By Roby Helm
MILTON, FL – Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS led wire-to-wire to win Night 2 of the Battle At The Beach for the United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire Saturday night at Southern Raceway. The 30-lap Feature Race, Round 4 of the USCS Winter Heat Series, was marred by eight caution flags and one red flag, a situation that Howard hated to see.
“When you’re leading, you never want to see cautions and red flags,” Howard said. “But, we held on and pulled it off, as the car felt good all night long. Since we’re coming back here to race again next weekend, we’ll take the car home, wash it, load it back up, and do this again.”
Austyn Gossel of Windsor, CO finished second and third went to Chris Martin of Ankeny, IA. Matt Covington of Glenpool, OK started 17th and finished fourth to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award. Max Stambaugh of Lima, OH took the fifth spot and Corbin Gurley of Hebron, IN was sixth.
Lane Whittington of Denham Springs, LA drove to a seventh-place finish and Trey Meredith of Dade City, FL took the eighth spot. Friday night’s winner Davie Franek of Wantage, NJ came back from an early race incident to finish ninth and Carson Bolden of Quinlan, TX rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Howard won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the Feature Race. The three eight-lap Heat Races were won by Sterling Cling of Tempe, AZ in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, Martin in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat, and Gossel in the Schoenfeld Headers Third Heat.
The yellow flag fest began at the start of the Feature Race when Brogan Carder of Sioux Falls, SD spun in turn one and collected John Robicheaux of Gulfport, MS. After the complete restart, Howard took the lead from the Pole Position followed by Cling, Gossel, 2021 USCS National Champion Danny Smith of Chillicothe, OH and Jason Martin of Lincoln, NE
The yellow caution bulb was ignited on lap two when Van Gurley Jr. of Valparaiso, IN spun in turn two. When the field went back to green flag action, Jason Martin got by Smith to take over the fourth spot with an inside pass in turn two. Van Gurley Jr. was charged with his second caution of the race on lap six when he stalled in turn four.
Franek moved into the top five on lap eight when he got around Smith and Jason Martin passed Gossel for third on lap 14. Cautionitis hit epidemic status on lap 20. It started when Shelby Kelly of Runnemede, NJ spun in turn four, just after Howard put him one lap down.
The look of the top ten changed dramatically on the restart when Jason Martin challenged Cling for the second spot coming off turn two. Martin’s right-rear jumped over Cling’s left-front causing both cars to spin and collecting Franek in fourth, and Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC. The re-racked top five for the restart was Howard, Gossel, Chris Martin, Smith, and Stambaugh.
The red flag came out on the next restart when National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Smith flipped in turn four. Smith and his car were both O.K. and he restarted after an open red flag to refuel the field. However, the hits kept on coming as the restart green turned to caution when Kyle Mabry of Cottondale, FL and Moss spun in turn two.
When the field finally got back to green flag racing, Covington moved up to the fourth spot on lap 21 when he got by Stambaugh for the position, Bryan Gossel of Windsor, CO spun in turn four to bring out the caution flag on lap 22. The final caution flag came out on lap 23 when Moss spun in turn two.
Howard, Austyn Gossel, Chris Martin, Covington and Stambaugh brought the field down for the restart. The final eight laps went caution free and Howard took the checkered flag with a 1.446 second margin of victory over Austyn Gossel.
The next two United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire Winter Heat races will be Rounds 5 and 6 scheduled for Southern Raceway on Friday night, February 21 and Saturday night, February 22. It will also be the 3rd and 4th Nights of the Battle At The Beach at the Milton, FL track. For more information about USCS, visit their website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page, or call the USCS office at 770-865-6097.
United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are, 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 WINTER HEAT SERIES RACE 4, NIGHT 2 OF THE BATTLE AT THE BEACH, FOR THE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY HOOSIER RACING TIRE AT SOUTHERN RACEWAY IN MILTON, FL ON 2/15/2025:
BATTLE AT THE BEACH FEATURE RACE – 30 Laps: 1. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (1); 2. 16g Austyn Gossel, Windsor, CO (4); 3. 44 Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (5); 4. 95 Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (17); 5. 5m Max Stambaugh, Lima, OH (8); 6. 12 Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (11); 7. 9 Lane Whittington, Denham Springs, LA (7); 8. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (10); 9. 28f Davie Franek, Wantage, NJ (12); 10. 5h Carson Bolden, Quinlan, TX (20); 11. 4 Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (3); 12. 77t Tyeller Powless, Ohsweken, ON CAN (19)and; 13. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (16); 14. 51 Shelby Kelly, Runnemede, NJ (21); 15. 1a Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (14); 16. 6g Bryan Gossel, Windsor, CO (15); 17. 34 Sterling Cling, Tempe, AZ (2); 18. 36 Jason Martin, Liberal, KS (6); 19. 88 Brogan Carder, Sioux Falls, SD (9); 20. 10vc Vince Chicklets, Constantia, NY (23); 21. 77 Kyle Mabry, Cottondale, FL (22); 22. 13v Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (13); 23. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (18); 24. 94 Parker Davis, Mobile, AL (24); 25. 57 John Robicheaux, Gulfport, MS (25); 26. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (26) DNS.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Howard; 2. Cling; 3. Smith; 4. A. Gossel; 5. C. Martin; 6. J. Martin.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Cling; 2. Smith; 3. Meredith; 4. Allen; 5. Franek; 6. Covington; 7. Bolden; 8. Chicklets; 9. Davis DNS.
BUTLERBUILT RACING PRODUCTS HEAT 2: 1. C. Martin; 2. Whittington; 3. J. Martin; 4. Stambaugh; 5. Carder; 6. V. Gurley; 7. Willingham; 8. Kelly; 9. Mabry.
SCHOENFELD HEADERS HEAT 3: 1. A. Gossel; 2. Howard; 3. C. Gurley; 4. B. Gossel; 5. Moss; 6. Gray; 7. Powless; 8. Robicheaux.