By Jacob Seelman
NASHVILLE, AR – July 4, 2014 – The 2012 United Sprint Car Series Outlsw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters National Champion Tim Crawley from Benton, Arkansas and the Mike Ward Racing #88 crew celebrated their Independence Day 2014 with their third visit to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane in less than a week. This on didn’t come easy though as Crawley, who started from the K&N Filters Pole Position, had to hold off numerous challenges in traffic by ten-time series champion Terry Gray to notch the wire-to-wire victory in the caution-free 30-lap “Stars and Stripes Duel at the Diamond” A-main at Diamond Park Speedway on Friday night. The win was his 68th career series triumph.
“We were just riding around the bottom tonight, and I wasn’t gonna give the bottom up,” Crawley said after the win. “Lap traffic was fixing to be pretty difficult there if we had had a few more laps, but the starting position and drawing a zero (in the inversion by first heat winner Cody Gardner) meant a lot tonight. It’s three in a row, and you take ‘em any way you can get ‘em.”
Crawley’s long-time rival Gray, from Bartlett, Tennessee came home in the runner-up position and said he just didn’t have the breaks to make a true challenge for the win. “We just didn’t catch traffic in quite the right spots to get underneath Tim,” the ten-time series champ explained. “He had a really good race car, and we did too, but congrats to him on the victory. He earned it tonight.”
Behind the two series veterans another veteran, 1999 series champion Marshall Skinner, from Marion, Arkansas completed the podium in third place at the checkered flag. Two-time Flip Flop 50 winner and Benton native Cody Gardner ended the night in fourth and 2011 series Rookie of the Year Jordon Mallett from Greenbrier, Arkansas completed the top five finishers.
Sixth place went to Bartlett, Tennessee driver and 2008 Rookie of the Year Anthony Nicholson, with Bryant, Arkansas native Zach Pringle coming home in seventh. Cordova, Tennessee’s Morgan Turpen, the only female racer in the field, came home in eighth place, leaving Brandon Hahn ( from Tulsa, Oklahoma) and Robert Richardson (from Searcy, Arkansas) to round out the top ten at race’s end.
Crawley started off the night’s racing action with a win in the six-lap Hoosier Tire Speed Dash. Cody Gardner held off Crawley to notch the win in the Engler Machine and Tool First Heat, and Terry Gray grabbed the Butlerbuilt Second Heat win. After first heat winner Gardner pulled a zero in the K&N Filters Inversion Draw, Tim Crawley garnered the K&N Pole Award. Chris Williams advanced the most positions in the A-main (three) to score the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger Award.
The United Sprint Car Series filtercharged by K&N concludes their three-race Arkansas weekend with the “Hammerdown at Hammer Hill” at I-30 Speedway in Benton, Arkansas on Saturday night. Grandstand gates open at 5 PM local time, with racing to start just after 7 PM.
RESULTS: United Sprint Car Series filtercharged by K&N at Diamond Park Speedway; July 4th, 2014
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: Tim Crawley, Anthony Nicholson, Morgan Turpen, Zach Pringle, A.G. Rains, Marshall Skinner.
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat: Cody Gardner, Tim Crawley, Brandon Hahn, Morgan Turpen, Zach Pringle, Robert Richardson, Mark Huddleston, Jeff Willingham, Joe Young (DNS)
Butlerbuilt Second Heat: Terry Gray, Marshall Skinner, Jordon Mallett, Anthony Nicholson, A.G. Rains, Todd Fayard, Tommy Snellgrove, Jim Perricone, Chris Williams (DNS)
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USCS Sprint Car Series filtercharged by K&N “Stars and Stripes Duel at the Diamond” Main Event: 30-laps
1. #88 – Tim Crawley, Benton, AR
2. #10 – Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN
3. #26 – Marshall Skinner, Marion, AR
4. #17G – Cody Gardner, Benton, AR
5. #14 – Jordon Mallett, Greenbrier, AR
6. #16 – Anthony Nicholson, Bartlett, TN
7. #2J – Zach Pringle, Bryant, AR
8. #10M – Morgan Turpen, Cordova, TN
9. #29 – Brandon Hahn, Tulsa, OK
10. #32X – Robert Richardson, Searcy, AR
11. #13 – Todd Fayard, Biloxi, MS
12. #3 – A.G. Rains, West Memphis, AR
13. #28 – Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS
14. #33 – Mark Huddleston, Mesquite, TX
15. #8X – Chris Williams, Memphis, TN
16. #10P – Jim Perricone, San Antonio, TX
17. #4 – Tommy Snellgrove, Little Rock, AR
18. #12T – Joe Young, Benton, AR (DNS)
USCS Sprint Car Series Race Awards:
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: #88 – Tim Crawley
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat: #17G – Cody Gardner
Butlerbuilt Second Heat: #10 – Terry Gray
K&N Filters Pole Award: #88 – Tim Crawley
JE Pistons Top Guns Award: #16 – Tim Crawley (1st place)
K&N Filters Podium (3rd place) Award: #26 – Marshall Skinner
Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger Award: #8X – Chris Williams
Keizer Aluminum Wheels Top Five Award: #14 – Jordon Mallett
Saldana Racing Products Super Sixth Award: #16 – Anthony Nicholson
Pyrotect Racing Cells Lucky Seven Award: #2J – Zach Pringle
DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends Top Ten Award: #32X – Robert Richardson
The United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters would like to gratefully thank its sponsoring partners for their involvement in the 2014 and 18th anniversary USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour: K&N Filters,www.rockauto.com, Engler Machine and Tool, Butlerbuilt, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Saldana Racing Products, Pyrotect Racing Cells, DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends. KSE Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, DSR Fuel Systems, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions and Safety-Kleen.