Archive for USAC
GAS CITY USAC SPRINT RESULTS: Sept. 28, 2018
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Kevin Thomas, Jr. scored his sixth USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory of the year Friday night at Gas City, moving himself into the top-20 all-time in series wins with 23, equaling legends A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey. (Rich Forman Photo)
THOMAS A REBEL WITH A CAUSE AT GAS CITY’S JAMES DEAN CLASSIC
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Gas City, Indiana……September 28, 2018 – James Dean was a rebel, one not exactly keen on following the rules. At least that’s how the 1950s movie star’s iconic roles were portrayed on the silver screen.
Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway’s “James Dean Classic,” Kevin Thomas, Jr. showed his rebellious side, not being content to follow in second. Instead, he strayed from the path and created his own way to glory for his sixth USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory of the year, moving himself into the top-20 all-time in series wins with 23, equaling legends A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey.
Thomas ran second behind Isaac Chapple in his Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green – Jonathan Byrd/DRC/Speedway Chevy for the first 25 circuits of the 30-lap feature, but steadily worked the top line until it became his red carpet, then drove around Chapple for the lead with five laps remaining to capture his second career USAC win at the quarter-mile dirt oval and first since 2013.
“Being in the second spot makes you move around, even if you don’t want to, and even if the bottom is the preferred line or the top, whatever it may be,” Thomas explained. “You have to move around and search, maybe use a slower line, but make it faster. We searched and searched and searched, tried two, three, four different times, different lines, different corners. It’s not that we even found the faster line. I think he just slipped up a little bit there in turns three and four and that let us get by. We were just on the right part of the racetrack at the right time.”
Thomas started fourth, yet managed to get up to the front in quick fashion as he and outside front row starter Chapple split around pole sitter Jason McDougal heading into turn one to occupy the top-two spots with Chapple up front and Thomas trailing just behind.
The two would be Elmer’s-glued to each other for the first two-thirds of the event as Chapple worked the middle-to-low line and Thomas danced around, top and bottom, in search of his own groove that would carry him to the front.
By the 19th lap, Thomas’ began to enjoy the fruits of his labor, finally finding consistent bite up top, relentlessly carving out the top groove to close within striking distance of Chapple while heavy lapped traffic loomed. However, the traffic game would be scrapped from the table when Dallas Hewitt spun to a stop off the banking between turns three and four, forcing Thomas to reset his gameplan on the fly.
“We were closing in on traffic pretty fast,” Thomas recalled. “You’re sizing him up when you’re in clean air. When you see lapped traffic, you start thinking other things. Is this line blocked whenever I get there or am I going to have to follow him? You know around about how many laps you have left, at least within two or so. I knew we were closing in on halfway and I started seeing lapped traffic. I didn’t want to get stuck and then have to ride around on the bottom and not be able to maneuver. Then the caution came out and then you have to reset. You have to do what you’ve been doing to get past him. On restarts, we weren’t that good because the top didn’t have the momentum right off the bat, so it took me a minute to get to him. If I follow him and he makes a mistake, then we both make a mistake.”
Once racing resumed, Thomas picked up right where he left off, ripping the top, while Chapple was nearly flawless on the bottom, taking the shortest road travelled in search of his first career series victory, just two races removed following the 2016 series Rookie of the Year’s best career finish of third at Eldora.
All it took was one less-than-perfect corner entry for Chapple and Thomas was there to pounce, driving around Chapple for the point on the outside on lap 26 to snare the lead before cruising away virtually unchallenged for victory while a chaotic final two-lap scramble behind him developed.
C.J. Leary got by Chapple for second with two to go, then McDougal put in his bid to steal away third from Chapple on the final lap. The two seemingly locked horns entering turn three. Still entangled, the seventh-place car of Josh Hodges plowed into McDougal. Chapple broke free and managed to drive away while McDougal and Hodges saw their solid days at the office crumble to a stop on the bottom of turns three and four. McDougal and Hodges were relegated to 18th and 19th place finishes, respectively, as a result. Meanwhile, Dallas Hewitt found himself upside down in turn two, an incident from which he walked away unscathed.
Leary ran second ahead of Chapple, Chris Windom and Chase Stockon to round out the top-five.
Thomas bounced back from a less-than-stellar result the night before at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway where he scored a tenth and saw his point lead vanish. But the Cullman, Ala. driver was jubilant as he got back on the proverbial horse at Gas City, earning his second win in the last four series races after a three-month winless drought. The recent outings have helped him surge to a 37-point lead entering Saturday’s “Fall Nationals” at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway ahead of Tyler Courtney who had a tumultuous night, starting and finishing 17th. Windom sits third, 59 points out of the lead.
Contingency award winners Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway were Tyler Courtney (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Isaac Chapple (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Kyle Cummins (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Dustin Ingle (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Matt Westfall (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Brady Bacon (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Kyle Cummins (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 28, 2018 – Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Indiana – “James Dean Classic”
QUALIFYING: 1. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-11.988; 2. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.016; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-12.078; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.144; 5. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-12.242; 6. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-12.251; 7. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-12.263; 8. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-12.272; 9. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-12.293; 10. Thomas Meseraull, 00, Meseraull-12.297; 11. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.302; 12. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-12.327; 13. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.346; 14. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-12.347; 15. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-12.382; 16. Carson Short, 5B, Briscoe-12.422; 17. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-12.427; 18. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-12.442; 19. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-12.453; 20. Dustin Ingle, 2DI, Ingle-12.493; 21. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-12.495; 22. Dallas Hewitt, 18H, Keen-12.553; 23. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-12.603; 24. Garrett Abrams, 32A, Abrams-12.603; 25. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-12.731; 26. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-12.748; 27. Billy Cribbs, 16, Cribbs-12.782; 28. Shane Cockrum, 24p, Paul-12.900; 29. Luke Harbison, 40, Harbison-13.261; 30. Frank Rodgers, 11, Rodgers-13.312; 31. Jack James, 99J, James-13.353; 32. Bob McMillin, 5m, McMillin-13.358; 33. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Boyles, 3. Windom, 4. Cottle, 5. Grant, 6. Westfall, 7. T. Hewitt, 8. Harbison. 2:03.21
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chapple, 2. D. Hewitt, 3. Bacon, 4. Leary, 5. Hery, 6. Meseraull, 7. Rodgers, 8. VanMeveren. NT
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Cummins, 2. K. Thomas, 3. McDougal, 4. DiMattia, 5. Goodnight, 6. Hodges, 7. Cribbs, 8. James. 2:03.79
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Ingle, 2. Darland, 3. Short, 4. Stockon, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Cockrum, 7. Abrams, 8. McMillin. 2:05.02
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Grant, 2. Hodges, 3. T. Thomas, 4. Westfall, 5. Meseraull, 6. T. Hewitt, 7. Abrams, 8. Cockrum, 9. Cribbs, 10. Hery, 11. Rodgers, 12. Harbison, 13. McMillin, 14. James, 15. VanMeveren, 16. Goodnight. 2:30.38
FEATURE: (30 laps – starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 2. C.J. Leary (5), 3. Isaac Chapple (2), 4. Chris Windom (6), 5. Chase Stockon (3), 6. Dave Darland (12), 7. Kyle Cummins (18), 8. Justin Grant (7), 9. Tyler Thomas (8), 10. Clinton Boyles (20), 11. Shane Cottle (9), 12. Matt Westfall (13), 13. Brady Bacon (14), 14. Carson Short (16), 15. Tyler Hewitt (22), 16. Tony DiMattia (15), 17. Tyler Courtney (17), 18. Jason McDougal (1), 19. Josh Hodges (11), 20. Dallas Hewitt (21), 21. Dustin Ingle (19), 22. Thomas Meseraull (10). NT
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**D. Hewitt flipped on lap 30 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Chapple, Laps 26-30 K. Thomas.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Kyle Cummins (18th to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Brady Bacon
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Matt Westfall
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Garrett Abrams
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-2330, 2-Courtney-2293, 3-Windom-2271, 4-Leary-2006, 5-Darland-2003, 6-Bacon-2002, 7-Stockon-1982, 8-Grant-1871, 9-Robert Ballou-1771, 10-Chapple-1334.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 29 – Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – “Fall Nationals”
GRANT FINALLY REACHES “THE TOPP” AT SMACKDOWN VII
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Justin Grant captured his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory of the year in Thursday night's 'Sprint Car Smackdown VII' at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway. (Travis Branch Photo)
GRANT FINALLY REACHES "THE TOPP" AT SMACKDOWN VII
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana......September 28, 2018 - Fifty-nine races. 482 days. That's how long it had been since Justin Grant last reached USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory lane coming into Thursday night's "Sprint Car Smackdown VII" finale at Kokomo Speedway.
Likewise, it had been 43 races and 398 days since TOPP Motorsports last found victory lane themselves, incidentally enough at the "Smackdown" finale in 2017 with driver Tyler Courtney.
Fittingly, the conclusion of this 40-lap main event came down to Grant and Courtney, but it was Grant who ultimately pulled through to become the first driver in 2018 to win in all three USAC National divisions: Silver Crown, National Sprint and National Midget.
After a tumultuous year that's been plagued by misfortune and a seemingly endless cloud of bad luck, twas time for the turnstiles of fortune to change. Over their last handful of outings, Grant and the TOPP team discovered a little bit of lightning in a bottle, but still, that black cloud remained steadfast, casting a shadow of doubt.
The sun finally broke through those clouds for a change, and shined brightly on the Ione, Calif. native driver and the Rochester, Indiana-based team as they persevered for their first USAC win since pairing up at the beginning of the season.
"These last couple weeks, this TOPP Motorsports car has really been ripping and it's been a lot of fun to drive," Grant explained. "This race has always eluded me. I'm so excited to be up here and so happy to do it for these guys. They've got an awesome racecar. It's about time I lived up to their results from last year. It's been a rough year, but I told a few people this week that if I didn't win a race all year, but I got to win Smackdown, it would all be worth it."
Grant made his initial overture as a prime contender when he was victorious in the "King of the Hill" two-car shootout, which placed him on the pole for the feature. Grant appeared to have a nice jump on the start, yet Dave Darland was able to beat him to the point in turn one. Grant powered back, returning the favor by gracing the low line into turn three, then sliced up in front of Darland to retake the lead. From that point forward, Grant was nearly unattainable, laying down a one-second lead on Darland and the rest of the field in the early stages.
Just past midway, Grant was carving up lapped traffic like a Thanksgiving Day turkey as he dipped low and swung high to split his way through the blockade of racecars. A near close call came just moments later as he slid into turn two near Clinton Boyles. Grant's rear bumper and Boyles' front bumper sliced each other, but neither was worse for the wear and remained on course without harm.
Meanwhile, current third-place runner and defending race winner Courtney played the role of Pacman, chomping the interval down until he was in the same vicinity as Darland on lap 22 where he dove to the bottom, three-wide alongside Darland and Boyles, emerging at the exit of turn two with the second position and seeking the lead as Grant no longer was able to hide.
Once Courtney got to second, he was like Heinz - in catchup mode - as he cut tenths off here and there like a butter knife through a stick of Land O'Lakes. But, suddenly, Courtney's charge was placed on hold. Fifth-running Chris Windom had encountered a flat right-rear tire on his ride, which sent him to the work area for a fresh set of rubber during the night's lone yellow flag.
'It's been a rough year, but I told a few people this week that if I didn't win a race all year, but I got to win Smackdown, it would all be worth it.' - Justin Grant (Travis Branch Photo)
For the lap 30 restart, lapped traffic was clear, and an open track became a warm, welcomed sight. However, Grant and Courtney were separated by the lapped car of Scotty Weir. Grant set sail smoothly, cutting through the middle of the track, then running a consistent line of the top in turns one and two and the bottom in turns three or four while Courtney proceeded to swap lines to take on the challenge of reeling in Grant.
Courtney was only able to make up so much down the stretch as Grant was spot-on lap-after-lap, never missing a beat on his way to a 1.036 second win and a $10,000 payday. Courtney took second ahead of Hard Charger C.J. Leary, Rookie of the Race Jason McDougal and Brady Bacon.
"That's the best I've ever felt at this place," Grant admitted. "The car was on rails. I could use the cushion if I wanted to and I could rip right below it if I felt like it. It was really incredible. It was fun to drive. Lapped traffic had me pretty worried, but I felt like we were pretty good, and I could pick my way through. Restarts had me more worried than anything. Tyler's been a roll this year and a lot of times that momentum will let you do things you normally couldn't do. I was a little worried about holding him off on restarts, but it all worked out."
Contingency award winners Thursday night at Kokomo Speedway were Logan Seavey (Simpson Race Products/Competition Suspension, Inc. First Qualifying Race Winner & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Justin Grant (Capitol Custom Trailers & Coaches King of the Hill Winner), C.J. Leary (KSE Racing Products/Elliott's Custom Trailers & Carts Hard Charge & B & W Auto Mart Pass Master & Chalk Stix/Indy Race Parts Second Qualifying Race), Chris Windom (Weld Cool Move of the Race), Chad Boespflug (STIDA.com Hard Luck Award) and Jason McDougal (Wilwood Brake Kit & Arizona Sport Shirts/Kick-It Rookie of the Race).
Tyler Courtney retook the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car point lead with 10 events remaining. The Indianapolis, Ind. driver now holds a seven-point advantage over Kevin Thomas, Jr., who finished 10th. Windom is third in the standings, making up a little bit of ground, trailing by 58 points behind Courtney.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 28, 2018 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Sprint Car Smackdown VII"
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey (#5B Briscoe), 2. Kyle Cummins (#3c EZR/Cummins), 3. Scotty Weir (#22 Simon), 4. Dakota Jackson (#3 Jackson), 5. Carson Short (#5CB Briscoe), 6. Landon Simon (#24 LSR), 7. Brian VanMeveren (#24x VanMeveren). NT
CHALK STIX/INDY RACE PARTS SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary (#30 Leary), 2. Chase Stockon (#32 32 TBI), 3. Jarett Andretti (#18 Andretti), 4. Clinton Boyles (#57 Hazen), 5. Isaac Chapple (#52 LNR/Chapple), 6. Tyler Hewitt (#97x One More Time), 7. Shane Cottle (#5G Goacher), 8. Corey Smith (#66s CS). 2:11.57
CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS & COACHES "KING OF THE HILL" 2-CAR SHOOTOUTS: (3 laps each) Round 1: Jason McDougal (#71p Daigh/Phillips) defeats Tyler Courtney (#7BC Clauson Marshall Newman). Dave Darland (#36D Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian) defeats Brady Bacon (#99 Bacon). Tyler Thomas (#2E Epperson) defeats Kevin Thomas, Jr. (#69 Dynamics). Justin Grant (#4 TOPP) defeats Chris Windom (#5 Baldwin). Round 2: Darland defeats McDougal. Grant defeats T. Thomas. Final Round: Grant defeats Darland.
FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (1), 2. Tyler Courtney (5), 3. C.J. Leary (10), 4. Jason McDougal (4), 5. Brady Bacon (6), 6. Chris Windom (8), 7. Dave Darland (2), 8. Tyler Thomas (3), 9. Chase Stockon (12), 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (7), 11. Jarett Andretti (14), 12. Dakota Jackson (15), 13. Logan Seavey (9), 14. Kyle Cummins (11), 15. Scotty Weir (13), 16. Carson Short (17), 17. Isaac Chapple (18), 18. Clinton Boyles (16), 19. Tyler Hewitt (20), 20. Corey Smith (23), 21. Brian VanMeveren (21), 22. Shane Cottle (22), 23. Landon Simon (19). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Grant.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/ELLIOTT'S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS HARD CHARGER: C.J. Leary (10th to 3rd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Logan Seavey
B & W AUTO MART PASS MASTER: C.J. Leary
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1-Courtney-2256, 2-K. Thomas-2249, 3-Windom-2198, 4-Bacon-1959, 5-Darland-1941, 6-Leary-1929, 7-Stockon-1916, 8-Grant-1816, 9-Robert Ballou-1771, 10-Chapple-1261.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 28 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - "James Dean Classic"
SUNSHINE STRIKES 10 WITH ELDORA SPRINT WIN
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Tyler Courtney was victorious in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car portion of the '4-Crown Nationals' Saturday night at Eldora. (Rich Forman Photo)
SUNSHINE STRIKES 10 WITH ELDORA SPRINT WIN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio.........To get to double-digits in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win column, you must win at Eldora Speedway.
Maybe it's an omen, a harbinger or what have you, but history tells us as much.
Courtney reiterated that fact Saturday night during the 37th running of the "4-Crown Nationals" presented by NKT.TV, marking just the tenth occasion a driver has reached at least 10 series wins in a season and the 10th of those select drivers in that club to win at Eldora during their banner year.
Tom Bigelow (14 wins), J.J. Yeley & Robert Ballou (13), Larry Dickson & Pancho Carter (12), Bubby Jones (11), Dickson, Carter & Jay Drake (10) each got it done at Eldora on their magical seasons. Now you can add a little "Sunshine" to that list.
However, the ride to get there on this night was a tad turbulent early on as the team ran into mechanical issues that forced them to swap out the engine for another bullet following qualifying. It seemed to do the trick as Courtney walloped the competition in his heat race, then proceeded to decimate the field for much of the 30-lapper in his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/Priority Aviation - Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Rider Chevy until having to hold off a late surge from hard-charging C.J. Leary left that fairytale ending hanging in the balance momentarily.
Courtney started from the pole position, but it was 2007 "4-Crown" USAC Sprint Car winner Robert Ballou who eked into the lead from his outside front row starting spot to lead the opening lap with Leary and Courtney in tow.
As Leary trailed Ballou, the reigning "4-Crown" Sprint Car winner was amidst a battle with Courtney for second. Courtney threaded the dot of the i around the outside of Leary in turn two. Leary then snagged the concrete and spun completely around down the back straightaway and somehow, someway, avoided catastrophe as the entire field missed him, allowing him to restart, although he would now have to come from the tail in 22nd.
Following the restart, Courtney made his surge, sliding past Ballou entering the third turn. Ballou countered with an uppercut to the chin and clung to his grip of the lead as the pair crossed the line. Courtney reloaded and fired his next shot, sliding to the lead past Ballou entering turn one. By lap 10, Courtney's advantage was a full-straight ahead of Ballou.
Ballou's bid to get back into the game hit a literal snag on the 14th lap when he clipped the turn two outside wall and spun around to a stop, ending his evening earlier than anticipated. That moved Justin Grant into second where he and the hard-charging Leary took a full head a steam at running down Courtney. Grant found the demise of his night in the same spot that took caught Leary and Ballou earlier in turn two. Grant's car churned against the concrete along the back straight before grinding to a halt with four laps remaining.
With his victory Saturday night at Eldora, Tyler Courtney joined Jack Hewitt, Kyle Larson, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Dave Darland as the fifth driver to win in a Midget, USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown car during his '4-Crown' career. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
Leary was in second behind Courtney for the lap 27 restart, but a challenge to Courtney's throne was discarded almost immediately as Courtney blitzed to a good jump when action resumed. The only race for position was behind Courtney as Leary, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Isaac Chapple roamed three-wide at times for the runner-up position.
It was all to Courtney's advantage, however, as he drove away to his tenth series win of the year and joined Jack Hewitt, Kyle Larson, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Dave Darland as the fifth driver to win in a Midget, USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown car during his "4-Crown" career.
Leary finished second ahead of Chapple, who scored a career-best third-place result. Point leader Thomas was fourth ahead of Chris Windom.
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Eldora Speedway were Justin Grant (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & ProSource Fast Qualifier), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Nick Bilbee (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Dakota Jackson (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Timmy Buckwalter (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Scotty Weir (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 22, 2018 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 37th"4-Crown Nationals" presented by NKT.TV
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-15.607; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-15.799; 3. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.976; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.997; 5. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-16.035; 6. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-16.088; 7. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-16.103; 8. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-16.110; 9. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-16.156; 10. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-16.197; 11. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-16.208; 12. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-16.214; 13. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-16.277; 14. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-16.287; 15. Dallas Hewitt, 18H, Keen-16.296; 16. Carmen Perigo, 21, Stehman-16.301; 17. Chad Boespflug, 98, NineEight-16.331; 18. Dickie Gaines, 44x, Soudrette-16.374; 19. Corey Smith, 66s, CS-16.394; 20. Dustin Ingle, 2DI, Ingle-16.494; 21. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-16.571; 22. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-16.641; 23. Joe Liguori, 44, Liguori-16.686; 24. Ty Tilton, 42, Tilton-16.731; 25. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-16.832; 26. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-16.899; 27. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-16.919; 28. Scotty Weir, 22s, Simon-16.926; 29. Bill Rose, 320, Kissel-16.988; 30. Cole Ketcham, 41, Ketcham-16.992; 31. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott/Gorman-17.081; 32. Brandon Whited, 15, Whited-17.093; 33. Matt Cooley, 19, Cooley-17.120; 34. Josh Cunningham, 63, Cunningham-17.235; 35. Mike Burkin, 79, Mahoney-17.236; 36. Chad Wilson, 14, Wilson-17.245; 37. Barney Craig, 71c, Craig-17.250; 38. Jack James, 99J, James-18.578; 39. Ken Drangmeister, 27, Drangmeister-19.007.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Grant, 2. Westfall, 3. Bacon, 4. Buckwalter, 5. Cottle, 6. Boespflug, 7. J. Wilson, 8. Rose, 9. Cooley, 10. Craig. 2:16.59
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Thomas, 2. Darland, 3. Windom, 4. Bilbee, 5. Chapple, 6. Goodnight, 7. Gaines, 8. Cunningham, 9. James. 2:16.45
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Leary, 2. Ballou, 3. Jackson, 4. Gentry, 5. Smith, 6. Welpott, 7. Burkin, 8. Drangmeister, 9. Liguori, 10. Hewitt. 2:15.28
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Ingle, 3. McDougal, 4. Tilton, 5. Perigo, 6. Stockon, 7. Weir, 8. C. Wilson, 9. Whited. 2:16.89
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Gaines, 2. Cottle, 3. Stockon, 4. Perigo, 5. Chapple, 6. J. Wilson, 7. Weir, 8. Whited, 9. Burkin, 10. Goodnight, 11. Rose, 12. C. Wilson, 13. Smith, 14. Craig, 15. Welpott, 16. Cunningham, 17. Cooley, 18. Drangmeister, 19. James, 20. Boespflug. 3:44.08
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (1), 2. C.J. Leary (4), 3. Isaac Chapple (10), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 5. Chris Windom (3), 6. Chase Stockon (7), 7. Dave Darland (14), 8. Nick Bilbee (19), 9. Dickie Gaines (16), 10. Brady Bacon (9), 11. Carmen Perigo (15), 12. Shane Cottle (21), 13. Dakota Jackson (11), 14. Matt Westfall (18), 15. Dustin Ingle (17), 16. Ty Tilton (20), 17. Justin Grant (6), 18. Jason McDougal (12), 19. Robert Ballou (2), 20. Aric Gentry (22), 21. Timmy Buckwalter (13), 22. Jacob Wilson (8). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Ballou, Laps 3-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/LARRY RICE HIGH PERFORMANCE HARD CHARGER: Nick Bilbee (19th to 8th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dakota Jackson
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Timmy Buckwalter
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Scotty Weir
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-2206, 2-Courtney-2189, 3-Windom-2143, 4-Bacon-1901, 5-Darland-1889, 6-Stockon-1870, 7-Leary-1865, 8-Ballou-1771, 9-Grant-1746, 10-Chapple-1232.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 27 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Sprint Car Smackdown VII"
COURTNEY CHARGES TO MIDGET SCORE AT ELDORA
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Tyler Courtney captured the victory in USAC P1 Insurance National Midget portion of the '4-Crown Nationals' Saturday night at Eldora Speedway.(Ryan Sellers Photo)
COURTNEY CHARGES TO MIDGET SCORE AT ELDORA
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio.........Tyler Courtney picked up right where he left the "4-Crown Nationals" stage one year ago, following up a walk-off homer in the Silver Crown race last year with a dominating performance in the USAC P1 Insurance National Midget event Saturday night at Eldora Speedway.
The Indianapolis, Ind. native set the tone early, recording quick time in time trials, winning his heat and then leading the final 16 laps to capture the victory worth $5000 in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/Driven 2 Save Lives - Indiana Donor Network/Spike/Stanton SR-11.
Courtney launched his assault from the outside of the third row and quickly cracked the whip as he moved up through the field to second behind teammate Justin Grant by the fifth lap and brought along a challenger with him in Spencer Bayston.
Courtney and Bayston exchanged sliders as they tussled for the runner-up spot, while Bayston, the reigning series champ and race winner, showed no rust and no hesitation in his return from a leg injury suffered in an August sprint car crash.
However, Bayston's bid for a repeat win came to a crashing halt on the tenth lap as he was tucked in behind Courtney in turn one. On entry, Bayston tagged his right rear rubber against the outside wall and partook in a horrifying incident that mangled his Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian ride. Bayston emerged from the mangled wreckage, but was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
On the ensuing restart, Courtney wasted no time, delivering a slider immediately into turn one past Grant. Grant retaliated and made a run back at Courtney as they battled side-by-side for the remainder of lap 10 before he tried his hand at returning the favor in turn one. Instead, Grant slid up the hill in turn two as he attempted to slide up in front of Courtney, but it wasn't quite enough to slow down Courtney, who plucked out a straightaway lead down the stretch.
Nothing would interrupt Courtney in the waning laps as he powered away for a 4.8 second victory, the fifth of his career and second of the year in the series, over Grant, KSE Racing Products/Larry Rice High Performance Hard Charger Logan Seavey (from 13th), Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Tanner Carrick.
Courtney's victory allowed the Clauson Marshall Racing bunch to break the stranglehold that the Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian team had possessed coming into the event, winning six of the last seven and the last three-in-a-row.
"Tim (Clauson) and everybody at Clauson Marshall Racing gave me one heck of a car," Courtney exclaimed in victory lane. "Anytime you get to win at Eldora, it's special. To do it during 4-Crown is even cooler."
'Tim (Clauson) and everybody at Clauson Marshall Racing gave me one heck of a car,' Courtney exclaimed in victory lane. 'Anytime you get to win at Eldora, it's special. To do it during 4-Crown is even cooler.' (Ryan Sellers Photo)
Rico Abreu, the 2016 winner of the midget portion of the '4-Crown,' was involved in an accident during hot laps that also included Chris Baue. The 2014 USAC National Midget champ from St. Helena, Calif. was evaluated at the Premier Health Infield Care Center at Eldora and transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Eldora Speedway were Tyler Courtney (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner, ProSource Fast Qualifier & Saldana Racing Products Sweep), Zeb Wise (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Tucker Klaasmeyer (Chalk Stix/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Logan Seavey (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Chad Boat (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 22, 2018 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 37th"4-Crown Nationals" presented by NKT.TV
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson-Marshall-16.475; 2. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson-Marshall-16.603; 3. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-16.610; 4. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-16.610; 5. Justin Grant, 17BC, Clauson-Marshall/Wood-16.638; 6. Holly Shelton, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.720; 7. Spencer Bayston, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.744; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 63, Dooling-16.752; 9. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Tucker/Boat-16.761; 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-16.798; 11. Rico Abreu, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.803; 12. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.806; 13. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.853; 14. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.853; 15. Jason McDougal, 15, Petry-16.899; 16. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.911; 17. Sam Johnson, 72, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.924; 18. Chris Windom, 35, Petry/Goff-16.938; 19. Alex Bright, 77, Bright-16.991; 20. Hank Davis, 42, Franklin-17.141; 21. Chase Jones, 33, RayPro-17.287; 22. Andrew Layser, 35L, Bright-17.365; 23. Chris Baue, 35x, Baue-18.809; 24. Rich Drangmeister, 18, Drangmeister-23.387.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Seavey, 3. Johnson, 4. Bayston, 5. Boat, 6. Coons, 7. Davis. 2:16.49
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Wise, 2. McDougal, 3. Thomas, 4. Robinson, 5. Grant, 6. Windom, 7. Jones. 2:18.76
CHALK STIX/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Klaasmeyer, 2. Carrick, 3. Bright, 4. Shelton, 5. Bacon, 6. Hendricks, 7. Layser. 2:19.52
FEATURE: (25 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (6), 2. Justin Grant (2), 3. Logan Seavey (13), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (8), 5. Tanner Carrick (12), 6. Holly Shelton (1), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (15), 8. Ryan Robinson (11), 9. Jason McDougal (14), 10. Brady Bacon (4), 11. Hank Davis (19), 12. Sam Johnson (16), 13. Chad Boat (3), 14. Zane Hendricks (9), 15. Chase Jones (20), 16. Alex Bright (18), 17. Andrew Layser (21), 18. Jerry Coons, Jr. (10), 19. Chris Windom (17), 20. Spencer Bayston (7), 21. Zeb Wise (5). NT
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**Bayston flipped on lap 10 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 Grant, Laps 10-25 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/LARRY RICE HIGH PERFORMANCE HARD CHARGER: Logan Seavey (13th to 3rd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Chad Boat
NEW USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Seavey-901, 2-Bacon-783, 3-Boat-771, 4-Courtney-763, 5-Grant-762, 6-Bayston-756, 7-Carrick-717, 8-Thomas-701, 9-Wise-569, 10-Robinson-534.
NEXT USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 21 - Wayne County Speedway - Wayne City, Illinois - "Jason Leffler Memorial"
4-CROWN NATIONALS ELDORA USAC MIDGET PREVIEW
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
USAC National Midget point leader Logan Seavey. (Brian Bouder Photo)
4-CROWN NATIONALS ELDORA USAC MIDGET PREVIEW
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio.........Midgets on the high banks of Eldora Speedway are breathtakingly spectacular and that's what this Saturday's 37thrunning of the "4-Crown Nationals" will surely provide when the USAC P1 Insurance National Midgets make their lone annual trip to the legendary half-mile.
Series point leader Logan Seavey may technically be a Rookie as he eyes his first career midget start at Eldora. But the 21-year-old Sutter, Calif. native appears as that in name only as he carries a 98-point lead into the race on the strength of consistency with a pair of wins in Du Quoin, Ill. and Sweet Springs, Mo. In July, Seavey made his initial expedition of Eldora a memorable one, leading 53 laps on his way to an eighth-place finish in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut.
Among his Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian teammates are 2016 "4-Crown" midget winner Rico Abreu of St. Helena, Calif., who always offers a thrill at Eldora. In that 2016 race, the 2014 USAC National Midget champ swept the night, recording fast time, winning his heat, and then dominating the feature.
Rico takes over the helm of the straight No. 97 while reigning series champ and 2017 race winner Spencer Bayston of Lebanon, Ind. will give it a go in the No. 97K, returning to the seat following injuries suffered in an August racing accident.
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's Brady Bacon has been on a roll of late, winning 15-grand in a midget at the #BC39 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, becoming a father for the third time and then winning the "Jim Hurtubise Classic" USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, all within a nine-day span.
Tucson, Arizona's Jerry Coons, Jr. heads a talent-loaded Petry Motorsports bunch who've all found a bevy of success. The USAC Triple Crown champ won the 2010 midget portion of the "4-Crown." He'll be joined by upstart Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver Jason McDougal, who will be laying his eyes on Eldora Speedway for the first time ever this weekend. Chris Windom, a past winner in the Sprint and Silver Crown portions of the "4-Crown," joins in a third Petry car for a run to add a third prong to his crown.
Phoenix, Arizona's Chad Boat knows how to get it done on the fast, half-mile dirt ovals as evidenced by his three career victories on the Belleville (Kans.) High Banks. He's currently fourth in points with two wins on the season. He finished fourth and led a lap back in 2016.
Justin Grant, of Ione, Calif., was the victor of the Sprint Car feature at the 2016 "4-Crown," but the versatile wheelman has shown the ability to get the job done in any division, winning this year in both a Silver Crown car and a Midget, which he did for the Clauson Marshall Racing crew in Fairbury, Neb. in July. His teammates are a stacked bunch too! Indianapolis, Indiana's Tyler Courtney has won nine times in a sprint car with USAC in 2018 and he's the reigning winner of the Silver Crown 50-lapper at Eldora a year ago. Angola, Indiana's Zeb Wise has turned some heads this season in his Rookie campaign, winning in August at Lanco in Pennsylvania to become the youngest winner in the history of the series, then followed that up with a charge from 18th to 1st in the Pursuit Race during the "BC39."
The Dooling No. 63 is a familiar sight in victory lane, doing so already twice this year with Cullman, Alabama's Kevin Thomas, Jr. at the controls. Back in 2014, the ride captured the "4-Crown" with Bryan Clauson at the wheel. Thomas is looking to notch his first career Eldora Speedway win.
On Saturday, pits open at 11:30am, spectator gates open at noon, a USAC autograph session will take place from 3-4pm in the fan zone, drivers meeting at 4:30pm and cars on track at 6pm. General admission tickets are $30 for ages 13 & up and $30 for ages 12 & under. Reserved tickets are $34 for ages 13 & up and $14 for ages 12 & under: $14.
Saturday's full events will have LIVE audio on the USAC app along with LIVE video on http://Live.EldoraSpeedway.com/.
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS AT THE "4-CROWN NATIONALS:"
1981: Ken Schrader, 1982: Rich Vogler, 1983: Johnny Parsons, 1985: Rich Vogler, 1986: Rich Vogler, 1987: Jack Hewitt, 1988: Rich Vogler, 1989: Robby Flock, 1990: Stan Fox, 1991: Jeff Gordon, 1992: Johnny Parsons, 1993: Jack Hewitt, 1994: Steve Knepper, 1995: Tony Stewart, 1996: Tracy Hines, 1997: Jay Drake, 1998: Jack Hewitt, 1999: Dave Darland, 2000: Kasey Kahne, 2001: J.J. Yeley, 2002: Jay Drake, 2004: Dave Darland, 2005: Danny Stratton, 2006: Tracy Hines, 2007: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2008: J.J. Yeley, 2009: Brad Sweet, 2010: Jerry Coons Jr., 2011: Kyle Larson, 2012: Kyle Larson, 2013: Rico Abreu, 2014: Bryan Clauson, 2015: Christopher Bell, 2016: Rico Abreu, 2017: Spencer Bayston
4-CROWN NATIONALS ELDORA USAC SPRINT CAR PREVIEW
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
2017 '4-Crown Nationals' USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car winner C.J. Leary. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
4-CROWN NATIONALS ELDORA USAC SPRINT CAR PREVIEW
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio.........C.J. Leary seems more than poised for a breakout performance this Saturday in the 37th running of the "4-Crown Nationals" presented by NKT.TV at Eldora Speedway.
He's led in four of the past six races for a total of 69 laps, 38 more than any other driver during that span. The results have been there: a 2nd, 6th, 6th, 4th and 2nd. Yet, none of those include a 1st, a cage stand, a check or one of the other many spoils of victory.
Those "spoils" were something the Greenfield, Indiana driver got to experience in full effect last year after grabbing his USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car "4-Crown" triumph at Eldora.
Leary is among six past winners expected to compete in Saturday's stacked field, including Dave Darland (1999), Robert Ballou (2007), Chris Windom (2013), Brady Bacon (2014) and Justin Grant (2016).
Darland, of Lincoln, Indiana, has been a revelation this year, scoring three victories and is fifth in points. Rocklin, California's Ballou has scored five of his 28 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins at Eldora, including the first three of his career back in 2007 & 2010. Windom, of Canton, Ill., got his in 2013, then won again in the Silver Crown car at Eldora in 2016. Ione, California's Grant punched in a W back in 2016.
The points race is tighter than a Chinese Finger Trap, with no driver in the top-three able to separate themselves from each other at the top. Cullman, Alabama's Kevin Thomas, Jr. leads the standings by 21 following his victory last Saturday at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. His venerable Dynamics, Inc. No. 69 has scored five wins in the "4-Crown' over the years, including 1999 with Darland, 2006 with Tracy Hines, 2009 with Jerry Coons, Jr., 2011 with Kyle Larson and 2014 with Bacon.
Tyler Courtney runs second in the standings behind Thomas and is having a banner year that includes a series-high nine wins. A victory Saturday at Eldora would put him on an exclusive list of drivers who've won double-digit races in a single season along with Tom Bigelow (14), J.J. Yeley & Robert Ballou (13), Larry Dickson & Pancho Carter (12), Bubby Jones (11), Dickson, Carter & Jay Drake (10).
Courtney's current tally of nine wins in a season is tied for the tenth winningest season in the history of the series, equaling Parnelli Jones (1961), Roger McCluskey (1966) and Rick Hood (1985).
One thing all those drivers have in common is that they've won a USAC National Sprint Car feature at Eldora in the very same year they accumulated double-digit wins. Courtney has yet to win at Eldora this season and Saturday marks his last shot. Bacon and Windom won the two most recent trips to Eldora back in May of this year.
Windom, of Canton, Ill., is third in points, only 54 out of the lead as he seeks his second career series title.
Leary's bid for a repeat USAC Sprint Car win at the "4-Crown" has been duplicated five previous times by Steve Kinser in 1981-82, Steve Butler in 1988-89, Jack Hewitt in 1990-91 & 1997-98 and Bud Kaeding in 2001-02.
This Saturday's event will mark the 199th USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race held at Eldora Speedway, which is the most appearances at any track in series history.
On Saturday, pits open at 11:30am, spectator gates open at noon, a USAC autograph session will take place from 3-4pm in the fan zone, drivers meeting at 4:30pm and cars on track at 6pm. General admission tickets are $30 for ages 13 & up and $30 for ages 12 & under. Reserved tickets are $34 for ages 13 & up and $14 for ages 12 & under: $14.
Saturday's full events will have LIVE audio on the USAC app along with LIVE video on http://Live.EldoraSpeedway.com/.
PAST "4-CROWN NATIONALS" USAC SPRINT CAR WINNERS: 1981: Steve Kinser, 1982: Steve Kinser, 1983: Jack Hewitt, 1985: Larry Rice, 1986: Rich Vogler, 1987: Tony Elliott, 1988: Steve Butler, 1989: Steve Butler, 1990: Jack Hewitt, 1991: Jack Hewitt, 1992: Danny Smith, 1993: Tony Elliott, 1994: Kevin Doty, 1995: Tony Stewart, 1996: Jimmy Sills, 1997: Jack Hewitt, 1998: Jack Hewitt, 1999: Dave Darland, 2000: Tracy Hines, 2001: Bud Kaeding, 2002: Bud Kaeding, 2004: Dickie Gaines, 2005: Levi Jones, 2006: Tracy Hines, 2007: Robert Ballou, 2008: Brad Sweet, 2009: Jerry Coons Jr., 2010: Levi Jones, 2011: Kyle Larson, 2012: Tracy Hines, 2013: Chris Windom, 2014: Brady Bacon, 2015: Thomas Meseraull, 2016: Justin Grant, 2017: C.J. Leary
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kevin Thomas-2132, 2-Tyler Courtney-2111, 3-Chris Windom-2078, 4-Brady Bacon-1852, 5-Dave Darland-1830, 6-Chase Stockon-1810, 7-C.J. Leary-1786, 8-Robert Ballou-1739, 9-Justin Grant-1703, 10-Isaac Chapple-1167.
4-CROWN NATIONALS ELDORA USAC SILVER CROWN PREVIEW
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
2017 '4-Crown' USAC Silver Crown winner Tyler Courtney. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
4-CROWN NATIONALS ELDORA USAC SILVER CROWN PREVIEW
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio.........The big cars of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series are known for endurance races. One-hundred miles, tire and fuel conservation and being in position at the end usually dictate how the race will unfold.
This Saturday's 37th running of the "4-Crown Nationals" presented by NKT.TV at Eldora Speedway is about as close to a sprint race as you can get. It's 50 laps around a half-mile, all out, for the finale of the series' 48th season.
Kody Swanson has virtually locked up an unprecedented fourth series championship. With a 76-point lead and a max of 76 points on the table, all the Kingsburg, Calif. native has to do is sign-in (worth 10 appearance points) and the title is his.
At that point, Swanson is basically playing with house money, taking the pressure of "points racing" out of the equation and allowing him to affix his sole focus to the steering wheel and the pedals as he searches for his first Silver Crown win, the only dirt track on this year's Silver Crown schedule that he hasn't yet won at.
Only three drivers have recorded a win at Eldora on their road to a championship when the "4-Crown" has been the finale: Jack Hewitt in 1986, Steve Butler in 1992 and Chris Windom in 2016.
Tucson, Arizona's Jerry Coons, Jr. is one of only four drivers to have won in all three of USAC's National open wheel divisions during the "4-Crown" (Jack Hewitt, Kyle Larson & Dave Darland). Coons scored his wins in 2007 and 2014 for two different teams. He's still angling for that first Silver Crown win for Gene Nolen's team, which too is eager to breakthrough for the first time at Eldora.
Barriers that have stood in the way of Nolen and victory at a track that has eluded his pilots have already been busted this year by Coons teammate, Chris Windom. The Canton, Ill. driver has won the past two Silver Crown races, both on the Illinois dirt miles in Springfield and Du Quoin. Capturing Springfield was a first for both Nolen and Windom. The Du Quoin score was the first for the team there this millennium, following wins in 1992 and 1999. Windom, the two-time "4-Crown" Silver Crown winner and series champ, finished second in 2017.
The driver Windom chased to the line was Tyler Courtney of Indianapolis, Ind., who drove himself and his Hans Lein-owned ride to both their first Silver Crown wins as driver and owner, respectively. He joins an interesting list of drivers to earn their first Silver Crown triumph at the "Big E:" Steve Kinser (1981), Danny Smith (1982), Ron Shuman (1982), Ken Schrader (1983), Steve Butler (1990), Kevin Huntley (1997), Mat Neely (2006), Jerry Coons, Jr. (2007), Bryan Clauson (2010), Chris Windom (2013) and Christopher Bell (2015).
Justin Grant, a 2016 "4-Crown" Sprint Car winner, is a surefire bet to be a threat in the Champ Car. The Ione, California driver won the "Sumar Classic" at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in April in his Hemelgarn Racing mount. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's Brady Bacon won in May in a Sprint Car at Eldora and finished fifth in last year's Eldora Silver Crown ride.
On Friday, September 21, the Silver Crown Champ Car Series will lead off the USAC portion of the event with practice and single car qualifying along with complete shows for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Cars and the Eldora Stock Cars.
Friday's event will begin at 6pm with World of Outlaws practice and qualifying, Silver Crown practice, stock car hot laps, followed by Silver Crown qualifying, all preceding the opening ceremonies and the remainder of the night's racing activities.
The Silver Crown teams will again have a practice session the following day, Saturday, September 22, leading into their 50-lap finale as part of the event which will feature complete events for the USAC P1 Insurance National Midgets, USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars and the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.
On Friday, pits open at 1:30pm and spectator gates open at 2pm. General admission tickets are $25 for ages 13 & up and free for ages 12 & under. Reserved tickets are $29 for ages 13 & up and $10 for ages 12 & under.
On Saturday, pits open at 11:30am, spectator gates open at noon, a USAC autograph session will take place from 3-4pm in the fan zone, drivers meeting at 4:30pm and cars on track at 6pm. General admission tickets are $30 for ages 13 & up and $30 for ages 12 & under. Reserved tickets are $34 for ages 13 & up and $14 for ages 12 & under: $14.
Saturday's full events will have LIVE audio on the USAC app along with LIVE video on http://Live.EldoraSpeedway.com/.
ALL-TIME USAC SILVER CROWN "4-CROWN" WINNERS: 1981: Steve Kinser, 1982: Ron Shuman, 1983: Ken Schrader, 1985: Larry Rice, 1986: Jack Hewitt, 1987: Larry Rice, 1988: Jack Hewitt, 1989: Jack Hewitt, 1990: Steve Butler, 1991: Jack Hewitt, 1992: Steve Butler, 1993: Ron Shuman, 1994: Jack Hewitt, 1995: Jack Hewitt, 1996: Jack Hewitt, 1997: Kevin Huntley, 1998: Jack Hewitt, 1999: Jimmy Sills, 2000: J.J. Yeley, 2001: J.J. Yeley, 2002: Brian Tyler, 2004: Dave Darland, 2005: Dave Darland, 2006: Mat Neely, 2007: Jerry Coons Jr., 2008: Dave Darland, 2009: Dave Darland, 2010: Bryan Clauson, 2011: Kyle Larson, 2012: Bryan Clauson, 2013: Chris Windom, 2014: Jerry Coons Jr., 2015: Christopher Bell, 2016: Chris Windom, 2017: Tyler Courtney
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-583, 2-Justin Grant-507, 3-Chris Windom-503, 4-David Byrne-439, 5-Jerry Coons, Jr.-378, 6-Bobby Santos-329, 7-Kyle Robbins-326, 8-Travis Welpott-319, 9-Matt Goodnight-309, 10-Austin Nemire-286.
