By Roby Helm
BLUE RIDGE, GA – July 12, 2025 – Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS swept the United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tires program on Saturday night at Sugar Creek Raceway. The USCS point leader won his eight-lap Heat Race, earned the pole by winning the Dash, and led all 30-laps of the Feature Race to pick up his fifth win of the 2025 season.
Tyler Clem of St. Petersburg, FL tried to close on Howard late in the race, but had to settle for second. Coen McDaniel of Gaffney, SC was third and Tyler Blankenship of Bakersfield, CA took the fourth spot. The defending and 16-time USCS National Champion, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN finished fifth.
Chase Howard of Nesbit, MS drove to a sixth-place finish and the previous night’s winner, Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC was seventh. Jeff Willingham of Ripley, MS took the eighth spot and Eric Gunderson of Canton, GA Started 13th and finished ninth to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award. Jackson Wellman of Belmont, NC rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Dale Howard won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the pole position for the 25-lap Main Event. The two eight-lap Heat Races were won by Dale Howard in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat and Gray in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat.
The start of the 30-lap Feature Race went to a red flag condition on the first lap went P.J. Reutimann of Zephyrhills, FL flipped in turn four. Reutimann was O.K., but his race car was done for the night. The field lined up for a complete restart, and Dale Howard took the lead from outside front row starter Clem, followed by McDaniel, Blankenship and Gray.
Dale Howard began to pull away from the field, and not even catching the cars on the tail of the lead lap on the eighth tour could slow down his progress. By lap 15, Dale Howard held a 2.506 second lead over Clem. Dale Howard caught some heavy lapped traffic in the closing laps of the race and his car didn’t seem to have as good of handling as it did early in the race.
Clem broke free of McDaniel and Blankenship, and set sail for the race leader, gaining at least two-tenths of a second a lap. Despite closing on Dale Howard, Clem, with no caution flag opportunities, ran out of laps. Dale Howard took a .922 second margin of victory under the checkered flag in a caution-free race after the red flag on the opening lap and took 15 minutes and 35.580 seconds to complete.
The next two events for the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire will be on Friday night, July 25 at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC and Saturday night, July 26 at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA. 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, Racing Electronics, JE Pistons, DHR Suspension, Wilwood Disc Brakes, AR Dyno Specialties, KSE Racing Products, PRO Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, and Arizona Sport Shirts.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY HOOSIER RACING TIRE EVENT AT SUGAR CREEK RACEWAY IN BLUE RIDGE, GA ON 7/12/25:
FEATURE RACE – 30 Laps: 1. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (1); 2. 6s Tyler Clem, St. Petersburg, FL (2); 3. 48 Coen McDaniel, Gaffney, SC (4); 4. 9 Tyler Blankenship, Bakersfield, CA (6); 5. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (3); 6. 55 Chase Howard, Nesbit, MS (5); 7. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (9); 8. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (11); 9. 7e Eric Gunderson, Canton, GA (13); 10. 19w Jackson Wellman, Belmont, NC (12); 11. 67 Hayden Martin, Olive Branch, MS (8); 12. 00 P.J. Reutimann, Zephyrhills, FL (10); 13. G6 Grandon Grubaugh, Ocala, FL DNS.
HOOSIER SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. D. Howard; 2. Clem; 3. Gray; 4. McDaniel; 5. C. Howard; 6. Blankenship.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. D. Howard; 2. Clem; 3. C. Howard; 4. Martin; 5. Grubaugh; 6. Willingham; 7. Gunderson.
BUTLERBUILT HEAT 2: 1. Gray; 2. Blankenship; 3. McDaniel; 4. Moss; 5. Reutimann; 6 Wellman.