Saturday night at Port City Raceway belonged to the travelers.
A sprawling field of 184 competitors rolled into Tulsa for the POWRi Sooner Speedweek finale, bringing cars and crews from across Oklahoma and points beyond. In the middle of it all, Sand Springs driver Ryker Jones was the lone representative from the immediate area.
Jones, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Restrictor Micro, gave the hometown crowd something to root for early.
He opened the night by ripping off a 10.772-second qualifying lap, the quickest time in his eight-car group. Jones outpaced Wyatt Moritz, Regan Rosenboom, Hudsyn Truitt, Hunter Lewis, Lathan Knott, Remi White and Cooper Davis to put himself in good position before racing even began.
He backed that up in his heat race, moving from fourth to third over eight laps. Truitt took the win, while Knott made the biggest move of the race, charging from sixth to second. Jones held down third and earned a starting spot inside the third row for the 25lap A-Main.
Then came the part of racing that never fits neatly into the plan.
Jones started fifth in the 20-car feature but traffic and contact saw him slip behind the field as the laps clicked away, eventually finishing 19th. It was a rough ending to a night that had begun with plenty of speed and promise.
Levi Ballard of Grimes, Iowa, controlled the Restrictor feature from the pole and never surrendered the lead. Chase DeMarco finished second, Brexton Busch was third and Truitt climbed from seventh to fourth. Knott continued his charge through the field, moving from 11th to fifth.
Jones finished one spot ahead of Regan Rosenboom.
The evening’s marquee event belonged to Broken Arrow’s Jonathan Beason, who started third and won the 30-lap POWRi Midget feature. Brecken Reese took second, Andrew Felker finished third and Kyle Jones placed fourth. Karter Sarff provided one of the night’s strongest drives, racing from 12th to fifth.
Paxton Belchik of Alton, Illinois, won the 15-lap Junior Sprint feature after starting second. Audrey Larson finished runner-up, while Gio Anderlini drove from sixth to third.
In A-Class, Chelby Hinton of Dubberly, Louisiana, started on the pole and stayed there, winning the 25-lap feature ahead of Cash Lacombe. Bixby driver Jase Randolph finished third.
Randolph wasn’t finished. He returned in the Non-Wing Micro feature and placed fifth, giving him two top-five finishes on the night.
Jett Nunley of Marlow won the Non-Wing feature after starting second. Kortland Stephens finished second and Chris Cochran took third.
His final result may not show it, but the Sand Springs racer was fast when the night began. He led his qualifying group, moved forward in his heat and started fifth in a packed feature against some of the strongest young micro-sprint drivers in the region.
Sometimes the finish tells the story. Sometimes it doesn’t.