2018 MRT Race 1 - Livonia (Livonia 100)

Top: Lamar, Nadeau
Flop: HWW's engine department

Jacob Smith and Micheal Bell score top 12 finishes in Powell Racing's debut race

Coming into Livonia Powell Racing made a late entry into this series. Many people in the garage were skeptical on how well the team will perform this year. However, Jacob Smith and Micheal Bell answered the critics by running very well (in fact, Smith led the second most laps in the race at 25) and finished 3rd and 12th. In the post-race media center Smith was clearly happy on how well the team got prepared for this race in limited time.

"First of all I can't thank the guys enough back at the shop for getting the two cars ready for Livonia, they would stay at the shop very late at night busting their asses off to get the setups and engines right. I really thought for a while that I had a real chance of winning the whole goddamn race after Barnes blew up in front of me, but after lap 50 the car started to fall off for a while. In the last 15 laps the car came back on me and once I got up to 2nd, but I couldn't pass the #92 and fell back to 3rd. In the end I'm really proud of our guys today, we fought hard today and almost got them a win on debut."

Micheal Bell on the other hand didn't have the run that Smith had today, running in the teens for the majority of the day before coming home 12th. Before the big one on lap 29 he was back in the lower 20s and barely avoided the crash. As the race was coming to the end Bell's car got stronger and handled better allowing him to slowly move up through the field.            

"I'm pretty happy with my run today. It was a lot of fun racing the other drivers all day long and getting through the big one early in the race was quite eventful. The car started the race tight and I was dropping back through the field, but as the race got into its last few laps it was coming around on me and made up a couple of positions at the end. I can't wait to get to the next race and go for an even better result."