2021 USAC SILVER CROWN SCHEDULE IS REVEALED
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (December 8, 2020)………USAC Silver Crown’s 51st season of competition features a schedule that consists of 12 events – six on the dirt, five on the pavement, and one event yet to be announced for the 2021 campaign.
One-hundred-ninety-four previous USAC main events have been contested at Indiana’s Winchester Speedway, but never before has a USAC Silver Crown “Champ Car” graced the paved half-mile high banks, save for four short distance AAA “Big Car” events during the 1946 season. However, the series will make its first appearance on the Silver Crown schedule in 2021, launching the new season on Sunday afternoon, May 9. Winchester last hosted a USAC race a decade earlier in 2011, a Sprint race won by Tracy Hines.
Once thought to be lost to history just a short while ago, the Hoosier Hundred will return once again in 2021 for its 66th edition on the one-mile dirt oval at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Thursday night, May 27, an event that’s origins date back to 1953.
The Hoosier Hundred begins a rare back-to-back weekend of dirt and pavement events on consecutive nights, with the following evening’s Dave Steele Carb Night Classic hitting the asphalt of Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Ind., just down the road from the Indy Mile on Friday, May 28.
A busy stretch in June with three events in an eight-day span begins at another one of America’s most famed dirt tracks, Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., for the first time in two years on Friday night, June 18. Next, it’s off to the pavement of Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin on Friday, June 25, followed up by a yet to be announced event at a yet to be determined venue.
An August trifecta of Silver Crown showdowns gets its start on Sunday night, August 8, at Pennsylvania’s Selinsgrove Speedway, for the second installment of the Bill Holland Classic, one year after the series debuted on the half-mile dirt oval. It’s the first time ever that multiple Pennsylvania tracks are set to host Silver Crown events in the same season. It’s been since 1983, when Nazareth hosted a pair of events, that more than one Silver Crown race was held in Pa. in a season.
From there, the series moves westbound to Brownsburg, Indiana’s Lucas Oil Raceway for the inaugural Hoosier Classic on Saturday night, August 14. The event also consists of Sprint Cars on Friday night while Midgets will contest the .686-mile paved oval along with Silver Crown on Saturday night. Any driver/team that can win all three of the Hoosier Classic races that weekend will take home $100,000 as part of the Fatheadz $100K Challenge. If a driver and team can win two of the three events, they will collect $50,000.
Champ Car racing dates back to 1934 at the one-mile dirt oval at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and the Bettenhausen 100 on the historic Springfield Mile will return to its traditional mid-August slot on Saturday afternoon, August 21, for the only daytime dirt race of the 2021 season.
The series hits the scenic and racy “Magic Mile” of the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in southern Illinois for the Ted Horn 100 on Saturday night, September 4, under the lights on the second of the two miles in the “Land of Lincoln.”
The dirt is the word once again for the 39th running of the 4-Crown Nationals at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, beginning with qualifying on Friday night, September 24, and the 50-lap feature on Saturday night, September 25.
Twice before has Ohio’s Toledo Speedway hosted the USAC Silver Crown series finale, in both 2010 and 2011. That’s once again on the docket in 2021 with the rocket-fast paved half-mile and the Rollie Beale Classic serving as the championship decider.
2021 USAC SILVER CROWN SCHEDULE
Sunday, May 9: Winchester Speedway - Winchester, IN
Thursday, May 27: Indiana State Fairgrounds - Indianapolis, IN – “Hoosier Hundred”
Friday, May 28: Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, IN – “Dave Steele Carb Night Classic”
Friday, June 18: Williams Grove Speedway - Mechanicsburg, PA
Friday, June 25: Madison International Speedway - Oregon, WI - “Dairyland 100”
Saturday, June 26: Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, OH
Sunday, August 8: Selinsgrove Speedway - Selinsgrove, PA – “Bill Holland Classic”
Saturday, August 14: Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, IN – “Hoosier Classic”
Saturday, August 21: Illinois State Fairgrounds - Springfield, IL - Bettenhausen 100
Saturday, September 4: Du Quoin State Fairgrounds - Du Quoin, IL – “Ted Horn 100”
Friday & Saturday, September 24-25: Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, OH - “4-Crown Nationals”
Sunday, October 10: Toledo Speedway - Toledo, OH – “Rollie Beale Classic”