POWRi - Beckinger Fuels Micros Championship With Four Wins

MILLSTADT, Nov. 1, 2011: Trent Beckinger didn’t enter the season opener for the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series last March because he didn’t intend upon racing for the championship.

“We skipped Du Quoin (Ill.) for a reason,” Beckinger said. “We never planned on running for the championship. Then, we started running good.”

The 21-year-old from Evansville, Ind., was concerned his family-owned team wouldn’t have the resources to run the entire year, but a remarkable season of four victories, 17 top-fives and 19 top-10s in 19 features kept the purse money flowing in and the No. 75 Sawyer-Kawasaki on the track.

Beckinger finished sixth in his first feature at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., and followed with eight straight top-fives—two wins, three seconds, two third and a fourth. He took control of the championship and never relinquished it.

“I never put myself in a bad position,” Beckinger said. “I couldn’t afford to. One bad crash and it might have ended our season.”

This was the first season Beckinger raced for the POWRi Micros championship. He drove a partial season in 2010, finishing 10th in the championship.

Joe B. Miller of Millersville, Mo., closed strongly with two wins and four more top-fives in the last six races to take second in the championship. He had 12 top-fives in 18 features.

Jacob Patton of Bethalto, Ill., edged Andrew Felker of Carl Junction, Mo., by 10 points—one finishing position—for third in the points. Patton and Felker each had three victories, tied for second to Beckinger.

Dereck King, a three-time POWRi Micros champion, ran a partial schedule and finished fifth in the championship. In 13 features, the veteran from Vienna, Ill., had one win, nine top-fives and 11 top-10s.

POWRi’s season-ending banquet will be held on Friday (Nov. 4) at Andre’s Banquet Facility in St. Louis, Mo. Driver and car owner champions from the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget and 600cc Micro divisions, as well as the top 10 in points and Midget Rookie of the Year Jake Blackhurst of Mapleton, Ill., will be honored and receive their year-end awards, contingencies, and point funds.