USAC NEWS
By
The United States Auto Club.
“SUMAR CLASSIC 100” SILVER CROWN “SHOOTOUT”
WITH CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE LINE SATURDAY
Two years ago the USAC TRAXXAS Silver Crown Championship featured three drivers separated by just 11 final points. Entering this Saturday night’s “Sumar Classic 100” finale at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, the same 11 point separation is evident among the top three drivers in the standings.
Bobby East of Brownsburg, Ind. is the point leader in pursuit of his first series crown, while former champion Jerry Coons Jr. of Tucson, Ariz. is six points back and Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. is 11 in arrears eyeing his initial series title.
Swanson ended up third in the 2010 standings behind Levi Jones and Bud Kaeding, but Tony Stewart, East’s car owner along with Curb-Agajanian, remembers the closest top-three series shootout ever when he won in 1995. Stewart edged Dave Darland by just two points and Jack Hewitt by nine on his way to the USAC “Triple Crown.”
Five drivers actually have mathematical chances for the 2012 championship, although Kaeding trails by 42 points and Tanner Swanson by 57 with 66 points available Saturday.
Kody Swanson fared the best of the title hopefuls when the series last visited Terre Haute in 2010. Swanson was fifth in the 100-lap race, compared to a seventh for East, a 15th for Tanner Swanson, a 15th for Kaeding and a 24th for Coons.
Levi Jones, the 2010 winner, will not compete at Terre Haute, recuperating from season-ending neck injuries.
The Tony Stewart Racing/Curb-Agajanian team is trying to open the way for a unique entrant “Triple Crown” of sorts, with Curb-Agajanian also currently involved in the 2012 AMSOIL National Sprint Car point leader and the Mopar National Midget point leader.
Saturday’s event completes a two-night Terre Haute USAC extravaganza, with the “Jim Hurtubise Classic” AMSOIL National Sprint Cars racing on Friday night.
2012 USAC TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN STANDINGS
1-Bobby East-349, 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-343, 3-Kody Swanson-338, 4-Bud Kaeding-307, 5-Tanner Swanson-292, 6-Levi Jones-270, 7-Tracy Hines-262, 8-Bobby Santos-253, 9-Brian Tyler-234, 10-A.J. Fike-221.
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Jim Hurtubise in the Holynski Engineering Special- Reading Fairgrounds April 1964 .....(WoS photo)
“JIM HURTUBISE CLASSIC” FRIDAY AT TERRE HAUTE;
SPRINTS CLOSE MIDWEST CAMPAIGN AT LAKE ODESSA SUNDAY
Only 26 points separate the top three drivers in the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car standings going into this weekend’s final Midwest outings before the series ventures West for four races to settle the championship.
Friday night’s “Jim Hurtubise Classic” begins two nights of USAC racing at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, with the “Sumar Classic 100” USAC TRAXXAS Silver Crown finale on Saturday. Sunday’s race at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. signaled the final Midwestern appearance for the AMSOIL Sprint cars.
Dave Darland sits atop the standings, 24 ahead of Bryan Clauson and 26 ahead of Jon Stanbrough entering Friday’s Terre Haute race. The title combatants fared eighth (Darland), 13th (Stanbrough) and 21st (Clauson) in last year’s “Hurtubise,” won by Chris Windom,
In two Terre Haute appearances this year, Darland has failed to score a “top-10,” while Clauson has a ninth and Stanbrough has two seconds.
Darland won USAC’s only 2012 Michigan Sprint appearance, at Hartford, but it’s been 16 years since the last I-96 USAC Sprint race, won by Mark Cassella.
2012 AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR POINTS
1-Dave Darland-1,822; 2-Bryan Clauson-1,798; 3-Jon Stanbrough-1,796; 4-Tracy Hines-1,624; 5-Levi Jones-1,615; 6-Damion Gardner-1,588; 7-Chase Stockon-1,524; 8-Hunter Schuerenberg-1,480; 9-Robert Ballou-1,479; 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1,413.
