By Roby Helm
GASTONIA, NC – Baseball great Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over ’till it’s over!” That rang true for three of the top four drivers in the United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire on Saturday night at Carolina Speedway. Coming off turn four with the checkered flag in sight, the leader spun collecting the second and fourth-place drivers.
After heavy contact, the red flag came out, and once the track was clear for racing, Tyler Blankenship of Bakersfield, CA, who was running third, inherited the lead for the green-white-checkered restart and held off Coen McDaniel of Gaffney, SC to take the his career-first USCS win.
The race leader coming off the fourth turn on lap 25, 16-year-old Brianna Lawson of Jackson Springs, NC, jumped the cushion and slid into the second-place car of Jadan Bowling of Holden Beach, NC, who spun and collected the fourth-place car of USCS point leader Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS. Lawson was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Tyler Clem of St. Petersburg, FL finished third, Luke Hill of Odessa, FL was fourth and Jake McLain of Hembry Bridge, NC took the fifth spot. The defending and 16-time USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN started 16th and finished sixth. That drive earned the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award.
Kyle Connery of Vero Beach, FL drove to a seventh-place finish and Trey Meredith of Dade City, FL was eighth. Steven Renn of Gastonia, NC took the ninth spot and Bowling was credited with the tenth finishing position.
In preliminary action, Lawson won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the pole position for the 25-lap Main Event. The three eight-lap Heat Races were won by Blankenship in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, Howard in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat, and McDaniel in the Schoenfeld Headers Third Heat.
Bowling took the lead at the start of the 25-lap Feature Race followed by Lawson, Blankenship, Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC, and Howard. On the second lap, Howard drove past Moss to take over the fourth spot. Moss fell off the pace on lap seven and stalled in turn three to bring out the first caution flag on the race.
After the restart, Bowling and Lawson began to put some distance between themselves and Blankenship in the third spot. Johnny Bridges of Cherryville, NC stalled on the front straightaway to light up the yellow caution bulb for a second time. By the time the field got the five to go signal, business was picking up at the front of the pack,
Lawson was able to grab the lead from Bowling on lap 22, and held it for two laps until Bowling reclaimed the point on lap 24. Lawson got back by Bowling on the final lap, and had the checkered flag in sight before it went all wrong in turn four. Lawson jumped the cushion in turn four and hit the barrels that marked the end of the wall on the front stretch.
That collected Bowling, who was hit head on by Howard, who was racing Blankenship for the third spot. With heavily damaged race cars on the track, USCS officials red flagged the race to check on the drivers. USCS rules state that Feature Races will end with a green-white-checkered.
The USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire will travel to Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA for their next show on Saturday night. 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 CAROLINA SPEEDWAY IN GASTONIA, NC ON 7/25/25:
FEATURE RACE – 25 Laps: 1. 9 Tyler Blankenship, Bakersfield, CA (4); 2. 48 Coen McDaniel, Gaffney, SC (6); 3. 6s Tyler Clem, St. Petersburg, FL (7); 4. 41 Luke Hill, Odessa, FL (8); 5. 67m Jake McLain, Hembry Bridge, NC (9); 6. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (16); 7. 91 Kyle Connery, Vero Beach, FL (14); 8. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (18); 9. 5r Steven Renn, Gastonia, NC (13); 10. 01 Jaden Bowling, Holden Beach, NC (2); 11. B5 Brianna Lawson, Jackson Springs, NC (1); 12. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (5); 13. 07 Johnny Bridges, Cherryville, NC (10); 14. 87 Brady Allum, Taylorsville, NC (17); 15. 19w Jackson Wellman, Belmont, NC (15); 16. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (3); 17. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (12); 18. 21b Brandon McLain, Indian Trail, NC (19); 19. 10x C.J. Rabenau, Charlotte, NC (20); 20. 00 P.J. Reutimann, Zephyrhills, FL DNS.
HOOSIER SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Lawson; 2. Bowling; 3. Moss; 4. Blankenship; 5. Howard; 6. McDaniel.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Blankenship; 2. Moss; 3. Reutimann; 4. Bridges; 5. Renn; 6. Gray; 7. B. McLain DNS.
BUTLERBUILT HEAT 2: 1. Howard; 2. Lawson; 3. J. McLain; 4. Hill; 5. Connery; 6. Allum; 7. Meredith.
SCHOENFELD HEADERS HEAT 3: 1. McDaniel; 2. Bowling; 3. Clem; 4. Willingham; 5. Wellman; 6. Rabenau DNS.