By Pete Walton
CLEWISTON, FL – February 2, 2024 – Davie Franek of Wantage, NJ took a wire-to-wire win in the 25-lap United Sprint Car Series Presented By K&N Filters Feature Race Friday night at Hendry County Motorsports Park. The event was Round #4 of the 2024 USCS Winter Heat Series and the first of two nights at the South Florida track.
Mark Smith of Sunbury, PA worked his way up from the fourth starting spot early in the race to take the second spot, and Ryan Timms of Oklahoma City, OK rallied from the 12th starting hole to finish third. Danny Sams III of Northport, FL was fourth and fifth went to Wayne Johnson of Oklahoma City, OK.
Canadian driver Glenn Styres of Ohsweken, ON finished sixth, and Mark Ruel Jr. of Jacksonville, FL took the seventh spot. Chris Martin of Ankeny, IA started 24th and finished eighth to take the Wilwood Hard Charger honors. The ninth spot went to Brandan Mullen of Grand Forks, ND, and Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Johnson earned the pole position for the Main Event by winning the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash. The three eight-lap Heat Race winners were Smith in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, Franek in the Butlerbuilt Race Products Second Heat, and Moss in the Schoenfeld Headers Third Heat.
Johnson took the lead at the start of the race followed by Franek, Styres, Moss and Smith, but the caution flag came out before the lap could be completed. That necessitated a complete restart, and this time it was Franek taking the lead from the outside of the front row followed by Johnson, Styres, Smith and Moss.
Smith got by Styres for the third spot on lap two, and he moved up to second on lap three getting by Johnson. Franek held a 1.5 second lead over Smith on lap five, and Sams moved into the top five, getting around Moss. Smith closed to within a half a second on Franek on lap seven, and Styres passed Johnson for third on lap eight.
Sams made a big move on lap nine, getting around Johnson and Styres to move up to the third spot. The caution flag came out on lap ten, and Franek gave up a 1.3 second lead over Smith. Franek led Smith, Sams, Styres, and Johnson down for the restart. Johnson passed Styres for fourth. Franek built up a one second lead over Smith, but that was gone with a lap 14 caution flag,
Timms got busy when the field went back to green flag action, as he moved by Styres for fifth on the restart, and then passed Johnson for fourth on lap 15. Franek opened up a 2.6 second lead on Smith by lap 18, and Timms passed Sams for the third spot on lap 19.
The last five laps of the race saw Timms move up to challenge Smith for the second spot, as Franek pulled away. At the checkered flag, it was Franek with a 3.870 second margin of victory over Smith, who nipped Timms for second by .184 seconds.
The United Sprint Car Series Presented By K&N Filters Winter Heat Series returns to Hendry County Motorsports Park on Saturday night for Round #5, a 30-lap Feature Race with drivers from 14 states and Canada. For more information, visit the USCS website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page, or call the series office at 770-865-6097. For track info please go to www.hendryracing.com
United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are K&N Filters, Engler Machine & Tool, Hoosier Racing Tire, Huggins Cams, Hero Graphics, DMI/Bulldog, J&J Supply of NC, Racing Electronics, JE Pistons, DHR Suspension, Wilwood Disc Brakes, KSE Racing Products, PRO Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, and Arizona Sport Shirts.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY K&N FILTERS EVENT AT HENDRY COUNTY MOTORSPORTS PARK IN CLEWISTON, FL ON 2/2/24:
FEATURE RACE – 25 Laps: 1. (2) Davie Franek, Wantage, NJ; 2. (4) Mark Smith, Sunbury, PA; 3. (12) Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK; 4. (6) Danny Sams III, Northport, FL; 5. (1) Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City, OK; 6. (3) Glann Styres, Ohsweken, ON; 7. (11) Mark Ruel Jr., Jacksonville, FL; 8. (24) Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA; 9. (10) Brendan Mullen, Grand Forks, ND; 10. (5) Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC; 11. (17) Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN; 12. (15) Sterling Cling, Tempe, AZ; 13. (16) Elijah Gile, Phoenix, AZ; 14. (9) Gunnar Setser, Columbus, IN; 15. (7) Austyn Gossel, Fort Collins, CO; 16 (20) Austin Martin, Sarasota, FL; 17. (14) Tyeller Powless, Ohsweken, ON; 18. (19) Bryan Gossel, Windsor, CO; 19. (18) Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS; 20. (25) Mark Reynolds, Hudson Falls, NY; 21. (23) Jeff Bye, West Palm Beach, FL; 22. (21) Matt Kurtz, Jacksonville Beach, FL; 23. (22) Luke Hill, Safety Harbor, FL; 24. (13) Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN; 25. (8) Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Johnson; 2. Franek; 3. Styres; 4. Smith; 5. Moss; 6. Sams DNS.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Smith; 2. Setser; 3. Ruel; 4. Sams; 5. Timms; 6. Powless; 7. Kurtz; 8. Hill; 9. Reynolds.
BUTLERBUILT RACE PRODUCTS HEAT 2: 1. Franek; 2. Styres; 3. Johnson; 4. Gile; 5. Cling; 6. B. Gossel; 7. Willingham; 8. Bye.
SCHOENFELD HEADERS HEAT 3: 1. Moss; 2. Thram; 3. Mullen; 4. A. Gossel; 5. Gurley; 6. Gray; 7. A. Martin; 8. C. Martin.