Atlanta, GA – November 30, 2013 – Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas captured the 2013 United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters National Championship. The twenty-two year old past USCS Rookie of the Year (2006) made ten visits to the www.rockauto.com USCS victory lane as the series feature win leader for 2013. Additionally his 2013 USCS statistics show twenty-four top five and twenty-eight top ten finishes in the series thirty A-Main events. Hagar also claimed the title in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series. He bested ten-time series National Champion Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee in both the National and Southern Thunder regional series point’s battles. Both titles are Hagar’s first United Sprint Car Series Championships. Hagar additionally finished in the runner-up spot in the USCS Mid South Thunder regional series final standings just four points behind 2012 National Champion Tim Crawley from Benton, Arkansas and just four points away from a complete sweep of all three series.
Hagar finished the National title chase with 4415 Championship points followed by the veteran Terry Gray who was just 53 points back in the runner-up spot. Gray who has to be one of the top “points racers” ever, made his one feature win at Senoia Raceway on September 20th , twenty top-five finishes plus a total of twenty-nine top ten finishes with add up to 4362 points to stay within reach if Hagar faltered. The 2010 USCS Rookie of the Year, Morgan Turpen from Oakland, Tennessee who was the only female sprint car competitor near the top of the USCS standings finished in third place with 3583 points. Turpen grabbed her career fourth USCS feature win at Cleveland Speedway on Labor Day weekend and had a total of fourteen top five and twenty-three top ten finishes to complete her fourth successful season in the USCS while never finishing worse than fourth in the series final standings.
Last season’s (2012) National Champion Tim Crawley finished fourth in the National standings with 3415 National points. He had six trips to the www.rockauto.com USCS victory lane to accept feature winner honors. Crawley earned his third USCS Mid South Thunder Tour title (2008, 2012 and 2013) closing the deal on the final day of the season. Driving the Mike Ward Racing #88, Crawley was contending for the USCS National title in a see-saw battle with Hagar before deciding to skip the series two paved track events. Ageless veteran sprint car racer Ray Bugg from Iuka, Mississippi rounded out the top five in the series National point standings. Bugg used a number of top ten finishes and near perfect attendance to collect 3186 points, good enough for his best series finish ever. He also finished in sixth place in the final standings in both the Mid South and Southern Thunder regional series.
Two-time 2013 USCS feature winner Anthony Nicholson from Bartlett, Tennessee lead the next group of drivers in sixth place in the USCS National standings with 3067 points. Nicholson also finished in fourth place in the USCS Mid South Thunder regional series. The 2012 USCS Rookie of the Year, Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi followed Nicholson in the National standings in seventh place with 2609 points. Willingham also collected a seventh place finish in the USCS Mid South regional series and eighth place in the final Southern Thunder region standings.
Three-time 2013 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 eighth place in the final USCS National sprint car standings with 2457 points. Riggins won on April 12th at Carolina Speedway and then visited the www.rockauto.com USCS victory lane twice on back-to-back nights in October when the eighteen year-old driver swept the first ever USCS vs. URC North vs. South Shootout weekend at Carolina Speedway and at Cherokee Speedway.
Rookie drivers Curt Terrell from Bartlett, Tennessee, who contested his first full season in winged sprint cars and 13 year-old Taylor Tidmore from Hernando, Mississippi, who moved up from the USCS 600 mini sprints, finished in the ninth and tenth positions in the final 2013 point standings. The duo battled it out down to the final event for USCS Rookie of the Year honors. The pint-sized Tidmore led the Rookie standings through Labor Day weekend. The teenager then missed the September 14th race at Tennessee National Raceway due to last minute mechanical issues found before leaving the shop. This was the opportunity Terrell needed to edge past the talented teen for the title. Curt Terrell will be recognized for his achievements as the USCS National Rookie of the Year and Taylor Tidmore as USCS Mid South Thunder Tour Rookie of the Year at the 2013 USCS Champions Banquet..
USCS Mid South Thunder Tour regional series:
For the second straight year, Tim Crawley headed the top of the standings in the highly competitive USCS Mid South Thunder regional series that competes primarily in Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. The 2012 National Champion tallied 2495 points while edging out 2013 National Champion, Derek Hagar by a scant 4 points. Hagar’s total of 2491 point’s was good enough to finish ahead of the Mid South regional series’ 2011 Champion, Terry Gray with 2415 points. Anthony Nicholson claimed the fourth position in the Mid-South region behind Gray with 2354 points. Morgan Turpen rounded out the top five by collecting 1997 points for her efforts. Ray Bugg finished sixth in the Mid-South standings with 1958 points. 2012 USCS Rookie of the Year Jeff Willingham was seventh with 1788 points followed by top rookie driver Curt Terrell in eighth place in the standings with 1757 points. Rookie sprint car driver Taylor Tidmore finished with 1682 points to finish ninth in the region and 2010 USCS Mid South Thunder Rookie of the Year, Jerod Roller from Hernando, Mississippi rounded out the USCS Mid South 2013 regional series point standings top ten with 1468 points. Eighty-four different drivers competed during 2013 USCS Mid South Thunder regional series events.
USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series:
Derek Hagar 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 2166 points. The title was decided on the final night in that region as well. Ten-time USCS National Champ, Terry Gray kept it close in that regional series battle and finished just 34 points behind Hagar with 2132 points for the runner-up spot. Morgan Turpen finished behind her veteran team-mate (Gray) in third place with 1791 points. Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina who won three 2013 main events in the region, finished 13 points behind Turpen in fourth place with 1778 points. Lance Moss from Cherryville, North Carolina rounded out the top five in the regional series standings with 1488 points. Veteran open wheel racer Ray Bugg earned 1460 points to finish sixth in the final standings. Bugg was followed by 2012 series Champion, Tim Crawley with 1074 points in seventh place. Jeff Willingham finished in eighth place with 1065 points and Terry Witherspoon from Jacksonville, Florida followed Willingham in ninth place with a total of 1054 points. Joe Larkin from Suwannee, Georgia earned a spot in the regional series final point standings top ten with 1014 points. Sixty-nine drivers entered USCS Southern Thunder regional series events during the 2013 season.
One hundred and twenty-eight different drivers competed in the thirty 17th anniversary USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters events. Thirteen different drivers won 2013 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour main events. Those included Tim Crawley who led the series victory column with ten wins. Hagar was followed by Tim Crawley with six feature wins. Eric Riggins, Jr. was next with three wins. Anthony Nicholson made two visits to the www.rockauto.com USCS victory lane at Toccoa Speedway on September 1 and again at Tennessee National Raceway on September 14th.
Nine other drivers collected one feature win during the 2013 season. Those included: Robbie Stillwagon from Burlington, New Jersey at Toccoa Speedway on April 13th. Dalton Davis from Millington, Tennessee collected his career-first USCS win at 411 Speedway on May 3rd. The 2011 USCS Rookie of the Year, Jordan “The Jet” Mallett got his career second USCS win at Riverisde Int. Speedway on June 29th. Brian Gingras from Lake;land, Florida won the road to Atlanta qualifier on the paved Watermelon Capital Speedway on July 20th. Top ranked pavement sprint racer, JoJo Helberg from California got past Gingras with two laps to go to win the 50-lap USCS Sprint Car Shootout on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s paved ¼ mile on August 30th. On the following night, Morgan Turpen bested Hagar and Company at Cleveland Speedway for her one win of the 2013 season. On November 3rd, Benton, Arkansas’ Cody Gardner won the first half of the USCS Flip Flop 50 at Riverside Int. Speedway. Marshall Skinner from Marion, Arkansas collected the victory in the second fully inverted 25-lap main event to close the season.
The seventeenth anniversary USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters kicked off on Friday, March 8th at Magnolia Motor Speedway and concluded at Riverside Int. Speedway on Sunday, November 3rd. 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 2013 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour supporting sponsors including: K&N Filters, Hoosier Racing Tire, and USCS victory lane sponsor www.RockAuto.com plus Bulldog Rear Ends/DMI, DSR Fuel Systems, Engler Machine and Tool, JE Pistons, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, KSE Racing Products, Pro Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Racing Products, Something Inked and Wilwood Engineering.
The 2014 (18th Anniversary) USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour kicks off at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi on Friday, February 28th and Saturday, March 1st. A full schedule of 2014 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 2013 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters National point standings (30 events)
Pos. Car# Driver Points
1 9Jr Derek Hagar 4415
2 10 Terry Gray 4362
3 10M Morgan Turpen 3583
4 88 Tim Crawley 3415
5 25 Ray Bugg 3186
6 16 Anthony Nicholson 3067
7 28 Jeff Willingham 2609
8 47 Eric Riggins Jr 2457
9 27 Curt Terrell 2384
10 13T Taylor Tidmore 2319
11 12 Dalton Davis 1544
12 3H Brandon Hanks 1538
13 23 Lance Moss 1488
14 5 Jerod Roller 1468
15 26 Marshall Skinner 1408
16 C4 Casey Rowland 1198
17 43 Terry Witherspoon 1186
18 44 Ronny Howard 1154
19 4m Michael Miller 1090
20 33 Joe Larkin 1014
21 83 Bob Auld 1011
22 8Z Zack Pringle 993
23 31 Justin Webb 944
24 39 Brad Bowden 942
25 13 Todd Fayard 917
26 3 AG Raines 889
27 13 Tristan Tidmore 885
28 1A Lee Moore 880
29 12M Greg Merritt 806
30 51 Lee Sowell 753
31 11 Jake Roach 700
32 1G Cody Gardner 642
33 38 Tony Agin 610
34 5s Tyler Smith 560
35 92 Matt Kurtz 536
36 89 Robbie Stillwaggon 528
37 96D Nick DeFeo 514
38 67 Jake McLain 496
39 51 Jay Dunham 492
tie 07 Johnny Bridges 492
41 58 Wade Oliver 446
42 14 Jordon Mallett 417
43 46 Kyle Amerson 412
44 01 Shane Morgan 376
45 7D Don Goodwin 364
46 10 P Jim Perriconne 362
47 42 Henry Gustavus 352
48 33 Mark Huddleston 324
49 6c Brandon McLain 322
50 31G Johnny Gardner 306
51 25 JJ Grasso 302
tie 29 Josh Weller 302
53 1 Brian Gingras 298
54 36 Billy Pouch Jr 294
55 22 Troy Betts 282
56 3 Garrett Green 272
57 X Daniel Mazy 266
tie 22 Shawn Murray 266
59 99 Tanner Witherspoon 262
60 20 Joey Moughan 260
61 46 Jim Blenkarn 258
tie 303 Joe B Miller 258
tie 28 Keith Prutzman 258
64 34 Darren Orth 252
tie 22 Dustin Barks 252
66 40h Chad Jones 250
tie 1 Eddie Gallagher 250
68 17J Jonathan Swanson 248
69 7 Ed Aikins 246
70 119 Chandler Leiby 244
71 7 D Dylan DeJournett 242
72 26 Howard Moore 236
73 33 Scott Lutz 234
74 8X Chris Williams 230
tie 4 Tommy Snellgrove 230
76 59 Johnny Petrozelle 228
77 74Jr JR Berry 224
78 117 David Swanson 220
79 40 Raymond Stull 216
80 56 Randy West 210
81 14 Marty Echols 208
tie 99 Ray Stevison 208
83 44c Brandel Greer 200
tie 2 Brandon Kilpatrick 200
tie 61 Cody Howard 200
tie 22 Kevin Kilpatrick 200
tie 32k Robert Richardson 200
88 7 Jojo Helberg 150
89 05 Brad Loyet 148
90 94 Jeff Swindell 146
91 40.1 Troy DeCaire 142
92 3A AJ Maddox 140
93 12x Joey Montgomery 136
94 12t Joe Young 134
95 3 Brad Greer 132
tie 38 Dave Baumgartner 132
97 2 Alex Pettas 130
tie 11 Chris Hladik 130
tie 8 Kurt Taylor 130
tie 100 Tom Paterson 130
101 11 Don Blaney 128
tie 17 Mike Pack 128
103 0 Andy McElhannon 126
tie 5 Dave Thorman 126
tie 17 Francis Crowder 126
tie 5 Randy Dilling 126
tie 0 T.J. Hughes 126
tie 82T Tyler Godwin 126
109 4T Jason Troutman 124
110 0 Bubba Harrisson 122
111 606 Carl Finder 120
112 4Q Jason Day 118
tie 21 Matt Hope 118
tie 1B Nic Jenkins 118
115 21 Aubrey Black 116
tie 55 Donny Howard 116
tie 36 Lane Wittington 116
118 66 Geoff Dodge 110
119 1x Blake Jenkins 100
tie 44c Brett McDaniel 100
tie 44c Bubba Jones 100
tie 12 Darren Hasty 100
tie 11 George Blaney 100
tie 57 Jay New 100
tie 9 Kevin Petty 100
tie 77 Mike Leraas 100
tie 38 Rick Pringle 100
tie 11p Skylar Pipkin 100