By Roby Helm
WOODSTOCK, GA – July 26, 2025 – Jadan Bowling of Holden Beach, NC smoked the field and his engine to win the 18th Annual Randy Helton Memorial 27 for the United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire on Saturday night at Dixie Speedway. Bowling may have thought, “Here we go again,” as he took the white flag.
On Friday night, Bowling was in a position to win the Feature Race at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC on the last turn of the last lap, only to be involved in a three car cash that took him out of the race. His crew worked all night and all day on Saturday to repair the car and arrived at Dixie Speedway just in time for his Heat Race.
Things were going well for Bowling, as he had the car to beat in the main event. After starting third, Bowling took the lead on lap two, and then checked out on the field. When Bowling took the white flag, he held a 4.3 second lead on the second place driver, but smoke began to pour from his engine compartment as he approached turn one.
Bowling backed out of the throttle through turns one and two, and when he hit the throttle down the backstretch, the smoke returned even thicker. Bowling stayed in it through turns three and four, but this time, he made to the checkered flag for his third win of the season with 1.83 seconds to spare.
“I can’t thank my crew and my sponsors enough for putting in the effort to get us here tonight with a winning race car,” Bowling said. “I thought we were going to lose one again on the last lap, but the engine had just enough to get me to the checkered flag.”
Tyler Clem of St. Petersburg, FL drove hard to catch Bowling on the last lap, but had to settle for second and the defending and 16-time USCS National Champion National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN was third. Hayden Martin of Olive Branch, MS took the fourth spot and Trey Meredith of Dade City, FL started ninth and finished fifth to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award.
USCS point leader Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS came back from a stalled engine on lap 16 to finish sixth and Jeff Oliver of Pendergrass, GA took the seventh spot. Luke Hill of Odessa, FL was eighth and Kyle Connery of Vero Beach, FL drove to a ninth-place finish. Brady Allum of Taylorsville, NC rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Gray won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the pole position for the 27-lap Main Event. The two eight-lap Heat Races were won by Connery in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, and Clem in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat.
Gray took the lead at the start of the race followed by Bowling, Clem, Howard, and Connery. Bowling took the lead from Gray down the backstretch on lap two, but before he could pull away, the first of five caution flags came out on lap three when Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC stalled in turn four.
After the restart, Clem passed Gray for the second spot coming off turn four and Bowling had pulled out to a 2.6 second lead by lap five. The field bunched up again after a caution flag on the tenth lap when Oliver spun 360 degrees. The top five for the restart were Bowling, Clem, Gray, Howard and Connery.
Martin moved into the top five on lap 11 by passing Connery, and Joe Larkin of Suwanee, GA spun in turn two to bring out the third caution period. Bowling gave up a 2.1 second lead over Clem for the restart, but couldn’t get away after the restart, as Howard slowed off the pace and slowed to a stop in turn two to bring out the fourth caution flag.
Howard was able to go to the work area and fix whatever stopped his car to return to action, restarting 11th. The field restarted, only to race another lap before Connery spun down the front straightaway, causing a mad scramble without further incident. The final 11 laps went caution free and Bowling checked out.
It was a good thing because he had just enough left in his engine compartment to this time grab victory from the jaws of defeat 24 hour after it went the other way. The race was delayed during the heat races for 90 minutes after a very isolated rain shower drenched Dixie Speedway that was directly followed by a blown transformer that killed the electrical power to the track,
The next two races for the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire will be at Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS on Friday night, August 1 and Saturday night, August 2 in the Mississippi State Sprint Car Championship Race. 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 DIXIE SPEEDWAY IN WOODSTOCK, GA ON 7/26/25:
FEATURE RACE – 30 Laps: 1. 01 Jadan Bowling, Holden Beach, NC (3); 2. 6s Tyler Clem, St. Petersburg, FL (4); 3. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (1); 4. 67 Hayden Martin, Olive Branch, MS (5); 5. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (9); 6. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (8); 7. 29 Jeff Oliver, Pendergrass, GA (6); 8. 41 Luke Hill, Odessa, FL (10); 9. 91 Kyle Connery, Vero Beach, FL (2); 10. 87 Brady Allum, Taylorsville, NC (11); 11. 67m Jake McLain, Hembry Bridge, NC (14); 12. 19w Jackson Wellman, Belmont, NC (15); 13. 33 Joe Larkin, Suwanee, GA (13); 14. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (12); 15. Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (7); 16. 48 Coen McDaniel, Gaffney, SC DNS.
HOOSIER SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Gray; 2. Connery; 3. Bowling; 4. Clem; 5. Martin; 6. Oliver.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Connery; 2. Oliver; 3. Gray; 4. Martin; 5. Meredith; 6. Willingham; 7. Wellman; 8. McDaniel.
BUTLERBUILT HEAT 2: 1. Clem; 2. Bowling; 3. Moss; 4. Howard; 5. Hill; 6. Larkin; 7. Allum; 8. McLain.