MARYVILLE, TN – April 26, 2019 – Johnny Bridges won the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters sprint car portion of the Rockin’ with the Stars presented by Classic Rock 103.5 WIMZ main event of the 2019 season at Smoky Mountain Speedway on Friday night. Bridges started from the K&N Filters Pole position and wired the field while winning with nearly a straightaway lead at the end of the 25-lap contest at the 4/10 mile red clay oval. The win was his 2nd of the 2019 USCS season.
Sunbury, Pennsylvania’s Mark Smith followed in the runner-up spot after passing 11-time USCS National Champion Terry Gray for the position after a lap 20 restart. Gray crossed the finish line in the K&N Filters Podium Award third place. Brad Bowden from Hernando, Mississippi, in only his second contest of the season, finished a strong fourth and Sprint Car Hall of Famer and current USCS National points leader, Danny Smith from Chillicothe, Ohio rounded out the top five.
The two-time United Sprint Car Series National Champion and the event’s 2017 winner on the series last visit to SMS Morgan Turpen from Cordova, TN followed Smith in sixth-place. Turpen raced as high as second place before fading late in the contest. Justin Barger from Cornelius, North Carolina finished seventh. Lance Moss also from Cherryville, North Carolina finished in the eighth position after starting twelfth. The 2017 USCS Rookie of the Year, Brandon Taylor from Cumming, Georgia, finished in ninth place in his first start of the 2019 season. Newcomer to the series, Geoff Styner from Maryville, Tennessee who lives five minutes from the track after transplanting from Florida, rounded out the top ten finishers.
In the closing laps of the race, Bridges put his racer in what appeared to be another gear and pulled away from the field to build a huge advantage until the final caution grouped the field behind him with Gray and Mark Smith on his rear bumper, but, to no avail. Mark Smith did pass Gray for the runner-up spot with three to go, after starting sixth, but, it was too late to close on Bridges.
In preliminary action, Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi kicked off the evening’s action by winning the first of two USCS Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dashes for the USCS Southern Thunder regional series. Danny Smith won the second 5-lap USCS Hoosier Speed Dash for the Mid-South regional series. Series newcomer, Brad Bowden from Hernando, Mississippi streaked to the win in the Engler Machine and Tool First Heat. Justin Barger from Cornelius, North Carolina won the Brown and Miller Racing Solutions Second Heat. Veteran racer Danny Smith garnered the evening’s Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger award after advancing the most positions in the main event.
The next event on the 2019 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters will be the USCS “Saturday of Speed” on Saturday night, April 27th only a 45-minute drive from Smoky Mountain Speedway at I-75 Raceway near Sweetwater, Tennessee. For rules and updated schedule information about the United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour, please visit www.uscsracing.com or call the series office at 770-865-6097. You can also like the United Sprint Car Series Facebook page at USCS Racing.
The United Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters would like to gratefully thank its sponsoring partners for their involvement in the 2017 and 21st USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour: K&N Filters, Hoosier Racing Tire, www.rockauto.com, Engler Machine and Tool, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt, Wilwood Disc Brakes, DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends. PRO Shocks, KSE Racing Products, DHR Suspensions, Schoenfeld Headers, DSR Fuel Systems, Arizona Sport Shirts, Radical Race Gear and Hero Graphics.
USCS presented by K&N Filters Outlaw Thunder Tour Winged Sprint Cars at Smoky Mountain Speedway on Friday, April 26, 2019 results:
USCS Hoosier Speed Dash Mid-South region DASH – (5 Laps)
1. 4-Danny Smith[2] ; 2. 4 B-Brad Bowden[1] ; 3. 10-Terry Gray[3] ; 4. 10m-Morgan Turpen[4] ; 5. 07-Johnny Bridges[6] ; 6. 28-Jeff Willingham[5]
USCS Hoosier Speed Dash Southern region – (5 Laps)
1. 28-Jeff Willingham[1] ; 2. 10-Terry Gray[2] ; 3. 4-Danny Smith[3] ; 4. 5-Justin Barger[4] ; 5. 07-Johnny Bridges[6] ; 6. 23-Lance Moss[5]
Engler Machine and Tool Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 4 B-Brad Bowden[1] ; 2. 10m-Morgan Turpen[3] ; 3. 10-Terry Gray[5] ; 4. 07-Johnny Bridges[7] ; 5. 4-Danny Smith[6] ; 6. 23-Lance Moss[2] ; 7. 38-Tony Agin[4] ; 8. 14-Bo Barber[8]
Brown and Miller Racing Solutions Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 5-Justin Barger[2] ; 2. m1-Mark Smith[7] ; 3. 07 T-Brandon Taylor[1] ; 4. 33-Joe Larkin[5] ; 5. 83-Bob Auld[6] ; 6. 28-Jeff Willingham[3] ; 7. 15jr-Geoff Styner[4]
FireAde USCS A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 07-Johnny Bridges[1] ;
2. m1-Mark Smith[6] ;
3. 10-Terry Gray[2] ;
4. 4 B-Brad Bowden[4] ;
5. 4-Danny Smith[9] ;
6. 10m-Morgan Turpen[3] ;
7. 5-Justin Barger[5] ;
8. 23-Lance Moss[12] ;
9. 07 T-Brandon Taylor[8] ;
10. 15jr-Geoff Styner[14] ;
11. 28-Jeff Willingham[11] ;
12. 83-Bob Auld[10] ;
13. 38-Tony Agin[13] ;
14. 33-Joe Larkin[7] ;
15. 14-Bo Barber[15].
USCS Sprint Car Series Race Awards:
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: 28 Jeff Willingham (Southern Region)
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: 4 Danny Smith (Mid-South region)
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat: 4B Brad Bowden
Brown and Miller Racing Solutions Second Heat: 5 Justin Barger
K&N Filters Pole Award: 07 Johnny Bridges
JE Pistons Top Guns Award: (5th Place): 4 Danny Smith
PRO Shocks Champion Choice Award: (1st Place) 07 Johnny Bridges
K&N Filters Podium (3rd place) Award: 10 Terry Gray
Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger Award: 4 Danny Smith
DHR Suspension Eighth Place Award: 23 Lance Moss
DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends Top Ten Award:15Jr Geoff Styner