ATLANTA – Terry Gray added to his massive resume by earning his 13th USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour championship this year.
Gray, who has competed regularly with the United Sprint Car Series since the 2001 season and only missed three events during his USCS career, used 31 top-10 and seven top-five finishes, plus points accumulated from the nightly USCS Hoosier Speed Dash, to reel in the crown.
In addition to the National Championship, he also finished in the runner-up spot in both the USCS Mid-South Thunder Tour and the USCS Southern Thunder regional standings. .
Although going winless during the 2020 season for only the second time in the more than two decades he has competed with the USCS, he was able to take the point lead mid-season when early season points leader, Mark Smith, missed several races due to a mid-season hiatus.
Gray then continued to string together consistent finishes while holding off rookie Conner Leoffler’s late season charge for the title. Gray bested Leoffler by 41 points to capture his 13th title in 10 seasons competing in the United Sprint Car Series.
Leoffler from Myrtle Beach, S.C., finished in the runner-up spot in the final USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National standings. Leoffler had 28 top-10 finishes, 14 top-five finishes and three wins to garner the second position in the standings.
The USCS rookie driver also claimed the USCS Southern Thunder regional series title and finished fourth in the USCS Mid-South region standings. He is the first rookie USCS competitor to win multiple main events in their first season competing in the series.
A newcomer to the United Sprint Car Series in 2020, Jim Shuster finished third in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National point standings after competing in all 36 races. Shuster also finished fifth in the USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series. He finished the COVID-19 shortened season in sixth position in the Mid-South regional series.
Mallie Shuster, the other half of the Dad and Boy Race Team, who is also from Newville, Pa., finished fourth after 36 events in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour National Championship standings. Mallie Shuster also finished in fourth place the USCS Southern Thunder Tour regional series and took seventh in the USCS Mid-South standings.
Jeff Willingham from Ripley, Miss., ended the year ranked fifth in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour standings. This was his fifth-straight year finishing in the top-five of the National point standings. Willingham finished sixth in the USCS Southern Thunder regional series standings and finished eighth in the USCS Mid-South regional series standings.