Herndon made Memorial Day memorable with first USCS Open Wheel Modified Feature at Clayhill Motorsports

May 29, 2006 Atwood, TN - The "Atwood Outlaw", T.J. Herndon from nearby Atwood, Tennessee made this Memorial Day weekend a memorable one on Monday night (May 29th) by racing to his first USCS Open Wheel Modified series win in the 25 lap Holiday Monday night event at the newly re-modeled Clayhill Motorsports. Herndon's win came by less than two feet over close racing friend Robby Arnold from Paragould, Arkansas. The win came in front of a huge Holiday crowd at the 1/3 mile clay oval. The race combined with the O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour sprint cars during their Speedweek Round #4 event at the track was the closest finish in a USCS Open Wheel Modified race to date.



Both T.J Herndon and Robby Arnold did it the hard way. Herndon started last in his heat race and finished in the runner-up spot after drawing the #49 out of 50 pills. Arnold who drew the #46 pilll got involved in a tangle in heat race #2 and had to start at the rear of the 12 car B-Main event. Arnold impressively raced into the lead on lap five of that one for te win and garnered the nineteenth place starting position for the A-Main.

Herndon,who had seen plenty of misfortune so far in the previous four USCS Open Wheel Modified events, finally got a stroke of good luck when first heat race winner, Jeremy Russell from Jonesboro, Arkansas drew a four pill in the inversion draw and placed Herndon on the poll of the 25 lap USCS Open Wheel Modified A-Main.

Herndon then proceeded to use that good fortune combined with a great working race car to fend off the challenges of a tough field of competitors from six states. Those included Brandon Maxwell, Brandon Poppenheimer, Shane Akin, Jonathan and Jeremy Russell. Herndon opened up a several car length lead working through lapped traffic on long green flag runs After a caution on lap one , the second caution of the race did not come out until lap nineteen with Shane Aiken and Arnold who was running the low groove to perfection were behind Herndon with zero lapped cars in between. Brandon Poppenheimer from Memphis, Tennessee and Jonathan Russell from Jonesboro, Arkansas trailed that trio in the top five.

On lap twenty, Arnold got past Aiken into the runner-up spot. Then, the caution flew again for the final time on lap twenty-three, with two laps to go. This set the stage for a green-white-checkered dash to the finish for te $1000 top prize. Arnold lead te twenty-fourth lap by inches appearing to be ready to spoil his friends night. As the two raced side by side down the backstretch, the #1, Herndon Law Firm, Full Throttle Race Parts, Hook's Dirt Track Review, ICI Drywall, Dirtworks modified went upstairs to ride the rail on te final lap as the #49 Dirtworks modified of Arnold went to the bottom. Arnold would take the lead in each corner as Herndon's momentum off of the top would carry him into the lead down the straightaway. As the two friends and fierce competitors came off of turn four on the final lap it would be the "Atwood Outlaw" at the stripe a little over a foot for one of the his first USCS pen Wheel Modiifed series win. Brandon Poppenheimer finished in the third spot followed by brothers Jonathan and Jeremy Russell who rounded out the top five.

The race action saw lots of side-by-side racing in the lead pack all night long. The battle ended with Shane Stephens from Memphis sixth and Brandon Maxwell followed in seventh. Then a pair of number ones Shane Aiken from Medina, Tennessee and past Clayhill Motorsports track champion, Bart Richardson from Bradford, Tennessee were eighth and ninth respectively and USCS Open Wheel Modified points leader, Ben Reed from Atoka, Tennessee rounded out the top ten.

The evening started with Brandon Maxwell from Milan, Tennessee winning the USCS Open Wheel Modified Power Dash and a $100 paycheck for his efforts. Then Jeremy Russell, Shane Aiken, and Maxwell won the 10 lap heat races. Jeff Howell's bad luck earned him the Tennison Bros. Sheet Metal Hard Luck Award for the night. Robby Arnold garnered the Huggins Cams Hard Charger Award for passing seventeen cars in the event.

The next USCS Open Wheel Modified points event will be on Friday night June 23rd during the M.A.R.S. Super Late Model Special at Garnertown Speedway. The race is the only Super Late Model special of the year scheduled at any West Tennessee speedway. The event will feature Natuionally ranked drivers from te Super Late Model ranks plus the star-studded USCS Open Wheel Modifieds , Street Stocks and Hummer Cup Cars on the program. For more info visit www.garnertownspeedway.com/

 
U.S.C.S. Open Wheel Modified Dash  - 6 Laps
	1. Brandon Maxwell #28S
	2. David McCarver #26S
	3. Junior Lemmings #12
	4. J.C. Waller #7
	5. Richard Rose #88
	6. Kody Mea #5X

U.S.C.S. Open Wheel Modified - Heat #1
	1. Jeremy Russell #6R
	2. T.J. Herndon #1(blue)
	3. Jonathan Russell #06
	4. Bart Richardson #1(black)
	5. Ashley Newman #73
	6. Jeff Howell #00
	7. Mike Powers #P3
	8. Shane Harris #32
	9. Jeff McWilliams #34  

U.S.C.S. Open Wheel Modified Heat #2
	1. Shane Akin #1(red)
	2. Ben Reed #07
	3. Danny Howe #5H
	4. Wyatt Hill #3Jr.
	5. Bobby Allen #7Jr.
	6. Jamie Hard #H7
	7. Lynn Scarbrough #S2
	8. Junior Lemmings #12
	9. Kody Mea #5X
	10. Brandon Swindle #15X
	11. Robbie Arnold #49

 U.S.C.S. Open Wheel Modified Heat #3
	1. Brandon Maxwell #28S
	2. Brandon Poppenheimer #99
	3. Shane Stephens #15
	4. David Esch #17
	5. David McCarver #26S
	6. David Scarbrough #5
	7. Stephen Austin #8
	8. Richard Rose #88
	9. Troy Fowler #10

        U.S.C.S. Open Wheel Modified B-Main
	1. Robbie Arnold #49
	2. Jeff McWilliams #34
	3. Mike Powers #P3
	4. Shane Harris #32
	5. J.C. Waller #7
	6. Richard Rose #88
	7. Kody Mea #5X
	8. Stephen Austin #8
	9. Troy Fowler #10


 U.S.C.S. Open Wheel Modified A - Feature
	1. T.J. Herndon #1 (blue)
	2. Robbie Arnold #49
	3. Brandon Poppenheimer #99
	4. Jonathan Russell #06
	5. Jeremy Russell #6
	6. Shane Stephens #15
	7. Brandon Maxwell #28S
	8. Shane Akin #1(red)
	9. Bart Richardson #1(black)
	10. Ben Reed #07
	11. Mike Powers #P3
	12. Wyatt Hill #3Jr.
	13. Ashley Newman #73
	14. J.C Waller #7  
	15. David McCarver #26S
	16. Shane Harris #32 
	17. Jeff McWilliams # 34
	18. Jamie Hard #H7 
	19. Richard Rose #88
	20. Danny Howe #5H 
	21. Kody Mea #5X
	22. Bobby Allen #7Jr.
	23. Jeff Howell #00
	24. David Esch #17
	25. David Scarbrough #5