By Roby Helm
LOXLEY, AL β TheJuly 3, 2026- The defending United Sprint Car Series National Champion Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS took the Night 1 win in the 25-lap Feature Race for the Hoosier Racing Tire USCS Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour on Friday night at Deep South Speedway. Howard outran Terry Easum of Broken Arrow, OK, who finished second.
The victory was Howard’s second of the 2026 season and the 42nd of his USCS career. The 16-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN was awarded the third spot after apparent third-place finisher Hayden Wise of Huntersville, NC missed the post-race technical inspection and was disqualified.
Dustin Burtron of Seminole, FL finished fourth and Van Gurley Jr. of Valparaiso, IN was fifth. Lee Moore of Moundville, AL took the sixth spot and USCS point leader Jeff Willingham of Ripley, MS drove to a seventh-place finish. Cole Schroeder of Bozeman, MT was eighth and Brandon Blendon of Gulfport, MS took the ninth spot. Tityn Roberts of Bennet, NE started 19th and finished tenth to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award.
In preliminary action, Howard 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 Easum in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat, and Howard in the XC Gear Third Heat.
Howard took the lead at the start of the race, but Moss, who started on the outside of the front row spun in turn two to bring out the caution flag and necessitate a complete restart. Howard led Easum, Gray, Burtron and Gurley after the first lap, but the field was slowed by caution when Paul Craddock of Summerdale, AL spun in turn one on the second lap.
Wise passed Gurley for fifth on lap three. Craddock executed his second spin of the race on lap seven in turn two to light the yellow caution bulb up for the third time. When the field went back to green flag action, Wise passed Burtron for the fourth position on lap 10. At the halfway point of the race, Howard held a .557 second lead over Easum,
With five laps to go, Howard had opened up a 1.743 second lead over Easum, and Wise passed Gray for the third spot on lap 23. Just after the leaders had taken the white flag, Terry Witherspoon of Jacksonville, FL spun and collected Hadley Morgan of Beaumont, TX to bring out the final caution flag and set up a green, white, checkered finish.
Howard was able to take a .521 second margin of over Easum under the checkered flag in a race that took 30 minutes and 8.483 seconds to complete the 25 tours of Deep South Speedway. The win moves Howard up to the third spot in the USCS National point standings behind Willingham and Gray.
The Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour returns to Deep South Speedway on Saturday night for Night 2 of the USA 250th Birthday Celebration. 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 DEEP SOUTH SPEEDWAY IN LOXLEY, AL ON 7/3/26:
FEATURE RACE β 25 Laps: 1. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (1); 2. 88e Terry Easum, Broken Arrow, OK (3); 3. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (4); 4. 51 Dustin Burtron, Seminole, FL (5); 5. 13 Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (6); 6. 1a Lee Moore, Moundville, AL (12); 7. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (8); 8. 3 Cole Schroeder, Bozeman, MT (11); 9. 88 Brandon Blenden, Gulfport, MS (10); 10. 18r Tityn Roberts, Bennet, NE (19); 11. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (2); 12. 9 Steve Diamond Jr., Brooksville, FL (9); 13. 33 Joe Larkin, Suwanee, GA (13); 14. 43 Terry Witherspoon, Jacksonville, FL (17); 15. 16 Hannah Merritt, Nesbit, MS (18); 16. 01h Hadley Morgan, Beaumont, TX (16); 17. 1 Paul Craddock, Summerdale, AL (15); 18. 29 Arron Smith, Gulfport, MS (14); 19. 94 Hayden Wise, Huntersville, NC (7) DQ/Missed Post-Race Tech.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH β 6 Laps: 1. Howard; 2. Moss; 3. Easum; 4. Gray; 5. Burtron; 6. Gurley.
HEAT RACES β 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Easum; 2. Burtron; 3. Diamond; 4. Willingham; 5. Larkin; 6. Morgan; 7. Merritt.
BUTLERBUILT HEAT 2: 1. Moss; 2. Gray; 3. Blenden; 4. Schroeder; 5. Smith; 6. Witherspoon.
XC GEAR HEAT 3: 1. Howard; 2. Wise; 3. Gurley; 4. Moore; 5. Craddock; 6. Roberts.