By Pete Walton
August 27, 2014 – Atlanta, GA – Wild and exciting winged outlaw sprint car racing will headline the racing program at Harris Speedway on Saturday, August 30th at 7:30pm. The K&N Filters sponsored United Sprint Car Series “Outlaw Thunder” Tour www.uscsracing.com winged sprint cars will roar into the fast 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval for the “Sprint Car Wars” 2014. The event is race number twenty five on the 18th anniversary schedule for the Nationally touring USCS drivers.
This is the one and only visit scheduled during the 2014 season for the USCS presented by K&N Filters winged sprint cars to Harris Speedway. The race will award USCS presented by K&N Filters National points as well as points in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series title chases. The Southern Thunder regional series consists of races in Eastern Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and both Carolinas.
This special event is expected to bring top winged outlaw sprint car drivers from at least six states to the track from as far away as Arkansas and Florida and Ohio seeking a visit to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane at Harris Speedway. The exotic fire breathing, alcohol burning, 700 horsepower open wheel 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 over 120 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 Hoosier racing tires.
Saturday night’s USCS Outlaw sprint car action will feature a full program of racing in the Outlaw type sprint cars that kicks off with test and tune hot laps. Hot laps will be followed by the Hoosier Speed Dash that showcases the top six cars from the previous USCS main event in an edge-of-your-seat six-car shootout. The qualifying heat races are next on the racing card. The evening’s grand finale will be the USCS presented by K&N Filters A-main event.
The second USCS racing division on the action-packed racing card is the www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car Series winged mini sprints. Drivers for that division are expected from at least five states for Saturday’s event. Drivers in that division include the 2013 USCS 600 Sprint Champion, eighteen year old, Sean Hosey from Clarksville, Tennessee and 2013 USCS Southern regional series Champion, Bob Trapino from Alpharetta, Georgia. Other entries include 14 year-old Southern region current point’s leader Brandon Taylor from Cumming, Georgia and additional entries from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.as well as host of drivers from atop the entry list for the USCS 600 sprints.
Ten-time USCS National Champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee, heads the USCS entry list for the Harris Speedway event. Gray currently leads the USCS National point standings. He is also among the top twenty-five drivers in the Nation in feature wins over the past 5 years with over 85 feature wins. Gray has consistently been ranked in the top ten 360 sprint car drivers in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame annual driver poll. Over 3000 sprint car drivers are considered for ranking in the NSCHOF poll.
Additionally entered are a number of 2013 and 2014 USCS Main event winners looking for another visit to the www.rockuauto.com USCS Victory Lane. Those include 2013 USCS National sprint car Champion Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas who already has eight USCS feature wins during the 2014 season. Also entered is the April 12th 2014 USCS Lancaster Speedway feature winner Lance Moss from Cherryville, North Carolina. Another North Carolina driver, 19 year-old Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte captured three USCS wins during the 2013 season and came out blazing in 2014 just to have bad luck keep him out of victory lane so far. Riggins has five career USCS wins and was the 2010 USCS Southern thunder Tour regional series Rookie of the Year. He additionally placed in third place in the final 2013 USCS Southern Thunder standings.
Another top competitor and fan favorite is twenty-one year-old female sprint car hot-shoe, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee. Turpen, who was the runner-up for the 2010 National title. Turpen was named 2010 USCS National Rookie of the Year and has finished no worse than fourth place in the previous four seasons in the final USCS National point standings. She additionally has won five times during United Sprint Car Series main events. Her most recent visit to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane on Saturday, April 26th in the USCS Road to Atlanta Round #2 paved oval contest at Southern National Motorsport Park in Kenly, North Carolina.
Other out of state entries include: 2013 USCS Rookie of the Year Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi. Also entered are three current Rookie of the Year contenders including fifteen year-olds Taylor Tidmore from Hernando, Mississippi and Nicholas Snyder from Marco Island, Florida and Kyle Amerson from Matthews, Alabama.
Also entered are brothers 2008 USCS Southern Thunder Rookie of the Year, Jake McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina and Brandon McLain also from Indian Trail. A contingent of four Georgia drivers including Jay Dunham from Augusta, Joe Larkin from Suwannee, Brian Thomas from Pendergrass and Aubrey Black from Lookout Mountain, Georgia are entered are is Bob Auld from Largo, Florida and Terry Witherspoon from Jacksonville, Florida.
In addition to the winged sprint cars, all of the Harris Speedway regular racing divisions will join the action-packed racing program with a full racing program of their own.
All gates will open on Saturday, August 30th at 4:00p ET, with the drivers meeting is scheduled for 6:30p ET and hot laps immediately following. Harris Speedway is located 12 miles southwest of Ruherfordton, North Carolina and just off US 221 at 921 Jack McKinney Road, Rutherfordton, NC 28139. The track phone number is Track Phone: 828-247-4171. The Official website is www.harrisspeedway.com There is also a Harris Speedway Facebook page. For USCS rules and info, please visit the Official USCS web site at www.uscsracing.com or call 770-460-7223 or 770-865-6097.