From Pete Walton
Chatsworth, GA – (May 9, 2015) – 19-year-old sprint car hot shoe Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, N.C. now has three United Sprint Car Series (USCS) presented by K&N Filters main event wins in 2015, after he blew by eleven-time and defending series champion Terry Gray on lap 22 of the 30-lap “Night of the Wings” main event at North Georgia Speedway and led the final nine laps en route to www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane.
The win was Riggins’ 11th career series victory and his first at North Georgia Speedway, the first stop for the series at the Chatsworth, Ga. track since 2004. The win also gave Riggins sole possession of tenth place on the series’ all-time wins list.
“I had hoped when I started I might be able to do everything we’re doing right now,” Riggins smiled. “I was just trying to hit my marks all night, because Terry doesn’t miss his. When we finally got around him there I knew I just had to be smooth the rest of the way. It paid off tonight.”
Gray’s teammate, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee, nipped him at the finish line for second place , with Gray, the Bartlett, Tennessee veteran coming home as the last driver on the podium in the K&N Filters Podium Award third place.
“We just got too loose,” Gray said simply. “ I couldn’t hold it down in three and four. I was good out front, things just didn’t fall our way tonight.”
Cherryville, North Carolina driver Johnny Bridges was fourth and was followed by his cousin Lance Moss, also from Cherryville, who rounded out the top five for the second night in a row.
The event saw two cautions, one at lap seven when K&N Filters Pole Position starter and the series 2013 Rookie of the Year, Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi, spun in turn four, The second one at lap nine when Suwannee, Georgia veteran sprint car pilot Joe Larkin spun in the same spot off the corner.
Indian Trail, North Carolina, Brandon McLain led the next group of drivers with a sixth-place result, and Johnny Petrozelle, from Denton, North Carolina was seventh. Local driver Aubrey Black, from Lookout Mountain, Georgia finished in eighth place and Willingham rebounded from his spin to come home ninth. Grovetown, Georgia driver Jay Dunham rounded out the top ten.
Eric Riggins kicked off the evening’s racing action by winning the Hoosier Tire Speed Dash, Terry Gray scored the win in the Engler Machine and Tool First Heat. “The Wild Child,” Johnny Bridges rolled from sixth to the victory in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat.
Bridges was the provisional pole position starter after scoring the most passing points in heat race action, but after a four came up in the K&N Filters Inversion Draw, Jeff Willingham received his first K&N Filters Pole Award of the season placing him on the point of the start of the main event. Brandon McLain passed the most cars in the A-main (eight) to grab the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger Award.
The previous night’s winner at Travelers Rest Speedway, Nick Snyder from Marco Island, Florida, who leads the USCS Rookie of the Year point standings, dropped a valve in his engine early in the night and was unable to compete in the main event.
The United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters continues their 2015 schedule on May 23 with the first round of the 2015 USCS Sprint Speedweek at the Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram (Jackson), Mississippi. The United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters would like to gratefully thank its sponsoring partners for their involvement in the 2015 and 19th anniversary USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters: Bell Racing USA, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt, DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends. Engler Machine and Tool, DSR Fuel Systems, Hoosier Race Tire, K&N Filters, KSE Racing Products, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, www.rockauto.com, Wilwood Disc Brakes.
For rules and updated schedule information about the United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour, please visit www.uscsracing.com or call the series office at 770-460-7223 or 770-865-6097.
RESULTS: USCS Sprint Car Series “Night of the Wings”; North Georgia Speedway; May 9, 2015
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: Eric Riggins Jr., Terry Gray, Morgan Turpen, Johnny Bridges, Lance Moss, Johnny Petrozelle.
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat: Terry Gray, Lance Moss, Morgan Turpen, Johnny Petrozelle, Aubrey Black, Jay Dunham, Don Ryder, Brandon McLain.
Butlerbuilt Second Heat: Johnny Bridges, Jeff Willingham, Eric Riggins Jr., Bob Auld, Joe Larkin, Don Goodwin, Nick Snyder.
USCS Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters “Night of the Wings” A-main: – 30-laps
1. #47 – Eric Riggins Jr., Charlotte, NC
2. #10M – Morgan Turpen, Cordova, TN
3. #10 – Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN
4. #07 – Johnny Bridges, Cherryville, NC
5. #23 – Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC
6. #21B – Brandon McLain, Indian Trail, NC
7. #59III – Johnny Petrozelle, Denton, NC
8. #21 – Aubrey Black, Lookout Mountain, GA
9. #28 – Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS
10. #51 – Jay Dunham, Grovetown, GA
11. #33 – Joe Larkin, Suwannee, GA
12. #12B – Don Ryder, Knoxville, TN
13. #83 – Bob Auld, Largo, FL
14. #87 – Don Goodwin, Nashville, TN
15. #116 – Nick Snyder, Marco Island, FL (DNS)