PEPERAK PUTS IT OFF NO MORE, GOING SILVER CROWN RACING IN 2020
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (April 22, 2020)………After a 37-year hiatus from USAC Silver Crown racing since his most recent series start, Dave Peperak has purchased a champ car to compete on the dirt with the series in 2020.
Peperak’s most recent Silver Crown start came in March of 1983 at the Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway dirt track aboard Don Robertson’s No. 79, starting 29th before bowing out with a clutch issue and finishing 24th in the 30-car field.
The Clinton, Ind. native owns one career USAC National Sprint Car victory at Eldora Speedway in 1981 and remains active on the local Indiana sprint circuit to this day, plans to compete with a Beast chassis formerly owned and driven by Tom Capie and, most recently, by Tyler Courtney.
The 66-year-old Peperak has long desired to compete in the Silver Crown series but made the decision over the offseason to not put off the moment any longer.
“In a normal year, I couldn’t imagine not going to the racetrack in the spring, and I can only do this so much longer,” Peperak said. “That’s why we decided to do the Silver Crown car deal now. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but just put it off, never had the money and time just went by.”
“A friend of mine, (former sprint car racer) Kenny Lacey and I talked, and I told him if I don’t do this pretty quickly, I’m never going to do it,” Peperak continued. “So, we better do it, and we decided to go forward with this car here and see what happens.”
Peperak has preliminary plans to compete with the Silver Crown Champ Car Series at Terre Haute, the dirt miles and Eldora, and possibly the Pennsylvania races at Williams Grove and Selinsgrove if the money or another deal comes together.
You can catch Dave Peperak as this week’s guest on episode 11 of USAC’s Thunder Relived, this Thursday night, April 23rd at 8pm Eastern on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dzkF8Y.
Peperak, a longtime veteran of sprint car racing who made his debut with USAC during the 1975 season, is still active as a driver in the sport, competing locally on Indiana’s dirt bullrings behind the wheel of his familiar No. 77.
On Thunder Relived, Peperak is in studio with show hosts Richie Murray and Kirk Spridgeon to review Peperak’s greatest triumph, the 1981 USAC Sprint Car season opening Don Branson-Jud Larson Memorial from Eldora Speedway where the Clinton, Ind. native collected a “look what I’ve found” victory on the 30th and final lap.
The win has been Peperak’s lone career USAC Sprint Car victory to date among his 146 career starts with the series, which ranks 62nd all-time.
Additionally, the race occurred under the bright lights of ABC’s Wide World of Sports coverage and features legendary college football announcer Keith Jackson on the mic along with Chris Economaki as the analyst.
Thursday's Thunder Relived episode featuring Peperak will precede the fourth and final round of the 2020 AMSOIL USAC iRacing Challenge presented by NOS Energy Drink, a Sprint/Midget doubleheader from Eldora Speedway, at 9pm ET on FloRacing. The event will feature the stars of USAC Racing competing against one another in the world’s leading motorsports simulation.