Cole Powell became the new NASCAR Pinty’s Series championship points leader on Wednesday night when took home his first-ever victory in the series at Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatchewan at the Velocity Prairie Thunder Twin 125s sponsored by Bayer CropScience. In addition to the victory in the second 125-lap race, Powell also wheeled the Copps Buildall / Kubota Chevrolet to second-place in the first 125-lap race of the night. He was the only driver in the field to finish on the podium in both races and exits the event as the championship points leader for the series.
“Getting your first win in any series is hard, especially with the competition here in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series,” explained Powell. “It was a super close field.”
Powell was sixth fastest in practice on a track he had never seen before. In qualifying he clocked in fourth fastest, cementing his solid starting spot for the first race. In that first event Powell challenged eventual race winner Donald Theetge for the win but settled into second.
“In the first race we were rotating the centre of the corner too good and I was fighting loose,” Powell said. “We made the adjustments we needed for the second 125 laps where we were starting third.”
The adjustments worked. In the second 125-lap race Powell raced hard and traded paint with race leader LP Dumoulin at every opportunity. A late-race caution set up Powell for a shot at the win that he ultimately took.
#VictoryDonuts for your winner of the 2nd #VelocityBayerTwin125s at @wyantgrprace @ColePowell @NASCARHomeTrack Tracks @Pintysfoods @NASCARonTSN #TrueNorthStrongAndFast #NPSWesternSwing #NASCARWeek #WGRPINTYS18 pic.twitter.com/gaqQqbZI2G
— NASCAR Pinty's Series (@NASCARPintys) July 26, 2018
“I seen the 47 [Dumoulin] slip up a little bit and capitalized on that,” Powell said after the event. “He started to reel us in with ten to go but we caught lapped traffic and took off. It was a fun little track. The outside grove there really comes in there. It took a couple laps to get the right line down, but my spotter was doing a great job.”
It is a quick turnaround for the team: the next event for the NASCAR Pinty’s Series is this Saturday at Edmonton Raceway. Powell and his crew are already on their way there to finish up the western swing for the series. The green flag will drop at 7:30 pm.
RESULTS:
Race #1:
1 24 Donald Theetge
2 3 Cole Powell
3 18 Alex Tagliani
4 22 Marc-Antoine Camirand
5 17 D.J. Kennington
6 74 Kevin Lacroix
7 2 Mark Dilley
8 1 Joey McColm
9 5 Noel Dowler
10 46 Brett Taylor *
11 34 Jamie Krzysik *
12 27 Andrew Ranger
13 10 Luc Haukaas *
14 28 Jason White
15 43 Shantel Kalika *
16 47 L.P. Dumoulin
17 19 Adam Martin
18 4 Larry Jackson
Race #2:
1 3 Cole Powell
2 47 L.P. Dumoulin
3 22 Marc-Antoine Camirand
4 24 Donald Theetge
5 17 D.J. Kennington
6 18 Alex Tagliani
7 74 Kevin Lacroix
8 2 Mark Dilley
9 5 Noel Dowler
10 27 Andrew Ranger
11 1 Joey McColm
12 10 Luc Haukaas *
13 34 Jamie Krzysik *
14 43 Shantel Kalika *
15 46 Brett Taylor *
16 19 Adam Martin
17 28 Jason White
18 4 Larry Jackson