For immediate release:
Connor Leoffler wins a USCS thriller in Battle at the Beach 21’ Round 2 final on Saturday at Southern Raceway
Milton, FL – May, 15, 2021 - The 2020 USCS Rookie of the Year and defending USCS Southern Thunder regional series Champion, 16-year-old Conner Leoffler from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina passed K&N Filters Pole Position starter the “Peruvian Outlaw” Mark Ruel, Jr. from Jacksonville, Florida exiting turn two on the final lap of the 30-lap USCS Battle at the Beach 21’ Round 2 finale at Southern Raceway on Saturday night to snatch the victory from the Florida driver who was looking to clinch a career-first USCS win after leading the first 29 laps of the contest. It was the young gun’s (Leoffler) career-fourth USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour opportunity to park in the www.RockAuto.com USCS Victory Lane.

Ruel, Jr., who worked lapped traffic to perfection until the final circuit when a group just ahead of the lead duo allowed Leoffler to slide under Ruel, Jr. and drive away down the back stretch. Ruel crossed the finish line just three car lengths back of the winner in the runner-up spot. Biloxi, Mississippi’s Brandon Blendon followed Ruel, Jr. in the final podium spot in third place for his career best USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour finish. The previous night’s USCS sprint car feature winner and two-time series Champion, Jordon Mallett from Greenbrier, Arkansas, followed Blendon in fourth place. Hayden Campbell from Montverde, Florida rounded out the top five finishers.

The USCS National points leader, veteran Sprint Car Hall of Famer, Danny Smith from Chillicothe, Ohio led the next group of drivers to the checkers in sixth place followed by Marco Island, Florida’s Nick Snyder in seventh. Another Floridian, Matt Kurtz from Jacksonville was eighth followed by another past Southern Raceway feature winner, Kyle Amerson from Montgomery, Alabama was ninth and thirteen-time National Champion, Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee rounded out the top ten.

The previous night’s winner, Jordon Mallett kicked of the evening’s action by winning the USCS Hoosier Speed Dash for the top six cars from the last USCS event. The 2020 USCS Mid-South regional series Rookie of the Year, Landon Britt from Atoka, Tennessee won the Engler Machine and Tool First Heat. Conner Leoffler reached the checkers first in the Brown and Miller Racing Solution Second Heat and 2015 Rookie of the Year, Nick Snyder closed out the preliminary qualifying events with a win in the JJ Supply of N.C. Third Heat Race. Terry Gray garnered the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions in the main event (six) after starting sixteenth and finishing in the top ten.

The next seven stops for the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters will be for the 16th Annual USCS Sprint Car Speedweek mini-series. The USCS Sprint Speedweek 2021 kicks off at Greenville Speedway in Greenville, Mississippi on Friday, May 28th. For updated schedules, rules and other USCS info please visit www.uscsracing.com. You may like USCS Racing on Facebook and follow @uscsracing on Twitter. For questions you don’t find answers to please feel free to call USCS at 770-865-6097.

USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters Winged Sprint Cars 20 entries at Southern Raceway, Milton , Florida on Saturday 5/15/2021 at Southern Raceway results:

www.RockAuto.com USCS Sprint Car Feature (30 Laps): 1. 22-Connor Leoffler[3]; 2. 83R-Mark Ruel Jr[1]; 3. 88-Brandon Blenden[7]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett[5]; 5. 5-Hayden Campbell[9]; 6. 4-Danny Smith[8]; 7. 116-Nick Snyder[2]; 8. 92-Matt Kurtz[6]; 9. 29-Kyle Amerson[12]; 10. 10-Terry Gray[16]; 11. 43-Terry Witherspoon[15]; 12. 7E-Eric Gunderson[14]; 13. 28-Jeff Willingham[10]; 14. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr[11]; 15. 83-Bob Auld[17]; 16. 77-Jeff Smith[18]; 17. (DNF) 4M-Michael Miller[19]; 18. (DNF) 67-Brian Thomas[13]; 19. (DNS) 10L-Landon Britt; 20. (DNS) 17-Stefen Oakes.
Hoosier Speed Dash (6 Laps): 1. 14-Jordon Mallett[1]; 2. 4-Danny Smith[3]; 3. 29-Kyle Amerson[4]; 4. (DNF) 116-Nick Snyder[6]; 5. (DNS) 22-Connor Leoffler; 6. (DNS) 5-Hayden Campbell

Engler Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10L-Landon Britt[2]; 2. 92-Matt Kurtz[1]; 3. 88-Brandon Blenden[4]; 4. 29-Kyle Amerson[3]; 5. 43-Terry Witherspoon[5]; 6. 10-Terry Gray[7]; 7. 4M-Michael Miller[6]

BMRS Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Connor Leoffler[1]; 2. 14-Jordon Mallett[2]; 3. 5-Hayden Campbell[3]; 4. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr[4]; 5. 67-Brian Thomas[6]; 6. 83-Bob Auld[5]

JJ Supply Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 116-Nick Snyder[1]; 2. 83R-Mark Ruel Jr[4]; 3. 4-Danny Smith[5]; 4. 28-Jeff Willingham[6]; 5. 7E-Eric Gunderson[7]; 6. 77-Jeff Smith[3]; 7. (DNS) 17-Stefen Oakes

USCS Media contact: Pete Walton peteuscs@att.net or phone 770-865-6097

Photo/Caption #14: The 2020 USCS Connor Leoffler from Myrtle Beach, SC won the USCS Battle at the Beach 21’ Round 2 finale at Southern Raceway on Saturday night. (USCS photo)