August 10, 2005
FAYETTEVILLE, GA - Johnny Bridges of Cherryville, NC has had some 
success this season with the O'Reilly United Sprint Car Series, and is on the verge of finding victory lane with something different. Bridges drives the only Ford-powered winged outlaw sprint car in the series, and he's gearing up to run at the track where his racing career started 15 years ago.
The O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour will be at 3/8-mile clay oval Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC this Friday night, and nothing would please Bridges more than to win at his home track.
"We've already had a good season to do what we've done against the competition in the O'Reilly USCS on the low budget we have, but to win at Carolina Speedway this Friday night would be extra special," Bridges said. "The first time I sat in a race car 15 years ago was at Carolina Speedway, and to win there in front of my family and friends would be great."
Bridges and his Ford have turned in six top five finishes in his last seven races, and 10 top ten finishes in 16 starts. He set a new track record on July 16 at Fayetteville Motor Speedway in Fayetteville, NC. Bridges has also led 23 laps of competition this season, and has been in position to win races.
The 23 laps Bridges led were at Cochran Motor Speedway in Cochran, GA on July 23. Bridges feels he should have won that race, but he knows why he didn't.
"I let my guard down at Cochran, and when you race against the competition level the O'Reilly USCS has, you can't do that," Bridges said. "I've won races and championships in other series, and didn't have to work nearly as hard. I learned in Cochran that in order to win in this series, you have to stay up on the wheel at all times."
After beginning his career 15 years ago, and racing dirt late models, 
Bridges moved up to sprint cars six years ago, was the O'Reilly USCS Rookie of the Year in 1998, and won the American Outlaw Action Series sprint car championship in 2003 driving a
Chevrolet powered car.
At the end of the season, the O'Reilly USCS Founder and President Pete Walton bought the AOAS, and brought it into his seven-year-old series.
"Pete Walton has really given us a great series to compete in, and there isn't any better competition in the country than there is in the O'Reilly USCS," Bridges said. "I really admire Kenny Adams because it's amazing to see what he can do with a race car. One of my main goals is to beat Kenny Adams because to be the best, you have to beat the beat."
Adams of Malabar, FL is the current O'Reilly USCS National point leader with nine wins on the season. Adams, the 2000 O'Reilly USCS National Champion, is the all-time series career winner with 84 victories. The "Malabar Missile" is also the winningest winged outlaw sprint car driver of the 21st Century with 124 feature race victories since the 2000 season.
It was also at the end of the 2003 season that Bridges met Jason Day, who had sat in the stands during the 2003 season, and was a fan of Bridges. Day wanted to get involved in the sport, and he and Bridges formed a partnership.
"Jason has been a big factor in our team's success this season because he helps get us to the race track, and he also does most of the work on the car," Bridges said. "Jason is my partner and crew chief. He's really stepped up our program."
Bridges and Day also made a big equipment change for the 2004 season. They decided to run a Ford engine, a rarity in winged outlaw sprint car racing.
"I've always been a big Ford fan, and Davey Allison was my hero," Bridges said. "I was able to get my hands on a Ford sprint car engine from Bob Hampshire in Ohio, but we had a lot of expensive problems last year with two blown engines before we learned how to fix it.
"We had the wrong lifters in the car," Bridges said. My cousin Chris Moss works for Robert Yates Racing, and Yates is the Ford Racing Engines guru. He told me what lifters to put in the engine, and we started off pretty good this season with no engine problems."
With his engine woes corrected with the help of Moss and Yates, Bridges also got some financial help from Stainless Fabricators, owned by fellow competitor Brice Wrenn of Lexington, SC. Bridges and Wrenn battled for the 2003 AOAS Championship, with Bridges taking the title by two points.
The Pennsylvania-based C&B Mushrooms has also stepped up to help out with the finances for Bridges and Day's racing efforts. C&B Mushrooms is a big supporter of winged outlaw sprint car racing and for teams in the Eastern United States.
Bridges also found a new niche in racing that was unexpected during the 2005 season. The O'Reilly USCS is the only winged outlaw sprint car series in the country that competes for national points on both dirt and asphalt short tracks. Bridges began running some asphalt races this year, with successful results.
"In racing on the asphalt, I found something that I didn't think I'd like to do," Bridges said. "My cousin Lance Moss and George Gillespe of PRO Shocks have helped me with my set ups on pavement, and we've now got a top five car. Now I'm looking forward to running more pavement races with the O'Reilly USCS."
Even with the improvement Bridges and Day have made with their team this season, Bridges said he is looking for more.
"We would like to win a race this season, but more important than that, we want to run as many races as our limited budget will allow because we're having a lot of fun racing with the O'Reilly USCS," Bridges said. "Our immediate goal is to race well enough to finish in the top 10 of the O'Reilly USCS National points this season, and that someone will look at us for sponsorship next year, so we can run all of the series races next season."
This Friday night at Carolina Speedway the gates open at 4 p.m. and racing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The O'Reilly USCS winged outlaw sprint cars will compete in the Air Flow Power Dash, heat races, and a 30-lap feature race.
Carolina Speedway is located nine miles south of Gastonia, NC on State Road 274. The race track phone number is (704) 869-0313, and the website is www.carolinaspeedway.net . For USCS "Outlaw Thunder" information call (404) 886-5913, or visit the USCS web site at www.uscsracing.com .
