Riggins, Jr. charges to USCS victory at Harris Speedway

RUTHERFORDTON, NC - The entire 2014 season for 18-year-old Eric Riggins, Jr. has been a story of "coulda, woulda, shoulda". Saturday night, after many close calls and missed opportunities, the home state favorite got it done.<br /> <br /> Riggins, from nearby Charlotte, NC, slipped around pole sitter Lance Moss on lap six of Saturday's United Sprint Car Series "Sprint Car Wars" 30-lap A-main at Harris Speedway in Rutherford, NC and powered away from the field. Riggins sliced through lapped traffic in a caution-free feature event en route to his first trip to USCS victory lane since October of 2013 at Cherokee Speedway.<br /> <br /> The win was Riggins' sixth career USCS feature victory and the fifth for the Carolina-area racer in front of his home state fans.<br /> <br /> "This feels good, it's been a long time coming this year," said Riggins. "We've only run about 15 times this year but we've had about six of these races we should have won and just couldn't seal it for one reason or another. To finally break through tonight in front of the Carolina crowd, I love winning at home and I hope we can get a few more of them now that we finally got this monkey off our back."<br /> <br /> Terry Gray chased Riggins through traffic but got loose in turn 3 just before halfway while battling with Johnny Gilbertson and could never recover, finishing second after a hard battle with Anthony Nicholson, who finished in third. Michael Miller crossed the checkers in fourth and Terry Witherspoon rounded out the top five drivers.<br /> <br /> Morgan Turpen, Kyle Amerson, Johnny Petrozelle, Kent Wolters and Brandon McLain completed the top ten.<br /> <br /> Brian Thomas kicked off the evening's racing action by winning the Hoosier Tire Speed Dash, and Amerson scored the win in the first heat. Riggins, Jr. rolled to the victory in the second heat and Moss netted the third heat win.<br /> <br /> Gray was the provisional pole starter after scoring the most passing points in heat race action, but after a four came up in the inversion draw, Moss received the K&N Filters Pole Award.<br /> <br /> For more information on the United Sprint Car Series, visit <a href="http://www.uscsracing.com" target="_blank">USCSRacing.com</a>.<br /> <br /> <strong>USCS Sprint Car Series</strong><br /> <strong> Harris Speedway - Rutherfordton, NC</strong><br /> <strong> Sprint Car Wars - Aug. 30, 2014</strong><br /> <br /> 1. #47