By Pete Walton
Atlanta, GA – February 28, 2019 – Chatham Speedway will host one of its most exciting and certainly most high-speed events of their 2019 racing season when, the United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters winged sprint cars invade the one-third mile clay oval in Chatham, Louisiana. The USCS winged sprint cars headline a two-night weekend of racing action entitled the USCS “Bayou State Sprint Car Nationals” at the track on Friday and Saturday, March 8th and 9th for Rounds #7 and #8 of the 2nd annual USCS “Winter Heat” mini-series. The events which be the first-ever for the United Sprint Car Series in the state of Louisiana, will also be the 7th and 8th events on the 64-event 23rd season schedule for the Atlanta, Georgia based racing series.
The event is expected to draw some of the top winged-sprint car drivers from across the Nation from at least ten states seeking warmer climates for the earliest sprint car racing of the 2019 season. The USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour Winter Heat Series event continues over a month of racing opportunities for winged sprint car teams including one more weekend beyond the Bayou State event for the 10-race USCS Winter Heat Series at two tracks in Mississippi on the following weekend.
Three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Tony Stewart from Columbus, Indiana leads the current USCS National and USCS Deep South regional series point standings coming into the Chatham Speedway USCS event. Stewart, who has competed in all five of the USCS Winter Heat 2019 events, so far, has one 2019 win with the USCS at Southern Raceway on February 22nd. He additionally has two second place and two third place finishes to top the standings. Davie Franek from Sussex, New Jersey is second in the current standings just 11 points behind the points leader. He also has a win on February 8th at bubba Raceway Park. Mark Smith who was the 2nd winningest driver in the Nation during the 2018 season, with 14 victories, has two USCS series wins at Bubba Raceway park on February 9th and at the most recent USCS event on February 23rd at Southern Raceway. He is in third place in the current USCS National and USCS Deep South regional standings.
Expected entries for the inaugural USCS Bayou State Sprint Car Nationals also include, Sprint Car Hall of Fame driver Danny Smith from Chillicothe, Ohio who won the USCS Winter Heat Round #1 and USCS series 2019 season-opener at Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston, Florida on January 25th. Also pre-entered are 11-time USCS National Champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee and his team-mate and two-time USCS National Champion, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee who is considered by most as the top female sprint car driver in the Nation.
Other expected entries include 2018 USCS National Champion, Jordn Mallett from Greenbrier, Arkansas plus a former USCS regional series Champion and Rookie of the Year, Johnny Bridges from Cherryville, North Carolina. At least two past USCS Rookie of the Year drivers, Jake Knight from Georgetown, Mississippi (2018) and 2012 Rookie of the Year, Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi. 2019 USCS Rookie of the Year points leader Bobby Tersillo from New York and the Father and Son team of Jim and Mallie Shuster from Pennsylvania are also expected in addition to a number of other drivers from across the nation.
The United Sprint Car Series portion of the event will give a driver who can sweep the weekend’s elements an opportunity to pick up their share of the nearly $25,000 in posted cash prize winnings plus contingency awards. Over $4,000 is possible including Friday night’s preliminary 25-lap USCS sprint car main event win and by also arriving first in the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane after Saturday night’s 30-lap Championship final as well.
Fans attending the inaugural USCS Bayou State Sprint Car Nationals/USCS Winter Heat Series event at Chatham Speedway will be treated to a full program of USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour winged sprint car racing each night plus support divisions including open wheel modified and stock car racing for an action-packed evening each night.
Chathem Speedway is located at 14325 Highway 4, Chatham, LA 71226.The track race day telephone number is 318-381-7972. For event info please visit www.chathamspeedway.com or the speedway’s Facebook page at Chathem Speedway. The USCS series Official website is located at www.uscsracing.com The USCS phone number is 770-865-6097.