CLEWISTON, FL – February 8, 2025 - Mark Smith of Sunbury, PA patiently wait his turn to take the lead and collect the $10,000 King of the 360s title Saturday night in the 30-lap United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire/Top Gun Sprints A-Main at Hendry County Motorsports Park. Smith methodically worked his way to the front from his fifth starting spot to take the lead on lap 22.
Friday night USCS Winter Heat winner Tyler Clem of St. Petersburg, FL led for six laps, but had to settle for second and third went to Matt Covington of Glenpool, OK. Blake Hahn of Sapulpa, OK took the fourth spot and Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS was fifth.
Davie Franek of Wantage, NJ finished sixth and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee and 16-time USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN drove to a seventh-place finish. Trey Meredith of Dade City, FL started 16th and finished eighth to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award. Sam Hafertepe of Sunnyvale, TX took the ninth spot and Kyler Johnson of Quinter, KS rounded out the top ten.
“I’ve got to thank Terry Whitherspoon for letting me drive his car this weekend,” Smith said in the Winner’s Circle. “Things got pretty intense in the second half of the race, and I could see I needed to be patient when I saw what was going on in front of me. I just waited to make my move at the right time."
In preliminary action, Hafertepe was the Fast Qualifier among the 34 entrants from 16 different states with a lap around Hendry County Motorsports Park in 13.147 seconds. Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan, WI won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the King of the 360 30-lap A-Main.
The four ten-lap Heat Races were won by Hafertepe in the Engler Machine & Tool Heat 1, Smith won the Butlerbuilt Heat 2, Thiel won the Schoenfeld Headers Heat 3, and Covington was the Huggins Cams Heat 4 winner. The 15-lap Hero Graphics ⁶B-Main Race was won by Chase Moran of Fultonville, NY.
Thiel took the lead at the start of the race followed by Clem, Hafertepe, Smith, and Covington. The first of two caution flags came out on lap five when Chase Moran of Fultonville, NY and Garrett Green of Dade City, FL tangled in turn two. The second caution flag came out on the restart when Robbie Smith of Ocala, FL spun in turn two.
On the next restart, Thiel took to the high side of the track from the point, while Clem worked the bottom groove in second. Franek passed Covington for the fifth spot. Clem chipped away at Thiel’s lead and got the better bite off the bottom of turn four on lap nine to take the lead.
Hafertepe got by Thiel for second on the 12th circuit and then sailed around the outside of Clem to take the lead on lap 14. Mark Smith drove by Thiel on lap 15 to move up to the third spot, as the leaders caught the cars on the tail of the lead lap. This brought about wholesale position changes among the top five divers in the second half of the race.
Thiel regrouped and passed Smith and Clem to take over the second spot on lap 16, and Covington got by Franek to move back into the top five on lap 17. Lap 20 and 21 saw Clem and Thiel swap the second spot. Hafertepe bounced off the backstretch wall on lap 22 and Clem pounced to retake the lead, and Mark Smith moved up to second.
Smith was on the charge and passed Clem for the lead on lap 23 and Covington took over the third spot on lap 24. Hahn and Howard moved up to the fourth and fifth spots respectively on lap 26. Mark Smith took a 1.875 second margin of victory under the checkered flag over Clem in a race that took 14 minutes and 39.243 seconds to complete.
Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2025 United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire Winter Heat Series will take place on Friday night, February 14 and Saturday night, February 15 at Southern Raceway in Milton, FL. For more information about USCS, visit their website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page, or call the USCS office at 770-865-6097.
United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are Engler Machine & Tool, Hoosier Racing Tire, Huggins Cams, Hero Graphics, DMI/Bulldog, J&J Supply of NC, Racing Electronics, JE Pistons, DHR Suspension, Wilwood Disc Brakes, KSE Racing Products, PRO Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, and Arizona Sport Shirts.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF WINTER HEAT SERIES RACE 2, THE KING OF THE 360s, FOR THE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY HOOSIER RACING TIRE AT HENDRY COUNTY MOTORSPORTS PARK IN CLEWISTON, FL ON 2/8/2025:
KING OF THE 360s FEATURE RACE – 30 Laps: 1. 43 Mark Smith, Sunbury, PA (5); 2. 6 Tyler Clem, St. Petersburg, FL (2); 3. 95 Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (4); 4. 52 Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (8); 5. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (9); 6. 28 Davie Franek, Wantage, NJ (10); 7. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (12); 8. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (16); 9. 15h Sam Hafertepe, Sunnyvale, TX (3); 10. 45x Kyler Johnson, Quinter, KS (13); 11. 51t Scotty Thiel, Sheboygan, WI (1); 12. 116 Nick Snyder, Marco Island, FL (17); 13. 9w Lane Whittington, Denham Springs, LA (7); 14. 4 Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (14); 15. 83 Mark Ruel Jr., Jacksonville, FL (11); 16. 41 Luke Hill, Odessa, FL (21); 17. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (23); 18. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (25); 19. G6 Brandon Grubaugh, Ocala, FL (15); 20. 68c Robbie Smith, Ocala, FL (22); 21. 51 Dustin Burtron, Seminole, FL (20); 22. 16 Tyler Porter, Pinellas Park, FL (24); 23. 4p Chase Moran, Fultonville, NY (19); 24. 5h Colby Thornhill, Enumclaw, WA (6); 25. 82 Garrett Green, Dade City, FL (18).
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Thiel; 2. Clem; 3. Hafertepe; 4. Covington; 5. M. Smith; 6. Thornhill.
Hero Graphics B-MAIN – 15 Laps (Top 4 Transfer To Feature Race): 1. Moran; 2. Burtron; 3. Hill; 4. R. Smith; 5. 27 Austin Martin, Sarasota, FL; 6. Willingham; 7. Porter; 8. 44c Cheyenne Potter, Lake Helen, FL; 9. 25 John Crowder, Summerfield, FL; 10. Moss; 11. 9 Austin Rice, Venice, FL; 12. 7c Phil Gressman, Fremont, OH; 13. 26 Jeff Bye, West Palm Beach, FL; 14. 96s Brandon Sampson, Mesa, AZ DNS; 15. 938 Bradley Fezard, Bonnerdale, AR DNS; 16. 14b Brett Wright, East Chatham, NY DNS.
HEAT RACES (Top 4 Transfer To A-Main) – 10 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Hafertepe; 2. Whittington; 3. Ruel; 4. Grubaugh; 5. Moss; 6. Fezard; 7. Gressman; 8. Potter.
BUTLERBUILT RACING PRODUCTS HEAT 2: 1. M. Smith; 2. Hahn; 3. Gray; 4. Meredith; 5. Hill; 6. Martin; 7. Rice; 8. Bye.
SCHOENFELD HEADERS HEAT 3: 1. Thiel; 2. Howard; 3. Johnson; 4. Snyder; 5. Moran; 6. Smith; 7. Crowder; 8. Wright.
HUGGINS CAMS HEAT 4: 1. Covington; 2. Franek; 3. D. Smith; 4. Green; 5. Sampson; 6. Burtron; 7. Porter; 8. Willingham.
QUALIFYING: 1. Hafertepe, 13.147; 2. M. Smith, 13.188; 3. Thiel, 13.386; 4. Covington, 13.409; 5. Ruel, 13.455; 6. Hahn, 13.554; 7. Howard, 13.562; 8. Franek, 13.627; 9. Gressman, 13.652; 10. Gray, 13.720; 11. Johnson, 13.734; 12. D. Smith, 13.799; 13. Whittington, 13.833; 14. Hill, 13.847; 15. R. Smith, 13.865; 16. Burtron, 13.868; 17. Fezard, 13.894; 18. Meredith, 13.909; 19. Moran, 13.921; 20. Green, 13.923; 21. Grubaugh, 13.961; 22. Martin, 14.001; 23. Snyder, 14.011; 24. Sampson, 14.180; 25. Moss, 14.189; 26. Rice, 14.320; 27. Wright, 14.327; 28. Willingham, 14.377; 29. Potter, 14.539; 30. Bye, 14.738; 31. Crowder, 15.075; 32. Porter, NT.
Submitted by ROBY HELM – Helm Communications – 865-207-4157
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