Curt Michael completes double in South vs. North Showdown with win at I-20 Speedway
O'Reilly USCS July 9, 2006: Batesburg, S.C. - Defending URC Champion, Curt Michael from Ocean View, Delaware won Round Two of the combined O'Reilly United Sprint Car Series and Bar's Leak /Advance Auto Parts URC Sprint Series South vs. North Showdown. Michael who won the Round One main event at Riverside Speedway in Travelers Rest, South Carolina on Friday night completed a profitable weekend collecting $4800 with a clean sweep of the events at I-20 Speedway in Batesburg, South Carolina on Saturday night. Michael won the Lucas Oil Power Dash, then captured the Engler Tool and Machine First Heat Race before leading laps one through nineteen and then laps twenty-eight through thirty of the main event. Michael had luck on his side as well as he started from the pole position in each event, but had to fight back in the main event when Brook Weibley from York Springs, Pennsylvania charged past him on lap twenty to lead the next eight laps. Just when Weibley appeared to have things going his way Michael used lapped traffic to race back into the lead.
Weibley who started in the third position finished in the runner-up spot just a few car lengths out of victory lane after some spectacular drving. 1999 O'Reilly USCS Champion, Marshall Skinner from West Memphis, Arkansas charged from tenth into third place. Hard charging veteran, Sean Michael from Allentown, Pennsylvania who started sixteenth followed Skinner in the fourth position. Second year O'Reilly USCS young gun nineteen year-old Stephen Darvalics from Venice, Florida rounded out the top five.
URC Sprint Series rookie of the year candidate Robbie Stillwagon from Burlington, New Jersey drove from eleventh to sixth place. Four time O'Reilly USCS National Champion Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee fought back from a lap ten collision with Brooke Bowman from Chestertown, Maryland to finish seventh. Scott Purcell battled from the eighteenth starting position past ten cars to finish eighth. Hoosier Tire Young Gun, Tom Winegardner, Jr. from Pierson, Florida finished ninth after being collected in an incident involving Bowman and Matt Tiffany from Daytona Beach, Florida. The only female driver in the field, Mares Stellfox from Prospect Park, Pennsylvania rounded out he top ten.
Several top contenders were knocked out of action early in wrecks including O'Reilly USCS regular seventeen year-old Matt Tiffany from Daytona Beach, Florida who was running in the fifth position after starting eighth on lap three left with a severely damaged race car after making contact with second year driver Brooke Bowman. Then Kramer Williamson from Palmyra, Pennsylvania who started in the second position left with steering problems on lap ten while in the runner-up spot. USCS Hoosier Tire Young Guns points leader, Danny Martin, Jr. from Sarasota, Florida left with the same exact problem on lap eleven running in the third position after starting twelfth.
Curt Michael kicked off the evenings racing action by winning the Lucas Oil Power Dash. He then won the 8-lap Engler Tool and Machine First Heat Race. The 8-lap Butlerbuilt Second Heat Race went to Kramer Williamson who is in second place in the URC Sprint Series point standings. The FSR Racing Products Third Heat race was won by Brook Weibley. Sean Michael captured the evening's Huggins Cams Hard Charger Award for passing twelve cars in the A-Main. Stephens Darvalics was awarded the Hoosier Tire Young Gun of the Race (for the highest finishing driver under 25 years old). The K&N Filters Pole Award recipient was Curt Michael.
The O'Reilly USCS returns to action on Friday July 28th at Malden Speedway in Malden, Missouri in Mid-South regional action. The next O'Reilly USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National points event is on Saturday night July 29th at Dixie Speedway www.dixiespeedway.com in Woodstock, Georgia. For more info on the series visit www.uscsracing.com or call 404-886-5913.
OFFICIAL RESULTS I-20 Speedway 7/08/06
PS ST CR# DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS
1 1 99 Curt Michael Ocean View, Delaware 30
2 3 56 Brook Weibley York Springs, PA 30
3 10 26 Marshall Skinner West Memphis, AR 30
4 16 92 Sean Michael Allentown, PA 30
5 4 32 Stephen Darvalics Venice, FL 30
6 11 89 Robbie Stillwagon New jersey 30
7 9 10 Terry Gray Bartlett, TN 30
8 18 1 Scott Purcell Frenchtown, NJ 30
9 15 11T Tom Winegardner,Jr Pierson, FL 30
10 13 56m Mares Stellfox Prospect Park, PA 30
11 17 22 Dave Betts Newark, DE 29
12 14 71 R.J. Johnson Decatur, TN 29
13 12 00 Danny Martin, Jr. Sarasota, FL 11
14 5 2B Brooke Bowman Chestertown, MD 11
15 2 73 Kramer Williamson Palmyra, PA 10
16 19 2D Doug Day Winder, GA 9
17 8 19T Matt Tiffany Daytona Beach, FL 2
18 7 63 Josh Weller Merztown, PA 1
19 6 1x Matt Linder Hoschton, GA 1
20 DNS 11 Tom Winegardner,Sr Pierson, FL DNS
LUCAS OIL POWER DASH WINNER:
Curt Michael
K & N FILTERS POLE AWARD:
Curt Michael
HUGGINS CAMS HARD CHARGER:
Sean Michael (16th to 4th)
HOOSIER TIRE YOUNG GUN OF RACE:
Stephen Darvalics (Top finisher under 25 yrs.)
JE PISTONS TOP GUNS AWARD:
Cur Michael (1st place)
K&N FILTERS 3RD-PLACE AWARD:
Marshall Skinner
BUTLERBUILT 4TH-PLACE AWARD:
Sean Michael
OUTLAW DISC BRAKES TOP FIVE AWARD:
Stephen Darvalics
SIMPSON SAFETY PRODUCTS 6TH-PLACE AWARD:
Robbie Stillwagon
FSR RACING PRODUCTS-7 TH-PLACE AWARD:
Terry Gray
AIR FLOW RESEARCH 9TH-PLACE AWARD:
Tom "TJ" Winegardner, Jr.
FSR TOP 10 AWARD : Mares Stellfox
WELD RACING HARD LUCK AWARD:
Tom Winegardner, Sr.
ENTRIES: 20
PROVISIONAL: none
LEAD CHANGES: two
LAP LEADERS; Curt Michael 1-19,
Brook Weibley 20-27, Curt Michael
Laps # 28-30,
CAUTIONS: four (one red flag)
