Ward sweeps in O'Reilly USCS clash at Atomic Speedway

June 10, 2006 Lenoir City, TN - Veteran sprint car driver Mike Ward from Memphis, Tennessee won the 30-lap O'Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series www.uscsracing.com Southern Thunder Tour feature race Saturday night at Atomic Speedway near Lenoir City, Tennessee. It was Ward's first O'Reilly USCS win of the season. Ward's win followed a second place finish last night at Crossville's Raceway USA. He also captured the O'Reilly USCS Speedweek 2006 title a week ago. Ward started on the pole but had to battle at least five more of the Nation's top-ranked drivers for the win through six restarts that bunched the field behind him, usually without lapped cars. The last restart came with just two laps to go.



#88 – Recent O’Reilly USCS Speedweek 2006 Champion, Mike Ward from Memphis, Tennessee won the O'Reilly USCS Round 30 lap A-Main event at Atomic Speedway on Saturday night. It was Ward’s first win of the season with the O’Reilly USCS.

Marshall Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas started in the sixth spot but moved into the runner-up spot on the second lap behind Ward and took up the chase after the veteran who has over 400 feature wins. Hoosier tire Young Guns point leader Danny Martin, Jr. from Sarasota, Florida raced high on the track chasing the lead duo around the 1/3 mile clay oval and challenged Skinner repeatedly for the second position. Ward used the middle of the race track to his advantage while Skinner challenged him numerous times from the low groove and especially on every re-start. Martin ran the high side of the race track against the wall until mid-race and then choose the bottom of the track behind Skinner.

Current O'Reilly USCS National points leader, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee spent most of the race in the fourth position chasing the lead trio. On every one of the six restarts the top six cars would enter turn one appearing to be almost six-abreast in one of the most competitive events of the season. But, Ward would beat Skinner and Martin to the backstretch and held off the challengers for thirty wild laps and landed himself in victory lane.

Skinner got back on track with a runner-up finish followed by the hard-charging Danny Martin, Jr. four-time series Terry Gray finished fourth. The fifth place finisher was O'Reilly USCS Champion Kenny Adams from Malabar, Florida originally started eleventh but ended up starting on the tail after he had to receive a second push off caused by mechanical problems during the parade laps. Adams and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. from Olive Branch, Mississippi thrilled the crowd by charging from the rear of the field into the top six utilizing every line on the track. Although Adams in a technical sense passed the most cars, the previous night's winner Stenhouse, started scratch on the field in the original line-up and passed ten cars to be the evenings Huggins Cams Hardcharger.

Fifteen year-old Robison Racing Rookie of the Year candidate Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas got his best finish of the young season by finishing sixth. Stenhouse who's top wing fell down in the rear with two laps to go was able to overcome the handicap to finish seventh. Tom Winegardner, Sr. from Pierson, Florida drove a great race to finish eighth followed by another Hoosier Tire Young Gun, Stephen Darvalic from Venice, Florida who raced from fifteenth to ninth. Butlerbuilt Second Heat Winner, Mike McElya from Bartlett, Tennessee rounded out the top ten.

Ward started his sweep of the night's racing action by winning the six-lap Lucas Oil Power Dash. He then won the 10- lap Engler Tool and Machine First Heat Race before completing the clean sweep by winning the feature race.. Mike McElya won the 10-lap Butlerbuilt Second Heat Race. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. garnered the events Huggins Cams Hard Charger award for his charge from seventeenth to seventh place. Derek Hagar was the Robison Racing Products Rookie of the Race. Ward collected the K&N Filters Pole Award.

Danny Martin, Jr. 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 Matt Tiffany from Daytona Beach, Florida who was the first car out of the A-Main event. .

The next O'Reilly USCS National points event is round three of the June Jam O'Reilly USCS Triple-header and it continues on with the "Rome Outlaw Rumble" at 7;00 pm on Sunday night at Rome Speedway in Rome, Ga.

OFFICIAL RESULTS -  O'REILLY USCS OUTLAW THUNDER TOUR 
ROUND TWENTY-ONE AT ATOMIC SPEEDWAY ON JUNE 10, 2006.

PS ST   CR# DRIVER 	            HOMETOWN
1   1	88  Mike Ward 	            Memphis, TN
2   6	26  Marshall Skinner 	    W. Memphis, AR
3   3	00  Danny Martin, Jr.	    Sarasota, FL
4   5	10  Terry Gray	            Bartlett, TN
5  11	4A  Kenny Adams	            Malabar, FL
6   8	9jr Derek Hagar	            Marion, AR
7  17	40A Ricky Stenhouse, Jr	    Olive Branch, MS
8   7	11  Tom Winegardner	    Pierson, FL
9  15	32  Stephen Darvalics	    Venice, FL
10  2	58  Mike McElya	            Bartlett, TN
11  9	51  Matt Linder 	    Hoschton, GA
12 10	11T Tom Winegardner, Jr     Pierson, FL
13 16	14x Eric White	            Horn Lake, MS
14 14	4B  Bryn Gohn	            Malabar, FL
15  4	27  Randy Helton	    Palmetto, GA
16  5	94  Jerrod Hull	            Sikeston, MO
17 10 	19T Matt Tiffany 	    Daytona Beach, FL

LUCAS OIL POWER DASH WINNER: Mike Ward
K&N FILTERS POLE AWARD: Mike Ward
HUGGINS CAMS HARD CHARGER: 
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
(started 17th and passed 10 cars)
HOOSIER TIRE YOUNG GUN OF THE RACE: 
Danny Martin, Jr.
ROBISON RACING PRODUCTS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: 
Derek Hagar
JE PISTONS TOP GUNS AWARD: 
Mike Ward (Winner)
K&N FILTERS 3RD-PLACE AWARD: 
Danny Martin, Jr.
BUTLERBUILT 4TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Terry Gray
OUTLAW DISC BRAKES TOP FIVE AWARD: 
Kenny Adams
SIMPSON SAFETY PRODUCTS 6TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Derek Hagar
FSR RACING PRODUCTS-7 TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
AIR FLOW RESEARCH 9TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Stephen Darvalics
FSR TOP 10 AWARD : Mike McElya
WELD RACING HARD LUCK AWARD: 
Matt Tiffany

ENTRIES: 17
PROVISIONAL: none
LEAD CHANGES: none
LAP LEADERS: Ward. 1-30
CAUTIONS: six

LUCAS OIL POWER DASH - 6 Laps: 1. Mike Ward; 2. Terry Gray; 3. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.; 4. Danny Martin, Jr. 5. Jerrod Hull; 6. TJ Winegardner. HEAT RACES: ENGLER TOOL AND MACHINE 1ST HEAT: 1 Mike Ward; 2., Danny Martin, Jr.; 3 Terry Gray; 4. Tom Winegardner, Sr. 5. Matt Linder; 6. Kenny Adams; 7 Jerrod Hull. 8. Stephen Darvalics; 9. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. BUTLERBUILT 2ND HEAT: 1. Mike McElya; 2. Randy Helton; 3. Marshall Skinner; 4. Derek Hagar; 5. Tom Winegarner, Jr.; 6. Matt Tiffany; 7. Bryn Gohn; 8. Eric White. Photo/Caption: #40R - Recent O'Reilly USCS Speedweek 2006 Champion, Mike Ward from Memphis, Tennessee won the O'Reilly USCS Round 30 lap A-Main event at Atomic Speedway on Saturday night. It was Ward's first win of the season with the O'Reilly USCS. Media Contact; Pete Walton 404-886-5913 petewalton@bellsouth.net