Trey Starks closed the USCS Sprint Car Series weekend with a victory Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park. Photo by Chris Seelman
At one point in Saturday night’s 30-lap finale to the USCS Sprint Car Series Florida State Championships at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL, it appeared as if home state driver Danny Martin, Jr. was going to walk off with a weekend sweep.
However, circumstances got in the way – and opened the door for a first-time series winner.
Trey Starks, from Puyallup, WA, inherited the lead after Martin blew a right rear tire entering turn one with seven laps to go, and endured three agonizing restarts inside of the final five laps before he went on to score the win.
Starks, the reigning Western Sprint Tour champion, led those final seven laps over Michael Miller, pulling away after each caution period to notch his first career USCS victory in thrilling fashion.
“It seemed like (the field) really didn’t want us to win this race, did they?” Starks said after climbing from his car. “We weren’t very good on restarts at all. Either I wasn’t great or the motor just wasn’t taking off, one or the other. We had a great handling car though, and we had a little bit of luck, but sometimes it’s just as good to be lucky than good and that’s what we were tonight. This is an awesome weekend.”
The win was the first in USCS competition for Starks’ car owner, Jeff McCall, since 2008 at Travelers Rest Speedway in South Carolina with Australian driver Steven Lines.
“This feels really good,” McCall said. “We’ve more focused on our 410 program for the last five or six years – we haven’t really run the 360 stuff. I met Trey through Jack Elam – he got the two of us hooked up, and I had never met him before this weekend – but we flew him down here and it worked out to be an awesome go of it.
“He’s super talented, and I’m excited to be working with him coming up at several events including the World Finals at Charlotte as well. This is a heck of a start for the pairing.”
The night’s two most serious incidents all happened prior to halfway in the main event, kicking off on lap two when Matt Kurtz, got into Gene Lasker exiting turn four. Kurtz’s car tipped onto its side, but was quickly righted and Kurtz climbed from his mount without injury.
The chaos continued two laps later, when polesitter and early race leader Shawn Murray was being overhauled by Miller in turn four and washed up too high, tagging the wall with his right rear. That caused the front end of Murray’s No. 22 mount to catch air, sending him flipping wildly into the catch fence right below the flagstand at the start/finish line. Murray was uninjured.
After a short repair period to work on the frontstretch clay and a small portion of the safety fencing, the race resumed with Miller leading the way. But the story was Martin, who wrested the top spot from Miller at lap 18 and appeared to be en route to a second straight win before running over a piece of debris that caused his right rear to go down five laps later.
Martin would rally to finish fourth, but for him, it was a night of what might have been.
“I felt (the tire) getting soft in three and four,” Martin said. “It tripped over the cushion and I thought I was going to hit the wall. I knew something was up, and a few feet later it went. I hate it, but we’ll be back next time to try it again. Fourth is heartbreaking though, but we knew we had the fastest car tonight. That counts for something at least.”
As Starks rolled away to victory lane, Miller could do no better than second, just ahead of Tyler Clem in third, Martin in fourth and Matt Kurtz in fifth.
Morgan Turpen, Eric Riggins, Jr., Nick Snyder, Danny Sams III and Mark Ruel, Jr. rounded out the top ten.
Riggins kicked off the evening’s racing action by winning the Hoosier Tire Speed Dash, while Witherspoon scored the win in the first heat. Murray rolled to the victory in the second heat, and Starks took the win in the third heat.
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The USCS Sprint Car Series returns to action on Friday, Oct. 30 with the rescheduled North/South Shootout opener at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC. The series then competes in round two on the following night, October 31, at the Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC.
For more information on the USCS Sprint Car Series, please visit USCSRacing.com.
USCS Sprint Car Series
Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, FL
Florida State Championships – Oct. 17, 2015
1. #23 – Trey Starks – Puyallup, WA
2. #4M – Michael Miller – Ocean Springs, MS
3. #14 – Tyler Clem – Ocala, FL
4. #24 – Danny Martin, Jr. – Sarasota, FL
5. #82 – Matt Kurtz – Jacksonville, FL
6. #10M – Morgan Turpen – Cordova, TN
7. #47 – Eric Riggins, Jr. – Charlotte, NC
8. #116 – Nick Snyder – Marco Island, FL
9. #24D – Danny Sams III – Gergetown, KY
10. #83 – Mark Ruel, Jr. – Jacksonville, FL
11. #0X – Clint Weiss – Jesup, GA
12. #33 – Joe Larkin – Suwanee, GA
13. #21B – Brandon McLain – Indian Trail, NC
14. #28G – Garrett Green – Valrico, FL
15. #G6 – Brandon Grubaugh – Ocala, FL
16. #43JR – Tanner Witherspoon – Jacksonville, FL
17. #43 – Terry Witherspoon – Jacksonville, FL
18. #28 – Jeff Willingham – Ripley, MS
19. #10 – Terry Gray – Bartlett, TN
20. #22 – Shawn Murray – Jacksonville, FL
21. #02 – Gene Lasker – Tampa, FL
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