By Pete Walton
August 30, 2016 – Atlanta, GA – Wild and exciting winged outlaw sprint car racing will headline the racing program at Harris Speedway on Saturday, September 5th 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 “Sprint Car Wars II”. The event is race number twenty-two on the 19th anniversary schedule for the Nationally touring USCS drivers.
This is the one and only visit scheduled during the 2015 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. The also presents a bonus race opportunity for drivers who want o travel in to race from the USCS Mid South Thunder regional series. That region’s drivers normal race in events in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and West Tennessee.
This special event is expected to bring top winged sprint car drivers from at least six states to the track from as far away as Arkansas, 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 30-lap A-main event.
Eleven-time USCS National Champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee, heads the USCS entry list for the Harris Speedway event. Gray currently is tied for the point lead in the USCS National standings coming into the Labor Day weekend contest. 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 is Gray’s team-mate, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee. Turpen is tied for the top spot in the National point standings with Gray coming into the weekend. She previously led those standings through most of the season. Turpen is a fan favorite. The twenty-one year-old female sprint car star 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 six times during United Sprint Car Series main events. Her most recent visit to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane was on Saturday, October 4, 2014 at nearby Cherokee Speedway in the USCS North vs. South Challenge.
Also entered are a number of 2014 and 2015 USCS Main event winners including 20 year-old Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte who captured the win a Harris Speedway during the 2014 “Sprint Car Wars I” event Riggins has five 2015 USCS wins and was the 2010 USCS Southern thunder Tour regional series Rookie of the Year. He additionally placed in fourth place in the final 2014 USCS Southern Thunder standings. He is looking for another visit to the www.rockuauto.com USCS Victory Lane at Harris Speedway on Saturday night.
Other expected drivers include 2013 USCS National sprint car Champion Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas who already has eight USCS feature wins during the 2014 season and has six wins this season. Also entered is the 2015 feature winner and frmer regional series Champion, Johnny Bridges from Cherryville, North Carolina/. The April 12th 2014 USCS Lancaster Speedway feature winner Lance Moss from Cherryville, North Carolina is also entered.
Other out of state entries include: 2012 USCS Rookie of the Year Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi. Also entered are several Rookie of the Year contenders including sixteen year-ol Nicholas Snyder from Marco Island, Florida who leads the current USCS Rookie of the Year point standings. Snyder ranks third in the National point standings and had a win at Travelers Rest Speedway on May 8th to his credit. Kyle Amerson from Matthews, Alabama is another top rookie contender.
Also entered are brothers 2008 USCS Southern Thunder Rookie of the Year, Jake McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina and 2014 Rookie of the Year, Brandon McLain also from Indian Trail. A contingent of three Georgia drivers including Jay Dunham from Augusta, Joe Larkin from Suwannee and Brian Thomas from Pendergrass are entered are is Bob Auld from Largo, Florida and Terry Witherspoon from Jacksonville, Florida. Also expected is 2008 USCS National Rookie of the Year and six-time 2014 feature winner Anthony Nicholson from Millington, Tennessee.
Brad Wickham from Rutherfordton, North Carolina is entered and will give local fans someone to cheer for from their hometown. In addition to the USCS outlaw Thunder Tour 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 at 4:00p ET, with the drivers meeting is scheduled for 6:30p EDT 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 770-865-6097.