NORMAN
PARK, GA (May 20, 2017) – Jordan Mallett of Greenbrier, AR made his longest tow
of any other of his competitors this weekend payoff on Saturday night, as he
drove to his first United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By
K&N Filters win of the 2017 season at Needmore Speedway. Mallett who was
the 2011 USCS Rookie of the Year and the 2016 NSL 360 National Champion has
attended every 2017 UCS Outlaw Thunder Tour event said in post-race comments
that” I am glad to finally get the monkey off my back by winning this one tonight”
after a string of solid performances.
Mallett,
who came into the event as the USCS Southern Thunder regional series points
leader, took the lead at the drop of the green flag from his outside front row
starting spot to open up as much as a full straightaway lead. Two restarts after red flag periods didn’t
phase Mallett, as even a four-lap dash to the finish showed him with a half
straightaway margin of victory. Mallett
opened the night with the win in the six-lap Hoosier Tire USCS Speed Dash.
The
11-time USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN finished second after
winning the eight-lap Butlerbuilt Third Heat Race earlier in the evening. The defending and two-time USCS National
Champion Morgan Turpen took the third spot, as her winning streak came to an
end on Saturday night after five straight wins.
The
K&N Filters Pole Award recipient Brian Thomas of Pendergrass, GA was
fourth, and Brown and Miller Racing Solutions eight-lap Second Heat Race winner
Danny Martin Jr. of Sarasota, FL drove to a fifth-place finish. Shawn Murray of Jacksonville, FL finished
sixth and Terry Witherspoon of Jacksonville, FL took the seventh spot.
Lance
Moss of Cherryville, NC came back from being burned in two separate incidents
on Friday night to drive to an eighth-place finish, and a win in the eight-lap Engler Machine and Tool First Heat Race. Tanner Witherspoon of Jacksonville, FL took
the ninth spot, and Rookie of the Year points leader Scott Hunter of Concord,
NC rounded out the top ten.
Danny Sams III of Englewood, FL started 21st and
finished 13th to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the
Race Award, and in other preliminary action, Joey Schmidt of Ellisville, MS won
the second six-lap Dash For Cash Sponsored By Tom Selhorst.
Mallett took command of the race at the drop of the green flag,
but that quickly gave way to the red light for a three-car tangle in turn two
that saw the car of Darren Orth of Jacksonville, FL get on its side. All drivers were O.K. when the dust
settled. Mallett led Thomas, Brandon
McLain of Indian Trail, NC, Gray and Moss back to the green flag for the
restart.
While Mallett pulled away from the field, Gray moved up to third
on the restart, and Turpen passed Moss for fifth on lap three. Turpen was on a mission trying to win her
sixth-straight race of the 2017 season, as she got by McLain for fourth on lap
four, bringing Moss with her up into the fifth spot.
Gray began to reel in Thomas to battle for second, and took the
position on lap 12. By the halfway point
in the race, Mallett was in heavy lapped traffic with a full straightaway lead
over Gray, Thomas, Turpen, and Terry Witherspoon.
Mallett clicked off the laps running the high side of the track,
but his big lead was erased on lap 26 when the red flag came out after Brandon
Grubaugh of Ocala, FL flipped in turn four.
Grubaugh was uninjured. There was
plenty of action on the four-lap dash to the checkered flag, as Turpen got by
Thomas for third, and Martin drove around the outside groove to go from eighth
to fifth.
In the RockAuto.com USCS 600 Mini
Sprint action, Gregg Jones of Navarre, FL has found Needmore Speedway to his
liking. Jones started the evening where
he left off on Friday night, in Victory Lane after winning the six-lap USCS 600
Hoosier Speed Dash, and returned to that piece of real estate to end the
evening after a wire-to-wire win in the 20-lap main event, his second in as
many nights.
Robby
Hoffman of Lithia, FL finished second, and John Craddock of Orlando, FL took
the third spot with each driver repeating their finishes from Friday
night. Bobby Zaiontz of Columbus, MS
drove to a fourth-place finish and fifth went to the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard
Charger of the Race Dirk Miller of Sanford, FL, who started eighth.
David Hall
of Casselberry, FL finished sixth and A.J. Parrish of Jacksonville, FL took the
seventh spot. Jim McNulty of Navarre, FL
was eighth, ninth went to Trynt Lloyd of Jacksonville, FL, and the series 2016
Rookie of the Year, Conner Morrell of Palmetto, FL rounded out the top ten. In preliminary action, Hoffman won the Engler
Machine and Tool eight-lap Heat Race.
Next up for the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour Presented By K&N
Filters drivers is 12th annual USCS Sprint Speedweek 2017 that consists
of seven races in nine days. It begins
on Friday night, May 26 at Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS and ends on
Saturday night, June 3 at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR.
In between the USCS Sprint Cars will visit Jackson Motor Speedway
in Jackson, MS on Saturday night, May 27, Greenville Speedway in Greenville, MS
on Sunday night, May 28, Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, TN on Monday night,
May 29, Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL on Thursday night, June 1, and
Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS on Friday night, June 2.
For rules and updated schedule information about
the United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour, please visit www.uscsracing.com or
call the series office at 770-460-7223 or 770-865-6097. You can also like the United Sprint Car Series Facebook page at
USCS Racing.
A-MAIN: 30 LAPS:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN
1. 2 14 Jordon
Mallet Greenbrier, AR
2. 4 10 Terry Gray Bartlett, TN
3. 5 10m Morgan Turpen Cordova, TN
4. 1 67 Brian Thomas Pendergrass, GA
5. 7 24 Danny Martin
Jr. Sarasota, FL
6. 10 22 Shawn Murray Jacksonville, FL
7. 8 43 Terry
Witherspoon Jacksonville, FL
8. 6 23 Lance Moss Cherryville, NC
9. 9 99 Tanner
Witherspoon Jacksonville, FL
10. 11 1x Scott Hunter Concord, NC
11. 3 21b Brandon
McLain Indian Trail, NC
12. 18 28 Jeff
Willingham Ripley, NC
13. 21 24d Danny Sams III Englewood, FL
14. 14 67m Jake McLain Matthews, NC
15. 20 38 Tony Agin Fort Myers, FL
16. 15 07 Brandon Taylor Cumming, GA
17. 17 83r Mark Ruel Jr. Jacksonville, FL
18. 13 g6 Brandon
Grubaugh Ocala, FL
19. 22 43m A.J. Parrish Jacksonville, FL
20. 19 92 Matt Kurtz Jacksonville, FL
21. 12 1s Joey Schmidt Ellisville, MS
22. 16 34 Darren Orth Jacksonville, FL
23. 23 83 Bob Auld Largo, FL DNS
USCS Sprint Car Series Race Awards:
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: Mallett
Hoosier Tire Dash For Cash Sponsored By Tom Selhorst: Schmidt
Engler Machine and Tool First
Heat: Moss
Brown and Miller Racing Solutions Second Heat:
Martin
Butlerbuilt Third Heat: Gray
K&N Filters Pole Award: Thomas
JE Pistons Top Guns Award: (2nd
Place): Gray
PRO Shocks Champion Choice
Award (3rd Place): Turpen
K&N Filters Podium (3rd place) Award:
Turpen
Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger Award: Sams
(started 21st and finished 13th)
Saldana Racing Products Super Sixth Award: Murray
Pyrotect Racing Cells Lucky Seven Award:
Tanner Witherspoon
DHR Suspension Eighth Place
Award: Moss
DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends Top Ten Award: Hunter
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash (6 Laps): 1. Mallet; 2. Gray; 3. Turpen; 4. Martin; 5.
B. McClain.
USCS Dash For Cash Sponsored By Tom
Selhorst (6 Laps): 1. Schmidt; 2. Taylor; 3.
Auld; 4. Agin; 5. Tanner Witherspoon.
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat (8 Laps): 1. Moss; 2. Terry Witherspoon; 3. Thomas; 4.
Tanner Witherspoon; 5. Taylor; 6. Ruel; 7. Auld; 8. Sams DNS.
Brown and Miller Racing Solutions Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. Martin; 2. B.
McLain; 3. Hunter; 4. Murray; 5. Schmidt; 6. Willingham; 7. Agin; 8. Parrish
DNS.
Butlerbuilt Third Heat (8
Laps): 1. Gray; 2.
Mallett; 3. Turpen; 4. Grubaugh; 5. J. McLain; 6. Orth; 7. Kurtz.
The United Speed Contest Sanction’s three
racing series including the United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour presented
by K&N Filters, the www.RockAuto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car
Series and the K&N Filters USCS Outlaw Modified Series would like to
gratefully thank its sponsoring partners for their involvement in the 2017 and
21st USCS series participation: K&N Filters, www.rockauto.com, Engler Machine and
Tool, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Comp Cams, Wilwood Disc Brakes, PRO
Shocks, DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends. Butlerbuilt, Saldana Racing Products, DHR
Suspensions, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Bell Racing USA KSE Racing Products,
Schoenfeld Headers, DSR Fuel Systems, Arizona Sport Shirts and Hero Graphics.
United
Speed Contest Sanction Media Contact – PETE WALTON – (770) 865-6097
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