PENTON, Ala. — Conner Wray took the win in a milestone race for the United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire on Friday night at Penton Raceway.
The 25-lap feature was the 1,000th race for USCS since its inception in 1997.
The 16-time and defending USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray finished second.
The current USCS point leader Dale Howard came back from an early race spin to take the third spot.
Kyle Amerson was fourth and Ronny Howard S drove to a fifth-place finish.
Trey Meredith took the lead at the drop of the green flag to start the race followed by Wray, Jadan Bowling, Dale Howard and Gray.
The first of four caution flags came out on lap two when Bowling and Dale Howard spun while battling for the third spot.
Wray passed Meredith for the lead after the restart on lap three. The second caution flag came out on lap nine when P.J. Reutimann stalled in turn three. Wray led Meredith, Gray, Amerson, and Bowling down for the restart.
When the field went back to green-flag action, Dale Howard came from seventh to fourth, and Bowling passed Amerson to remain in fifth.
On lap 16, Bowling passed Dale Howard for the fourth spot. The third caution flag came out on lap 20 when Eric Gunderson spun in turn four. Bowling got by Gray for the third spot on the restart, and then challenged Meredith for the second spot in the closing laps.
Meredith and Bowling got together down the front straightaway on lap 23 while battling for second to bring out the fourth and final caution flag of the race. Gray, Dale Howard, Amerson and Ronny Howard moved up to second through fifth respectively behind Wray for the restart.
Wray pulled away from the field after the restart for the three-lap dash to the finish. Wray took a 1.708-second victory over Gray under the checkered flag. Gray finished one spot short of his 99th USCS career win.
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. 23w Conner Wray, Olive Branch, MS (2); 2. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (6); 3. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (3); 4. 29 Kyle Amerson, Montgomery, AL (5); 5. 55 Ronny Howard, Nesbit, MS (8); 6. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (9); 7. 19w Jackson Wellman, Belmont, NC (7); 8. 7e Eric Gunderson, Canton, GA (10); 9. 0x Clint Weiss, Jesup, GA (14); 10. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (1); 11. 01 Jadan Bowling, Holden Beach, NC (4); 12. 00 P.J. Reutimann, Zephyrhills, FL (12); 13. 67 Hayden Martin, Olive Branch, MS (11); 14. 51 Dustin Burtron, Seminole, FL (13) DNS.
