USCS: Greenville-Pickens results 2005-06-30

ADAMS DRIVES DIRT CAR TO GREENVILLE-PICKENS O'REILLY USCS ASPHALT THUNDER WIN

GREENVILLE, SC - Kenny Adams of Malabar, FL drove his Milk Movers, Inc./Goodson Farms Shaw/Ott dirt car to an O'Reilly United Sprint Car Series Asphalt Thunder Tour win Thursday night at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. Adams took the lead on the opening lap from the fourth starting position, and was never challenged in the 33-lap feature race.

The Greenville-Pickens asphalt race, combined with two dirt races on Friday and Saturday for the O'Reilly USCS created a logistical problem for many teams in getting the equipment they needed for the races. Several teams, including Adams, left their pavement cars at home, and prepared their dirt cars to run the Greenville-Pickens asphalt show.

"There wasn't enough room in the hauler to bring both the dirt cars and the asphalt cars, so we just brought the dirt cars," Adams said. "I'm fortunate that I've got Red Stauffer for a crew chief because he's good at coming up with a set up for a dirt car that will run fast on the asphalt. The car would stick anywhere I wanted to drive it."

Stauffer, the 1997 O'Reilly USCS National Champion wrenched Adams to a clean-sweep of the night's racing program. Adams started off the evening setting fast time with a lap around the ½-mile paved oval in 17.037 seconds for an average speed of 105.652 miles per hour.

The "Malabar Missile" then followed that up with wins in the six-lap Air Flow Research Power Dash, and the ten-lap Engler Machine and Tool first heat race. Adams then drew a four for the inversion for the 33-lap feature race that put him on the outside of the second row for the start.

When the green flag came out, Adams stepped to the outside, passed outside front row starter Will Ragsdale of Easley, SC in turn one, and then got around K&N Filters Pole Award winner Wayne Reutimann Jr. of Zephyrhills, FL coming off the second turn to take the lead he would never relinquish.

Adams then packed his bags, turned in the key, and checked out on the field. When the checkered flag flew, Adams could see the fourth and third-place cars in front of him.

Reutimann finished second, a full straightaway behind Adams, in the Case Contracting/James Rivard GMC Hurricane/Snyder. The defending and four-time O'Reilly USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN drove his Goodson Farms/C&B Mushrooms Maxim/Wesmar dirt car to a third-place finish.

Matt Tiffany of Daytona Beach, FL finished fourth in the Independent Printing Shaw/Ott, and the 16-year-old driver was the Robison Racing Products Rookie of the Race, and the SpeedMart Young Gun of the Race for drivers under the age of 25.

Another SpeedMart Young Gun, 18-year-old Ryan Myers of Eldorado, OH had a busy night while on the way to a fifth-place finish in the Garrett-Myers Farms Domelt/Garrett-Myers. Early in the race, Myers was running sixth when he slipped out of the groove in turn two. Myers kept the car out of the wall, but dropped back to the ninth spot. Myers rallied back for a top five finish.

SpeedMart Young Guns also took the next three spots, as 19-year-old Bryn Gohn of Malabar, FL finished sixth in the Milk Movers, Inc./Goodson Farms Shaw/Ott, and 19-year-old Danny Martin Jr. of Sarasota, FL borrowed a pavement car from Doug Gold to finish seventh in the Gold Racing Gold/Jerico. The 2004 O'Reilly USCS Rookie of the Year, 17-year-old R.J. Johnson of Decatur, TN was eighth in the Tinsley Engineering J&J/ZRE.

Chad Allum of Kannapolis, NC drove his ButlerBuilt Prowler/Chrisco from the 17th starting spot to a ninth-place finish to earn the Huggins Cams Hard Charger of the Race Award. Brian Thomas of Auburn, GA rounded out the top ten in the Saligoe Metal Works Saligoe/Broome Performance.

Ragsdale earned the Weld Racing Hard Luck of the Race Award after he spun his Martin Printing Company Shaw/ERI while running in the third spot in turn two on lap 21 after a steering arm broke.

The O'Reilly USCS returns to the dirt tracks for its next two events on Friday night at Crossville's Raceway USA in Crossville, TN, and on Saturday night at Thunderhill Raceway in Summertown, TN.

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