By Lonnie Wheatley (Tulsa, OK) -- The Lucas Oil POWRi West Midget League presented by Executive Concrete NWA fires back into action with Friday night’s “Midget Meltdown” event atop Meeker, Oklahoma’s ¼-mile Red Dirt Raceway.
Friday’s card will mark the third round of action for the POWRi West Midget League after kicking off the 2018 campaign in tandem with the National series with two nights of competition last month at Oklahoma City’s I-44 Riverside Speedway.
Originally set for two nights of competition this weekend, Saturday’s tilt at Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, KS, has been canceled due to expected cold temperatures. A potential makeup date is under consideration.
The POWRi West Midget League made its first appearance at Red Dirt Raceway last September with Collinsville’s Tyler Thomas storming to victory lane ahead of eventual series champion Grady Chandler of Edmond, OK, with Caney, Kansas shoe Andrew Deal, Nixa, Missouri’s Wesley Smith and Collinsville’s Austin Lambert also among the top five.
Friday’s event also marks the third round of action for the POWRi West Sooner Series, a league within a league. In total, more than $12,000 in points fund money is up for grabs in the POWRi West Midget League and POWRi West Sooner Series action for 2018.
Zach Daum holds the early edge in POWRi West points after the pair of Oklahoma City events with Oklahoma shoes Trey Marcham (Oklahoma City) and Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow) next on the point charts.
Chandler is the defending series champion, taking the top spot last year by 620 points over Wesley Smith with Kory Schudy in third. Fifteen-year-old Cannon McIntosh placed fourth and earned Rookie of the Year honors with Zane Hendricks filling out the top five.
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 and A1 Machine.
Contingency sponsors include Smith Ti (Heat One), Keizer Wheels (Heat Two), Saldana Products (Heat Three), Rod End Supply (Heat Four), Pyrotech (Heat Five), BOSS Performance (High Point Driver), MPI “Official Steering Wheel” of POWRi West, Esslinger Engineering Performance Award (top-finishing Esslinger entry), and the MyChron Tom/AIM bonus of $300 (1st), $150 (2nd) and $50.
Hot laps at Red Dirt Raceway are set to get under way at 7:15 p.m. on Friday with racing action going green at 8:00 p.m.
Meeker, Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway is located 4.5 miles north of US 62 on SR 18. For more information, contact the track at 405-318-0198 or check online at https://www.reddirtraceway.com/.
The Lucas Oil POWRi West Midget League presented by Executive Concrete NWA is slated for 29 nights of competition at 13 different tracks throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. The POWRi West Sooner Series consists of the dozen events in the state of Oklahoma.
More information regarding the POWRi West Midget League is available at http://www.powri.com/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PowRiWest/.