By Pete Walton
Atlanta, GA – June 21, 2016 – The United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters winged sprint cars keep a busy 50 plus race 2017 schedule rolling with a stop for the 19th Annual Alabama Sprint Car Nationals at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, Alabama this Saturday, June 24th.
For the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour drivers the race also carries significance as the 9th annual Randy Helton Memorial Race. The Saturday night event honors former United Sprint Car Series racer Randy Helton from Palmetto, Georgia who considered the track his favorite. Helton passed away from a massive heart attack in 2009.
East Alabama Motor Speedway has been a USCS driver and fan favorite over the past 19 seasons and has been on the schedule every season except two since the series was founded in 1997. The series last visited the 4/10 mile super-fast high-banked red clay oval track during the 2016 season when Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas won his third Randy Helton Memorial Race in a row.
Hagar who additionally won his career-first sprint car and first USCS event at East Alabama Motor Speedway in June of 2007 tops the entry list and has three total visits to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane in the Randy Helton Memorial Race. He has 45 career victories in the United Sprint Car Series.
Right next to Derek Hagar at the top of the list is 2015 and 2016 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National Champion, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee who like Hagar won her first race at East Alabama Motor Speedway during the 2011 version of this same event. Like Hagar she was the previous season’s USCS Rookie of the Year (2010). In addition to being the defending National Champion, Morgan Turpen has a runner-up finish in three previous title runs. She is currently the winningest driver in the series for the 2017 season with eight victories. Those eight wins include wins in the two most recent USCS events.
Also entered are eleven-time USCS National Champion and current points leader, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee and USCS Southern Thunder regional points leader, Jordon Mallett from Greenbrier, Arkansas.
Other entries include, several other USCS Rookie of the Year drivers Those include, 2014USCS Rookie of the Year, Brandon McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina and 2012 USCS Rookie of the Year, Jeff Willingham. Also expected is 2009 regional series Rookie of the Year, Lee Moore from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
At least seven Florida drivers are expected to be part of the USCS winged sprint car invasion. Danny Martin, Jr. from Sarasota, Florida and Tony Agin from Fort Myers, Florida top the list. Martin was a five-time 2016 USCS feature winner. Agin ranks in the current top five in the 2017 National point standings.
Also expected are A.J Maddox from Tampa, Florida and Terry Witherspoon, Tanner Witherspoon, Shawn Murray and Darren Orth all from the Jackson ville, Florida area. At least two Georgia drivers are entered for the prestigious event, Brain Thomas from Pendergrass, Georgia and Joe Larkin from Suwannee, Georgia.
In addition to the 130 miles per hour USCS winged sprint cars several East Alabama Motor Speedway weekly racing divisions join the action with the open wheel headliners on Saturday night.
On Saturday night, the USCS sprint car division racing card will include a full racing program that includes Test and Tune Hot Laps, the Hoosier Speed Dash, qualifying heat races and main events.
Gates open at 5 p.m. wit racing action at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday. For info on East Alabama Motor Speedway please visit their website www.eamsdirt.com or call the track office at 334-297-2594. For USCS information please call the USCS series office at 770-460-7223 or 770-865-6097. For USCS rules, info and updated schedules please visit www.uscsracing.com