25 - USAC Racing

Tuesday, 24 September 2013,

Dirt Triple Crown Results From Little E

Indianapolis – September 26, 2013… The 4 Crown Weekend at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway served as the finale for the 2013 .25 USAC Honda Series. Practice was held at Little E on Friday until 5 pm. All the young drivers were awarded complimentary admission to the on track festivities at the big track. Saturday heats and lower mains were accomplished even though Mother Nature had sent sporadic rain showers, but again, the .25 drivers were guests for the USAC Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget events.

Sunday morning came the mains that would decide the Dirt Tour Champions. Several young drivers were up early sporting autographed Bryan Clauson and Dave Darland Sweatshirts and T-Shirts. “These kids love racing at the same place as these big USAC drivers,” said a friend of both Brittany Erlsten and Hanna Flood. “Look at everyone here wearing their favorite stars shirts!”

Rico Abreu was the victor in the Honda National Midget race, while Chris Windom doubled up winning both the Amsoil Sprint Car feature and Traxxas Silver Crown event.

It was a late night for the .25 Drivers but A Mains began Sunday morning with better weather and loads of anticipation. “This event was the culmination of our 4 Race Dirt Triple Crown Series,” said Kyle McCain, Director. “We wanted to give these young drivers, who are mostly dirt racers, the chance for a National Series where they could shine. It’s been a terrific experience, both for the drivers, families and our staff. Going to West End and Montgomery County in PA were both new venues for our staff, but many of the drivers race there several times a year. We’ve visited both Hagerstown and Eldora in the past and they continue to be top notch places to hold races.” The USAC Dirt population is continuing to grow with the following clubs joining the USAC Family. Blackbird, Montgomery County and the South Jersey Clubs will now sanction with USAC in 2014.

Logan Heath made the trek all the way from Arizona for the Dirt Races. “It’s 1980 miles one way for us; basically 2,000 miles,” said dad, Don Heath. Logan was tied last year for the National points, so the family attended Eldora for the ‘Gen Next’ finale. “It is Logan’s Birthday weekend. It’s his choice. We do this one dirt race a year and we love it, but the icing on the cake is that we love Sprint Car racing so we get an awesome weekend.” The Heath’s grew up watching local Sprint Cars at Manzanita and whenever they can get to see a National Sprint Show, there is no question where they will be. “We were excited, this is our first year out of the Junior Classes. Our goal was to make an A main. We started in the back of the 160 Class, with 28 cars. And most of the drivers were all dirt guys. We’ve raced the whole National Tour for the last couple of years and we only knew 4 people here. We only raced 2 cars leaving our Sr Animal at home. With 7 laps to go in the World Formula, running 3^rd, Logan came to the corner too hot. He spun the 2^nd car and then came back to finish 8^th. We took 7^th in the Lt 160 event. We made the A mains in both classes and watching National Sprint Cars was our highlight!

The event was a winner for the .25 USAC Honda Series with 179 cars in attendance.

There were six (6) Blue Rookies for the weekend, the newest drivers in the series, with Beau Brandon taking the checkered flag. Steven Snyder, Jr won the Jr Honda event, Andrew Layser took top honors in Sr Honda, and Jake Cheatham was the Lt 160 Winner and Mod was won by Bryan Zyck, Briggs Sr Animal winner was Logan Jones, Aaron Leffel took the Briggs Un-restricted Animal main, and Briggs Danner won the Lt World Formula race coming from the C Main.

Brittany Erlsten, was the only multiple winner taking the top spot in Hvy Honda, Hvy 160, and Briggs Hvy World Formula Classes. Little Jake Garcia got his first National win in the Briggs Jr Animal class and Jacob Stickle was also a first time Tour winner in Heavy AA.

The next big event for the youngest USAC drivers is their participation with the IndyCar Grand Prix of Houston weekend, October 4 – 6. Pre-Registration is now open at USACRacing.com.

Photo caption: Winners at USAC Honda .25 Dirt Tour Finale at Eldora – from left

Back row – Briggs Danner, Brittany Erlsten, Jacob Stickle, Aaron Leffel

Middle – Jake Cheatham, Andrew Layser, Beau Brandon

Front – Jake Garcia

BLUE ROOKIE - FEATURE #1