From Pete Walton
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 21, 2016) – Trey Starks of Puyallup, WA showed in Friday night preliminary action that he is the man to beat in Saturday night’s United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented by K&N Filters main event in the One Dirt.com Short Track World Championship Race at The Dirt Track At Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Starks set fast time with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 14.748 seconds, and then won the Engler Machine & Tool first eight-lap Heat Race. That earned Starks the pole position for the Pole Scramble Race that will be held on Saturday night prior to the main event to determine the first 12 starting spots for the Big Show.
Race fans in the Carolinas are very familiar with Starks and how he can be a force to be reckoned with. On October 1 of the 20th Anniversary USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented by K&N Filters, Starks failed to report to the scales for the post-race weigh-in after winning his Heat Race at Cherokee Speedway in nearby Gaffney, SC.
That forced Starks to start 20th and last in the 30-lap main event. Starks passed them all in just 18 laps and then pulled away unchallenged for the win. Starks made a bold statement on lap one, as he went from 20th to 10th. Starks just kept moving forward through the field, as he was fifth by lap six, and fourth by lap 11, and third on lap 13.
The only thing that slowed him down was the caution flag that came out on lap 14. He took the lead four laps after the restart, and in the Cherokee Speedway Winner’s Circle, Starks said that was a tune-up race for Charlotte. Based on his Friday night performance at the One Dirt.com Short Track World Championship Race, it could be a long Saturday night for the competition.
Dylan Westbrook of Scotland, ON, Canada was the second quick qualifier, and will start on the outside of the front row for the Pole Scramble. Lane Loreno of Charlotte, NC was third quick in Qualifying and starts on the inside of row two of the Pole Scramble. Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC was fourth quick on Qualifying and starts fourth in the Pole Scramble.
Row three of the Pole Scramble will see the defending USCS National Champion Morgan Turpen of Cordova, TN on the inside, and Scott Hunter of Concord, NC to her right on the outside. The USCS National point leader, 11-time USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN is on the inside of row four and Glenn Styres of Oschwegen, ON, Canada is on the outside.
Teammates Gray and Turpen are battling for the USCS National Championship with just a few points separating them going into the One Dirt.com Short Track World Championship Race. Row five of the Pole Scramble will see Brandon McLain of Indian Trail, NC on the inside with Nick Snyder of Marco Island, FL on the outside.
Shawn Murray of Jacksonville, FL starts on the inside of the sixth and final row of the Pole Scramble, and Michael Miller of Ocean Springs, MS will be on the outside. In other preliminary action, Snyder won the eight-lap Brown and Miller Racing Solutions second Heat Race, and Murray won the Schoenfeld Headers third eight-lap Heat Race.
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. You can also like the United Sprint Car Series Facebook page at USCS Racing.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE ONE DIRT.COM SHORT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE DIRT TRACK AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN CHARLOTTE, NC ON 10/21/16:
QUALIFYING:
POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN TIME
1. 23s Trey Starks Puyallup, WA 14.748
2. 47x Dylan Westbrook Scotland, ON, Canada 14.911
3. 00 Lane Loreno Charlotte, NC 15.008
4. 23 Lance Moss Cherryville, NC 15.400
5. 47 Eric Riggins Jr. Charlotte, NC 15.415
6. 10m Morgan Turpen Cordova, TN 15.415
7. 1x Scott Hunter Concord, NC 15.561
8. 10 Terry Gray Bartlett, TN 15.582
9. 0 Glenn Styres Oschwegen, ON, Canada 15.642
10. 21m Brandon McLain Indian Trail, NC 15.669
11. 116 Nick Snyder Marco Island, FL 15.765
12. 22 Shawn Murray Jacksonville, FL 15.822
13. 38 Tony Agin Fort Myers, FL 15.867
14. 67 Jake McLain Indian Trail, NC 15.945
15. 22r Kevin Roberts Washington Court House, OH 15.953
16. 12 Nick Roberts Bloomingburg, OH 15.953
17. 4m Michael Miller Ocean Springs, MS 16.002
18. 24 Danny Sams III Englewood, FL 16.120
19. 59 Johnny Petrozelle Lexington, SC 16.210
20. 27 Stan Zanchin Fort Erie, ON, Canada 16.238
21. 43 Terry Witherspoon Jacksonville, FL 16.465
22. 33 Joe Larkin Suwanee, GA 17.248
23. 99 Tanner Witherspoon Jacksonville, FL 18.368
24. 51 Jay Dunham Harlem, GA NT
HEAT RACE RESULTS:
Engler Machine & Tool Heat 1 – (8 Laps): 1. Starks; 2. B. McLain; 3. Moss; 4. Hunter; 5. N. Roberts; 6. Agin; 7. Petrozelle; 8. Larkin DNS.
Brown and Miller Racing Solutions Heat 2- (8 Laps): 1. Snyder; 2. Gray; 3. Westbrook; 4. Miller; 5. Riggins; 6. J. McLain; 7. Ta. Witherspoon; 8. Zanchin.
Schoenfeld Headers Heat 3 – (8 Laps): 1. Murray; 2. Lorenz; 3. Turpen; 4. Styres; 5. K. Roberts; 6. Sams; 7. Te. Witherspoon; 8. Dunham DNS.
SATURDAY NIGHT POLE SCRAMBLE LINE-UP:
23s Starks – 47x Westbrook
00 Loreno – 23m Moss
10m Turpen – 1x Hunter
10 Gray – 0 Styres
21m McLain – 116 Snyder
22 Murray – 4m Miller