Drake Edwards Dominates for First Career POWRi National Midget League Victory at Southern Illinois Raceway
Photo by POWRi
MARION, Ill.—Drake Edwards would put together a perfect evening at Southern Illinois Raceway, leading every lap and setting quick time on his way to his first career POWRi National Midget League feature victory in thrilling fashion on Saturday night.
The talented field of POWRi National Midget competitors took to the Marion bullring with Edwards immediately showing speed. Edwards established a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 9.987 seconds before capturing a heat race victory. Additional heat race wins went to Kale Drake and Jacob Denney.
When the thirty-lap feature took the green flag, high-point qualifier Drake Edwards and Ethan Mitchell led the field to the start, with Edwards quickly taking command of the top position on the opening circuit.
As Edwards built a comfortable advantage at the front of the field, the battle behind him intensified. Kale Drake, Jacob Denney, Cannon McIntosh, Ethan Mitchell, and Karter Sarff raced in a tightly contested fight for the runner-up position, exchanging positions throughout the feature while keeping fans on the edge of their seats.
The closing laps provided plenty of drama as Edwards suffered a deflating tire while maintaining the lead. Sensing an opportunity, Kale Drake mounted a last-lap charge and threw everything he had at the leader through turns three and four. Despite the challenge, Edwards held his line and crossed the finish line first to secure his inaugural POWRi National Midget League feature victory by .5-seconds.
Kale Drake would finish a strong second, while Cannon McIntosh charged forward seven positions during the feature to round out the podium in third.
The victory marked a memorable breakthrough for Edwards, who completed a flawless night by setting quick time, winning his heat race, and leading all thirty laps en route to his first career POWRi National Midget League triumph.
POWRi National Midget League | Southern Illinois Raceway | 5/30/26 | Full Results:
Big R Stores Quick Qualifying Time: 40D-Drake Edwards(9.987)
Flying A Motorsports Heat Race 1 Winner: 40D-Drake Edwards
Eibach Heat Race 2 Winner: 4-Kale Drake
MVT Services Heat Race 3 Winner: 67-Jacob Denney
Start2Finish TV High Point Qualifier: 40D-Drake Edwards
Hoosier Racing Tire Hard Charger: 71K-Cannon McIntosh(+7)
Toyota Racing Development Feature Winner: 40D-Drake Edwards
Event Information: https://www.myracepass.com/events/602499.
TRD A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 40D-Drake Edwards[1]; 2. 4-Kale Drake[4]; 3. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[10]; 4. 67-Jacob Denney[5]; 5. 7U-Karter Sarff[3]; 6. 40L-Mack Leopard[9]; 7. 19-Ethan Mitchell[2]; 8. 20Q-Brecken Reese[6]; 9. 5U-Landon Henry[7]; 10. 19AZ-Drew Sherman[16]; 11. 00-Broc Elliott[12]; 12. 13-Chase Howard[11]; 13. 50J-Brian Jones[17]; 14. 27X-Kyle Jones[8]; 15. 21H-Levi Hinck[14]; 16. 83H-Cullen Hutchison[13]; 17. 77-Joey Wirth[15]; 18. 46G-Zack Grogan[18]; 19. 91-Cody Beard[19]
Flying A Motorsports Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Drake Edwards[4]; 2. 20Q-Brecken Reese[2]; 3. 5U-Landon Henry[3]; 4. 13-Chase Howard[1]; 5. 83H-Cullen Hutchison[5]; 6. 19AZ-Drew Sherman[6]; 7. (DNS) 91-Cody Beard
Eibach Racing Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Kale Drake[2]; 2. 7U-Karter Sarff[4]; 3. 27X-Kyle Jones[3]; 4. 00-Broc Elliott[1]; 5. 77-Joey Wirth[5]; 6. (DNS) 46G-Zack Grogan
MVT Services Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Jacob Denney[1]; 2. 19-Ethan Mitchell[4]; 3. 40L-Mack Leopard[2]; 4. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[3]; 5. 21H-Levi Hinck[5]; 6. 50J-Brian Jones[6]
Big R Stores Qualifying 1: 1. 40D-Drake Edwards, 09.987[3]; 2. 5U-Landon Henry, 10.135[6]; 3. 20Q-Brecken Reese, 10.208[1]; 4. 13-Chase Howard, 10.469[5]; 5. 83H-Cullen Hutchison, 10.547[2]; 6. 19AZ-Drew Sherman, 10.619[4]; 7. 91-Cody Beard, 01:00.000[7]
Big R Stores Qualifying 2: 1. 7U-Karter Sarff, 10.185[6]; 2. 27X-Kyle Jones, 10.233[1]; 3. 4-Kale Drake, 10.235[5]; 4. 00-Broc Elliott, 10.701[2]; 5. 77-Joey Wirth, 10.980[3]; 6. 46G-Zack Grogan, 01:00.000[4]
Big R Stores Qualifying 3: 1. 19-Ethan Mitchell, 10.115[3]; 2. 71K-Cannon McIntosh, 10.155[2]; 3. 40L-Mack Leopard, 10.237[5]; 4. 67-Jacob Denney, 10.515[6]; 5. 21H-Levi Hinck, 10.750[4]; 6. 50J-Brian Jones, 11.067[1]
My Race Pass Hot Laps: 1. 40D-Drake Edwards, 09.714[7]; 2. 5U-Landon Henry, 09.880[16]; 3. 67-Jacob Denney, 10.014[18]; 4. 4-Kale Drake, 10.031[14]; 5. 27X-Kyle Jones, 10.127[2]; 6. 71K-Cannon McIntosh, 10.168[6]; 7. 20Q-Brecken Reese, 10.169[1]; 8. 83H-Cullen Hutchison, 10.186[4]; 9. 40L-Mack Leopard, 10.194[15]; 10. 19AZ-Drew Sherman, 10.211[10]; 11. 19-Ethan Mitchell, 10.332[9]; 12. 7U-Karter Sarff, 10.335[17]; 13. 13-Chase Howard, 10.455[13]; 14. 00-Broc Elliott, 10.611[5]; 15. 21H-Levi Hinck, 10.630[12]; 16. 91-Cody Beard, 10.831[19]; 17. 50J-Brian Jones, 10.928[3]; 18. 77-Joey Wirth, 12.081[8]; 19. 46G-Zack Grogan, 12.081[11]
All 2026 POWRi National Midget League events will be streamed LIVE on Start2Finish. For more information or to purchase an Xpress Pass, visit S2FTV.com.
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