Terry Gray claims 11th USCS presented by K&N Filters sprint car National Championship
Gray finished the National title chase with 4571 National Championship points followed by team-mate and USCS “Road to Atlanta” Hoosier Race Tire Asphalt Series Champion, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee who had 4434 points. Turpen also had quite a year with two USCS feature wins that included one at Southern National Motorsport Park on pavement in the USCS Road to Atlanta Series on April 26th. Her second win of the season came on dirt during the USCS vs. URC North vs. South Shootout at Cherokee Speedway on October 4th. Her runner-up finish in the standings came after she accumulated points from the two victories plus an impressive total of twenty top 5 finishes and twenty eight finishes in the top ten in 35 starts. She additionally finished in the runner-up spot in both regional series behind her team-mate (Gray).
The 2012 USCS Rookie of the Year, Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi improved his placement in the top ten driver standings in the series by moving up four places in the final standings over his finish last season. Willingham who finished seventh in the 2013 standings, finished the 2014 season ranked third on the National standings with 3415 points. He also will collect fourth place honors in the USCS Mid South Thunder and sixth place honors in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series during the January 24th USCS banquet in Atlanta
The 2008 USCS Rookie of the Year, Anthony Nicholson also from Bartlett, Tennessee finished in fourth place in the 2014 USCS National sprint car standings with 3260 points, but, the story doesn’t end there. Nicholson had a total of six stops at the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane to pick up the winner’s pay check. A career-best USCS season for Nicholson who’s previous season best was two wins. His season finale win at Poplar Bluff Speedway on October 18th was his career 10th USCS win. Nicholson, who ran a limited National schedule, and missed the first USCS Mid South Thunder regional series event at Magnolia Motor Speedway, also finished in third place in the Mid South regional series. Had Nicholson not missed that first event he most likely would have finished higher in both series standings.
The 2012 USCS National Champion, Tim Crawley from Benton, Arkansas accumulated enough points to finish fifth in the USCS National standings. Crawley started the season slowly, but reeled off a streak of six wins in eight races during July and August including five stops in a row for a photo opportunity in the www.rockauto.com USCS victory Lane. The other two finishes were both in 2nd place during that period. Crawley who was the 2013 USCS Mid South Thunder Tour regional series Champion, participated in fifteen of the nineteen USCS Mid South regional series events and his finishes were good enough to finish fifth in those regional standings in 2014.
Crawley was followed by Terry Witherspoon from Jacksonville, Florida who accumulated enough points in the National standings to finish sixth with 2045 points in the USCS National point standings. Witherspoon who mostly competed in the Southern Thunder region but also joined the field for several Mid South regional series weekends, also finished in the fifth position in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour title chase.
Three-time 2014 USCS feature winner Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina who was the 2010 USCS Southern Thunder regional series Rookie of the Year finished in seventh place in the final USCS National sprint car standings with 1891 points. Riggins won on August 30th at Harris Speedway and then visited the www.rockauto.com USCS victory lane twice on back-to-back nights in September when the nineteen year-old driver swept the 5th Annual Senoia Summer Nationals at Senoia Raceway.
2014 USCS “Rookie of the Year”, Brandon McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina, who competed in the USCS Southern Thunder region and in all five USCS Road to Atlanta Hoosier Tire Asphalt Series events accumulated 1843 National points to finish eighth in those standings. McLain fared much better in the USCS presented by K&N Southern Thunder regional series with a third place finish in the standings behind Terry Gray and Morgan Turpen. He also had a third place finish in the pavement series final point standings.
Two Nesbit, Mississippi drivers, Greg Merritt with 1810 points and Ronny Howard with 1539 points rounded out the top ten drivers in the National point standings. Merritt competed primarily in the Mid South regional series as did Howard.
USCS Mid South Thunder Tour regional series:
Terry Gray headed the standings in the highly competitive USCS Mid South Thunder regional series that competes primarily in Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. The 2014 National Champion tallied 2895 points while edging out his team-mate, Morgan Turpen in second place with 2803 points. As previously mentioned, Anthony Nicholson claimed the third position in the Mid-South region behind Turpen with 2737 points and five feature wins in the regional series. Ripley, Mississippi’s Jeff Willingham followed Nicholson in fourth place with 2527 points. Six-time feature winner, Tim Crawley from Benton, Arkansas, rounded out the top five by collecting 2258 points for his efforts in 15 of the 19 contested events. Greg Merritt from Nesbit, Mississippi finished sixth in the Mid-South standings with 1810 points. Veteran sprint car racer, Ronny Howard, also from Nesbit, Mississippi was seventh in the standings with 1539 points. He was followed by past United Sprint Car Series National Champion driver Eddie Gallagher from Olive Branch, Mississippi in eighth place in the standings with 1384 points. The 2013 USCS Rookie of the Year, Curt Terrell from Bartlett, Tennessee finished with 1291 points to finish ninth in the regional series.
The 2013 and defending United Sprint Car Series National Champion, Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas ran a limited USCS schedule in 2014. Hagar won eight out of ten USCS events. He also won the USCS Sprint Car Speedweek 2014 title after winning the first three races. Hagar had 1229 regional series points.
Five different drivers won races during the 2014 season in the USCS Mid South presented by K&N regional series. Derek Hagar won six times. Tim Crawley won six of the regional series events and Anthony Nicholson won five times. Terry Gray and Jerod Roller from Nesbit, Mississippi each won one time in Mid South regional series competition. One hundred and three different drivers competed in USCS Mid South presented by K&N regional series 2014 events.
USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series:
2014 National Champ, Terry Gray also captured the Championship in the USCS Southern Thunder presented by K&N Filters regional series that contests its’ events primarily in Eastern Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Eastern Tennessee with a Championship total of 2184 points. The title was decided on the final weekend in that region. Gray’s team-mate, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee kept in close in that regional series battle and finished just 68 points behind Gray with 2116 points for the runner-up spot. The 2-14 USCS sprint car Rookie of the Year finished behind the two veterans team-mates in third place with 1975 points. Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina who won three 2014 main events in the region, but suffered through a streak of tough luck as well, finished 13 points behind McLain in fourth place with 1891 points. Veteran sprint car racer Terry Witherspoon from Jacksonville, Florida followed Riggins with 1680 points in fifth place.
Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi competed in enough USCS Southern Thunder presented by K&N to earn 1372 points and finish sixth in the final standings. USCS regular, Joe Larkin from Suwannee, Georgia collected 1352 points to finish just behind Willingham in seventh place. Larkin was followed by rookie Nicholas Snyder from Marco Island, Florida who will compete for United Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year honors on 2015 with 1290 points in eighth place. Another rookie driver who was a veteran Late Model racer, Jay Dunham from Grovetown, Georgia followed in ninth place with 1231 points. Veteran sprint car driver, Brian Thomas from Pendergrass, Georgia rounded out the Southern regional series point standings with 1096 points.
Eight different drivers won 2014 USCS Southern Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters races. Eric Riggins, Jr. led the win column category with three wins. Terry Gray, Derek Hagar and Anthony Nicholson had two wins each in the Southern region. Johnny Bridges and Lance Moss, both from Cherryville, North Carolina, Michael Miller from Ocean Springs, Mississippi and Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee had one www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane visit each in 2014 in USCS Southern Thunder regional series competition. Fifty-eight different drivers entered USCS Southern Thunder regional series events during the 2014 season.
USCS “Road to Atlanta” Hoosier Asphalt Series:
The 2010 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters Rookie of the Year, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee captured the 2014 Championship in the five race USCS “Road to Atlanta” Hoosier Asphalt Series. Turpen had one win, two third place and two fourth place finishes on the way to the title. She also had a Hoosier Speed Dash win and set fast time at Southern National Motorsport Park on April 26th in route to the title with 773 Championship points. Her team-mate and the 2014 USCS National sprint car Champ, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee finished just out of reach in second place and just 19 points back with 754 points. Gray had three second place and one third place finish, but, a DNF at Anderson Motor Speedway on July 26th probably ruined his shot at the title.
The 2014 USCS Rookie of the Year, Brandon McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina followed the talented Tennessee veteran duo in third place with 711 points. McLain had an impressive three top five and five top ten finishes in the five races. Tom Patterson from Argos, Indiana with 703 points was just behind McLain in fourth place in the title chase. Tim Perry from Mooresville, North Carolina rounded out the top five in the standings with 692 points accumulated in the all paved track five race USCS mini-series.
Rookie Jay Dunham finished with 673 points in sixth place. Mount Ulla, North Carolina veteran sprint car racer Bill Moore finished in seventh place with 661 points. Past USCS regional series Champion, Johnny Bridges from Cherryville, North Carolina finished in eighth place in the standings with just 605 points, but, before his season was cut short after two motor failures, Bridges won the asphalt series opener at Anderson Motor Speedway on April 25th then had a pair of runner-up finishes plus a tenth place finish after a wreck at Anderson on July 25th. Bridges did not get to compete in the August 29th Atlanta Motor Speedway series finale. Jake McLain missed the series opener at Anderson then went on to score four top five finishes and tally 596 points to finish ninth on the standings. Joe Larkin from Suwannee, Georgia also missed a race and finished with 498 points to round out the top ten in the standings.
Joey “The Ace” Aguilar from Tampa, Florida started late and only competed in three events. Had the Florida driver started earlier it might have been a different story as he made a stop in the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane at Anderson Motor Speedway on both nights during a two-night USCS Road to Atlanta Hoosier Asphalt Series weekend at the track on July 25th and 26th. He then led all 50 laps of the series finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway before an assembled crowd of approximately 30,000 spectators.
In summary after 35 completed events: One hundred and twenty-nine different drivers competed in the thirty-five 18th anniversary USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters events. Eleven different drivers won 2014 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour main events. Those included Derek Hagar, who led the series victory column with eight wins. Hagar was followed by Tim Crawley and Anthony Nicholson with six feature wins each. Eric Riggins, Jr. and pavement ace, Joey Aguilar from Tampa, Florida were next with three wins apiece. Terry Gray, Morgan Turpen and Cherryville, North Carolina’s Johnny Bridges made two visits each to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane.
Three other drivers collected one feature win during the 2014 season. Those included: Jerod Roller from Hernando, Mississippi at Poplar Bluff Speedway on March 22nd, Lance Moss from Cherryville, North Carolina at Lancaster Speedway on April 12th and Michael Miller on Sunday, September 1st at Toccoa Speedway.
The eighteenth anniversary USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters kicked off on Friday, March 1st at Magnolia Motor Speedway and concluded at Poplar Bluff Speedway on Saturday, October 18th. For complete and archived results from these events please visit the series Official website at www.uscsracing.com .
The United Sprint Car Series thanks the 2014 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour supporting sponsors including: K&N Filters, Hoosier Racing Tire, and USCS victory lane sponsor www.RockAuto.com plus Arizona Sport Shirts, Brown and Miller racing Solutions, Bulldog Rear Ends/DMI, DSR Fuel Systems, Engler Machine and Tool, JE Pistons, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, KSE Racing Products, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Safety-Kleen, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Racing Products, Something Inked and Wilwood Engineering.
The 2015 (19th Anniversary) USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour kicks off at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi on Friday, February 27th and Saturday, February 28th . A full schedule of 2015 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour winged sprint car events will be available soon. For series rules and other info please visit www.uscsracing.com or call the series office at 770-460-7223 or 770-865-6097.
Final 2014 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters National point standings (35 events)
Pos Car # Name Points
1 10 Terry Gray 4571
2 10M Morgan Turpen 4434
3 28 Jeff Willingham 3415
4 16 Anthony Nicholson 3260
5 88 Tim Crawley 2258
6 43 Terry Witherspoon 2045
7 47 Eric Riggins Jr. 1891
8 21b Brandon McLain 1843
9 12M Greg Merritt 1810
10 44 Ronny Howard 1539
11 9Jr Derek Hagar 1507
12 1 Eddie Gallagher 1384
13 116 Nicholas Snyder 1328
14 27 Curt Terrell 1291
15 33 Joe Larkin 1232
16 51 Jay Dunham 1231
17 83 Bob Auld 1163
18 26 Marshall Skinner 1158
19 3 A.G. Raines 1100
20 67 Brian Thomas 1096
21 13T Taylor Tidmore 1072
22 12 Dalton Davis 1043
23 5 Jerod Roller 1037
24 4m Michael Miller 1012
25 14z Zach Pringle 988
26 12C Collin Cabre 935
27 07 Johnny Bridges 917
28 42 Andy McElhannon 916
29 46 Kyle Amerson 914
30 13 Todd Fayard 846
31 23 Lance Moss 839
32 4 Danny Smith 738
33 32x Robert Richardson 724
34 31G Cody Gardner 678
35 0X Clint Weiss 650
36 14 Jordon Mallett 627
37 39 Brad Bowden 626
38 31 Justin Webb 607
39 3H Brandon Hanks 559
40 36 Tim Perry 550
41 15 Johnny Gilbertson 540
42 46 Jan Howard 506
43 59 Johnny Petrozelle 500
44 11 Jake Roach 492
45 25 Ray Bugg 485
46 12b Don Ryder 460
47 61 Cody Howard 438
48 21 Kevin Hinkle 428
49 14 Kyle Bellum 428
50 89 Robby Stillwaggon 428
51 29 Brandon Hahn 406
52 21 Aubrey Black 404
53 40 Howard Moore 404
54 94 Jeff Swindell 403
55 06 Bill Moore 402
56 4 Jason Troutman 402
57 12H Kent Wolters 398
58 1A Lee Moore 388
59 12 Kris Davis 386
60 22 Troy Betts 380
61 22 Shawn Murray 366
62 44c Brett McMillan 362
63 7d Dylan DeJournett 362
64 28h Matt Hope 356
65 99 Tanner Witherspoon 354
66 33 Mark Huddleston 350
67 10p Jim Perricone 346
68 8X Chris Williams 344
69 31G Johnny Gardner 332
70 2 Brandon Kilpatrick 326
71 01 Jerod Hull 294
72 67 Jake McLain 290
73 92 Matt Kurtz 283
74 01 Shane Morgan 276
75 42 Henry Gustavus 273
76 91 Ernie Ainsworth 268
77 17m Joey Moughan 264
78 12b Brad Franks 256
79 61 Don Smith 254
80 51 Joe B Miller 254
81 26 Lukas Smith 254
82 1 Freddie McCall Jr. 250
83 44s Wesley Shephard 248
84 57 Zach Roach 248
85 22 Dustin Barks 242
86 17 Mike Pack 242
87 11 Brian Smith 234
88 23 Tim Sites 228
89 99 Blake Jenkins 218
90 4 Tommy Snellgrove 218
91 12T Joe Young 216
92 96 Samantha Sites 216
93 6 Brad Wickham 200
94 20w Greg Wilson 148
95 28F Davie Franek 146
96 25 Josh Weller 144
97 24 Danny Martin Jr. 142
98 99 Robby Standridge 142
99 75 Tyler Blank 142
100 01 Joey Montgomery 140
101 56 Randy West 140
102 9 Justin Sturch 138
103 17j Jonathan Swanson 136
104 19 Klint Angellette 136
105 5 Dave Thorman 134
106 72 Kevin Petty 134
107 16f Lance Hester 134
108 36 Kenny Laureno 132
109 3b Brad Greer 130
110 1j Nic Jenkins 128
111 55 Donny Howard 126
112 87 Greg Smyre 124
113 5s Sonny Stroud 122
114 17 Tony Wilson 122
115 28k Jason Keith 120
116 15 Jeremy Middleton 118
117 49 Shawn Dancer 118
118 44c Bubba Lofton 114
119 11b George Blaney 112
120 n2 Ray Stevison 108
121 91 Dale Howard 106
122 57 Jason New 104
123 2 Bryce Vowan 100
124 22 Kevin Kilpatrick 100
125 25 Mark Gant 100
126 38 Rick Pringle 100
127 14 Ryan Roy 100
128 11 Skylar Pipkin 100
129 5x Tyson Hall 100
Final 2014 USCS MID SOUTH THUNDER Sprint Car Points
Pos. Car# Driver Point
1 10 Terry Gray 2895
2 10M Morgan Turpen 2803
3 16 Anthony Nicholson 2737
4 28 Jeff Willingham 2527
5 88 Tim Crawley 2258
6 12M Greg Merritt 1810
7 44 Ronny Howard 1539
8 1 Eddie Gallagher 1384
9 27 Curt Terrell 1291
10 9Jr Derek Hagar 1229
11 26 Marshall Skinner 1158
12 3 A.G. Raines 1100
13 13T Taylor Tidmore 1072
14 12 Dalton Davis 1043
15 5 Jerod Roller 1037
16 14z Zach Pringle 988
17 42 Andy McElhannon 916
18 13 Todd Fayard 846
19 32x Robert Richardson 724
20 43 Terry Witherspoon 721
21 31G Cody Gardner 678
22 14 Jordon Mallett 627
23 39 Brad Bowden 626
24 31 Justin Webb 607
25 4 Danny Smith 594
26 4m Michael Miller 588
27 3H Brandon Hanks 559
28 46 Jan Howard 506
29 11 Jake Roach 492
30 12b Don Ryder 460
31 61 Cody Howard 438
32 21 Kevin Hinkle 428
33 14 Kyle Bellum 428
34 83 Bob Auld 411
35 29 Brandon Hahn 406
36 40 Howard Moore 404
37 94 Jeff Swindell 403
38 44c Brett McMillan 362
39 7d Dylan DeJournett 362
40 33 Mark Huddleston 350
41 25 Ray Bugg 350
42 10p Jim Perricone 346
43 8X Chris Williams 344
44 31G Johnny Gardner 332
45 2 Brandon Kilpatrick 326
46 47 Eric Riggins, Jr. 306
47 07 Johnny Bridges 302
48 99 Jerod Hull 294
49 21B Brandon McLain 289
50 15 Nicholas Snyder 278
51 1 Shane Morgan 276
52 21 Aubrey Black 274
53 42 Henry Gustavus 273
54 23 Lance Moss 269
55 91 Ernie Ainsworth 268
56 17m Joey Moughan 264
57 61 Don Smith 254
58 51 Joe B Miller 254
59 33 Joe Larkin 254
60 26 Lukas Smith 254
61 1 Freddie McCall 250
62 22 Shawn Murray 248
63 44s Wesley Shephard 248
64 57 Zach Roach 248
65 17 Mike Pack 242
66 23 Tim Sites 228
67 22 Dustin Barks 226
68 99 Blake Jenkins 218
69 4 Tommy Snellgrove 218
70 12T Joe Young 216
71 96 Samantha Sites 216
72 20w Greg Wilson 148
73 67 Jake McLain 142
74 51 Jay Dunham 142
75 99 Robbie Standridge 142
76 75 Tyler Blank 142
77 01 Joey Montgomery 140
78 9 Justin Sturch 138
79 29 Kyle Amerson 138
80 36 Tim Perry 138
81 59 Johnny Petrozelle 136
82 19 Klint Angellette 136
83 72 Kevin Petty 134
84 16f Lance Hester 134
85 1A Lee Moore 134
86 3b Brad Greer 130
87 1j Nic Jenkins 128
88 55 Donny Howard 126
89 0X Clint Weiss 122
90 17 Tony Wilson 122
91 28k Jason Keith 120
92 15 Jeremy Middleton 118
93 44c Bubba Lofton 114
94 n2 Ray Stevison 108
95 91 Dale Howard 106
96 57 Jason New 104
97 2 Bryce Vowan 100
98 22 Kevin Kilpatrick 100
99 25 Mark Gant 100
100 38 Rick Pringle 100
101 14 Ryan Roy 100
102 11 Skylar Pipkin 100
103 5x Tyson Hall 100
Final 2014 USCS SOUTHERN THUNDER Sprint Car Points
Pos. Car# Driver Point
1 10 Terry Gray 2184
2 10M Morgan Turpen 2116
3 21b Brandon McLain 1975
4 47 Eric Riggins Jr. 1891
5 43 Terry Witherspoon 1680
6 28 Jeff Willingham 1372
7 33 Joe Larkin 1352
8 116 Nicholas Snyder 1290
9 51 Jay Dunham 1231
10 67 Brian Thomas 1096
11 83 Bob Auld 1063
12 12C Collin Cabre 935
13 16 Anthony Nicholson 918
14 07 Johnny Bridges 917
15 23 Lance Moss 839
16 46 Kyle Amerson 814
17 36 Tim Perry 692
18 15 Johnny Gilbertson 660
19 4m Michael Miller 588
20 06 Bill Moore 535
21 0X Clint Weiss 528
22 12H Kent Wolters 520
23 12 Kris Davis 512
24 59 Johnny Petrozelle 500
25 4 Danny Smith 448
26 67 Jake McLain 441
27 89 Robby Stillwaggon 428
28 4 Jason Troutman 400
29 22 Troy Betts 380
30 22 Shawn Murray 366
31 28h Matt Hope 356
32 99 Tanner Witherspoon 354
33 9Jr Derek Hagar 300
34 92 Matt Kurtz 283
35 21 Aubrey Black 274
36 12M Greg Merritt 274
37 1A Lee Moore 264
38 12b Brad Franks 256
39 61 Don Smith 254
40 26 Lukas Smith 254
41 25 Ray Bugg 253
42 1 Freddie McCall Jr. 250
43 12b Don Ryder 236
44 11 Brian Smith 234
45 6 Brad Wickham 200
46 11 Joey Aguilar 160
47 100 Tom Paterson 148
48 28F Davie Franek 146
49 25 Josh Weller 144
50 24 Danny Martin Jr. 142
51 56 Randy West 140
52 87 Greg Smyre 136
53 17j Jonathan Swanson 136
54 5 Dave Thorman 134
55 36 Kenny Laureno 132
56 5s Sonny Stroud 122
57 49 Shawn Dancer 118
58 11b George Blaney 112
Final 2014 USCS Road to Atlanta Points (5 races)
Pos. Car# Driver Points
1 10M Morgan Turpen 773
2 10 Terry Gray 754
3 21b Brandon McLain 711
4 100 Tom Paterson 702
5 36 Tim Perry 692
6 51 Jay Dunham 673
7 6 Bill Moore 661
8 7 Johnny Bridges 605
9 67 Jake McLain 596
10 33 Joe Larkin 498
11 11 Joey Aguilar 469
12 28 Jeff Willingham 287
13 4 Jason Troutman 268
14 87 Greg Smyre 266
15 5 Dave Thorman 260
16 07x Doug Gould 256
17 100 Jim Payne 250
18 4m Michael Miller 146
19 15 Johnny Gilbertson 140
20 116 Nick Snyder 132
21 22 Tony Grams 132
22 12h Kent Wolters 130
23 12 Kris Davis 128
24 46 Jim Blenkarn 126
25 5s Sonny Stroud 122
