On a night with threatening skies, and less than a full moon 27 O’Reilly USCS Sprintcars signed in to do battle on the ¼ mile high bank gumbo covered facility located in West Memphis, Arkansas. Riverside International Speedway played host to the first stop in the O’Reilly USCS Speedweek. Of those 27 cars only one will reign as champion in the 3^rd Annual Rumble at the River. After a quick rain shower drenched the track at around 3:00 we pulled in the west side entrance only to find a couple of haulers stuck in the drive. After watching them get pulled out, we made our way up to our seats, top corner of the first set of bleachers, right above the concessions.

In the USCS Dash, which contested of 5 cars for 6 laps, Don Young from Bartlett, Tenn. Would claim the win with another Bartlett native in Terry Gray taking home second place, followed by Marshall Skinner, Tim Crawley, and Ernie Ainsworth.

First glance at the racetrack and I never thought the track would come in like it did. During hot laps, a greasy track slowly turned into a tacky, hooked up racetrack. While only one line was mostly the fast line, right around the top looked as if it was the place to be. When the stock cars set out for their heat race, it was action packed, with Joe Olive taking the win followed by Buck Scallorn and Keith Graham. The second heat race would have James Poag claiming the win, with Mario Espinoza and Robby Williams closely in tow. The third and final heat was won by Will Young, with Joey Scalzo, and Joe Pettit rounding out the top 3.

The first of three wingless 305 heats was won by Keith Mayes, stretching away from the Melvin Holcomb owned #29s driven by Steven McCain. In the second heat, Jan Howard won, with a comfortable lead over 10 time track champion Eddie Gallagher. The third heat Andy McElhannon would find himself setting the pace and taking the checkers, as Tim Sites was second.

The only crate late model heat race lined up with 9 cars and Austin Orman would take the win, Mike Carr was second, with defending track champion Dalton Alexander third, TJ Hughes was fourth, and Nathan Brown fifth. On a side note, USCS Sprintcar driver, Derek Hagar, was behind the wheel of a crate late model. He would end up sixth in the heat.

In the first of four Winged 360 USCS Sprint heats it would be Raymond Stull winning with Gary Wright second, A.G. Rains third, defending Rumble at the River champion Jeff Swindell would claim fourth, and Kevin Kilpatrick rounds out the top five. The second heat would be won by none other than the “Bartlett Bullet” Terry Gray who is also the current USCS National Series Points leader, with Greg Merritt second, Henry Gustavus third, Marshall Skinner fourth, and Justin Carver fifth. Derek Hagar was in the sixth and final spot. In the 3^rd heat race Ronny Howard would claim the win, with Lee Sowell second, “The Prince To All” Dewayne Prince third, Wade Oliver would cross the line in fourth, and Ray Bugg was fifth. This is Ray’s 50^th year in sprint car racing, and his final year. On a side note, I am a huge fan of Ray’s and it was a joy to get to see him race his way into the show through the B-Main. The fourth and final heat would see “1fast” Eddie Gallagher take the win, with current USCS Midsouth Series points leader second, Ernie Ainsworth was third, Chris Williams fourth, Zach Chappell fifth, and Donnie Howard in the Jackie Craddock owned #31 was sixth.

The Street Stock B-Main would have Duck Smith win with Thomas Lenehan, Ryan Miller, and John Pentz transferring into the Main event. Throughout the street stock main event there was several cautions, and many cars fell out, but in the end it was Keith Graham was the winner after Johnny Gustavus was disqualified. “Mario from Mexico” Mario Espinoza was second, Robby Williams was third.

Next up was the 35-lap O’Reilly USCS Sprintcar Rumble at the River Main event. With drivers from seven states in attendance it would be Lee Sowell who would claim the main event, in a hard fought battle with Tim Crawley in the Mike Ward owned #88. Lee would start on the outside of the front row, next to Tim Crawley. Crawley is the 2002 National Sprintcar Hall of Fame Driver of the Year from Benton, Arkansas. Sowell took the lead going into turn one, but five laps later Crawley would regain the point in lapped traffic. On lap twelve, coming off turn two, Crawley would narrowly avoid trouble with two lapped cars, and would slap the back straightaway wall, while being passed by Sowell, he would then pop a wheelie down the backstretch, only to slam the front end down and run the cushion going into three to make up some of the ground lost to Sowell. For twenty laps the two would race together through lapped traffic, when on lap 32 Derek Hagar from Marion, Arkansas would end up on his head to bring out the red flag. In the green white checkered that would follow, it was Crawleys last ditch effort to win the race, but he would come up short. As Lee Sowell would claim the win with Crawley in tow. Ronny Howard would claim third, Zach Chappell came from eighteenth to fourth in the main event and Raymond Stull would round out the top five. The six-time O’Reilly USCS National Champion, Terry Gray would claim seventh, with 1998 USCS Champion and 10 time Riverside track Champion Eddie Gallagher from Piperton, Tenn. was ninth. Other notables are Danny Martin Jr. in 11^th, Gary Wright was 17^th after falling out of the main event around halfway through, Jeff Swindell was 21^st after falling out just after the start of the race. Ray Bugg and Don Young were 23^rd and 24^th.

The Crate Latemodel feature would see a lot of beating and banging. Dalton Davis’ night would end upside down after contact with Derek Hagar. All the cars looked like they went through a battle zone, but in the end it was Austin Orman taking the win, with Mike Carr second, Dalton Alexander third, TJ Hughes fourth, and Nathan Brown fifth.

In the final race of the night, the wingless 305’s put on a great show. Corey Ray, Anthony McElhannon, Samantha Gargus, and Tim Sites would all find themselves going upside down and not able to return. After the Tim Sites flip on the last lap the race was called, and the finishing order would be Jan Howard, followed by Steven McCain and Eddie Gallagher.

Sunday Night’s USCS Speedweek Round #2 from Greenville, Ms was won by Tim Crawley with Terry Gray, Wayne Johnson, Marshall Skinner, and Jason Botsford rounding out the top 5. In the Rislone USCS Modifieds at Greenville it was Robby Arnold taking the win over Ben Reed, Ashley Newman, John Pollisini, and Jeff Howell were your top 5. Monday Night’s USCS Speedweek Round #3 from Atwood, Tennessee was rained out. Round #4 from Clarksville Tuesday night was won by Tim Crawley with Wayne Johnson second, Terry Gray third, Kenny Adams fourth, and Marshall Skinner rounds out your top 5. They are off on Wednesday for Travel and Repairs. The series resumes their speed week tour Thursday night in Camden, Tennessee accompanied by the USCS Modifieds before moving to Tuscumbia, Alabama for the Friday night round #6 and concluding Saturday night with the Rislone USCS Modified Series at Columbus Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi.