By Roby Helm
LOXLEY, AL – March 6, 2026 – The 2025 USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series Rookie of the Year, Coen McDaniel of Gaffney, SC picked up his first career United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By XC Gear feature race win on Friday night at Deep South Speedway. The 15-year-old driver not only drove to his first USCS win, but he swept the program by leading all 25 laps, winning his Heat Race and the Dash.
Chris Martin of Ankeny, IA made a late-race challenge for the win, but had to settle for the second spot. The 16-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN finished third. Van Gurley Jr. of Valparaiso, IN took the fourth spot and Trey Meredith of Dade City, FL was fifth.
Max Stambaugh of Lima, OH came home in the sixth spot, and seventh went to Conner Wray of Olive Branch, MS, who started 18th and was the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race. Riley Goodno of Knoxville, IA finished eighth and Jeremy Kornbau of Hermitage, PA took the ninth spot. Winter Heat Shootout point leaader Davie Franek of Wantage, NJ rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, McDaniel won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the 25-lap Feature Race. The three eight-lap Heat Races were won by McDaniel in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, P.J. Reutimann of Zephyrhills, FL in the XC Gear Second Heat, and Gray in the Schoenfeld Headers Third Heat.
McDaniel took the lead at the drop of the green flag to start Round 7 of the USCS Winter Heat Shootout followed by Corbin Gurley of Hebron, IN, Gray, Van Gurley Jr, and Franek. Jadon Bowling of Holden Beach, NC charged up from his 11th starting spot to pass Franek for the fifth spot on lap two, and then got by Van Gurley Jr. of lap seven for the fourth position.
Reutimann brought out the first of two caution flags on lap eight while running eighth. McDaniel gave up a 2.228 second advantage over second place Corbin Gurley. Gray, Bowling, and Van Gurley Jr. rounded out the top five for the restart. Van Gurley Jr. was able to get by Bowling for the fourth position when the green flag came out.
Meredith moved into the top five for the first time in the race on lap nine and Martin made his first appearance in the top five on lap 12. Martin then passed Van Gurley Jr. for fourth on lap 14. The closest challenge McDaniel had to fend off came on lap 16 when Corbin Gurley closed to within .132 seconds in lapped traffic.
Martin was looking for a piece of the action in the battle for the lead when he got by Gray for the third spot on lap 17. McDaniel pulled out to just over a half second lead on Corbin Gurley by lap 20, but his main challenger up to this point in the race, Corbin Gurley brought out the final caution flag of the race on lap 21.
McDaniel now had Martin, Gray, Van Gurley Jr., and Meredith second through fifth respectively behind him for the restart. In the five-lap dash to the finish, McDaniel was able to hang on and take a .230 second margin of victory over Martin under the checkered flag in a race that took 21 minutes and 27.349
Tje Hoosier Racing Tire 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By XC Gear returns to Deep South Speedway on Saturday night for Round 8 of the Winter Heat Shootout. For more information about USCS, visit their website at uscsracing.com a
nd the series Facebook page, or call the USCS Office at 770-865-6097.
United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are XC Gear, 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 UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY HOOSIER RACING TIRE EVENT AT HATTIESBURG SPEEDWAY IN HATTIESBURG, MS ON 2/27/26:
FEATURE RACE – 25 Laps: 1. 48 Coen McDaniel, Gaffney, SC (1); 2. 44 Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (8); 3. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (3); 4. 13 Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (4); 5. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (5); 6. 71 Max Stambaugh, Lima, OH (9); 7. 23w Conner Wray, Olive Branch, MS (18); 8. 22 Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (14); 9. 51 Jeremy Kornbau, Hermitage, PA (12); 10. 28f Davie Franek, Wantage, NJ (7); 11. 01 Shane Morgan, Gulfport, MS (13); 12. B5 Brianna Lawson, Jackson Springs, NC (16); 13. 51 Shelby Kelly, Runnemede, NJ (15); 14. 01 Jadan Bowling, Holden Beach, NC (11); 15. 12 Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (2); 16. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (17); 17. 00 P.J. Reutimann, Zephyrhills, FL (6); 18. 4 Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (10); 19. 38 John Robicheaux, Gulfport, MS DNS.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. McDaniel; 2. C. Gurley; 3. Gray; 4. V. Gurley; 5. Meredith; 6. Reutimann.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. McDaniel; 2. Meredith; 3. Smith; 4. Stambaugh; 5. Goodno; 6. Willingham; 7. Robicheaux DNS.
XC GEAR HEAT 2: 1. Reutimann; 2. Franek; 3. V. Gurley; 4. Bowling; 5. Kelly; 6. Lawson.
SCHOENFELD HEADERS HEAT 3: 1. Gray; 2. Martin; 3. C. Gurley; 4. Kornbau; 5. Morgan; 6. Wray.