POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Tony Stewart and the boys put on a great show at last year's POWRI "Battle at the Center."

Less than 3 weeks away from the 4th annual!

Make sure you get to DuQuoin on Saturday, December 7th!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fuxjTagWTg

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Andrew Felker gunning for 1st victory in POWRi's Battle at the Center on Dec. 7

DU QUOIN, Ill. (Nov. 20, 2013)-Andrew Felker will be gunning for his first victory in the fourth annual Great Clips Battle at the Center presented by K & N Filters, a non-points, all-star event promoted by the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series on the one-sixth Mini Magic Mile at the Southern Illinois Center.

Felker is expected to be a serious contender to follow in the footsteps of previous winners Tony Stewart (2012), Bryan Clauson (2011) and Casey Schuman (2010) in the indoor event at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. Felker drove from 11th on the grid to finish second in the feature a year ago in an event that had 67 entries. It was the sixth top-10 in eight features at the track for the 21-year-old from Carl Junction, Mo.

"It's definitely a race I'd like to win and be on the winner's list," Felker said. "It's getting to be bigger and bigger and more guys are taking their Chili Bowl cars."

The week-long Lucas Oil Chili Bowl midget event, run in January on an indoor track in Tulsa, Okla., is regarded as the Super Bowl of short track racing with more than 250 entries. POWRi's Battle at the Center is a perfectly-timed trial run for new equipment for the Chili Bowl and attracts many top short-track drivers.

Felker is bringing out his best stuff for the Battle at the Center to get ready for the Chili Bowl. He's purchased a new Spike chassis and attached new parts to it and freshened his Fontana powerplant.

"I'm definitely looking forward to going back there (Du Quoin) and giving it another try," Felker said. "We had a car maybe to beat Tony last year. The previous couple of years I took my rental car (for another driver for the Chili Bowl) and this year I'll have my own car and my own equipment. I've had a Chevy and it's a good short track motor, but having my usual car and motor will make me more prepared for the Chili Bowl. We'll shake down the fresh parts and get things ready for it."

Felker finished eighth in the Battle at the Center in 2010 and didn't' advance to the feature in 2011, the only time he's missed a feature in nine career events at Du Quoin. He was fifth in 2011, sixth in 2012, seventh in 2009 and eighth in 2010 in regular-season POWRi events at the track.

"It definitely helps having laps there," Felker said. "We definitely have a little bit of experience to build upon."

Felker was champion of the 2012 POWRi National Midgets and finished second to Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Ill., in 2013. He won at Macon (Ill.) Speedway on June 8 and, in 30 features, had 14 top-fives and 24 top-10s. Felker advanced to every feature event, but didn't start in three from mechanical problems on the grid.

"We started off the season really hot and we had a rough patch in the middle and didn't run as well as we'd like at the end," Felker said. "I thought we put together a really good season. You can't take anything away from Zach. We had a strong season and he had a better season. Hopefully, we can come back and be stronger next year."

The Battle at the Center on Dec. 7 will feature a 40-lap feature and will be broadcast on MAVTV American Real on a date to be determined.

The Southern Illinois Center is located on the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. Front gates open at 3 p.m. CST, hot laps begin at 5 p.m. CST with racing immediately following. General admission tickets are $20 and children 12-and-under are free.


POWRi Racing Sponsors
Auto Meter - "The Official Instrumentation" of POWRi Racing
Afco - "The Official Shock" of POWRi Racing
Ford - "The Official EcoBoost Challenge" of POWRi Racing
Great Clips - "The Official Salon" of POWRi Racing
Hoosier Tire - "The Official Race Tire" of POWRi Racing
Impact Racing - "The Official Motorsports Safety Equipment" of POWRi Racing
K&N Filter - "The Official Filter" of POWRi Racing
Lucas Oil Products - "The Official Oil" of POWRi Racing
Speedway Motors - "The Official Performance Parts Store" of POWRi Racing


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For more information, go to www.POWRi.com.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Really looking forward to this! Been to everyone of them.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Made last years, Loved it. Lots of good racing all over the pack. Gonna try, Might be weather dependent on this end. 5hrs each way.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Originally Posted by ronmil:
Really looking forward to this! Been to everyone of them.

Haven't missed one yet & don't plan to miss this one.:32:

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Haven't seen a lot of buzz about entries yet…. think we can expect similar as last year?

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

I would except alot more. First year there was around 40 second year around 53 54 last year 67 so its looking up. Even if there is snow on the ground I would say there would at least be 40 and that is plenty with the way power I runs this show with all the heats and then the qualifier races. Alot of racing for 20 dollars. Must guess tho on car count is 73

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Stewart faced one final restart with four to go in the 40-lap feature and darted away from Felker to win by three car lengths.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Expect to see the 2013 ARDC champ there. Except his number will be "1K" and the car will be red & black.

Anyone know if there will be live PPV for this race? I would figure there is not since mavtv is videoing it to air later.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

No LIVE stream.

However, we will be taping for MAV-TV.

In addition to that, we will be shooting interviews and short video recap clips on our Jackslash Twitter and Jackslash and POWRI Facebook page throughout the night (internet connection pending).

This is a fun event and it gets bigger each year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fuxjTagWTg

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

I went to this race last year and will be going again this year and taking 2 new people to this race.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Full Feature from 2011 with T Mez in the 37 and Clauson in the 39. Also take not last years crowd was easily double this and the track was wider both in the straights and turns. Racy as hell.

2012's is on Mav Reruns and Jackslash.com
You Tube Video

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

We were at the 2011 race and Clauson and T-Mez put on a show that will be very hard to top. That was as good of a race as we've seen in a long time. T-Mez was about as gracious following the feature as anyone could be but you could see clearly that he was terribly disappointed and everyone in the place felt for him.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

anyone give suggestions on where to stay? any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Don

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

Only a couple of decent motels in Du Quoin but Carbondale is about 18 miles south and has tons of rooms. Last year I went down on friday, got a room for two nights in the Super Eight in Du Quoin but sat morning they told me the overbooked. So i went down to Carbondale and got a room.

Plan for me if I go is to just leave Cincy ten AM. they are a hour behind anyway. Get there about three, get room, eat and be in the center with a seat by 4 or so.

If you go to carbondale. The road up to Duquoin is fine, Just watch for deer. I didn't have a problem but it's very rural and its deer season in many many areas.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

You might try the Fairgrounds Inn which is adjacent to the fairgrounds and the Southern Illinois Center. You might by chance get lucky and get something there. It's a long shot but worth a try. Rooms there are nice and not too pricey.

Benton and Carbondale are about the same distance from Du Quoin. Benton, which is 16 miles East of the fairgrounds is right on I-57 and has a couple of motels that would be worth checking on.

You could also try the Rend Lake Resort which is right on Rend Lake about 25 miles from the fairgrounds. It's their off season and they might have a pretty good rate. The rooms are really nice there and they're right on the lake and if it's not too pricey it'd be an nice stay. When I say right on the lake I mean you can fish right off the balcony.

Plus, near the Resort there is a really good place to eat called Stringers just 3 or 4 miles West of the lake that is definitely worth your time to check out. We look forward to eating there every year when we're down for the Horn Memorial over Labor Day. Stringers is on the West side of Rt.148 right next to Old Bates Campground on the corner of Peach Orchard Road and Rt.148. The address is 13017 State Highway 148 Sesser, IL if you use GPS. Just a little joint but it's the best food we have while were in Du Quoin for the Mile race.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

[QUOTE=Jackslash.com;357998]Tony Stewart and the boys put on a great show at last year's POWRI "Battle at the Center."

Less than 3 weeks away from the 4th annual!


Wonder how much extracurricular racing Tony will do this year. Sounds like he's still hurting pretty bad. W
ould miss his trips to the Fort Wayne Rumble and the "Battle at the Center" each year.

___________
Wes Stafford

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

With or without Smoke, It will be a heck of a show. Felker, Bell, Probably Clauson, Maybe Westfall and the Powri Gang many guys were dialed in last year but several fell out.

The track isn't real big but it races bigger than it is. I seen three wide several times and wheelies galore, slide jobs and lots of passing.

Don't want to over hype it for fear of being over crowded but I also want it to be successful, Maybe successful enough to have two a year :)

Another note is, If they turn the track around, Which they'll do about five or six times. Don't stay out at the car for 20 minutes, you'll miss two races :) It only takes em about ten minutes most times. Restroom and a Smoke and get to your seat :)

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

In 2012 they ran a two night POWERi show on the Friday and Saturday nights of Labor Day Weekend during the Du Quoin State Fair in addition to the Battle In The Center in December. The Saturday night show was a great show and since the hurricane washed out all racing activities on The Magic Mile in 2012 the indoor racing was all we got to see for the whole week we were at Du Quoin. They have run the midgets indoors off and on during the Fair ever since they built the Southern Illinois Center

For whatever reason they didn't run indoors during the Fair over Labor Day Weekend this year. We were kinda' disappointed they didn't.

Re: POWRI "Battle at the Center!"
 

I know a guy who would be a good add to the show if they're any rides available. Chase Stockon!!! Doesn't have a ton of Midget runs but was very fast at chili bowl last year and is a great sprint car driver. He owns his own sprint car teams so he know what it takes to get a car to the track. Very good driver and easy on equipment. Give him a call you won't be sorry.