GAFFNEY, S.C. – Story and audio by Managing Editor Jacob Seelman for Speed77 Radio, Race Chaser Online and USCS Racing – Zack Kloosterman photo – Saturday night at Cherokee Speedway, Jim Young ensured there was no doubt who the strongest car in the www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Series field was.
Young, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, surged from fourth to the lead on the opening lap of the 600 mini-sprint 15-lap main event and held on through two mid-race cautions to grab his first USCS-sanctioned mini-sprint victory of the 2014 season.
The victory was Young’s third career USCS 600 Sprint Series win.
“The car was really rolling through the corners well; I could go to the bottom and pretty much stick down there – and I saw the 14 (McCullough) was up on top at the start, so I just went where they weren’t and it paid off,” Young said in www.rockauto.com USCS Victory Lane.
The race was slowed by a pair of cautions on lap 10, the first for debris and the second on the ensuing restart when Shreve, Ohio young gun Trevor Baker smacked the outside wall in turn 1.
K&N Filters polesitter Matt McCullough, from Atlanta, Georgia, chased Young all the way but had nothing for the Pennsylvania hotshoe in the closing laps and had to settle for second, with Cherryville, North Carolina’s Johnny Bridges completing the podium in third, his best career USCS 600 feature finish. Coby Adams, out of Mooresville, North Carolina jumped from tenth to finish fourth and Clarksville, Tennessee college student and defending USCS 600 Sprint Series champion Sean Hosey rounded out the top five.
Winder, Georgia veteran Mike Magic finished sixth and in the process, claimed the 2014 USCS 600 Southern Lightning Region championship by seven points over Montgomery, Alabama’s Kyle Amerson, who was scored eighth at the checkered flag.
Hosey kicked off the night by grabbing the win in the Hoosier Tire Speed Dash on a last lap, last turn pass, and Bridges took the win in the Engler Machine and Tool First Heat. Young notched the win in the www.rockauto.com Second Heat.
Young was the provisional polesitter after scoring the most passing points in heat race action, but when a four was pulled during the K&N Inversion Draw, Matt McCullough was awarded the K&N Filters Pole Position. Coby Adams passed the most cars in the main event (six) to garner the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger Award.
The www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car Series season continues on Friday, October 31 with night one of the USCS Fall Nationals at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas. The doubleheader will be the finale of the 2014 www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car Series schedule.
For rules and updated schedule information about the www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car series please visit www.uscsracing.com or call the series office at 770-460-7223 or 770-865-6097.
Audio with race winner Jim Young:
Audio with 6th-place and 2014 www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car Series champion Mike Magic:
Post-race audio with Jackson Wellman:
RESULTS: www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint Car Series @ Cherokee Speedway; October 4, 2014
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: Sean Hosey, Kyle Amerson, Mike Magic, Dirk Miller, Johnny Bridges, David Hall (DNS).
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat: Johnny Bridges, Matt McCullough, Sean Hosey, David Hall, Bob Trapino, Jackson Wellman, Chase Ledford, Bo Barber (DNS).
www.rockauto.com Second Heat: Jim Young, Kyle Amerson, Mike Magic, Trevor Baker, Dirk Miller, Coby Adams, Brandon Taylor, Larry Nations.
www.rockauto.com USCS 600 Sprint A-Main 15 laps:
- #8 – Jim Young, Johnstown, PA
- #14M – Matt McCullough, Atlanta, GA
- #5B – Johnny Bridges, Cherryville, NC
- #27 – Coby Adams, Mooresville, NC
- #6 – Sean Hosey, Clarksville, TN
- #5M – Mike Magic, Winder, GA
- #68 – Dirk Miller, Sanford, FL
- #29 – Kyle Amerson, Montgomery, AL
- #98 – Bob Trapino, Alpharetta, GA
- #67 – David Hall, Casselberry, FL
- #07 – Brandon Taylor, Cumming, GA
- #20 – Jackson Wellman, Belmont, NC
- #28C – Chase Ledford,
- #13 – Trevor Baker, Shreve, OH
- #14 – Bo Barber, Clarksville, TN
- #5N – Larry Nations, Gastonia, NC (DNS)
USCS 600 Sprint Race Awards:
Hoosier Tire Speed Dash: #6 – Sean Hosey
Engler Machine and Tool First Heat: #5B – Johnny Bridges
www.rockauto.com Second Heat: #8 – Jim Young
K&N Filters Pole Award: #14M – Matt McCullough
K&N Filters Podium (3rd place) Award: #5B – Johnny Bridges
Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger Award: #27 – Coby Adams
Keizer Aluminum Wheels Top Five Award: #6 – Sean Hosey
Saldana Racing Products Super Sixth Award: #5M – Mike Magic
DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends Top Ten Award: #67 – David Hall
