By Roby Helm
COLUMBUS, MS β JULY 2, 2026 – Cole Schroeder of Bozeman, MT led all 25 laps to pick up the Feature Race win on Thursday night to open the July4th Holliday Weekend at Magnolia Motor Speedway for the Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour.
Derek Hagar of Marion, AR charged to the front from the ninth starting spot to take second and Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC finished third. Lee Moore of Moundville, AL was fourth and Chase Howard of Nesbit, MS drove to a fifth-place finish. The 16-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN was sixth.
USCS point leader Jeff Willingham of Ripley, MS finished seventh and Terry Easum of Broken Arrow, OK started 17th and finished eighth to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award. Hayden Wise of Huntersville, NC took the ninth spot and Tityn Roberts of Bennet, NE rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Van Gurley Jr. of Valparaiso, IN 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 Moore in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, defending USCS Champion Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat, and Schroeder in the XC Gear Third Heat.
Schroeder took the lead at the start of the race from his outside front row starting spot followed by Gurley, Dale Howard, Moss, and Hagar, who quickly claimed a top five spot from his ninth starting spot. Schroeder opened up a 2.032 second lead on Gurley by the fifth lap, and had caught the cars on the tail of the lead lap by lap six.
Gurley fell 3.6 seconds behind Schroeder by lap ten, while Hagar drove past Moss to take over the fourth position. Hagar passed Dale Howard for the third spot on lap 13, and one lap later moved up to second getting around Gurley. Meanwhile, Schroeder had opened up a six second lead on Hagar by lap 15.
The first of four caution flags came out on lap 18 when Ronny Howard of Nesbit, MS stalled in turn two. Schroeder had to give up a 6.1 second lead with the caution and led Hagar, Dale Howard, Guley and Moss back to the green flag. Hagar jumped the cushion on the high side of the track in turn one and hit the wall, enabling Dale Howard to get by for the second position,
With five laps to go, Schroeder held a 2.1 second advantage over Dale Howard, but that went away on lap 21 when the caution flag came out for Trent Moss of Medon, TN, who stalled in turn two. After a caution flag on the restart for a false start on the restart, the lead trio drove into turn one three-wide. Schroeder held the lead with Hagar getting by Dale Howard for second.
With Schroeder pulling away and getting ready to take the while flag to complete lap 24, the white was replaced by the red flag after Gurley flipped in turn three running fourth. Gurley was O.K., but was done for the night.
The third-place car of Dale Howard also went to the pit area during the red flag period, as did the sixth-place car of former USCS National Champion Jordan Mallett of Greenbrier, AR. Schroeder was unchallenged in the two-lap dash to the finish, taking a 1.105 second margin of victory over Hagar under the checkered flag.
The next two races for the Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour over the July 4th Holiday Weekend will be on Friday night, July 3 and Saturday night, July 4 at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL. For more information about USCS, visit their website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page
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 HOOSIER RACING TIRE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY XC GEAR 30TH ANNIVERSARY OUTLAW THUNDER TOUR EVENT AT MAGNOLIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN COLUMBUS, MS ON 7/2/26:
FEATURE RACE β 25 Laps: 1. 3c Cole Schroeder, Bozeman, MT (2); 2. 9jr Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (9); 3. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (4); 4. 1a Lee Moore, Moundville, AL (6); 5. 79 Chase Howard, Nesbit, MS (5); 6. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (11); 7. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (13); 8. 88e Terry Easum, Broken Arrow, OK (17); 9. 94 Hayden Wise, Huntersville, NC (8); 10. 18r Tityn Roberts, Bennet, NE (7); 11. 5 Wesley Shepard, Coldwater, MS (14); 12. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (3); 13. 13 Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (1); 14. 3 Jordan Mallett, Greenbrier, AR (12); 15. 88 Trent Moss, Medon, TN (15); 16. 16 Hannah Merritt, Nesbit, MS (16); 17. 80 Ronny Howard, Nesbit, MS (10); 18. 88b Brandon Blenden, Gulfport, MS (19); 19. 18 Paul Jones, Kokomo, MS (18).
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH β 6 Laps: 1. Gurley; 2. Schroeder; 3. D. Howard; 4. L. Moss; 5. C. Howard; 6. Moore.
HEAT RACES β 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Moore; 2. Wise; 3. C. Howard; 4. Roberts; 5. Willingham; 6. Merritt; 7. Jones.
BUTLERBUILT HEAT 2: 1. D. Howard; 2. Hagar; 3. R. Howard; 4. Gray; 5. Shepard; 6. Blenden DNS.
XC GEAR HEAT 3: 1. Schroeder; 2. Gurley; 3. L. Moss; 4. Mallett; 5. T. Moss; 6. Easum.