GASTONIA, N.C. — Young gun Coen McDaniel picked up his fourth Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour win of the season on Friday night at Carolina Speedway.
The 16-year-old reigning USCS Rookie of the Year led all 25 laps for the victory.
Jadan Bowling challenged for the lead on a lap-15 restart, but had to settle for second. The 16-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray took the third spot and Tyler Blankenship finished fourth.
Hayden Wise started ninth and the 15-year-old drove to a fifth-place finish.
McDaniel came from the third starting spot to pass Gray for the lead on the first lap of the race with Tityn Roberts, Bowling and Lance Moss in third through fifth respectively.
Bowling passed Roberts on lap three to move up to the third spot. By lap five, McDaniel held a 1.906-second lead on Gray, while Moss passed Roberts for fourth.
Blankenship passed Roberts on lap seven to move up to the top five.
McDaniel opened a 2.334-second lead on Gray by lap ten. Bowling passed Gray for second on lap 12. Moss fell off the pace on lap 15, as Blankenship and Wise moved up to fourth and fifth, respectively.
The only caution flag of the race came out on lap 15 when Moss slowed to a stop on the speedway. McDaniel led Bowling, Gray, Blankenship and Wise down for the restart. Bowling tried to get around McDaniel for the lead.
McDaniel pulled away and held a 1.743-second advantage over Bowling with five laps to go. The 16-year-old leader McDaniel took the checkered flag with a 2.940-second margin of victory over Bowling in a race that took just 10 minutes and 46.439 seconds to complete 25 laps.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 48 Coen McDaniel, Gaffney, SC (3); 2. 01 Jadan Bowling, Holden Beach, NC (4); 3. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (1); 4. 9 Tyler Blankenship, Bakersfield, CA (7); 5. 94 Hayden Wise, Huntersville, NC (9); 6. 1x Scott Hunter, Concord, NC (6); 7. 4t Tyler Lupton, Clarkston, MI (10); 8. 07 Johnny Bridges, Cherryhill, NC (11); 9. 19w Jackson Wellman, Belmont, NC (8); 10. 28 Jeff Willinghm, Ripley, MS (13); 11. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (5); 12. 11b Brandon Hughes, Mooresville, NC 12; 13. 75 Robert Tyler, Mount Pleasant, NC (15); 14. 18r Tityn Roberts, Bennet, NE (2); 15. 5m Shawn Mott, Rockwell, NC (14).
