One night after pacing the middle stages of the feature before seeing the lead slip through his fingers, Kyle Cummins bounced back quite nicely during Saturday night’s 57th Western World Championships finale Presented By Avanti Windows & Doors at Arizona’s Mohave Valley Raceway.

This time around, once Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) assumed control, he never relented after leading the final 25 laps to earn a $10,500 reward as well as his first career Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series feature victory in his Petty Performance Racing No. 3p.

In what was nearly a carbon copy of Friday’s Western World opener, USAC CRA point leader R.J. Johnson was the driver all others were chasing during the opening laps. Johnson paced the first eight of Friday’s feature, and on Saturday, led the opening five circuits of the 30-lap affair.

Each time, however, it was the fourth-place starting Cummins who surged by Johnson for the lead. On Saturday, Cummins went topside in turn four to clear Johnson for the top spot by the sixth lap mark.

Moments later, on the 10th lap, the most unexpected of all twists and turns took place when a brief power outage submerged the 1/3-mile dirt oval in darkness amid a green flag run. After only two minutes, the track lights began to shine again, the red flag was lifted and racing was able to resume.

Just as he did the previous night, Friday winner Kevin Thomas Jr. emerged into the second spot past R.J. Johnson thereafter. However, this time, by the time he did so, only nine laps remained and a full straightaway separated himself and Cummins for the race lead.

Going green the rest of the way, Cummins went unchallenged the remainder of the way, outside of navigating lapped traffic, to earn the victory with Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) taking second and Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) finishing third.

R.J. Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) finished in the fourth spot after leading the initial five laps, and his points gained throughout the night allowed him to clinch his first career USAC CRA Sprint Car championship.

J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, Ariz.) rounded out the top-five after starting 18th on the grid. His +13 advancement earned him hard charger honors presented in memory of Jim and Chet Gardner. Furthermore, Yeley pocketed the coveted Lafond Jar of Change, which totaled $3423.68, raised through donations from the racing community.

Cody Williams (Norco, Calif.) won the FlowDynamics Incorporated / In Honor of Wiley Miller Sr and Wiley Miller II First Heat Race. Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) captured the WC Friend Company Second Heat Race. Kyle Cummins scored the win in the BillsJerky.net / Silbermann Solar Third Heat Race.  J.J. Yeley was the victor of the Sexton Fire Protection Fourth Heat Race. A.J. Bender (San Diego, Calif.) raced to the win in the Factory Wraps Semi.

57th Annual Western World Mohave Valley Raceway USAC CRA Sprint Car Results

1. Kyle Cummins (4)

2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (5)

 3. C.J. Leary (6)

 4. R.J. Johnson (2)

5. J.J. Yeley (18)

 6. Ricky Lewis (1)

7. Matt Westfall (19)

 8. Tye Mihocko (8)

9. Jake Swanson (9)

 10. Austin Williams (14)

11. Stevie Sussex (3)

12. David Gasper (11)

13. Charles Davis Jr. (10)

14. Cody Williams (13)

15. A.J. Bender (23)

16. Cameron La Rose (17)

17. Kaleb Montgomery

18. Tommy Malcolm (12)

19. Austin Grabowski (16)

20. Shon Deskins (24)

21. Jeff Dyer (2)

22. Verne Sweeney (25-P)

 23. Grant Sexton (21)

24. Logan Calderwood (7)

 25. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (26-P)

 26. Logan Williams (15). NT