FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Turpen, Hagar and Gray capture USCS sprint car titles 

Atlanta, GA – December 3, 2016 – The 23-year-old defending USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National Champion, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee has made United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters and sprint car racing history again during the 2016 season by becoming the first woman to win the series National Championship two times in-a-row. Turpen put an exclamation point on last season’s accomplishment of becoming the only woman to win a major sprint car touring series National title, by repeating as the series Champion for the 2016 season. She bested her team-mate and 11-time USCS National Champion Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee by just two points in the season long title chase. After 36 events, she had a total of 5026 Championship points.
Turpen, who visited the www.RockAuto.com USCS Victory Lane five times during 2016, also finished in the runner-up spot in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series title chase just a scant fifteen points shy of the title behind her team-mate (Gray).

Turpen also had a respectable fourth place finish in the final standings of the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series Championship standings as well. She finished behind three past USCS National Champions including 2013 USCS National Champion and 2016 USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour Champion Derek Hagar and runner-up Marshall Skinner both from Marion, Arkansas. Terry Gray also finished just ahead of her in that region in third place.

Turpen has competed with the United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters full time since the 2010 season when she earned the USCS National Rookie of the Year honors. The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 2015 North American Driver of the Year poll, for winged 360 sprint cars, listed Turpen as the top-ranked female winged sprint car driver in North America. Turpen was the only female driver to receive votes among just 32 drivers out of several thousand considered who received multiple votes in that poll.

Morgan Turpen has twelve total USCS career feature wins including the five this season. In addition to her 2015 USCS National Championship, she has been close to the top of the point standings at conclusion of, three other seasons. She finished in the runner-up position in the USCS National point standings during the 2010, 2011 and 2014 seasons. Other than the 2010 USCS Rookie crown, Turpen also earned the 2014 USCS "Road to Atlanta" Hoosier Asphalt Series Championship.

Terry Gray finished the National title chase with 5024 National Championship points in the runner-up spot. Although he disappointingly lost the National title by only two points, he claimed the USCS Southern Thunder regional series title in another close battle with Turpen by just seven points. As previously mentioned, he gathered enough points in the tough USCS Mid-South regional series to finish in third place behind Marion, Arkansas hot-shoes Derek Hagar and Marshall Skinner. 

Newcomer and 2016 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour “Rookie of the Year”, Danny Sams III from Englewood, Florida finished in third place with 3935 points. The fourteen-year-old Sams had several top-five and top-ten finishes. This year’s top rookie garnered a fourth-place finish in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series as well.  Danny Sams III also earned a sixth-place finish in the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series behind Jeff Willingham. The young-gun was the 2015 Florida Mini Sprint Action series Champion as a rookie driver there too. Sams is the youngest driver to ever receive the USCS Rookie of the Year award and seems to have a great future ahead of him.

The 2012 USCS Rookie of the Year, Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi continued his placement in the top ten final driver standings in the series by finishing in the fourth position in the National point standings during 2016. Willingham will also collect fifth place honors in the USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series and ninth place honors in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series during the 2016 USCS National Awards banquet on January 21, 2017.

The 2009 USCS Southern Thunder Tour Rookie of the Year, Jake McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina finished in fifth place in the 2016 USCS National sprint car standings with 2924 points. McLain made his re-entry into USCS competition by competing mostly in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series events. He finished behind USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series Champion Terry Gray and National Champion Morgan Turpen in third place in the USCS Southern Thunder standings.

The 2015 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour Rookie of the Year, Nick Snyder from Marco Island, Florida drove his #116 J&J Auto Racing car to a sixth-place finish in the National point standings with 2860 points. Snyder started the year off looking to improve on last year’s third-place finish before being involved in some on track incidents that sidelined his team for several races for repairs. Although not visiting the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane as he did in 2015 as a rookie, Snyder had thirteen top-ten and five top=five finishes in 2016 as a second year driver.

The 2013 USCS National Champion Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas was the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters leading feature winner in 2016. He won eight times in USCS competition. That was good enough to lead the point standings in the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series all the way to the Championship with 2622 regional points. Hagar earned enough points via those eight wins and other finishes to finish seventh in the USCS National standings as well.'
       
Ageless veteran Ray Bugg from Iuka, Mississippi followed Hagar in the point standings with an eighth-place finish in the final National point standings with 2545 points. Bugg also garnered enough points to finish seventh in the USCS Mid-South regional series standings. He finished 14th in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour standings as well.

Past USCS Champion, Marshall Skinner from Marion, Arkansas had fifteen top-ten and eleven top-five finishes in seventeen USCS starts. That was good enough to earn ninth place in the USCS National standings with 2532 points. He fared much better in the USCS Mid-South T'
hunder Tour regional standings where he was the runner-up to Hagar’s Championship efforts. Skinner had one win on the season that came at Crowley’s Ridge Raceway on Friday, July 1, 2016.     
Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina who was the 2010 USCS Southern Thunder regional series Rookie of the Year finished in tenth place in the final USCS National sprint car standings with 2427 points. Riggins got his only win of the 2016 season when he won on July 24th at Lancaster Speedway. Riggins was plagued with mechanical ills during the 2016 season. Riggins still manage five top five and eleven top ten finishes during eighteen starts in 2016. He won eight-times over the 2014 and 2015 USCS seasons..

For information on the complete list of USCS feature winners and USCS 2016 results, please visit www.uscsracing.com For USCS rules, updated schedules and other information, please visit the www/uscsracing.com website as well or you may contact the USCS office at 770-460-7223 or 770-865-6097.

USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series: 
Past National Champion Derek Hagar of Marion, Arkansas topped the standings in the highly competitive USCS Mid-South region. He also won the USCS Sprint Speedweek 2016 Championship. The 2013 National Champion tallied 2487 points while beating out another past Champion, Marshall Skinner also from Marion, Arkansas in second place with 2398 points. As previously mentioned, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee with 2397 points claimed the third position in the Mid-South region behind Skinner as a close one point difference separated the two veteran drivers. The regional series’ 2015 Champion, Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee followed the three past champions in fourth place after she accumulated 2371 points over the season. The “Ripley Rooster” Jeff Willingham who hails from Ripley, Mississippi rounded out the top five by collecting 2146 points for his efforts in 17 events.

The 2016 USCS Rookie of the Year, Danny Sams III from Englewood, Florida finished in sixth place in the Mid-South region standings. With 1922 points. Veteran sprint car racer, Ray Bugg, from Iuka, Mississippi was seventh in the standings with 1657 points. He was followed by past (2008) Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year, Anthony Nicholson from Millington, Tennessee in eighth place in the standings with 1594 points. The 2015 Riverside Speedway sprint car track Champion, Andy McElhannon from Hernando, Mississippi finished ninth with 1543 points and 2013 USCS Rookie of the Year, Curt Terrell from Bartlett, Tennessee finished with 1514 points to finish tenth in the regional series. 
 
Nine different drivers won main events in a very competitive USCS Mid-South presented by K&N regional series during the 2016 season. Derek Hagar won seven times. He also won the Randy Helton Memorial Race held at East Alabama Motor Speedway in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour region. The 2012 USCS National Champion, Tim Crawley of Benton, AR and Brian Bell of Cordova, TN also both won twice in the USCS Mid-South region.

Other winners that made one trip to the www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane in the USCS Mid-South presented by K&N Filters region were: 2016 National Champion, Morgan Turpen; 2016 USCS Mid -South region runner-up, Marshall Skinner from Marion, AR; 2008 USCS Rookie of the Year Anthony Nicholson from Millington, TN; 2011 USCS Rookie of the Year, Jordon Mallet from Greenbrier, AR; Zack Pringle from Benton, AR and Seth Bergman from Snohomish, WA. One hundred and three different drivers competed in USCS Mid-South presented by K&N regional series 2016 events.

USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series: 
Eleven-time USCS National Champ, Terry Gray captured the Championship in the USCS Southern Thunder presented by K&N Filters regional series that contests its’ events in Eastern Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Eastern Tennessee with a Championship total of 3329 points. The title was decided on the final weekend in that region. Gray’s team-mate, 2015 and 2016 National Champion Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee kept it close in that regional series battle and finished just 15 points behind Gray with 3314 points for the runner-up spot. The 2009 USCS Southern Thunder sprint car Rookie of the Year, Jake McLain from Indian Trail, North Carolina finished behind the two veteran team-mates in third place with 2924 points. The 2016 USCS Rookie of the Year, Danny Sams III from Englewood, Florida trailed McLain in fourth place with 2651 points. The series’ 2014 Rookie of the Year, Brandon McLain, also from Indian Trail, North Carolina followed in fifth place with 2308 points.

Last season’s dynamic 2016 USCS Rookie of the Year, Nick Snyder from Marco Island, FL lead the next group in sixth place with 2229 points followed by veteran sprint car racer Joe Larkin from Suwannee, GA in seventh place with 1975 points. Six-time 2015 feature winner Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina suffered through a streak of mid-season bad luck and finished with 1877 points in eighth place in the final standings. Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi traveled East to race enough times to still claim a spot in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour top ten in ninth place with 1840 points. Hard charging Lance Moss from Cherryville, North Carolina with 1704 points rounded out the top ten drivers at season’s end after 22 races.

Eight different drivers won 2016 USCS Southern Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters races. The defending (2015) and newly-crowned 2016 National Champion Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tennessee and Danny Martin, Jr. from Sarasota, Florida who ran a limited schedule of events, led the wins column category in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series with five wins apiece. Trey Starks from Puyallup, Washington who also just dropped in during a limited USCS schedule, was right behind that duo with four stops in thewww.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane. The other multiple winner was Derek Hagar who parked his #9Jr.in victory lane three times at USCS Southern Thunder Tour main events during the 2016 racing season.

Drivers who also were winners one time in Southern Thunder Tour competition during the 2016 season were Champion Terry Gray n September 3rd at Laurens County Speedway; Sprint Car Hall of Famer Danny Smith from Chillicothe, Ohio on April 8th at Carolina Speedway; Anthony Nicholson from Millington, Tennessee on June 2nd at Talladega Short Track; Charlotte, North Carolina’s Eric Riggins, Jr. on July 24th at Lancaster Speedway; Johnny Bridges from Cherryville, NC on September 2nd at Lavonia Speedway. At season’s end seventy-one different drivers had competed in USCS Southern Thunder presented by K&N Filters regional series sprint car events during the 2016 season.

The United Sprint Car Series thanks the 2016 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, DHR Suspension, DSR Fuel Systems, Engler Machine and Tool, JE Pistons, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Hero Graphics, KSE Racing Products, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Safety-Kleen, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers and Wilwood Engineering.

The 2017 and 21st season USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour kicks off at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi on Friday, March 3rd and Saturday, March 4th . A full schedule of 2017 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 2016 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters
National point standings (Top 25 after 36 races) 

United Sprint Car Series Mid-South Thunder Tour  
2016 FINAL Point Standings (Top 25)                      
                           ,                                                       
Pos.      Car#     Driver                                               Point
1           9jr         Derek Hagar                                     2487
2           26         Marshall Skinner                              2398
3           10         Terry Gray                                        2397
4           10m      Morgan Turpen                                2371
5           28         Jeff Willingham                               2146
6           24         Danny Sams III                                 1922
7           25         Ray Bugg                                          1657
8           16         Anthony Nicholson                          1594
9           42         Andy McElhannon                           1533
10         27         Curt Terrell                                      1514
11         88         Tim Crawley                                    1324
12         07         Brandon Taylor                                1281
13         116       Nick Snyder                                     1065
14         44         Ronny Howard                                 942
15         3           AG Raines                                        1018
16         47         Eric Riggins Jr                                 871
17         4           Casey Rowland                                856
18         23b       Brian Bell                                         801
19         88R       Cody Gardner                                   771
20         40         Howard Moore                                 758
21         59         Brad Bowden                                    738
22         99         Don Warren                                      666
23         29         Kyle Amerson                                  660
24         14m      Jordon Mallett                                  654
25         67         Jake McLain                                     542
                       

USCS Southern Thunder Tour
2016 FINAL point standings (Top 25)

.           Car#    Driver                                     Point
1          10         Terry Gray                               3329
2          10m     Morgan Turpen                        3314
3          67         Jake McLain                            2924
4          24         Danny Sams III                        2651
5          21B      Brandon McLain                     2308
6          116       Nick Snyder                             2229
7          33         Joe Larkin                                1975
8          47         Eric Riggins Jr                         1877
9          28         Jeff Willingham                      1840
10        23         Lance Moss                             1704
11        43         Terry Witherspoon                  1688
12        07         Brandon Taylor                       1560
13        38         Tony Agin                               1480
14        25         Ray Bugg                                 1326
15        22         Shawn Murray                         1324
16        23         Johnny Bridges                        1237
17        99         Tanner Witherspoon               1226
18        67         Brian Thomas                          1199
19        83         Bob Auld                                 1192
20        16         Anthony Nicholson                 1039
21        24         Danny Martin Jr                      902
22        4           Danny Smith                           882
23        34         Darren Orth                             870
24        59III      Johnny Petrozelle                    780
25        9jr        Derek Hagar                            770

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