12/13/2024
USCS United Sprint Car Series
2024 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National Championship Season Wrap Up
Atlanta, GA – November 24, 2024 – The 2024 United Sprint Car Series racing season saw 2022 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee and perennial USCS National Champion Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee add to his massive resume by capturing his 16th USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National Championship during the series’ 28th anniversary season.
Gray who has competed regularly with the United Sprint Car Series since the 2001 season and has only missed four events during his USCS career. The veteran sprint car driver used 23 top five and 34 top ten finishes plus two stops in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Victory Lane after feature wins to earn the title. In addition to the National Championship title Gray also finished the season as the Champion of both the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series and the USCS Southern Thunder regional series. The two wins runs Gray’s USCS total stops in the USCS Victory Lane to 98 career USCS wins.
The 2012 USCS National Rookie of the Year and annual top five title chase contender for the last nine seasons in a row, Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Mississippi finished in the runner-up spot in the final 2024 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National point standings. had 16 top 10 finishes, and 35 top 15 finishes. Willingham also finished in the runner-up position in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series. He completed the season with a third-place finish in the highly competitive USCS Mid-South regional series point standings.
Lance Moss from Cherryville, North Carolina competed in 28 of the series National events and accumulated enough points to finish in the third position in the National standings. Moss had 8 top five, and 15 top ten finishes. Unlike in 2023 when Moss finished in the runner-up spot in the National standings and visited the USCS Victory Lane once. The veteran North Carolina driver went winless with several near misses during 2024 when he twice finished in the runner-up spot.
Dale Howard from Byhalia, Mississippi, accumulated enough National Championship points by primarily competing in the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series to finish in the fourth position in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National Championship point standings. Howard, who is a two-time USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series Champion, finished in second position in that series at the end of the 2024 season. For the year in all USCS sanctioned events Dale Howard had three wins, 16 top five and 19 top ten finishes.
Hernando, Mississippi’s Brad Bowden, who also competed primarily in races located in the USCS Mid-South regional series and accumulated enough points to finish in fifth place in the USCS National standings while placing in fourth position in the final USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series standings. Bowden competed in cars for several different car owners and collected 8 top five, and 9 top ten finishes during the 2024 season.
Hannah Merritt from Nesbit, Mississippi claimed the 2024 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National series Rookie of the Year award after finishing in sixth place in the in series National standings. She additionally garnered a fifth-place finish in the USCS Mid-South Thunder regional series 2024 standings as well awarding her the USCS Mid-South Rookie of the Year title as well. If the series had a most-improved driver award, Merritt could well have deserved that as well after showing tremendous improvement and future potential from start to finish over the season’s schedule.
USCS veteran and second-generation sprint car racer, Joe Larkin from Suwanee, Georgia finished the 2024 season in seventh place in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National point standings. Larkin also finished in seventh place in the 2024 USCS Southern Thunder regional series point standings in his familiar green #33 sprint car, wrenched again by former USCS Crew Chief of the Year, Mark Brack.
Young gun, Hayden Martin from Olive Branch, Mississippi was credited with an eighth place finish in the 2024 USCS National standings after producing one win to go with five top five and nine top ten finishes on the season. His win came at Talladega Short Track on Thursday May 30th. That victory clinched the weather abbreviated USCS Sprint Car Speedweek crown for Martin by a scant two points over veteran Dale Howard. Martin also collected enough points in the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series to finish seventh in the regional series standings.
Fourth generation sprint ca racer, fifteen-year-old, PJ Reutimann from Zephyrhills, Florida finished in ninth position in the 2024 USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National point standings. The USCS Rookie of the Year contender additionally finished in fourth place in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series point standings during the 2024 season. That was also good enough to garner Reutimann the USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series Rookie of the Year honors in the regional series where he collected two top five and six top ten finishes in his first year of competition. Since the USCS guidelines allow for a driver to compete for the National Rookie of the Year award, until they have 25 sprint car starts prior to the start of the season, the teenager (Reutimann) is eligible to compete for the 2025 National Rookie of the Year award.
Ocala, Florida’s Brandon Grubaugh rounded out the top ten drivers in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National standings. Grubaugh also finished in fifth place in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series point standings where he had four top five and seven top ten finishes.
The 2013 USCS National Champion, Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas led the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour in the win’s column during the 2024 season with seven wins in the series. Eric Riggins, Jr. from Charlotte, North Carolina followed Hagar with four 2024 wins in second place. Two-time USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour regional series Champion, Dale Howard from Byhalia, Mississippi visited the USCS Victory Lane three times as did Kyle Amerson from Montgomery, Alabama.
Six drivers had two wins apiece with three-time Great Lakes Super Sprints Champion Max Stambaugh from Elida, Ohio picking up his two victories in the April North vs. South Shoootout at I-75 Raceway that featured some of the best drivers of the United Sprint Car Series and Great Lakes Super Sprints in a two-night throwdown. Ryan Timms from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma picked up two wins including the Germfree $10,000 to win Germfree Southern Sprint Car Showdown at Volusia Speedway Park in January and then won $3000 at Hendry County Motorsports Park the following weekend.
Also with two stops on the USCS Victory Lane during the 2024 season were Champion, Terry Gray (Buckshot Speedway and Needmore Speedway), two-time USCS National Champion, Jordon Mallett (Pine Ridge Speedway and Hattiesburg Speedway), Louisiana’s Lane Whittington won twice at Southern Raceway on September 20th and 21st, plus Arizona’s Sterling Cling who won both nights of the USCS season finale weekend at I-75 Raceway on November 1st and 2nd.
One time 2024 feature winners included Sprint Car Hall of Famer, Sammy Swindell (Buckshot Speedway), NASCAR Cup driver, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., (Talladega Short Track), two-time USCS National Champion, Morgan Havener (formerly Turpen at Hattiesburg Speedway), Sam Hapertepe, Jr. (Volusia), Austin McCarl (Volusia), Davie Franek (Hendry County), Terry McCarl (Southern Raceway), Mark Smith (Southern Raceway), Hayden Martin (Talladega), Ryan Harrison (All-Tech Raceway), Howard Moore (Riverside Int. Speedway), , Brady Baker (Magnolia Motor Speedway), Jeff Oliver (Lavonia Speedway).
The USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour saw 21 different winners during the 42 USCS completed events during the 2024 season. 201 different drivers competed in the 2024 United Sprint Car Series events. The series suffered a record 21 rain outs from its original 63 event schedule for the 2024 season
USCS Founder and President, Pete Walton said ‘We are proud to announce that veteran USCS competitor Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee captured his 16th USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters National Championship title in a USCS series after having a great 2024 season. He proved once again that he is one of the Nation’s top 360-winged sprint car drivers, not just for 2024, but for at least four decades.”
Reflecting on his remarkable 2024 season, Terry Gray shared his thoughts on the championship: "This championship is extra special. The competition in the USCS is always fierce, and it's a challenge to stay on top. But this is what I do, and I couldn't be prouder of winning the Championship again in 2024. It’s amazing to add another national title to my career."
The complete 2025 season schedule for the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour with winners can be found at www.uscsracing.com For rules and other info please visit www.uscsracing.com or call the series office 770-865-6097. We invite you to please follow USCS Racing on Facebook and on X formerly Twitter as well @uscsracing. You can also find all USCS results and statistics at www.myracepass.com
USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters Top 25 in the Final 2024
National Championship Point Standings after 42 events:
Pos # Competitor Hometown Events Points
1 10 Gray, Terry, Bartlett, TN 42 5608
2 28 Willingham, Jeff, Ripley, MS 42 5182
3 23 Moss, Lance, Cherryville, NC 27 3482
4 47 Howard, Dale, Byhalia, MS 18 2476
5 4X Bowden, Brad, Hernando, MS 15 1946
6 16 Merritt, Hannah, Nesbit, MS 15 1782
7 33 Larkin, Joe, Suwanee, GA 13 1662
8 67 Martin, Hayden, Olive Branch, MS 12 1612
9 00 Reutimann,, PJ, Zephyrhills, FL 12 1558
10 G6 Grubaugh, Brandon, Ocala, FL 12 1540
11 67 Mallette, Blake, Vancleve, MS 12 1512
12 4 Smith, Danny Chillicothe, OH 10 1400
13 12 Gurley, Corbin, Hebron, IN 11 1378
14 44 Howard, Ronny, Nesbit, MS 11 1372
15 13X Brashier, Jake, Denham Springs, LA 11 1370
16 47S Swindell, Sammy, Germantown, TN 11 1354
17 9jr Hagar, Derek, Marion, AR 10 1350
18 99 Porter, Tyler, Pinellas Park, FL 10 1346
19 14 Mallett, Jordon, Greenbrier, AR 9 1214
20 21 Meredith, Spencer Hernando, MS 9 1098
21 10M Turpen Havener,, Morgan, Gallatin, TN 8 1066
22 44 Martin, Chris, Ankeny, IA 8 1046
23 83 Auld, Bob, Largo, FL 8 1002
24 16G Gossel, Austyn, Windsor, CO 9 996
25 47 Riggins, Eric Jr, Charlotte, NC 7 994
Article Credit: Pete Walton
