From Pete Walton
Atlanta, GA – Veteran Parts Plus United Sprint Car Series past champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee added another championship to his legacy during the 2009 season. Gray edged out sensational rookie driver Justin Carver from Drummonds, Tennessee by only 37 points to capture the title in the potent Parts Plus USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series. The season long battle for the crown between the two drivers was decided at the final race of the season during the inaugural Hensley Suzuki USCS Fall Nationals presented by Union Auto Parts” on November 13-14th at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas.
The veteran (Gray) and the rookie (Carver) came into the final race only eighteen points apart. After the evenings 6-cars, 6-laps Parts Plus Power Dash comprised of the top six cars from the previous event, the two drivers were only eleven points apart. The Championship would be decided in the final A-Main of the 2009 season. Carver unfortunately got collected in a first lap, first turn tangle and finished twenty-third in the inal A-Main. Gray started third in the same A-Main but finished tenth, still collecting enough Championship points to clinch the title.
Gray who is also the 2009 Parts Plus USCS National Champion, had four feature wins in the Parts Plus USCS Mid-South regional series. Those came over a three-weekend span at Penton Raceway on June 19th, Camden Speedway on July 2nd , Malden Speedway on July 3rd and at Batesville Motor Speedway on July 10th. In addition to the four victories Gray finished in the runner-up spot eight times as well. He finished six more times in the top three positions and sixteen times in the top five after starting twenty-five races. He additionally had a total of twenty-three top ten finishes. He was only out of the top ten twice. He finished with 3686 total points. He also earned the Parts Plus USCS Speedweek 2009 Championship.
The eighteen year-old Carver, who was in his first full year of competition in winged sprint cars, showed tremendous talent and poise for a teenager. He collected his career-first Parts Plus USCS feature win at North Alabama Speedway on August 7th. The determined rookie driver had an impressive seven top-five finishes. He also finished seventeen times in the top ten places in Parts Plus USCS Mid South Thunder Tour main events. Carver finished in the runner-up spot in the regional standings with 3649 Championship points.
Past series Champion, Marshall Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas finished in the third position just 20 points behind Carver with 3629 points. Skinner had some outstanding 2009 performances including two Parts Plus USCS Mid-South Thunder tour wins at Riverside Speedway on June 13th and at Clayhill Motorsports on August 8th. He placed in the top five positions fifteen times and in the top ten sixteen times.
Eighteen year-old rookie driver, Jon Stinson from Memphis, Tennessee who was Skinner’s team-mate, finished in the fourth position in the final 2009 Parts Plus USCS Mid South Thunder Tour standings. Stinson showed promise for the future with nine top ten finishes during the 2009 season. He had a fifth place finish in the gumbo Nationals Championship race on November 7th at Greenville Speedway. He finished the season with 3429 points.
The 2008 United Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year Anthony Nicholson from Bartlett, Tennessee finished in the fifth position in the Parts Plus USCS Mid South Thunder Tour final standings. Nicholson also grabbed a career-first Parts Plus USCS feature win at North Alabama Speedway on May 24th in the Parts Plus USCS Speedweek 2009 Round Two.. Nicholson who had to sit out two races waiting on an engine repair also had seven top-five finishes in the division including the win and two runner-up spots. His scorecard showed twelve top-ten finishes. He finished with 3199 Mid South Championship points.
Raymond Stull from Independence, Mississippi finished sixth in the regional series with 2238 points. Stull collected his career-first and second feature Parts Plus USCS main event wins. Both of Stull’s wins came at Greenville Speedway. Ageless and timeless open wheel veteran ray Bugg from iuka, Mississippi finished seventh in the standings with 2092 points. Veteran sprint car racer, Bryce Vowan from Forrest City, Arkansas finished in the eighth position with 1870 points. Sixteen year-old rookie female sprint car racer, Morgan Turpen from Oakland, Tennessee nailed down the ninth position while running a limited schedule with 1782 points. Another talented rookie driver, nineteen year-old Casey Rowland from Nesbit, Mississippi rounded out the top ten in the standings with 1740 points.
Justin Carver tallied the most points of any rookie driver in the National, Mid-South Thunder, Southern Thunder and asphalt Thunder series and will be crowned with title of Parts Plus USCS National Rookie of the Year at the series banquet in January. For his outstanding performances, rookie driver Jon Stinson will be honored as the Parts Plus USCS Mid South Thunder Tour regional series rookie of the Year. Both Morgan Turpen and Casey Rowland ran a limited schedule in 2009 to remain eligible for USCS Rookie of the Year contention during the 2010 season.
One hundred and twenty-one different drivers competed in the twenty-seven Parts Plus USCS Mid South Thunder Tour events held at fourteen different tracks in five states. Sixteen different drivers won 2009 Parts Plus USCS Mid South Thunder main events. Those included Tim Crawley with seven wins, Terry Gray with three wins, Paul McMahan, Marshall Skinner and Raymond Stull with two wins each. Drivers Jerrod Hull, Gary Taylor, Anthony Nicholson, Shane Stewart, Lee Sowell, Don Young, Brady Bacon, Justin Carver, Eddie Gallagher, Jeff Swindell and Sammy Swindell had one feature win each.
The fifth annual Mid South Thunder Tour kicked off on Saturday, March 7th at Central Mississippi Speedway and concluded at Riverside Speedway on Saturday, November 14th. The Parts Plus USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series competes in Alabama, Arkansas , Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. For complete and archived results from these events please visit the series Official website at www.uscsracing.com . For series info call, 770-460-7223 or 404-886-5913.
Final 2009 Parts Plus USCS Mid-South Thunder point standings (after 26 events)
Pos. Car# Driver Points
1 10 Terry Gray 3686
2 24 Justin Carver 3649
3 26 Marshall Skinner 3629
4 26S Jon Stinson 3429
5 16 Anthony Nicholson 3199
6 6 Raymond Stull 2238
7 25 Ray Bugg 2092
8 2m Bryce Vowan 1870
9 80 Morgan Turpen 1782
10 C4 Casey Rowland 1740
11 88 Tim Crawley 1675
12 44 Ronny Howard 1634
13 58 Wade Oliver 1604
14 40R Scott Hensley 1470
15 1a Lee Moore 1412
Tie 75 Don Young 1412
17 51 Lee Sowell 1364
18 8X Chris Williams 1350
19 1 Eddie Gallagher 1338
20 78 Henry Gustavus 1256
21 40 Ernie Ainsworth 1103
22 9 Justin Sturch 1102
23 4M Michael Miller 1052
24 12 Jeff Swindell 972
25 12 Jerrod Hull 904
26 A12 Tommy Worley 807
27 9Jr Derek Hagar 764
28 3D Paul McMahan 746
Tie 92 Matt Kurtz 746
30 3B Brad Greer 718
31 39 Brad Bowden 710
32 1 Jeremy Newkirk 706
33 35 Ronnie Blair 658
34 1X Matt Linder 618
35 16P Dewayne Prince 600
36 6 Brad Wickham 595
37 23 Brian Bell 594
38 67 Brian Thomas 578
Tie 12D Dalton Davis 578
40 87 Kent Buckley 558
41 3 A G Rains 554
42 57 Shane Stewart 553
43 21 Troy Dow 534
44 1G Cody Gardner 490
45 32 Gary Bell 484
46 6K Jared Kelley 476
47 5 Dave Thorman 460
48 6X Dennis Lykins 454
Tie 21B Jake McLain 454
50 11 Kevin Gault 452
51 4 T W Parkinsons 448
52 7H Wade Human 414
53 77 Jesse Hockett 398
54 0 Andy McElhannon 387
55 21 Tim Sites 379
56 4C Tyler Godwin 374
57 8Z Zach Pringle 372
58 0X Clint Weiss 368
59 7D Dylan DeJournett 356
60 7X David DeJournett 344
61 12 T Joe Young 332
62 1X Chad Pitts 326
63 44X Wesley Shephard 310
64 99 Ricky Stenhouse 272
65 49 Brady Bacon 256
Tie 22 Dustin Barks 256
67 14 Paul Hart 252
68 9 Timmy Thrash 250
69 86 Buster Dickerson 248
Tie 47D Michael Dubert 248
71 86 Josh Fisher 240
Tie 2 D J Vanderley 240
73 3 Mark Shirshekahn 238
74 83 Bob Auld 234
Tie 7 Chuck Tilley 234
76 7H Lewis Jenkins, Jr 232
77 14F Tyler Brown 230
78 21 Aubrey Black 228
79 57 Dude Garrett 226
Tie 0 Ed Lee 226
81 10W Tony Wilson 222
82 9X Brad Yoder 214
83 20 Tyler Carter 200
84 91 Gary Taylor 159
85 10S Sammy Swindell 148
86 15S Nick Smith 146
Tie 4X Jan Howard 146
88 9X Gary Wright 144
89 4 Robbie Standridge 142
90 94 Danny Woods 136
Tie 31 Michael Craddock 136
Tie 99 Ricky Hood 136
93 6N Dain Naida 130
94 7H Jon Corbin 124
95 21T Eric Todd 122
Tie 7S Paul Sides 122
97 12 Christopher Sloan 120
Tie 16A Koty Adams 120
99 7 Daren Long 118
Tie 46 Jim Blenkarn 118
Tie 12G Johnny Gardner 118
102 22 Kevin Kilpatrick 114
103 3N Dennis Nolan 112
104 OK Jim Eubanks 110
Tie 7 Phillip Faulconer 110
Tie 2 Todd Fayard 110
107 14K Kyle Bellum 108
108 4 Brad Graham 100
Tie 4B Bryn Gohn 100
Tie 22 Bubba Jones 100
Tie 2 Daniel Grimes 100
Tie 241 Daniel Turbeville 100
Tie 2B Frank Beck 100
Tie 98 Jarod Roller 100
Tie 33 Joe Larkin 100
Tie 33 Josh Baker 100
Tie 19 Klint Angelette 100
Tie 21M Marty Merridith 100
Tie 7 Wes Michael 100
Tie 14T Jimmy Bridgeman 100
Tie 76 William Holder 100
2009 Parts Plus USCS Mid South Thunder Tour
Race/Date Track Location Region/Series Winner
1 March 7th Central Mississippi Speedway Winona, MS Mid South Tim Crawley
2 March 21st Malden Speedway Malden, MO Mid South Jerrod Hull
3 April 3rd Magnolia Motor Speedway Columbus, MS Mid South Tim Crawley
4 April 4th Magnolia Motor Speedway Columbus, MS Mid South/Nat Gary Taylor
5 April10th Camden Speedway Camden, TN Postponed until July 2nd
6 April11th Drew County Speedway Monticello, AR Mid South Tim Crawley
7 May 23 Riverside Int. Speedway West Memphis, AR Speedweek Rained Out
8 May 24 North Alabama Speedway Tuscumbia, AL Speedweek Anthony Nicholson
9 May 25 Clayhill Motorsports Atwood, TN Speedweek Rained Out
10 May 28th I – 30 Speedway Benton, AR Speedweek Tim Crawley
11 May 29th Drew County Speedway Monticello, AR Speedweek Paul McMahan
12 May 30th Greenville Speedway Greenville, MS Speedweek Shane Stewart
13 June 11th Clayhill Motorsports Atwood, TN Mid South Lee Sowell
14 June 13th Riverside Int. Speedway West Memphis, AR Mid South Marshall Skinner
15 June 19th Penton Raceway Penton, AL MidSo vs Sou Terry Gray
16 June 20th East AL Motor Speedway Phenix City, AL MidSo vs Sou Don Young
17 July 2nd Camden Speedway Camden, TN Mid South Paul McMahan
18 July 3rd Malden Speedway Malden, MO Mid South Terry Gray
19 July 9th Riverside Int. Speedway W. Memphis, AR Non Wing Mid South Brady Bacon
20 July 10th Batesville Motor Speedway Batesville, AR Mid South Terry Gray
21 July11th Greenville Speedway Greenville, MS Mid South Raymond Stull
23 August 1 Drew County Speedway Monticello, AR Mid South CANCELLED
24 August 6th Riverside Int. Speedway West Memphis, AR Mid South Tim Crawley
25 August 7th North Alabama Speedway Tuscumbia, AL Mid South Justin Carver
26 August 8th Clayhill Motorsports Atwood, TN Mid South Marshall Skinner
27 Sept. 11th Malden Speedway Malden, MO Mid South Tim Crawley
28 Sept. 25th Beebe Speedway Beebe, AR Mid South Tim Crawley
29 Nov. 6th Greenville Speedway Greenville, MS Mid South Raymond Stull
30 Nov. 7th Greenville Speedway Greenville, MS Mid South Edie Gallagher
31 Nov. 13th Riverside Int. Speedway West Memphis, AR Mid South Jeff Swindell
32 Nov. 14th Riverside Int. Speedway West Memphis, AR Mid South Sammy Swindell