Marshall Skinner held off Morgan Turpen to score the victory in Monday’s USCS Sprint Car Series race at Tri-County Race Track. Photo courtesy USCS Media
As the old saying goes, “The fastest car doesn’t always reach the checkered flag first.” Such was the case for Marion, AR veteran Marshall Skinner on Monday night at Ray Cook’s Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, NC.
Skinner rode in second place behind pole-sitter and 2014 race winner Anthony Nicholson through the first stint of the “Working Man 25” before inheriting the lead on lap 10 when Nicholson made contact with the turn one wall and flipped violently.
After cleanup was complete, Skinner held off USCS National Points leader Morgan Turpen over the remaining 15 laps, including a late race restart with eight laps to go, to make his fourth trip of the season to the USCS victory lane.
“I saw Morgan’s nose wing a couple of times, so I knew she was there, but I knew she would give me room just like I would if the roles were reversed,” said Skinner, who moved into sole possession of fifth on the series’ all-time win list with his 29th career win. “She won the other night (at Harris Speedway) and she almost had me tonight – so I’m really proud for her after I helped her get the car squared away a couple of weeks ago.
“This one is really special though, because I’ve been by myself all weekend long. I’ve had no real help on this car and managed to get it prepared right tonight to be able to stay with Anthony. I think he had a little bit better car than we did, and I hated to see him crash like he did, but once we got out front the car was a rocket ship. I have to thank my aunt (Velma Bugg) for talking me into staying, otherwise we wouldn’t have even been here tonight. This is a great win.”
Skinner almost lost the lead and the win twice in the final 10 laps – once after he slid wide in turn four with nine circuits remaining and almost jumped the cushion, and a second time when he was nearly collected by a spinning Nick Snyder with eight laps to go in the same spot on-track.
“Both times in turn four I was just thinking, ‘Please don’t let me hit the wall,’ and I just barely tapped it trying to avoid the 116 (of Snyder) up high,” Skinner said. “The first time was my fault for just running wide, but we hung on and brought it home.
“To pass Eddie Gallagher on the win list is special – he and I have been racing together since 1998 and I never thought I would be the guy good enough to go up there and take a record from him. This is a really cool night and a great feeling.”
Nicholson hit the turn four wall six laps into the event, but never lost the lead. He said, however, that the hit broke something in the steering column of his car – sending him head on into the turn one wall before he went end over end.
“The first time I got into the fence it was dusty and when I got in behind a lapped car my back end just jumped out and popped the wall,” Nicholson explained. “I kind of rode the fence halfway down the front stretch even though I never lost the lead, and the car felt fine until lap 11. I just went down into one and it never even tried to turn. That was all she wrote after that.
“It’s really heartbreaking to go out like that because I love this race track. Every time we come here we’re bad fast and I watched the replay of the laps before our crash and we had the field covered again tonight. Just a tough one to swallow.”
Turpen chased Skinner over the final run to the finish after Snyder’s loop set up the race’s defining restart, but said she did not have enough steam to run him down and had to settle for the runner-up spot at the checkered flag.
“I think our gear was just too low tonight,” Turpen said. “We just didn’t have enough power coming off the corners to stay with him on those longer runs. I’m proud of a second place tonight though; this was a very consistent, solid weekend for us and we stretched the points lead too, which is great for this team.”
Her teammate, Terry Gray, rebounded from heavy left front suspension damage sustained in his heat race to finish third, with Nick Roberts in fourth and Eric Riggins, Jr. in fifth.
Terry Witherspoon, Shawn Murray, Pendergrass, GA’s Brian Thomas, Ray Bugg and Jeff Willingham rounded out the top ten.
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Skinner kicked off the evening’s racing action by winning the Hoosier Tire Speed Dash, with Turpen winning the first heat. Skinner followed up his dash performance with the victory in the second heat, which was headlined by a multi-car opening lap crash that drew the red flag for repairs.
Turpen was the provisional pole-starter after scoring the most passing points in heat race action, but after a four was rolled on the inversion, Skinner also received the K&N Filters Pole Award.
The United Sprint Car Series continues their 2015 schedule on Friday, October 2, with the opening round of the third annual North/South Shootout at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC. The series then moves over to Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC on Saturday, Otober 3 for round two of the double-header weekend event.
For more information about the USCS Sprint Car Series, please visit USCSRacing.com.
USCS Sprint Car Series
Tri-County Race Track – Brasstown, NC
Working Man 25 – Sept. 7, 2015
1. #26 – Marshall Skinner – Marion, AR
2. #10M – Morgan Turpen – Cordova, TN
3. #10 – Terry Gray – Bartlett, TN
4. #12 – Nick Roberts – Bloomingburg, OH
5. #47 – Eric Riggins, Jr. – Charlotte, NC
6. #43 – Terry Witherspoon – Jacksonville, FL
7. #22 – Shawn Murray – Jacksonville, FL
8. #67 – Brian Thomas – Pendergrass, GA
9. #25 – Ray Bugg – Iuka, MS
10. #28 – Jeff Willingham – Ripley, MS
11. #116 – Nick Snyder – Marco Island, FL
12. #33 – Joe Larkin – Suwanee, GA
13. #16 – Anthony Nicholson – Bartlett, TN
14. #43M – J.D. McClary – Jacksonville, FL
DNS: #22R – Kevin Roberts, Jr. – Washington Court House, OH
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