HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Davie Franek won his fourth United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire 25-lap feature in round five of the Winter Heat Shootout on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway.
Franek made it a clean sweep of the event by leading all 25 laps, winning the Hoosier Speed Dash and his heat race.
Former USCS champion Jordon Mallett finished second and Van Gurley Jr. took the third spot.
Former USCS champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Danny Smith was fourth. Fifth went to 15-year-old Coen McDaniel.
Franek took the lead at the drop of the green flag followed by Cody Gardner, defending USCS champion Dale Howard and Mallett. Jason Breeland rode the wall on the front straightaway to bring out the caution flag, necessitating a complete restart.
Franek once again led the field on the restart and caught the cars on the tail of the field on lap five.
As Franek looked for a way around the lapped cars, Gardner and Howard closed in and the lead trio went three-wide coming off the fourth turn on lap six. Gardner and Howard tangled down the front straightaway, collecting DeVault, and the yellow caution bulb was ignited for the second time on lap seven.
Franek had some new faces behind him for the restart with Mallett, Van Gurley Jr., Smith and McDaniel running second through fifth respectively behind the leader. The race came to a sudden stop on lap 19 when Tyeller Powless and Gardner tangled in lapped traffic and both cars flipped in turn four, cleared the catch fence and hit a light pole.
A 30-minute red flag period ensued, but the drivers, the fence, and the light pole were all OK. When the green flag came out for the restart, Franek pulled away in the seven-lap dash to the finish and took a 1.344-second victory over Mallett under the checkered flag.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 28f Davie Franek, Wantage, NJ (1); 2. 3 Jordon Mallett, Greenbrier, AR (5); 3. 13 Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (7); 4. 4 Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (8); 5. 48 Coen McDaniel, Gaffney, SC (10); 6. 22 Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (9); 7. 12 Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (11); 8. 8x Brad Bowden, Hernando, MS (12); 9. 51 Jeremy Kombau, Hermitage, PA (16); 10. 01 Shane Morgan, Gulfport, MS (19); 11. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (13); 12. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (17); 13. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (4); 14. 77 Tyeller Powless, Ohsweken, ON CAN (14); 15. 6 Cody Gardner, Benton, AR (2); 16. 52x Adrian Tetreault, Horn Lake, MS (17); 17. 28s Rusty Sanford, Seminary, MS (18); 18. 14 Zane DeVault, Plymouth, IN (3); 19. 06 Jason Breeland, Columbia, MS (6).
