By Roby Helm
MILTON, FL – May 16, 2026 – Honoring a hand shake agreement from the night before, 19-year-old Christopher Townsend of Tarkington, TX gave up the Pole Position to take the Hunt The Front Challenge and start 16th. He charged to the lead on lap 22 to win the 30-lap Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour 30-lap Feature Race on Saturday Night at Hunt The Front Southern Raceway before a capacity crowd.
“I gave the Track Promoter my word with hand shake last night that if I won the Dash tonight, I would take the Hunt The Front Challenge, start in the back, and try for the $1,000 Bonus,” Townsend said. “During the last ten laps of the race, my engine wasn’t running perfect, but that may have helped me with the track conditions. We chose to hunt the front and we took the bonus home.”
Dr. Kyle Amerson of Montgomery, AL led the first 21 laps of the race, and kept it close in the end, but had to settle for second. The 16-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN finished third for the second straight night, and Brandon Blenden of Gulfport, MS took the fourth spot.
Dustin Burtron of Seminole, FL drove to a fifth-place finish.
Terry Witherspoon of Jacksonville, FL led the next group with a sixth place finish. USCS National point leader Jeff Willingham of Ripley, MS took the seventh spot and Rusty Sanford of Seminary, MS finished eighth. Shane Morgan of Gulfport, MS was ninth and Arron Smith of Gulfport, MS rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Townsend won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the 30-lap Feature Race, but chose to take the Hunt The Front Challenge, start 16th and attempt to earn the $1,000 Bonus. The two eight-lap Heat Races were won by Townsend in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, and Amerson in the XC Gear Second Heat.
Amerson took the lead from the outside front row starting spot at the start of the race followed by Polesitter Gray, Morgan, Sanford and Willingham. Blenden charged from the seventh starting spot to move up to third on lap two.
Townsend blazed a fast trail through the field to settle into the fourth spot from his 16th starting position by the fourth lap. The first of three caution flags came out on lap five when Kyle Mabry of Cottondale, FL spun in turn two. On the restart, Blenden passed Gray for the second spot, and Townsend moved up to third on lap six.
Townsend passed Blenden for the second spot on lap nine and he was 1.9 seconds behind Amerson, who began to encounter lapped traffic. At the halfway point on lap 15, Amerson led Townsend by 2.2 seconds, followed by Blenden, Gray and Sanford in the top five. Gray passed Blenden to retake the third on lap 17.
By lap 20, Townsend, who ran the high groove in turns one and two, and inside in turns three and four, carved Amerson’s lead down to .886 seconds, and .456 seconds on lap 21. On the 22nd lap, Townsend ripped the lip around the first and second turns and took the lead, as Amerson got pinned behind two lapped car on the inside groove.
The second caution flag came out on lap 23 when David Gray of Hanover, PA stalled on the front straightaway. When the field went back to green flag action, Amerson stayed within striking distance of Townend, who began to encounter lapped traffic with four laps to go.
The lead duo avoided disaster on lap 28 when David Mabry of Cottondale, FL spun in front of Townsend and Amerson. In the three lap dash to the finish, Amerson threw a haymaker at Townsend in turn one on the final lap. Townsend came off the high side of turn two with enough momentum to take a .725 second margin of victory over Amerson under the checkered flag.
The next event for the Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour will begin the 2026 USCS SpeedWeek at Benton Speedway in Benton, MO on Friday night, May 22. USCS SpeedWeek will feature 7 races over 9 days. For more information about USCS, visit their website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page.
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 THE HOOSIER TIRE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY XC GEAR 30TH ANNIVERSARY OUTLAW THUNDER TOUR EVENT AT HUNT THE FRONT SOUTHERN RACEWAY IN MILTON, FL ON 5/16/26:
FEATURE RACE – 30 Laps: 1.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. 71 Christopher Townsend, Tarkington, TX (16); 2. 29 Kyle Amerson, Montgomery, AL (2); 3. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (1); 4. 88 Brandon Blenden, Gulfport, MS (7); 5. 51 Dustin Burtron, Seminole, FL (8); 6. 43 Terry Witherspoon, Jacksonville, FL (6); 7. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (4); 8. 28s Rusty Sanford, Seminary, MS (5); 9. 01 Shane Morgan, Gulfport, MS (3); 10. 29s Arron Smith, Gulfport, MS (14); 11. 55 Jay Dotson, Pensacola, FL (13); 12. 77 David Mabry, Cottondale, FL (11); 13. 47 David Gray, Hanover, PA (15); 14. 01h Hadley Morgan, Beaumont, TX (9); 15. 15k Kyle Mabry, Cottondale, FL (10); 16. 61 Sean Wimpee, Mobile, AL (12).
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Townsend; 2. Willingham; 3. S. Morgan; 4. Sanford; 5. Burtron; 6. D. Mabry; 7. Dotson; 8. Smith DNS.
XC GEAR HEAT 2: 1. Amerson; 2. T. Gray; 3. Blenden; 4. Witherspoon; 5. H. Morgan; 6. K. Mabry; 7. Wimpee; 8. D. Gray DNS.