USCS Double Header at Hattiesburg
The March 30th Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Model Series event at Lake View Motor Speedway was the last time I attended a dirt race, which was the second leg of a double that saw me at Florence Motor Speedway in the afternoon and Lake View in the evening. Prior to that, March 23rd was the last time I saw sprint cars in action, when three LS sprints turned up at East Lincoln Motor Speedway. However, the current plan is to attend both USCS events at Hattiesburg Speedway on Friday and Saturday. Every USCS race at Hattiesburg has been rained out this year, so I am hoping and praying the weather stays clear, which it looks like will happen.
This two-day event is a combined USCS National and USCS Mid-South Region event, and unsurprisingly, both standings are topped by the veteran driver from Bartlett, TN, Terry Gray. Gray has been the only driver to draw into all 26 National and 10 Mid-South events, where he has claimed career USCS wins 97 and 98. Could the legend hit the century mark at Hattiesburg this weekend? Gray’s primary competition could come from Byhalia, MS’s Dale Howard, who has picked up a brace of USCS victories at Clayhill Motorsports Park in Tennessee in addition to his Greg Hodnett Memorial triumph at Riverside in June. Howard is something of an ace at Hattiesburg, picking up 9 wins at the south Mississippi bullring since 2020.
Two late entries have necessitated some editing, and have added even more excitement to the field. Jordon Mallett, the two-time USCS Champion, enters the weekend with 1 USCS win at Pine Ridge and an ASCS National Tour victory at Batesville, where he was subbing for the injured Brandon Anderson. With Anderson in the seat at Knoxville, Mallett returns to his usual equipment, looking to improve on his most recent Hattiesburg finish of 3rd in 2022. Additionally, Morgan Havener (née Turpen) will be making her first sprint car start since mid-2023. The former two-time USCS champion has made limited appearances in recent years, but has two top 5s and two top 10s in 4 Hattiesburg starts since 2022. I would expect Havener to at least be battling towards the top of the field.
Yet another Memphis-area driver that has my eye is Brad Bowden. Bowden had mixed luck at Hattiesburg last year, but stood on the bottom step of the podium on Night 2 of this event in 2023. Additionally, Bowden has already racked up 2 wins and 5 top 5s with the Hurricane Area Super Sprints in 6 events, which is still good enough for 7th in points, even though the Hernando, MS driver faces a 4-race deficit to high-points man, Lane Whittington.
An intriguing entry is Florida’s Dustin Burtron in the Johnny Law Motorsports #51. Dustin is coming off of a non-wing sprint car victory at North Florida Speedway a few weeks ago, and claimed two Top Gun Sprint Car Series victories at Hendry County and Volusia in 2023. The Florida sprint car scene always seems to be an after thought following Speedweeks, but ever a fan of the obscure, I relish the opportunity to watch drivers from these forgotten areas.
Overall, this should be a fantastic weekend of racing that also features the Winged 600 Micro Sprints, local Modifieds, CRUSA Street Stocks, and Pure Street divisions. Stay tuned to my X/Twitter - WhoaNellyRacing - as I will be roaming the pit area and providing updates throughout the night.
Other expected entries:
Prestin Dalton, Jake Brashier, Hannah Merritt, Butch David, Jeff Smith, Scott Craft, Sean Wimpee, Brandon Blenden, Shane Reavis, Cary Farmer, Parker Davis, Ronny Howard, Blake Carrier, and Kevin Baham.
