Consider it an early candidate for finish of the year in motorsports.
NASCAR Xfinity driver Christopher Bell, taking advantage of an off weekend for that series, and Jonathan Beason had a dramatic finish Sunday in the sixth annual Turnpike Challenge at Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Beason nipped Bell in the POWRi Lucas Oil National/West Midgets race that saw them make contact at the finish line. Bell’s car climbed over Beason’s right rear tire and tipped over after the checkered flag waved, leading the race announcer in the video below to exclaim “Holy smokes!” The margin of victory was 0.020 seconds. It was Beason’s first series win.
“It is pretty neat, but I’m not real happy with myself on how that turned out,” Beason said in victory lane, according to the POWRi series website. “I was quite surprised that Christopher left the bottom open and of course it stuck for me and I got on the gas on exit and it just went right. I don’t want to ever wreck anybody. I’m happy to get the win, and I’m glad we are as fast as him and Keith Kunz Motorsports, but I would rather us both cross the line without hitting.”
Said Bell, according to the POWRi series website: “I needed more than a couple of laps to build my momentum on the top, and I knew that he was good on the bottom, but I didn’t feel like I could outrun him down low, so I felt like my best bet was to stay committed to the top. It’s really cool to come back home and run as good as we have this week, it’s a special feeling for me.”
Watch the video of the finish ...
The final sequence that sent the packed @PortCity_Racing crowd into a frenzy and thrilled fans worldwide watching on @SpeedShiftTV... 😳
— POWRi Racing (@POWRi_Racing) March 25, 2019
Cheers to @JonathanBeason and @CBellRacing for delivering that remarkable finish and being great sports about it! 👏🏼
📸 @Jessica_Dawnn13 pic.twitter.com/VeCCR6Nd4K
Happy to get the win. Hated that @CBellRacing tore his car. Made it better when him & @KeithKunz both said it was great race. When I stepped on the gas it went straight, wheels turned to the left.
— Jonathan Beason (@JonathanBeason) March 25, 2019
Bell competed in four POWRi midget races in the Turnpike Challenge in Oklahoma. He won at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, on Thursday. Bell finished second to Logan Seavey at I-44 Riverside Speedway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Friday. Bell finished third to Seavey and runner-up Tyler Thomas at that track on Saturday. And then there was Sunday’s spectacular finish.