Wright captures O'Reilly USCS Speedweek Round Four at Clayhill Motorsports
May 29, 2006 Atwood, TN - Gary Wright from Hooks, Texas became the fourth different O'Reilly USCS Speedweek 2006 feature winner in as many nights by winning the 30-lap O'Reilly United Sprint Car Series Round Four A-main event on Monday night at Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, Tennessee. Wright raced from his fourth place starting position into second place on lap fourteen and then chased Jason Sides from Bartlett, Tennessee until lap twenty-one when he raced by into the lead. The 2004-2005 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 360 sprint car Driver of the Year then held off all challengers including Sides who was the 2004 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year, Travis Rilat from Forney, Texas and Speedweek 2006 Round Two winner Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. from Olive Branch, Mississippi over the last fourteen laps for the hard fought victory over a field of 32 drivers including many of top 360 sprint car drivers in the Nation.
#9 - Gary Wright from Hooks, TX won the O'Reilly USCS Speedweek 2006 Round #4 event at Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, TN on Monday night over a star studded field of 32 drivers from seven states.
Stenhouse who started eighth and passed both Rilat then Sides on lap twenty-five seemed to have the speed and momentum to challenge Wright for the win in the final laps, but, blew his engine on lap twenty-seven bringing out the caution flag and bunching the field behind the Wright with Rilat, Sides, four time O'Reilly USCS National Champion Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee and Raymond Stull from Coldwater, Mississippi lined up directly behind the well-respected Texan.
On the lap twenty-seven re-start Wright took the high line and Rilat charged hard into the low groove looking for moisture and traction and the two Texans raced side-by-side for a lap. On lap twenty-eight the race was halted for Gary Bell's nasty flip in turn three. Bell was shaken but deemed to be generally okay.
When the race re-started again with two laps to go, Wright blasted around the top of the track keeping enough momentum going to beat Rilat's low-groove strategy by only three car lengths at the finish line. Early race leader Jason Sides settled for third, Terry Gray was fourth and Darren Stewart from Bixby, Oklahoma who started eleventh and worked steadily towards the front of the field used the last two re-starts to gain two additional positions and rounded out the top five.
Stull, headed the next five in sixth followed by Speedweek 2006 Round One winner Jerrod Hull from Sikeston, Missouri in seventh, defending O'Reilly USCS Champion and the evenings B-Main winner Kenny Adams from Malabar, Florida finshed eighth. Hoosier Tire Young Gun points leader, Danny Martin, Jr. from Sarasota, Florida was ninth. The current Speedweek 2006 pointd leader and Round Three feature-winner Marshall Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas was tenth. Eighteen of the twenty-two feature starters completed the entire race with fifteen cars still on the lead lap.
The Lucas Oil Power Dash points leader, Terry Gray won his fourth Lucas Oil Power Dash six lap shootout of the season. Jason Sides won the Engler Tool and Machine First Heat Race. Raymond Stull won the Butlerbuilt Second Heat Race while Travis Rilat captured the FSR Racing Products Third Heat. Gary Wright concluded the evening's qualifying races with a win in the JE Pistons Fourth Heat Race.
Kenny Adams who charged from the rear of the field in the B-Main to win that event, then passed nine cars in the tough A-Main field was awarded the Huggins Cams Hard Charger award for his charge from seventeenth place to eighth in the A-Main. Also to be noted was that Marshall Skinner also passed nine cars but the award goes to the car with the highest finish. Brad Bowden from Hernando, Mississippi was again the Robison Racing Products Rookie of the Race. Sides drew the zero inversion and collected the K&N Filters Pole Award.
Darren Stewart was recognized as the Hoosier Tire Young Gun of the Race, which is awarded to the top-finishing driver under twenty-five years old. The Weld Racing Hard Luck award went to outstanding fifteen year-old rookie driver Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas who raced his way from the back of the B-Main event into sixth position after gaining eight positions, but lost the transfer spot to a provisional starter.
The next O'Reilly USCS National points event and O'Reilly USCS Mid-South Thunder points event is the Speedweek 2006 Round #5 on Thursday night, June 1st at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL on. Then the tour visits North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia, AL on Friday night June 2nd before the grand finale in the "Columbus Clash" at Columbus Speedway in Columbus, MS on Saturday night June 3rd.
OFFICIAL RESULTS - ROUND FOUR - O'REILLY USCS SPEEDWEEK
2006 AT CLAHILL MOTORSPORTS IN ATWOOD, TN. ON 5/29/06
PS ST CR# DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS
1 4 9 Gary Wright Hooks, Texas 30
2 3 29 Travis Rilat Forney, TX 30
3 1 7s Jason Sides Bartlett, TN 30
4 5 10 Terry Gray Bartlett, TN 30
5 11 91 Darren Stewart Bixby, OK 30
6 2 21 Raymond Stull Coldwater, MS 30
7 12 94 Jerrod Hull Siketon, MO 30
8 17 4A Kenny Adams Malabar, FL 30
9 6 00 Danny Martin, Jr Sarasota, FL 28
10 18 26 Marshall Skinner, Jr West Memphis, AR 30
11 10 88 Mike Ward Memphis, TN 30
12 7 40A Ernie Ainsworth Memphis, TN 30
13 9 51 Lee Sowell Nesbit, MS 30
14 20 15B Brad Bowden (R) Hernando, MS 30
15 16 58 Mike McElya Bartlett, TN 30
16 22 11T Tom Winegardner, Jr Pierson, FL 29
17 21 19T Matt Tiffany Daytona Beach,FL 29
18 13 24w Kenny Coke Olive Branch, MS 29
19 19 32 Gary Bell Memphis, TN 28
20 8 40R Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Olive Branch, MS 27
21 15 14 Paul Hart Troy, TN 26
22 14 1 Eddie Gallagher Collierville, TN 18
DID NOT START:
9Jr. - Derek Hagar, Marion, AR
44 - Ronnie Howard, Southaven, MS
11 - Tom Winegardner, Sr., Pierson, FL
14x - Eric White, Horn Lake, MS
31 - Michael Craddock, Memphis, TN
4b - Bryn Gohn, Malabar, FL
12m - Greg Merritt, Nesbitt, MS
10w - Tony Wilson, Paris, TN
17 - Jeff Leach, Walls, MS
15 - Sam Hafertepe, Sunnyvale, TX
LUCAS OIL POWER DASH WINNER: Gray
K & N FILTERS POLE AWARD: Sides
HUGGINS CAMS HARD CHARGER:
Adams(started 17th and passed 9 cars)
HOOSIER TIRE YOUNG GUN OF THE RACE: StewartRO
BISON RACING PRODUCTS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Bowden
JE PISTONS TOP GUNS AWARD: Wright (winner)
K&N FILTERS 3RD-PLACE AWARD: Sides
BUTLERBUILT 4TH-PLACE AWARD: Gray
OUTLAW DISC BRAKES TOP FIVE AWARD: Stewart
SIMPSON SAFETY PRODUCTS 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Stull
FSR RACING PRODUCTS-7 TH-PLACE AWARD: Hull
AIR FLOW RESEARCH 9TH-PLACE AWARD: Martin
FSR TOP 10 AWARD : Skinner
WELD RACING HARD LUCK AWARD: Hagar
ENTRIES: 32
PROVISIONAL: Two
LEAD CHANGES: One
LAP LEADERS: Sides 1-20, Wright 21-30
CAUTIONS: 2
LUCAS OIL POWER DASH - 6 Laps: 1. Gray 2.Hafertepe 3. Skinner 4. Hull 5. Sowell
HEAT RACES:
ENGLER TOOL AND MACHINE 1ST HEAT: 1.Sides; 2. Gray; 3. Sowell; 4. Coke; 5. Merritt; 6. Winegardner. Sr.; 7. White; 8. Gohn.
BUTLERBUILT 2ND HEAT:1. Stull; 2. Martin; 3. Ward 4. Gallagher; 5. Hafertepe; 6. Bowden; 7. R. Howard; 8. Hagar
FSR RACING PRODUCTS 3RD HEAT: 1. Rilat; 2. Ainsworth; 3. Stewart; 4. Hart; 5. Skinner; 6. Craddock; 7. Winegardner, Jr.; 8. Wilson
JE PISTONS 4TH HEAT: 1. Wright; 2. Stenhouse; 3. Hull; 4. McElya; 5. Bell; 6. Tiffany; 7. Adams; 8. Leach.
