, WI (9).
High Side Design Heat Five (8 Laps):
- 78-Rob Caho Jr., Wyoming, MN (4); 2. 01-Chris Dodd, Trevor, WI (2); 3. 56-Mitchell Davis, Auburn, IL (7); 4. 29OG-Tom Eller, Zion, IL (1); 5. 15-Kevin Hinich, Kenosha, WI (3); 6. 38X-Allen Hafford, Beach Park, IL (6); 7. 5H-Patrick Haynes, Bradley, IL (8); 8. 7C-Chris Howerton, McHenry, IL (5).
Hoosier Tire B-Main One (12 Laps):
- 41-Dennis Spitz (2); 2. 6-Jake Kouba (1); 3. 20X-Natalie Klemko (4) --- 4. 7X-Clinton Bruns (10); 5. 0-Brandon Stevenson (8); 6. 29-Randy Stanford (5); 7. 70-Chris Klemko (7); 8. 94-Jim Wehrman (6); 9. 29OG-Tom Eller (3); 10. 5-Bryan Walters (9); 11. 4G-George Gaertner Jr. (11); 12. 38-Mike Dapra (14); 13. 7C-Chris Howerton (12); 14. 12-Dan Swim (13-DNS).
Mesilla Valley Transportation B-Main Two (12 Laps):
- 2K-Jimmy Kouba (2); 2. 52-Craig Lager (1); 3. 5H-Patrick Haynes (8) --- 4. 22-Jeff Pellersels (4); 5. 9-Greg Olsen (11); 6. 31-Austin Sears (12); 7. 4-Jordan Paulsen (10); 8. 39-William Huck (14); 9. 20-Steve Thomas (13); 10. 15-Kevin Hinich (5); 11. 26T-Tyler Tischendorf (3); 12. 7-Steve Clott (9); 13. 38X-Allen Hafford (7); 14. 6B-Vince Bartolotta (6-DNS).
POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Wildcard Sprint Car League Main Event (25 Laps):
1 3C-Kyle Cummins (2); 2. 99-Korey Weyant (1); 3. 1-Mitch Wissmiller (3); 4. 78-Rob Caho Jr. (5); 5. 24-Landon Simon (6); 6. 22S-Slater Helt (10); 7. 57-TJ Artz (16); 8. 56-Mitchell Davis (8); 9. 2-Jordan Mattson (14); 10. 71S-Doug Schenck (11); 11. 01-Chris Dodd (15); 12. 41-Dennis Spitz (17); 13. 2K-Jimmy Kouba (18); 14. 91-Jimmy Sivia (9); 15. 6-Jake Kouba (19); 16. 20X-Natalie Klemko (21); 17. 52-Craig Lager (20); 18. 15V-Matt Vandervere (7); 19. 11-James Lyerla (4); 20. 19-Jori Hughes (12); 21. 5H-Patrick Haynes (22); 22. 8D-Katlynn Leer (13).
Lap Leader(s): Weyant 1-6, Cummins 7-25.
Hard Charger(s): Artz +9 (16th-to-7th).