HAUBSTADT, Ind. (June 2, 2012)—Trent Beckinger delivered an impressive performance in his first race of the season Saturday, winning the feature in the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series at Tri-State Speedway.
Beckinger was the POWRi Micro champion in 2011, but the responsibilities of a new, full-time job had forced him cut back his racing plans in 2012. Beckinger graduated from the University of Evansville in June with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in electrical engineering. The 21-yaar-old from Evansville had targeted the POWRi event at Tri-State, his hometown track, for his return to the series.
“My dad (Monte) and I built a new car for two races,” Beckinger said. “We wanted to win here and we want to win the 66 Mike Phillips Memorial.”
Beckinger started the 20-lap feature from 16th position and climbed to second behind Joe B. Miller by the 10th lap. He was chipping away at Miller’s once-healthy lead and was only a couple of car lengths behind when the caution came out.
On the lap 15 restart, Beckinger drove to the inside in Turn One and Miller took the far outside. Beckinger took the lead exiting Turn Two and led the final six laps on the quarter-mile track.
“Oh, my gosh, this is amazing,” Beckinger said. “I was hoping for a good finish and to come out in one piece. We were terrible in our heat (fourth), but my dad and I made the perfect adjustments to the shocks for the feature.”
It was Beckinger’s sixth career victory in POWRi Micros. He had four a year ago in a campaign that saw him with 17 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s in 19 features.
Miller, of Millersville, Mo., led laps three through 14 and settled for second.
“Trent was really prepared for the bottom and I wasn’t,” Miller said. “We were pretty good on the top.”
Cale Thomas of Fairland, Ind., finished third, followed by Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill., and Derek Schuett of Philo, Ill.
Beckinger has unfinished business in the 66 Mike Phillips Memorial, scheduled for July 19-21 at Southern Illinois Raceway in Marion, Ill., Beckinger led the majority of the race, but finished second to Chris Bell, who won the $10,000 first-place purse. Beckinger earned $5,000 for taking second.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series results (20 laps): 1. Trent Beckinger, 2. Joe B. Miller, 3. Cale Thomas, 4. Jake Neuman, 5. Derek Schuett, 6. Chad Elliott, 7. Scott Plew, 8. Kyle Schuett, 9. Jimmy Stearns, 10. Steven Russell, 11. Jimmy Wells, 12. Devin Feger, 13. Jacob Patton, 14. Ethan Fleetwood, 15. Alec Long, 16. Sara Elrod, 17. Adam Waters, 18. Shawn Sears, 19. Jeff McIntosh, 20. Paul Nienhiser, 21. Derek LeMaster, 22. Justin Peck, 23. Jeremy Camp, 24. Spencer Montgomery, 25. Brad McDaniel, 26. Will Harvey.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.