MILTON, Fla. Dale Howard led wire-to-wire to win Night 2 of the Battle At The Beach for the United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire Saturday night at Southern Raceway.

The 30-lap feature, Round 4 of the USCS Winter Heat Series, was marred by eight caution flags and one red flag, a situation that Howard hated to see.

When youre leading, you never want to see cautions and red flags, Howard said. But, we held on and pulled it off, as the car felt good all night long. Since were coming back here to race again next weekend, well take the car home, wash it, load it back up, and do this again.

Austyn Gossel finished second and third went to Chris Martin.  Matt Covington started 17th and finished fourth, while Max Stambaugh came home fifth.

The yellow flag fest began at the start of the race when Brogan Carder spun in turn one and collected John Robicheaux.  After the complete restart, Howard took the lead from the pole followed by Sterling Cling, Gossel, Danny Smith and Jason Martin.

The yellow caution bulb was ignited on lap two when Van Gurley Jr. spun in turn two. When the field went back to green flag action, Jason Martin got by Smith to take over the fourth spot with an inside pass in turn two. Van Gurley Jr. was charged with his second caution of the race on lap six when he stalled in turn four.

Davie Franek moved into the top five on lap eight when he got around Smith and Jason Martin passed Gossel for third on lap 14. Another yellow came on lap 20.  It started when Shelby Kelly spun in turn four, just after Howard put him one lap down.

The look of the top 10 changed dramatically on the restart when Jason Martin challenged Cling for the second spot coming off turn two.  Martins right-rear jumped over Clings left-front causing both cars to spin and collecting Franek in fourth and Lance Moss.  The re-racked top five for the restart was Howard, Gossel, Chris Martin, Smith and Max Stambaugh.

The red flag came out on the next restart when Smith flipped in turn four. Smith and his car were both OK and he restarted after an open red flag to refuel the field. However, the hits kept on coming as the restart green turned to caution when Kyle Mabry and Moss spun in turn two.

When the field finally got back to green flag racing, Covington moved up to the fourth spot on lap 21 when he got by Stambaugh for the position, Bryan Gossel spun in turn four to bring out the caution flag on lap 22. The final caution flag came out on lap 23 when Moss spun in turn two.

Howard, Austyn Gossel, Chris Martin, Covington and Stambaugh brought the field down for the restart.  The final eight laps went caution free and Howard took the checkered flag with a 1.446-second margin of victory over Austyn Gossel.

The finish:

Feature (30 laps):  1. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (1); 2. 16g Austyn Gossel, Windsor, CO (4); 3. 44 Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (5); 4. 95 Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (17); 5. 5m Max Stambaugh, Lima, OH (8); 6. 12 Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (11); 7. 9 Lane Whittington, Denham Springs, LA (7); 8. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (10); 9. 28f Davie Franek, Wantage, NJ (12); 10. 5h Carson Bolden, Quinlan, TX (20); 11. 4 Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (3); 12. 77t Tyeller Powless, Ohsweken, ON CAN (19)and; 13. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (16); 14. 51 Shelby Kelly, Runnemede, NJ (21); 15. 1a Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (14); 16. 6g Bryan Gossel, Windsor, CO (15); 17. 34 Sterling Cling, Tempe, AZ (2); 18. 36 Jason Martin, Liberal, KS (6); 19. 88 Brogan Carder, Sioux Falls, SD (9); 20. 10vc Vince Chicklets, Constantia, NY (23); 21. 77 Kyle Mabry, Cottondale, FL (22); 22. 13v Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (13); 23. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (18); 24. 94 Parker Davis, Mobile, AL (24); 25. 57 John Robicheaux, Gulfport, MS (25); 26. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (26) DNS.