By Pete Walton
March 06, 2014 – Hohenwald, TN – Get ready Middle Tennessee! The 2014 racing season kicks off early and fast. Three United Speed Contest Sanction (USCS) and four Tennessee National Raceway weekly racing divisions break out the speed and excitement of a brand new racing year with the 2nd annual “Tennessee 200” Weekend of Speed on Friday and Saturday, March 14th and 15th at Tennessee National Raceway in Hohenwald, TN
The USCS will contest its’ second sanctioned triple-header of the young season at the 1/3 mile red clay oval located just off US Highway 412 and three miles west of Hohenwald, Tennessee with two of its’ divisions in action both nights and the United Sprint Car Series “Outlaw Thunder” Tour presented by K&N Filters winged Outlaw sprint cars headlining the Saturday night portion of the event.
Nearly $35,000 is posted in guaranteed prize money for seven of the Mid South’s most popular racing divisions during the two-day event. The action-packed racing card includes drivers contesting approximately 350 laps of racing action with 200 laps of main event finals scheduled during the “Tennessee 200” Weekend of Speed.
The mighty open wheel modifieds of the K&N Filters USCS Outlaw Modified Series will contest a complete program of racing on Friday night including dashes, qualifying races and main events. The main event will go the distance of twenty-five laps. The first entry for the K&N Filters USCS Outlaw Modified Series portion of the event is NASCAR veteran driver and dirt track open wheel ace, Ken Schrader from Concord, North Carolina. Schrader won the USCS season opener during the USCS Frostbuster 250 at Magnolia Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 1st. He bested a 40 car field of most of the South’s top Modified drivers. He has only visited Tennessee National Raceway once and that was to win an open wheel modified race in 2010.
The 100 mile per hour www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car Series winged mini sprints co-headline the USCS portion of Friday night’s event. The USCS 600 Sprint Car Series will contest a complete racing program identical to the K&N Filters USCS Outlaw Modified division including the Hoosier Speed Dash, qualifying heat races and main event.
They are joined on the busy racing card on Friday night by the Tennessee National Raceway Limited Late Models, Modified Street and E-MOD (open wheel modified) divisions. The Limited Late Model division, which will include cars from a wide range of rules including area Limited Late Models, 2-Barrel Late Models and GM Performance crate engine type cars will time trial and contest qualifying heats as well on Friday night to set the top positions for Saturday night’s finals. On Saturday night the Limited Late Model division will hold a last chance/B-Main to complete the line-up for their 30-lap final.
The Tennessee National Raceway Modified Street and E-MOD (open wheel modified) divisions will contest their preliminary qualifying races on Friday night. On Saturday night they will contest their main events. The Modified Street division is racing for $600 to the winner. The E-MOD division also offers $600 to the driver that finishes in victory lane after the main event.
On Saturday night (March 15th) the 700 horsepower, 1300 pound United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour winged Outlaw sprint cars invade the speedway and are expected to step the tempo up with speeds near 120 miles per hour around the high-banked 1/3 mile clay oval. The USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour winged Outlaw type sprint car drivers will contest a complete program of winged sprint car racing including, a dash for the top six cars from the previous event, qualifying heat races and main events. The evenings sprint car finale is a 30-lap main event.
Drivers from at least five states are expected for the series second event of the year. Entries include 2013 USCS National Sprint Car Champion, Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas who won the USCS sprint car portion of the “Tennessee 200” on March 16, 2013. Also entered is the September 14, 2013 USCS sprint car winner, Anthony Nicholson from Bartlett, Tennessee. The 2010 USCS Tennessee National Raceway feature winner and 2012 USCS National sprint car Champion, Tim Crawley from Benton, Arkansas and 10-time United Sprint Car Series National Champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee are both entered as well. Also entered is popular female sprint car racer, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee. Turpen was the 2010 USCS National “Rookie of the Year” and has finished no worse than fourth in the National point standings each season since then. She has four main event wins to her credit in USCS competition.
On Saturday night the K&N Filters USCS Outlaw Modifieds will race for $1000 to win as they contest another complete round of action including the K&N Filters Power Dash, qualifying heat races and main events. The www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car Series winged mini sprint will also contest another complete racing card including the Hoosier Tire Dash for their top six finishers in Friday night’s main event, qualifying heat races and a Championship main event.
The Limited/2-Barrel/Crate Late Models will contest their last chance/B-Main race and $1000 to win 30-lap Championship final on Saturday night. The track’s Modified Street and E=MOD divisions will also complete their racing action with last chance and main event finales. The popular Mini Stock Division has been added to the program and will contest a full racing program on Saturday night
Tennessee National Raceway is located at 316 Race Track Road, Hohenwald, Tennessee 38462. For more information about Tennessee National Raceway please visit www.racetn.com or call the track office at 931-796-1890 or 931-306-7283. For additional information about the United Speed Contest Sanction (USCS) three racing divisions including rules and complete racing schedules, please visit www.uscsracing.com or call the series office at 770-460-7223 or mobile number at 770-865-6097.