On a beautiful day for racing the Wayne Blue Devil Power Drive team was ready to compete at the 2025 EVERON Power Drive Championships.
Advanced class car A107 was scheduled to compete in multiple preliminary events prior to the endurance rally, and the two Exhibition class cars, E22 and E39, were to compete in the endurance rally.
In the 90 minute endurance rally on the .23 mile oval track, car A107, driven by Allen Brenner and Wyatt Hawkins, settled into second place shortly after the race began. Running consistent lap times, the A107 stayed in second place for most of the race.
With 11 minutes left in the rally, A107 passed for the lead in Advanced class and never looked back. With the competition falling fast, the A107 began to create a commanding lead while logging faster lap times.
Car A107 finished the race in first place with 122 laps and a 14 lap (3.22 mile) lead.
Multiple preliminary events finished in the same fashion for A107, as it was awarded first place in Maneuverability, Design & Construction, and Documentation. Enough points were awarded through all the events of the day for the A107 to be crowned the Advanced Class Overall Champion. This is the third straight championship for car 107.
In Exhibition class, car E39, driven by Josh Doring, took an early lead at the green flag and E22, driven by Mason Blickenstaff, tailed the leaders in fourth. At the 5 minute mark E39 dropped to second place, and E22 maintained fourth. At the 17 minute mark the E39 dropped position again to third, tailing two cars from Friend.
For the next half hour all Exhibition class cars maintained their position until E39 suffered an on-track incident that sent it to the pits. This moved the E22 up to third position at the halfway point of the race.
The Blue Devil pit crew checked the E39 for damage, put the driver back in and it was back on the track eager to make up for lost time. At the hour mark, track positions stayed the same, but both Wayne cars were completing quicker laps than their competitors.
With 17 minutes left, E22 passed for second place and began erasing the gap to the leader. With 10 minutes left, the E39 car made a pass for third place, while the E22 was on the tail of the leader. Two minutes later the E22 passed for the lead, and wasn't going to let it go. E22 finished in first place, completing 149 laps earning Exhibition class champion, and E39 finished in third completing 142 laps. This is the third championship that car E22 has won.
"It was very exciting to see our cars performing as well as they did. We didn't lead every lap, but we led the laps that mattered," Head Coach Tony Cantrell said.
Additional awards received by the Blue Devils include: Best Paint - E22 and Highest Season Mileage - E39 with 126.96 mile completed. This is the third time E39 has received this award since it began in 2019. Car E22 came in second in total mileage, tailing the E39 by less than a half of a mile.
"Our cars were the only cars all season not to pit for mechanical issues. We had a perfect season mechanically," Mr. Cantrell said.
"A big thank you to First National Bank of Omaha and the City of Wayne for allowing us to compete in Wayne. This is a great facility for Power Drive. I would also like to thank all of the volunteers that made the Championships a huge success for all of the teams and a great event for the spectators," Mr. Cantrell added.
