FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Crawley wins Saturday O'Reilly USCS "Night of Thunder" at Checkered Flag
Speedway
Hohenwald, TN - April 12, 2008 - Tim Crawley from Benton Arkansas drove Mike
Ward's famed # 88 David McCarver powered car into victory lane in the 30 lap
O'Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series www.uscsracing.com Night of
Thunder at Checkered Flag Speedway in Hohenwald, Tennessee on Saturday
night. It was Crawley's second O'Reilly USCS win of the young season.
Crawley started in the K&N Filters pole position after Engler Machine and
Tool First Heat winner and defending champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett,
Tennessee drew a four in the K&N Filters Pole draw relegating himself to the
outside of the second row and place Crawley, the 2002 National Sprint Car
Hall of Fame 360 Driver of the Year on the Pole. Crawley had finished in
second place in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat. Henry Gustavus from Earle,
Arkansas who followed Gray across the finish line in the first heat lined up
next to the eventual winner outside the front row for the start of the main
event.
On the initial start Ronny Howard from Southaven, Mississippi made hard
contact in the first turn wall and flipped. This brought out the red flag.
Howard was deemed to be okay but, his race car was unable to continue the
battle. On the restart Crawley raced out to the lead while Gray chased
Gustavus for the runner-up spot. On lap two Gray raced by Gustavus and was
in torrid pursuit of the leader, Crawley. On lap four Jason Sides from
Bartlett, Tennessee who started sixth moved into the third position with
Gustavus in fourth place and Marshall Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas in
the lead pack, in fifth position.
Before the races only other caution on lap fourteen for a stalled car on the
track. Crawley had amassed a half straight-away lead over Gray by slicing
his way quickly through lapped traffic. He had three cars between him and
Gray on the restart for the final sixteen laps. Sides was sixth in the in
the running order including lapped cars at that point. Skinner had move up
to fourth with hard charging seventh starter Ernie Ainsworth from Memphis,
Tennessee in the top five then.
Gray continued to chase Crawley for the balance of the event looking for a
chance to close in on him in lapped traffic, but Crawley aggressively put
lapped traffic away. He raced out to a comfortable margin while bicycling
twice between turns three and four and once passing four lapped cars on the
outside of turns one and two. Sides closed the gap on Gray before the finish
but he was unable to challenge him for the runner-up position. He finished
in third place behind the six-time series Champion. Skinner, a past series
Champion, raced home in the fourth position and 2007 O'Reilly USCS Rookie of
the Year, Don Young also from Bartlett, Tennessee rallied from his tenth
place starting position to finish in fifth.
Ernie Ainsworth in the Short Chambliss owned and wrenched #40 headed the
next group in sixth place, followed by 1998 O'Reilly USCS Champion, Eddie
Gallagher from Piperton, Tennessee in seventh. Wade Oliver from Southaven,
Mississippi drove the Mike Pyles #58 home in the eighth position. The 2007 O'Reilly
USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series Rookie of the Year, Chris Williams
from Memphis, Tennessee was ninth. Veteran USCS racer Greg Merritt from
Nesbit, Mississippi rounded out the top ten in the finishing order.
The 2006 O'Reilly USCS Rookie of the Year, Derek Hagar from Marion,
Arkansas, kicked off the night's action with a dominating win in the six
cars, six-laps Lucas Oil Power Dash. He then had a fuel system problem
eliminate him in the main event. Don Young garnered the Huggins Cams
Hardcharger Award after passing the most cars in the main event. Young also
was named the Hoosier tire young Gun of the race for the top finishing
driver under 25 years old. Crawley claimed the K&N Filters Pole award. Gray
and Skinner were the heat race winners.
Next up for the O'Reilly USCS on Saturday, April 19th is the second O'Reilly
USCS Asphalt Thunder Tour event of the season at Dillon Motor Speedway in
Dillon, South Carolina. For more info please visit
www.dillonmotorspeedway.com or visit the series official website at
www.uscsracing.com
O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour results April 12, 2008 Checkered Flag
Speedway:
Lucas Oil Power Dash: Winner = Derek Hagar, Marshall Skinner, Eddie
Gallagher, Tim Crawley, Terry Gray, Ronny Howard.
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat: Winner = Terry Gray, Henry Gustavus,
Eddie Gallagher, Ernie Ainsworth, Greg Merritt, Wade Oliver, Tom Selhorst,
Derek Hagar.
Butlerbuilt Second Heat: Winner = Marshall Skinner, Tim Crawley, Jason,
Sides, Chris Williams, Don young, Anthony Nicholson, Michael Craddock, Ronny
Howard.
O'Reilly USCS feature results (30 laps) April 12, 2008
Pos. Car#` Start Pos. Driver/Hometown
1 88 1 Tim Crawley, Benton, AR
2 10 4 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN
3 7s 6 Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN
4 26 3 Marshall Skinner, West Memphis,
AR
5 75 10 Don Young, Bartlett, TN
6 40 7 Ernie Ainsworth, Memphis, TN
7 1 5 Eddie Gallagher, Piperton, TN
8 58 11 Wade Oliver, Southaven, MS
9 8x 8 Chris Williams, Memphis, TN
10 12m 9 Greg Merritt, Nesbit, MS
11 78 2 Henry Gustavus, Earle, AR
12 16 12 Anthony Nicholson, Bartlett, TN
13 00 17 Tom Selhorst, Clearwater, FL
14 25 13 Ray Bugg, Iuka, MS
15 31 14 Michael Craddock, Olive Branch, MS
16 9 jr. 15 Derek Hagar, Marion, AR
17 44 16 Ronny Howard, Southaven, MS
LUCAS OIL POWER DASH WINNER: Derek Hagar
K & N FILTERS POLE AWARD: Danny Martin, Jr.
HUGGINS CAMS HARD CHARGER: Don Young (started 10th passed 5 cars)
HOOSIER TIRE YOUNG GUN OF THE RACE: Don Young
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Tom Selhorst
JE PISTONS TOP GUNS AWARD: Terry Gray (2nd place)
K&N FILTERS 3RD-PLACE AWARD: Jason Sides
BUTLERBUILT 4TH-PLACE AWARD: Marshall Skinner
BARS LEAKS TOP FIVE AWARD: Don Young
ENTRIES: 17
PROVISIONALS: None
LAP LEADERS: Tim Crawley 1-30