O'REILLY USCS SEASON FINALE SET WITH "FALL BRAWL" AT EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK

October 29, 2004
FAYETTEVILLE, GA - The O'Reilly United Sprint Car Series season finale will take place at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, FL on November 5 and 6. The O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Dirt Tour will compete in complete shows each night.

Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN has already clinched his fourth straight O'Reilly USCS National Championship, as well as the 2004 O'Reilly USCS Asphalt Thunder Championship. However, the O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Dirt Tour Championship is still up for grabs.

Gray has the point lead going into the East Bay Raceway Park shows, but 18-year-old Danny "The Hammer" Martin Jr. of Sarasota, FL will pull into his "home track" just 58 points behind in the O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Dirt Tour points chase. Brice Wrenn of Lexington, SC is still mathematically in the hunt from the third spot 162 points back.

Martin has five O'Reilly USCS career wins. The first came at East Bay last year during the Fall Brawl opener. This season Martin has four wins, with three coming in O'Reilly USCS National events, and one on the O'Reilly USCS Sunbelt Tour.

The Manatee Community College freshman and Sarasota Riverview High School graduate has accumulated 20 top five finishes and 28 top ten efforts in 34 events on both dirt and asphalt this season. Martin is also second in the O'Reilly USCS National point standings. He finished third in the O'Reilly USCS Sunbelt Tour points, and fifth in the O'Reilly USCS Asphalt Thunder points.

One of the biggest accomplishments for Martin this season was that he was voted to the Top 25 List of 360 Sprint Car Drivers in the country in a poll conducted by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Of the over 1,000 360 Sprint Car drivers in the country, Martin ranks 23rd in his first full season of traveling with a series of any kind.

Despite his "home track advantage," Martin will have his hands full chasing Gray for the O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Dirt Tour championship. The "Bartlett Bullet" has used his trademark consistency to put together another successful season of O'Reilly USCS competition.

Gray has eight wins this season, six on dirt and two on asphalt. The O'Reilly USCS is the only winged outlaw sprint car series that competes on both dirt and asphalt short tracks. Gray also has 29 top five finishes, and 30 top ten efforts in 34 starts. Gray was ranked third in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Top 25 Summer voting.

Wrenn is still looking for his first win of the season, and has come close on a couple of occasions. Wrenn has competed in all 24 O'Reilly USCS dirt events this season, and has turned in nine top five finishes, and 20 top ten finishes. Despite not running any of the 10 O'Reilly USCS Asphalt Thunder events this season, Wrenn ranks fifth overall in O'Reilly USCS National points.

Another top contender for the O'Reilly USCS Fall Brawl at East Bay Raceway Park will be Kenny Adams of Malabar, FL. Adams tops the winner's list for the O'Reilly USCS this season with 16 wins, with 10 on dirt and six on the asphalt. In 31 starts this season, the "Malabar Missile" has 25 top fives, 26 top tens, and 10 fast time honors.

Adams won the O'Reilly USCS Sunbelt Tour Championship, was second in the O'Reilly USCS Asphalt Thunder points chase, and he is currently third overall in the O'Reilly USCS National points chase. Adams ranked fourth in the Top 25 voting by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame pollsters.

The trip to East Bay will be one that Adams will be looking forward to after a disastrous event at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL on October 24 during the O'Reilly USCS "Showdown At Sundown." Adams was battling for the third spot when he was involved in a three-car tangle and got "upside-down" in his 1,300-pound 700-horsepower winged outlaw sprint car.

Adams was uninjured, but his racer was done for the night. That might be considered a minor setback for Adams, as he also had the roof of his shop blown off by Hurricane Jeanne in September. Adams, the 2000 USCS National Champion, is the defending East Bay Fall Brawl Champion.

Another driver making a homecoming on November 5-6 will be 17-year-old second-generation driver R.J. Johnson, a native of Wesley Chapel, FL. R.J. is the son of Roland Johnson, one of the top open-wheel drivers at East Bay Raceway Park over the past 20 years. The Johnsons relocated to Decatur, TN in August to be more centrally located to the O'Reilly USCS action.

R.J. Johnson is the 2004 O'Reilly USCS Rookie of the Year with 12 top ten finishes in 33 starts to rank fourth overall in the National point standings. Roland still competes with the O'Reilly USCS in selected events.

The O'Reilly USCS also has two other Florida drivers in the top ten of the National points, and a third looking to break into it at East Bay Raceway Park. Tom Winegardner Jr. of Pierson, FL is seventh in the National points, just ahead of the 1997 O'Reilly USCS National Champion Red Stauffer of Winter Park, FL.

Just outside the top ten in National points is a tie for the 11th spot, represented by youth and experience.

Adams' crew chief and stepson Bryn Gohn of Malabar, FL is tied for the 11th spot with the "Ageless Wonder" Dave Thorman of Greenville, SC. Gohn has begun his own driving career this season and will run for the O'Reilly USCS Rookie of the Year honors in 2005. Thorman is a 40-year veteran of open-wheel competition. Gohn and Thorman are just 26 points outside of the top ten.

For more information, contact East Bay Raceway Park at (813) 677-7223, or visit the track's web site at www.eastbayracewaypark.com. East Bay Raceway Park is located five miles south of I-4 just off U.S. Highway 41. For more information about the O'Reilly USCS visit the series web site at www.uscsracing.com.