By Pete Walton
Atlanta, GA – April 7, 2014 – The United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters (www.uscsracing.com) returns to the red dirt 1/2 mile racing surface at Lancaster Speedway in Lancaster, South Carolina for the first time in three years to contest a full night of racing action this Saturday night during the USCS vs. URC North vs. South Shootout “Spring Speed Xplosion” Round #2. The event for winged sprint cars also includes the co-sanctioned North vs. South Shootout challenge race between the Georgia based United Sprint Car Series (USCS) presented by K&N Filters and the Delaware based Rislone United Racing Company (URC) sprint car organization (www.urcsprints.com). The USCS is in its eighteenth season of competition and the URC, as the oldest sprint car sanction in the country, has contested sixty-six plus seasons of competition. The two-night weekend kicks off on Friday night at Carolina Speedway with Round #1 of the battle for pride and glory and nearly $30,000 in prize money.
The co-sanctioned event promises to be loaded with an action-packed sprint car racing program with some of the country’s top ranked drivers racing for their series in this first time ever spring version of the USCS vs. URC North vs. South Shootout sprint car challenge events at Carolina Speedway. Saturday night’s racing action features a full program of USCS and URC winged outlaw style sprint car racing plus racing in six of Lancaster Speedway’s most popular weekly racing divisions. In addition to the 130+ mile per hour winged sprint cars, the action packed racing card features the speedway’s SECA Late Models, Pro Street, Crate Sportsman, Super Street, Xtreme Four and Vintage divisions.
The USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour and URC winged sprint cars will contest a full racing program including their Hoosier Speed Dash, Qualifying Heat races and Main Events on Friday. All the other divisions will also contest a full program of qualifying races and main events. The Lancaster Speedway weekly racing series SECA Late Models are racing for $1000 to win.
The Lancaster Speedway USCS Vs. URC event is expected to bring top winged outlaw sprint car drivers from at least seven states to the track from as far away as New York, Florida and Arkansas. The exotic fire breathing, alcohol burning, 700 horsepower open-wheeled USCS sprint cars weight just 1,300 pounds, and are pound for pound the World’s most powerful short track race cars. The cars will literally fly around the track surface at speeds well over 130 M.P.H. It is not uncommon to see the USCS sprint cars popping “wheelies” or doing wheel stands because of the brute force of their engines and their huge 17-inch wide rear tires.
Expected entries for both nights include at least four previous multi-time USCS Lancaster Speedway and Carolina Speedway USCS sprint car winners including 10-time National USCS National Champion Terry Gray, from Bartlett, Tennessee. Gray won on both of the USCS series two previous visits to Lancaster Speedway The former Southern Thunder regional series Champion Johnny Bridges from Cherryville, North Carolina who won USCS event at Carolina Speedway on September 28, 2012. Also entered are two past Carolina Speedway sprint car winners, Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina and female sprint car hot-shoe, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee who both won their half of twin main events at Carolina Speedway in September of 2011.
The eighteen year-old Eric Riggins, Jr. won on both visits that the United Sprint Car Series had to Carolina Speedway in 2013, He won the first USCS sanctioned event on April 12th. He then repeated as the winner on October 4th during the 2013 USCS vs. URC North vs. South Sprint Car Shootout that was co-sanctioned by both the Georgia based USCS and the country’s oldest sprint car organization, the Delaware based URC then in its 66th year. Riggins bested a 32 car field that included some of the Nation’s best sprint car drivers.
Entries from the United Racing Company (URC) include 2012 series Champion, Robbie Stillwagon from Burlington, New Jersey and 2013 URC Championship runner-up Josh Weller from Merztown, Pennsylvania who will be in the car that won the title last season. Stillwagon also won the April 13, 2013 USCS event at Toccoa, Speedway. All of those drivers are entered for this spring’s event with a host of other talented drivers.
Other local and metro Charlotte area sprint car drivers expected to enter include for both nights of the USCS vs. URC “Spring Speed Explosion” in addition to Bridges and Riggins are the racing brothers, Brandon and Jake McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina, Lance Moss also from Cherryville, North Carolina, Tim Perry from Mooresville, North Carolina and rookie Matt Hope from nearby York, South Carolina.
Lancaster Speedway is located at 223 Shiloh Unity Road, Lancaster, SC 29721. The race track phone number is: (803) 285-1877. The track’s website is www.lancastersuperspeedway.com