Mike Ward captures title in competitive O'Reilly USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series

Atlanta, GA - Veteran O'Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series sprint car tough guy, Mike Ward from Memphis, Tennessee added another championship to his legacy during the 2006 season. Ward edged out five-time O'Reilly USCS National Champion Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee by a scant two points to capture the title in the potent O'Reilly USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series. The season long battle for the crown between the two veterans was decided at the final race of the season during the 1st Annual "Battle at the Bullring" on November 10-11th at Columbus Speedway.

Ward, who was the O'Reilly USCS Speedweek 2006 Champion, had three feature wins in the O'Reilly USCS Mid-South regional series. Those came all in a row when Ward won at Moulton Speedway on July 1st, then won two nights later at Garnertown Speedway on July 3rd. He also captured the August 18th event at North Alabama Speedway. Ward who has over four hundered career wins, also won the O'Reilly USCS Southern Thunder tour regional series event on June 10th at Atomic Speedway to run his 2006 win total to four in the series.

In addition to the victories Ward finished in the runner-up spot five times as well. He finished eleven times in the top five after starting seventeen races. He additionally had fifteen top ten finishes. He was only out of the top ten twice and that was to finish eleventh in both of those events. He finished with 2424 total points.

Gray who is known for his ability to win Championships used steady top five performances to take the title chase down to the wire with 2422 points. Gray only failed to finish in the top five twice the seventeen races. He finished in the top five in fifteen out of seventeen races but was not able win an event in the regional series.

Marshall Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas finished in the third position just 46 points behind Gray. With 2376 points. Skinner who had some outstanding performances including three O'Reilly USCS Mid-South Thunder wins on the season finished in the top five eight times and in the top ten fourteen times. Twenty year-old O'Reilly USCS hot-shoe Danny Martin, Jr. from Sarasota, Florida Thunder had one win at Garnertown Speedway on September 3rd plus six top-five finishes and thirteen top-ten finishes. This filled his scorecard well enough with 2066 points for fourth place in the 2006 O'Reilly USCS Mid-South standings. Another Florida driver, T.J. Winegardner from Pierson, Florida used perfect attendance and three top five finishes and six top ten finishes to round out the top five just 8 points behind Martin with 2058 points.

Nineteen year-old Lee Sowell from Nesbit, Mississippi finished sixth with 2038 points. Seventeen year-old Matt Tiffany from Daytona Beach, Florida finished seventh in the standings with 1908 points after missing the final event due to an injury. TJ Winegardner's veteran team-mate Tom Winegardner from Pierson, Florida finished in the eight position with 1806 points. Winegardner also had to miss the finale after breaking his back at Dixie Speedway on September 9th. Sensational fifteen year-old O'Reilly USCS Rookie of the Year, Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas nailed down the ninth position with 1756 points. Hagar had finishes seven top ten finishes with four of those being in the top six places, Eric White from Southaven, Mississippi rounded out the top ten in the standings with 1516 points.

Derek Hagar tallied the most points of any rookie driver and will be crowned with title of O'Reilly USCS Mid-South Thunder Rookie of the Year at the series banquet in January.

Eighty-two different drivers competed in the seventeen O'Reilly USCS Southern Thunder events held at eleven different tracks in five states. The second annual Mid-South Thunder Tour kicked off on Saturday, April 1st at Malden Speedway in Malden, Missouri and concluded at Columbus Speedway on Saturday, November 11th. The O'Reilly USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series competes in Alabama, Arkansas , Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. For complete and archived results from these events please visit the series Official website at www.uscsracing.com . For series info call, 404-886-5913.

Final 2006 O'Reilly USCS Mid-South Thunder point standings
(top 25 after 17 events)

Ps. / Car #     Driver / Hometown		         Total points

1st - 88	Mike Ward, Memphis, TN				2424
2nd - 10	Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN			2422
3rd - 26	Marshall Skinner, W. Memphis, AR		2376
4th - 00	Martin, Danny Jr., Sarasota, FL			2066
5th - 11t	T.J. Winegardner, Pierson, FL			2058
6th - 51	Lee Sowell,	Nesbit, MS			2038
7th - 19T	Matt Tiffany,	Daytona Beach, FL		1908
8th - 11	Tom Winegardner, Sr., Pierson, FL		1806
9th - 9Jr.	Derek Hagar, Marion, AR				1756
10th - 14X	Eric White, Southaven, MS			1516
11th - 15	Brad Bowden, Hernando, MS			1334
12th - 4a	Kenny Adams, Malabar, FL			1326
13th - 40R	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Olive Branch, MS		1270
14th - 94	Jerrod Hull,	Sikeston, MO			1254
15th - 4B	Bryn Gohn, Malabar, FL				1214
16th - 58	Mike McElya, Bartlett, TN			1096
17th - 44	Ronnie Howard, Southaven, MS			964
18th - 21	Stull, Raymond, Coldwater, MS			828
19th - 25	Bugg, Ray, Iuka, MS				778
20th - 3d	Jacobs, Marion, Florence, AL			750
21st - 88z	Nelson, Shane, Chattanooga, TN			734
22nd - 18	Bolden, Scott, W. Memphis, AR		        726
23rd - 1X	Linder, Matt, Hoschton, GA			656
24th - 22	Barks, Dustin, Farmington, MO			624
25th - 22	Senter, Travis, Osceola, AR			598