FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 SMITH POUNCES FOR LATE RACE PASS TO WIN SOUTHERN RACEWAY USCS RUN
             
MILTON, FL  – February 24, 2024 - Mark Smith of Sunbury, PA rode in the catbird’s seat for 27 laps, and pounced in lapped traffic with three laps to go to take the lead.  Smith went on to take his tenth United Sprint Car Series Presented by K&N Filters win at Southern Raceway since 2019 on Saturday night in Round 9 of the Winter Heat Series.

Terry McCarl of Altoona, IA led the first 27 laps of the race and was looking for his second straight win at Southern Raceway after posting the USCS win on Friday night, but the second-generation National Sprint Car Hall of Fame driver had to settle for the second spot.  Mark Covington of Glenpool, OK finished third, and Mark Ruel Jr. of Jacksonville, FL was fourth.

Corbin Gurley of Hebron, IN drove to a fifth-place finish and Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC started 12th and finished sixth to earn the Wilwood Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award.  Seventh went to the 2023 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 360 Sprint Car Driver of the Year Jason Martin of Liberal, KS, and Bradley Fezard of Bonnerdale, AR finished eighth.

Van Gurley Jr. of Valparaiso, IN was ninth, and the defending 15-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN rounded out the top ten.

In preliminary action, McCarl won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the Main Event.  The pair of eight-lap Heat Races were won by Austyn Gossel in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, and Smith in the Butlerbuilt Racing Products Second Heat.

McCarl took the lead from the pole position at the start of the race, followed by Smith, Brett Wright of East Chatham, NY, Gossel, and Ruel.  Covington charged up from the eighth starting spot to pass Ruel for fifth on lap two, and Gossel took over the third spot from Wright on lap three.

While McCarl began to pull away from Smith at the front of the field, Covington passed Gossel for third on lap nine, and Ruel got around Gossel for fourth on lap ten,  Gossel’s issues got worse on lap 11 when he spun in turn one while running fifth to bring out the first of three caution flags.

That moved Gurley back up into the top five, but that was short-lived for the moment, as Wright took over the fifth spot on the restart.  By the halfway point of the race on lap 15, McCarl held a 1.308 second lead over Smith.  The second caution flag came out on lap 19 when Todd Bliss of Baton Rouge, LA, cut down a left-rear tire in turn one.

During the caution period, Wright stalled out of the fifth spot on the backstretch as the field was getting set for the restart.  Wright was able to restart, and he stalled once again on lap 21 to bring out the third and final caution flag of the race.

When the field went back to green flag action, McCarl and Smith pulled away from Covington in third, while Gurley passed Ruel for the fourth spot.  With five laps to go, McCarl held a .803 second lead over Smith, but lapped traffic loomed ahead.  As the leader entered turn one on lap 28, McCarl drifted to the outside of a lapped car and Smith pounced to the inside.

Smith came off the bottom of turn two with the lead, put another lapped car between himself and McCarl for good measure, and held the lead to the checkered flag with a .863 second margin of victory over McCarl.

“I tried to stay close enough to Terry until we got into lapped traffic before I could make a move,” Smith said.  “It’s easier to make a move when you’re running second because Terry had to slow down for the lapped car and decide which way he wanted to go, and he had no idea how close I was.  When he went high, I committed to the bottom and made the pass.”

The next two events for the United Sprint Car Series Presented By K&N Filters will be at Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS on Friday night, March 1, and Saturday night, March 2. 

For more information, visit the USCS website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page, or call the series office at 770-865-6097. 

United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are K&N Filters, Engler Machine & Tool, Hoosier Racing Tire, Huggins Cams, Hero Graphics, DMI/Bulldog, J&J Supply of NC, Racing Electronics, JE Pistons, DHR Suspension, Wilwood Disc Brakes, KSE Racing Products, PRO Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, and Arizona Sport Shirts.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY K&N FILTERS WINTER HEAT ROUND 9 AT SOUTHERN RACEWAY IN MILTON, FL ON 2/24/2024:

FEATURE RACE – 30 Laps:  1. 43 Mark Smith, Sunbury, PA (2); 2. 24 Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (1); 3. 95 Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (8); 4. 83 Mark Ruel Jr., Jacksonville, FL (5); 5. 12 Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (7); 6. 36 Jason Martin, Liberal, KS (6); 7. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (12); 8. 938 Bradley Fezard, Bonnerdale, AR (14); 9. 13 Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (9); 10. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (11); 11. 16 Austyn Gossel, Fort Collins, CO (4); 12. 6 Bryan Gossel, Windsor, CO (10); 13. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (13); 14. 2 Tommy Hall, Natchitoches, LA (15); 15. 14 Brett Wright, East Chatham, NY (3); 16. 121 Todd Bliss, Baton Rouge, LA (16).

HOOSIER RACING TIRES SPEED DASH – 6 Laps:  1. McCarl; 2. Smith; 3. Wright; 4. A. Gossel; 5. Ruel; 6. Martin.

HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:

ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1:  1. A. Gossel; 2. Martin; 3. Wright; 4. Ruel; 5. Covington; 6. Moss; 7. Fezard; 8. Bliss.

BUTLERBUILT RACING PRODUCTS HEAT 2:  1. Smith; 2. McCarl; 3. C. Gurley; 4. V. Gurley; 5. Gray; 6. B. Gossel; 7. Willingham; 8. Hall.

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Submitted by ROBY HELM – Helm Communications – 865-207-4157.

United Sprint Car Series News Release:  Contact:  PETE WALTON – 770-865-6097.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:: McCARL MASTERS NIGHT ONE FOR USCS OUTLAW THUNDER SPRINTS AT SOUTHERN RACEWAY

News Date: 2/23/2024 | Submitted: 2/24/2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:: McCARL MASTERS NIGHT #1 USCS SPRINT GO AT SOUTHERN RACEWAY

MILTON, FL – February 23, 2024 - National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry McCarl of Altoona, IA drove to a convincing win Friday night in the United Sprint Car Series Presented By K&N Filters Winter Heat Round 8 25-lap Feature Race at Southern Raceway. McCarl started third, took the lead on lap four and checked out to take the victory..

The winningest USCS driver at Southern Raceway, Mark Smith of Sunbury, PA came from the fifth starting spot to finish second, and earned the Hard Charger of the Race Award. National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee and 15-time and defending USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN took the third spot, and fourth went to Van Gurley Jr. of Valparaiso, IN.

Brett Wright of East Chatham, NY was fifth, and Corbin Gurley of Hebron, IN finished sixth. Bradley Fezard of Bonnerdale, AR took the seventh spot, and Matt Covington of Glenpool, OK came home in the eighth spot. Bryan Gossel of Windsor, CO was ninth and 2023 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 360 Sprint Car Driver of the Year, Jason Marton of Liberal, KS rounded out the top ten.

In preliminary action, Gray won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the Feature Race, and the two eight-lap Heat Races were won by Fezard in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, and McCarl won the Butlerbuilt Racing Products Second Heat.

Sixteen drivers from 13 different states came down for the Feature Race green flag, and Gray took the lead from the pole position followed by McCarl, Van Gurley, Wright, and Corbin Gurley. McCarl worked to the inside on lap four to drive under Gray to take the lead coming off turn two.

Smith worked his way back into the top five on lap five, and passed Wright for fourth on lap nine. By lap ten, McCarl had a five second lead over Gray. The only caution flag of the race came out on lap 15 when Tommy Hall of Natchitoches, LA stalled in turn two. Smith got by Van Gurley on lap 17 to take over the third spot, and passed Gray for the second position on lap 22.

McCarl cruised home to take a 5.107 second margin of victory over Smith under the checkered flag with the 25 circuits being completed in a snappy ten minutes and 22.428 seconds on the 3/8-mile Florida Panhandle dirt oval.

The United Sprint Car Series Presented By K&N Filters will return to Southern Raceway on Saturday night for Round 9 of the Winter Heat Series. For more information visit the USCS website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page, or call the series office at 770-865-6097.
United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are K&N Filters, Engler Machine & Tool, Hoosier Racing Tire, Huggins Cams, Hero Graphics, DMI/Bulldog, J&J Supply of NC, Racing Electronics, JE Pistons, DHR Suspension, Wilwood Disc Brakes, KSE Racing Products, PRO Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, and Arizona Sport Shirts.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY K&N FILTERS WINTER HEAT ROUND 8 EVENT AT SOUTHERN RACEWAY IN MILTON, FL ON 2/23/2024:

FEATURE RACE – 25 Laps: 1. (3) Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA; 2. (5) Mark Smith, Sunbury, PA; 3. (1) Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN; 4 (2) Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN; 5. (4) Brett Wright, East Chatham, NY; 6. (8) Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN; 7. (6) Bradley Fezard, Bonnerdale, AR; 8. (9) Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK; 9. (7) Bryan Gossel, Windsor, CO; 10. (10) Jason Martin, Liberal, KS; 11 (11) Mark Ruel Jr., Jacksonville, FL; 12. (13) Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC; 13. (12) Austyn Gossel, Fort Collins, CO; 14. (16) Todd Bliss, Baton Rouge, LA; 15. (14) Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS; 16. (15) Tommy Hall, Natchitoches, LA.

HOOSIER RACING TIRES FAST DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Gray; 2. V. Gurley; 3. McCarl; 4. Wright; 5. Smith; 6. Fezard.

HEAT RACES – 8 Laps: ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL 1ST HEAT: 1. Fezard; 2. Wright; 3. Smith; 4. B. Gossel; 5. Ruel; 6. Martin; 7. Moss; 8. Hall.

BUTLERBUILT RACING PRODUCTS 2ND HEAT: 1. McCarl; 2. V. Gurley; 3. Gray; 4. C. Gurley; 5. Covington; 6. A. Gossel; 7. Willingham; 8. Bliss.

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Submitted by ROBY HELM – Helm Communications – 865-207-4157