Wild and exciting winged outlaw sprint car racing returns to Huntsville Speedway Friday night, August 8th for Round one of the USCS "August Asphalt Assault" winged sprint car doubleheader event. The United Sprint Car Series ( USCS ) "Asphalt Thunder" Tour roars into the historic and challenging 1/4 mile NASCAR Sanctioned oval for a return visit after scorching the oval during their first ever visit in 2001. On Saturday night the series moves over to Senoia Speedway in Senoia for the Round two finale.

This will be the twenty first event on the 40 race 2003 National tour. The event is expected to bring top winged outlaw sprint car drivers from at least six states to the speedway. Their exotic fire breathing, alcohol burning 700 horsepower open wheel cars weight approximately 1300 pounds, and will literally fly around the track surface at speeds well in excess of 140 miles per hour. It is not uncommon to see them popping wheelies or doing wheel stands because of the brute force of their engines and their huge 18 inch wide rear tires. Friday night's sprint car action will feature a program that includes: Time trial qualifying, heat races and a 40 lap main event.

In addition the evening's first sprint car race will be the Airflow Research Power Dash that showcases the top cars from the previous main event in an edge of your seat 6 car shootout that accrues points towards an Airflow Research Super Power Dash at season's end worth $5,000 to win! Heavy hitter entries include two of the nation's hottest sprint car drivers: Number one is America's winningness sprint car driver over the past three seasons, USCS 2000 series champion, Kenny Adams, from Malabar, Florida who leads the point standings in the USCS "Asphalt Thunder" paved track portion of the schedule. Adams holds the Huntsville Speedway track record but finished second ion the 2001 event in a battle royal with USCS paved track wizard, Jim Raptis from Marietta, Georgia. Adams, has won eleven USCS 2003 events and has 80 wins in all competition since the beginning of the 2000 season. He has eighteen feature wins in all competition already this season. Adams who was named 2000's Sprint Car Driver of the Year by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame pollsters will have his hands full with a host of challengers from across the nation.

Hot shoe number two is current USCS National points leader Terry Gray from Bartlett, Tennessee. Gray is the defending back to back (2001and 2002) USCS National Champion. He has nine National Championships to his credit with three different series and is looking for number ten. He has over 300 career feature wins. Gray finished in the runner-up spot in the Sprint Car Hall of Fame poll in 2001 and had 14 wins on the season. Gray won six USCS paved track events in 2002 and he had ten wins in series competition last season and sixteen overall wins ranking him among the tops in the nation in 2002. He has five USCS wins so far this season and ten wins overall.

Also entered is "Georgia Gang" leader Jim Raptis who won the 2001 inaugural USCS battle at Huntsville Speedway in a wheel to wheel duel with Adams. Raptis trails Gray by just 98 points in the National title chase. Raptis is a fifth year sprint car driver after a long stint in stock cars in the outhern All Star, All-Pro, Busch And Winston Cup circuits. The likeable but, race ready Raptis says, "I'm coming to Huntsville ready for another visit to victory lane. This has been our best year in USCS and we are looking to make it better at Huntsville as it's one of my favorite tracks and I got my first sprint car win there in 2001."

Other entries include: Aubrey Black from Lookout Mountain, Georgia who is fourth in the national point standings, 2002 USCS top rookie driving sensation, Randy Weaver from Powder Springs, Georgia, who is fifth in the National standings. The traveling series' 1999 USCS top rookie, 20 year old Chris Rogers from Winston , Georgia who has been tough lately with several top three finishes in the last five events will also be ready for action. Rogers lead the 2001 event at Huntsville for nearly half the race until colliding with a lapped car.

Other out of state entries include Ted Williams from Atlanta who ranks fourth in the USCS "Asphalt Thunder" points. USCS sprint car veteran Jim Mackenzie from Buford, Georgiais entered as well.
For local favorites, Huntsville Speedway fans can cheer for USCS rookie contender, Skip Andrews from Huntsville, who will be making his paved track debut after training on dirt ovals in prior events in his first season of sprint car racing. Andrews has honed his skills while racing his number 5P car with the USCS and at oval tracks around the Memphis area. Both circuits are extremely competitive and produce some of the top sprint car drivers in the country. Andrews raced on dirt with the USCS last weekend in North Carolina and at legendary Dixie Speedway in Atlanta and garnered top ten finishes in both events. Doug Fitzwater from Birmingham is another expected in state entry. Several other rookies vying for USCS 2003 top rookie honors are entered including Chase Taylor from Montgomery, Texas and two South Carolina rookie standouts, Jimmy Taylor from Greenville, South Carolina and Will Ragsdale from Easley, South Carolina.. David Thorman from Berea, South Carolina , and Brad Davis from Mooresville, North Carolina are entered as The sprint cars will join a program that includes several Huntsville Speedway stock car divisions for a full night of family entertainment.

Huntsville Speedway gates open Friday at 5 p.m. and racing action starts at 8:00 p.m. The track phone number is 256-882-9191.

USCS Media Pete Walton - cell 770-313-3477 pwaltonscs@aol.com Media Director Larry Sams jcableman@aol.com 770-605-5993

Driver contacts for interviews: Terry Gray Bartlett, TN cell # 901-277-5915 Shop/home 901-372-6247 Kenny Adams , Malabar, FL cell# 321-258-9110 Jim Raptis , Marietta, GA Shop # 770-591-0400 Cell # 770-712-5883 Skip Andrews, Huntsville, AL cell # 256-714-


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