Ward survives O'Reilly USCS battle at Moulton Speedway for win #2

Moulton,. AL - Veteran sprint car driver Mike Ward from Memphis, Tennessee won the historic 30-lap O'Reilly Auto Parts United Sprint Car Series www.uscsracing.com combined Outlaw Thunder Tour and Mid-South Thunder Tour points event Saturday night at Moulton Speedway near Moulton, Alabama. It was the first winged sprint car event ever held in the long history of the 1/3 mile northern Alabama clay oval. It was Ward's second O'Reilly USCS feature win of the season. Ward started on the pole and survived six caution periods including one red-flag incident. Ward held of pole starting 1999 O'Reilly USCS Dirt Cup champ Marshall Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas and current O'Reilly USCS National points leader Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee for the distance in a battle of veteran drivers. The twenty-three car field included at number of the Nation's top-ranked drivers from six states.


July 1, 2006 #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 Moulton Speedway on Saturday night. It was Ward's second O'Reilly USCS win of the season.

Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas started on the pole but Ward had the momentum from his outside starting position to take the lead on the initial start and again when the race was restarted after a car spun on the initial attempt. Skinner immediately moved into the runner-up spot behind Ward and took up the chase after the veteran who has over 400 feature wins mostly at tracks in the Mid-South area. Gray who started fourth challenged Skinner for second place on every re-start. Ward never faltered and raced away from the other two veterans on each re-start while the battled raged behind him and especially for fourth place between a host of hard charging young drivers. The evening's Lucas Oil Power Dash winner, seventeen year-old Matt Tiffany from Daytona Beach, Florida who started seventh prevailed in the battle for fourth place. Nineteen year-old Lee Sowell from Nesbit, Mississippi charged from twelfth starting position into the top five behind him.

Fifteen year-old Robison Racing Rookie of the Year candidate Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas got one of his best finishes of the season by finishing sixth and raced as high up in the running order as fourth. Twenty-one year-old Tom "TJ" Winegardner, Jr. from Pierson, Florida charged past six cars from his thirteenth starting position to finish in the seventh position. Engler Tool and Machine First Heat winner, Mike McElya from Bartlett, Tennessee finished eighth. Twenty year-old Hoosier Tire Young Gun points leader, Danny Martin, Jr. who won the O'Reilly USCS Asphalt Thunder Tour event at Greenville Pickens Speedway on the previous night finished ninth. Eighteen year-old Rookie of the Year contender Brad Bowden from Hernando, Mississippi who started fifteenth rounded out the top ten.

Matt Tiffany started the night's racing action by winning the six-lap Lucas Oil Power Dash. Skinner won the 10- lap Engler Tool and Machine First Heat Race. Mike Ward won the 10-lap Butlerbuilt Second Heat Race. Mike McElya captured the FSR Racing Products Third Heat. Lee Sowell from Nesbit, Mississippi garnered the events Huggins Cams Hard Charger award for his charge from twelvth to fifthth place. Derek Hagar was awarded the Robison Racing Products Rookie of the Race after finishing sixth. Skinner collected the K&N Filters Pole Award after drawind a zero in the inversion draw.

Tiffany 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 Raymond Stull who was involved in two serious crashes on the night. .

The next O'Reilly USCS National points event is this Monday night July 3rd at Garnertown Speedway in Luray, Tennessee located midway between Jackson and Lexington on Highway 200. For more info visit www.garnertownspeedway.com . For O'Reilly USCS info visit www.uscsracing.com

OFFICIAL RESULTS -  O'REILLY USCS OUTLAW THUNDER
TOUR ROUND TWENTY-SIX AT ATOMIC SPEEDWAY

PS ST CR#   DRIVER 	        HOMETOWN 	LAPS
1  1	88  Mike Ward 	        Memphis, TN 	 30
2  6	26  Marshall Skinner 	W. Memphis, AR 	 30
3  5	10  Terry Gray	        Bartlett, TN	 30
4  10 	19T Matt Tiffany 	Daytona Beach,FL 30
5  11	4A  Lee Sowell	        Nesbit, MS	 30
6  8	9jr Derek Hagar	        Marion, AR 	 30
7  10	11T Tom Winegardner,Jr  Pierson, FL 	 30
8  3	58  Mike McElya	        Bartlett, TN	 30
9  	00  Danny Martin,Jr 	Sarasota, FL 	 30
10 	15b Brad Bowden	        Hernando, MS	 30
11 	16  DeWayne Prince	Atoka, TN 	 30
12 	32  Stephen Darvalics	Venice, FL	 30
13.	56  Ryan Myers	        Eaton, OH	 30
14 16  14x   Eric White	        Horn Lake, MS	 30
15 	5P  Skip Andrews	Huntsville, AL	 28
16 	85  Dennis Lykins	Thomaston, GA	 28
17 	22  Travis Senter	Osceola, AR	 28
18 	21  Raymond Stull	Coldwater, MS	 21
19 	23  Brian Bell 	        Memphis, TN	 21
20 	86  Buster Dickerson	Columbus, MS	  8
21 	11  Tom Winegardner	Pierson, FL	  3
22 	3d  Marion Jacobs	Tuscumbia, AL	  3
DNS	25  Ray Bugg	        Iuka, MS	DNS


    
LUCAS OIL POWER DASH WINNER: Tiffany
K&N FILTERS POLE AWARD: Marshall Skinner
HUGGINS CAMS HARD CHARGER: Lee Sowell 
(started 12th and passed 7 cars)
HOOSIER TIRE YOUNG GUN OF THE RACE: 
Matt Tiffany
ROBISON RACING PRODUCTS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: 
Derek Hagar
JE PISTONS TOP GUNS AWARD: Skinner 
(2nd place)
K&N FILTERS 3RD-PLACE AWARD: 
Terry Gray
BUTLERBUILT 4TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Matt Tiffany
OUTLAW DISC BRAKES TOP FIVE AWARD: 
Lee Sowell
SIMPSON SAFETY PRODUCTS 6TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Derek Hagar
FSR RACING PRODUCTS-7 TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Tom Winegardner, Jr.
AIR FLOW RESEARCH 9TH-PLACE AWARD: 
Danny Martin, Jr.
FSR TOP 10 AWARD : Brad Bowden
WELD RACING HARD LUCK AWARD: 
Raymond Stull

ENTRIES: 23
PROVISIONAL: none
LEAD CHANGES: none
LAP LEADERS: Ward. 1-30
CAUTIONS: six

LUCAS OIL POWER DASH - 6 Laps: 1. Matt Tiffany; 2. Danny Martin, Jr. 3. Terry Gray; 4. Ryan Myers 5. Tom Winegardner; 6. TJ Winegardner.

HEAT RACES:

ENGLER TOOL AND MACHINE 1ST HEAT: 1 Marshall Skinner 2. Terry Gray 3. Matt Tiffany 4. Ryan Myers 5. T.J. Winegardner 6. Eric White 7. Marion Jacobs 8. Ray Bugg.

BUTLERBUILT 2ND HEAT: 1. Mike Ward 2. Travis Senter 3. Derek Hagar 4. Buster Dickerson 5. DeWayne Prince 6. Stephen Darvalics 7. Raymond Stull 8. Dennis Lykins.

FSR RACING PRODUCTS 3RD HEAT: 1. Mike McElya 2. Tom Winegardner 3. Danny Amrtin, Jr. 4. Lee Sowell 5. Brad Bowden 6. Brian Bell 7. Skip Andrews.

Media Contact; Pete Walton 404-886-5913 petewalton@bellsouth.net