STARS, KEYS & HUTCH: 7 STORYLINES FOR USAC SILVER CROWN’S SALT CITY 100

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Hutchinson, Kansas (July 17, 2024)………When’s the last time you did something for the first time?

That’s what USAC Silver Crown competitors face this weekend during the inaugural Murphy Tractor & Equipment Salt City 100 at Hutchinson, Kansas’ Salt City Speedway on Friday-Saturday night, July 19-20.

As one of the most historic racetracks in the United States of America, the half-mile dirt oval first contested automobile races in 1910 when Glenn M. Breed wheeled his Buick Model 16 to victory, and it’s been active ever since except for its shutdown during World War II.

Now, a field of 24 USAC Silver Crown drivers are vying to become the first USAC winner in Hutchinson.  A practice night for USAC Silver Crown division will begin the festivities on Friday.  Practice, qualifying and racing will commence on Saturday, culminating in a 100-lap main event.

It’s a racetrack with a beacon of stories paired with a series oozing its own share of racing history.  This weekend’s inaugural meeting between the two is certain to be a historic occasion.  Now let’s make some history after we read these seven storylines!

ONE-TWO-THREE GREEN LIGHT!

With the season reaching midsummer, it’s a fine time to look at the USAC Silver Crown championship standings.  Entering Salt City, the top-three in the USAC Silver Crown standings is separated by a mere 34 points.

Seven-time series champ Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.) leads Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) by 10 while C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) remains 34 points out of the lead.

All three drivers have previously captured USAC Silver Crown victories on half-mile dirt track, the same distance as Salt City Speedway.  Swanson has won three, Grant two and Leary two too.  All have been strong on the 1/2-mile dirt ovals in 2024 as well with Leary finishing as the runner-up at the Belleville (Kan.) High Banks, Grant second at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway and Swanson fifth at Port Royal.

1/2 FAST

However, none have been more masterful on the dirt 1/2-miles in Silver Crown action of late than defending champion Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.).  Overall, he’s won six 1/2-mile dirt Silver Crown races in his career, second only to Jack Hewitt’s nine.

Seavey’s results thus far this year have not been indicative of that fact, though, with finishes of 16th at Belleville and 10th at Port Royal.  At Belleville, he suffered mechanical issues, then at Port Royal, he was running third when he pulled off due to a fuel leak.

However, in his 11 half-mile dirt track Silver Crown starts between 2020-2023, Seavey earned six wins, eight top-fives and 10 top-tens.  He’s fourth in the standings, 59 points out of the lead and a win would go a long way toward putting him back into the championship discussion.

THE KANSAS SEVEN

In the seven USAC Silver Crown races ever held in the state of Kansas, there have been seven different winners: Brady Bacon, Kaylee Bryson, Tracy Hines, Aaron Pierce, Kody Swanson, Chris Windom and J.J. Yeley.

Interestingly, both the first and the most recent of those events involve a current team.  In 2006, with the so-called “new generation” Silver Crown cars, Aaron Pierce won on the 1.5-mile paved oval of Kansas Speedway.  Back in May of this year, Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.) made history as the first woman ever to win a USAC national event, and she achieved the feat in an AP (Aaron Pierce) Driver Development car.

Bryson eyes history once again as she now eyes another “first” in becoming the first two-time USAC Silver Crown winner in Kansas.

SHUFFLED DECK

Due to various reasons, there has been a bit of ride shuffling this week among a handful of the top rides in the sport.

Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) will return to the seat of the Chris Dyson Racing No. 9, a car with which he made four Silver Crown starts between 2019-20, including a second-place result at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.  The team’s regular driver, Brady Bacon, is taking in the sprint car festivities this weekend at Eldora.

Mario Clouser (Auburn, Ill.) will make his first appearance aboard the Team AZ Racing #21, which is the same ride that captured the victory in the most recent dirt USAC Silver Crown race at Port Royal with Daison Pursley.  Like Bacon, Pursley also is partaking in Eldora duties this weekend.

Furthermore, Shane Cockrum (Benton, Ill.) will pilot John Haggenbottom’s No. 24 at Salt City.  Jerry Coons Jr. and Alex Bright have both driven the car to top-10 results this year with the series.  Cockrum, a five-time series winner, has scored twice on dirt 1/2-miles in his Silver Crown career at Terre Haute and Williams Grove.

THREE-IN-A-ROW FOR A FIRST-TIMER?

Each of the first two USAC Silver Crown races on dirt in 2024 has featured a first-time series winner: Kaylee Bryson at Belleville and Daison Pursley at Port Royal.

It’s been 14 years since three consecutive first-time dirt USAC Silver Crown winners have emerged.  In 2010, Levi Jones (USA Raceway), Shane Hmiel (Indiana State Fairgrounds) and Kody Swanson (Du Quoin) each grabbed their firsts in the initial three dirt races to be held that season.

Overall, each of the past two USAC Silver Crown races in 2024 have been captured by first-time winners: Pursley at Port Royal and Dakoda Armstrong on the pavement at Madison.  The most recent such instance of three-time winners of any sort with the series also came in 2010 when Tanner Swanson (Berlin), Kody Swanson (Du Quoin) and Bryan Clauson (Eldora) reeled off first-time series wins in succession.

The question of who could be next involves many names from top to bottom, including the aforementioned Kevin Thomas Jr. and Mario Clouser, plus you can mix in Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.), Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio), Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.) and Briggs Danner (Allentown, Pa.), all of whom have previously achieved their share of victories in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition, just to name a few.

VETERAN ROOKIES!

Three more drivers will be making their USAC Silver Crown debuts this weekend.  However, all of them are longtime veterans of the sport: Steve Gennetten, Kip Hughes and Danny Jennings.

Gennetten (Gravois Mills, Mo.) made his most recent USAC national start with the midgets 33 years ago all the way back in 1991!  He scored a USAC National Midget feature win at Missouri’s Moberly Motorsports Complex in 1989.  Hughes (North Enid, Okla.), meanwhile, owns over 100 wins in Modifieds, Late Models, Super Stocks, Sport Mods and Midgets.

Jennings (Norman, Okla.) is a six-time Hutchinson Grand Nationals sprint car winner in 1996-2010-2017-2018-2019-2020.  Danny's Grandfather Earnest, Father Rickey, Uncle Bruce and Great Uncle Darrell have all made previous USAC Silver Crown appearances, all between 1983-1986 at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds.

99TH DIRT 1/2-MILE, BUT THE HUTCH AIN’T BEEN ONE

Saturday’s race marks the 99th 1/2-mile dirt track race held in USAC Silver Crown history, which dates back to 1971.  While this occasion marks the debut of USAC at Hutchinson, it is not the first foray for champ cars at the 1/2-mile.

Longtime fans will remember that, from 1982-1987, several 100-inch NCRA Champ Car races were held at the Hutchinson oval, won by the likes of Herb Copeland, Jerry Stone, Harold Leep, Bob Ewell, Garry Lee Maier, Shane Carson, Tony Armstrong and Mike Peters.

The NCRA machines were quite similar to their Silver Crown counterparts, but featured a tad bit more horsepower, had a slightly longer wheelbase at 100 inches, a differing engine setback rule and the cars also sported wings!

RACE DETAILS:

The Friday, July 19, program will feature USAC Silver Crown practice only, plus URSS Sprint Car heat races as well as complete shows for the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Modifieds and Super Stocks.  General admission tickets are $21 and kids tickets are $10.

The Saturday, July 20, program will feature USAC Silver Crown practice, qualifying and racing, plus feature events for the URSS Sprint Cars and a complete program for the IMCA SportMods.  General admission tickets are $31 and kids tickets are $14.50.

One and two-day tickets packages are on sale now in advance at https://saltcityracingllc.com/.  Two-day ticket packages are $50 while kids are just $24.

Saturday night’s program will feature full LIVE coverage on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac.

If needed, the rain date for the event is Sunday, July 21.

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USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-365, 2-Justin Grant-355, 3-C.J. Leary-331, 4-Logan Seavey-306, 5-Bobby Santos-250, 6-Taylor Ferns-235, 7-Kaylee Bryson-205, 8-Trey Osborne-197, 9-Trey Burke-197, 10-Kyle Steffens-193.

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ENTRY LIST: MURPHY TRACTOR & EQUIPMENT SALT CITY 100 (24)

03 (R) STEVE GENNETTEN/Gravois Mills, MO (Steve Gennetten)

08 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Charles, MO (Steffens Motorsports)

6 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Klatt Enterprises)

9 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Chris Dyson)

10 (R) BRIGGS DANNER/Allentown, PA (DMW Motorsports)

15 CHRIS FETTER/Troy, MO (Chris Fetter)

21 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Team AZ Racing)

22 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)

24 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL (John Haggenbottom)

26 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Sam Pierce)

31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)

32 GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN (Williams-Cory Racing)

44 DANNY LONG/Bonne Terre, MO (Danny Long)

48 (R) NATHAN MOORE/Kaufman, TX (Chip Thomas-Joe Moore)

54 MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (Westfall Racing)

60 TREY BURKE/Alvin, TX (Legacy Autosport-Robert Wilson Racing)

61 (R) DANNY JENNINGS/Norman, OK (David Grace Motorsports)

69 CHASE STOCKON/Fort Branch, IN (Pink 69 Racing)

77 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Doran-Binks Racing)

81 (R) TREY OSBORNE/Columbus, OH (BCR Group)

91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)

97 ROBERT BALLOU/Rocklin, CA (Hans Lein)

160 (R) KIP HUGHES/North Enid, OK (Kip Hughes)

777 (R) DAVE PEPERAK/Clinton, IN (Dave Peperak Motorsports)

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USAC SILVER CROWN WINS IN KANSAS

1-Brady Bacon, Kaylee Bryson, Tracy Hines, Aaron Pierce, Kody Swanson, Chris Windom & J.J. Yeley