SENOIA, Ga. - Eric Riggins, Jr.’s three-race winning streak in the USCS Sprint Car Series Senoia Summer Nationals came to an end during Saturday night’s finale to the sixth running of the race.
Sarasota, Fla. veteran Danny Martin, Jr. drove to the lead with six laps to go and went on to score his first-ever feature victory at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Ga.
The win in the 30-lap main event was Martin’s second USCS feature win of the season and the 22nd of his career
Martin passed Andy McElhannon’s ailing No. 42 McCord Farms sprinter exiting turn two to claim the top spot, then held off Riggins on the ensuing lap 25 restart after McElhannon came to a stop on the frontstretch with a flat left rear tire to bring out the caution flag
“I just kept studying (Eric), honestly,” Martin said. “He’s really good here. I learned something from the late models too – they kept going in low and making it stick (on the bottom) – and that’s a lot of what Eric and the 42 (of McElhannon) were doing.
“They had been beating me in two all night but as the laps wore on I knew it was only a matter of time. I got around Eric, and then it’s unfortunate that Andy had the problems he did because he’s a good friend of mine, but we’ll take it however we can get it. This is a great night for us.”
For McElhannon, who passed K&N Filters Pole Position starter Riggins and led laps 11 through 24, the heartbreak was evident in his voice after the main event ended – coming so close to a feature win only to come up empty for the third time in 2015.
“We had a left rear tire let go on us,” McElhannon explained. “It’s really disappointing. I don’t know what happened to it, if it got too hot or what, because there’s no treads left on it to tell. I hate it – I could almost taste that victory tonight – but we’ll keep coming after it. We’ve had a lot of bad luck lately, but sooner or later we’ll put all the pieces together.
“If it had been a 25 lap feature instead of a 30-lap one we’d have had it tonight, but it just wasn’t meant to be this time.”
Riggins chased Martin for the final five laps after recovering from an oil leak early in the race, but had to settle for second after his Friday night feature win. The 20-year-old said he “just didn’t have the car” to be able to get back to the front after pacing the opening 10 laps of the main.
Sixteen year old rookie Nick Snyder hung onto a sliding car to score his second podium finish in as many nights – coming up third at the checkered flag. Morgan Turpen finished fourth and A.J. Maddox finished in fifth.
Kyle Amerson, Brandon McLain, Curt Terrell Terry Gray and Shawn Dancer rounded out the top 10.
The caution flag waved twice on the 30-lap main event. The first time was on lap 15 for the spinning Gray in turn one and again with five laps to go for McElhannon’s issues on the frontstretch.
Riggins kicked off the evening’s racing action by winning the Hoosier Tire Speed Dash, while Turpen scored the win in the first heat. Kyle Amerson rolled to the victory in the second heat.
Riggins was the provisional pole-sitter after going from ninth to second and scoring the most passing points in heat race action, and after Turpen rolled a zero on the inversion, Riggins also received the K&N Filters Pole Award.
The USCS Sprint Car series returns to action on September 4 with the first night of a four-day Labor Day weekend swing at Lavonia Speedway in Lavonia, GA.
For more information, visit USCSRacing.com.
USCS Sprint Car Series
Senoia Raceway – Senoia, GA
Senoia Summer Nationals Night Two – Aug. 22, 2015
1. #24 – Danny Martin Jr. – Sarasota, FL
2. #47 – Eric Riggins Jr. – Charlotte, NC
3. #116 – Nick Snyder – Marco Island, FL
4. #10M – Morgan Turpen – Cordova, TN
5. #3A – A.J. Maddox – Brandon, FL
6. #3 – Kyle Amerson – Montgomery, AL
7. #21B – Brandon McLain – Indian Trail, NC
8. #27 – Curt Terrell – Bartlett, TN
9. #10 – Terry Gray – Bartlett, TN
10. #49 – Shawn Dancer – Lima, OH
11. #67 – Brian Thomas – Pendergrass, GA
12. #28 – Jeff Willingham – Ripley, MS
13. #83 – Bob Auld – Largo, FL
14. #33 – Joe Larkin – Suwanee, GA
15. #42 – Andy McElhannon – Nesbit, MS
16. #07 – Johnny Bridges – Cherryville, NC
17. #F16 – Lance Hester – Wetumpka, AL
DNS: #51 – Jay Dunham – Grovetown, GA
