Speedway, Indiana (August 15, 2024)………175 miles lie ahead for the USAC Silver Crown National Championship during a weekend that presents quite a rarity for the series: races on consecutive days on both pavement and dirt.
The excellent adventure begins with 60 laps, 75 miles at Madison, Illinois’ World Wide Technology Raceway on Friday night, August 16, followed by a jaunt to the capital of the Land of Lincoln, the Springfield Mile, as the series jumps on the dirt for 100 laps, 100 miles at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Saturday August 17, a venue which has played a significant role in the history of the sport, and takes part in its first pavement/dirt champ car weekend since Al Unser’s dominant 1970 campaign.
Only five previous times in the USAC Silver Crown division’s 54-year history has this occurred and among the 12 drivers doing the whirlwind tour pavement/dirt tour on back-to-back days include Kody Swanson, Justin Grant, Logan Seavey, C.J. Leary, Kaylee Bryson, Mario Clouser, Bryan Gossel, Kyle Steffens, Patrick Lawson, Nathan Moore, Dave Berkheimer and Gregg Cory.
The first such instance of consecutive Silver Crown races on consecutive days on different surfaces arrived with a bang as J.J. Yeley’s remarkable 2003 USAC Triple Crown campaign was highlighted by many incredible performances. Among the earliest was a May double dip for the Bob East/Tony Stewart-owned team, first on the Indianapolis Raceway Park pavement with a last lap pass of Dave Steele. Yeley followed up the next night with a 100-lap cruise, leading all 100 laps to pick up a $50,000 bonus for winning both, which brought his two-night prize money total to a sweet $70,900.
In 2008, Dave Darland held off repeated challenges from runner-up Jerry Coons Jr. to score the Sumar Classic in his Foxco Engineering No. 56 on the dirt half-mile at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. Meanwhile, Bobby East dominated IRP’s pavement for all 100 laps one night later at the J.D. Byrider 100 for the Klatt Enterprises team.
Eight years later, in 2016, it was a match of brotherly love in the win column as Kody Swanson wheeled his DePalma Motorsports No. 63 to another Hoosier Hundred triumph on the dirt at the Indiana State Fairgrounds while, 24 hours later, younger brother Tanner Swanson and his Bowman Racing No. 02 were the forces at IRP, leading the final 20 laps while having to fend off Kody in the waning laps following a late caution.
It was all Kody Swanson in 2018 as he became the first driver since Yeley 15 years earlier to go back-to-back on dirt and pavement on a weekend with the Silver Crown series, leading the latter half of the Hoosier Hundred, then controlling all but the first lap to win the weekend capper at IRP, both in dueling DePalma Motorsports dirt and pavement rides.
The most recent Silver Crown twin-bill came in 2019 when Tyler Courtney powered his way to the front eight laps from the finish line to win the penultimate Hoosier Hundred in the seat of Hans Lein’s No. 97. The next night, a first-time series winner emerged as Kyle Hamilton lost the lead to Bobby Santos late, then regained with a smooth pass a lap later to win at IRP.
Dating back to the USAC National Championship trail, Lloyd Ruby won his first championship race at Milwaukee in 1961. The competitors then loaded up and headed south toward the Illinois State Fairgrounds and the inaugural Bettenhausen 100 where an accounting error ended the race a lap early at 99 miles with Jim Hurtubise locking up the win.
The Springfield/Milwaukee weekend was a mainstay throughout the remainder of the 1960s and into 1970. Hurtubise repeated at Springfield in 1962 while Rodger Ward took the Milwaukee Mile en route to his USAC championship season. Ward captured the dirt portion of the weekend at Springfield in 1963 while, a day later, Jimmy Clark and his Lotus Powered By Ford turned the racing world on its collective ear at Milwaukee when they ushered in the rear engine revolution by breaking the track record in qualifying and leading all 200 circuits to lap all but second place.
The two most recent Indianapolis winners, A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones, shared weekend honors in 1964 with Foyt winning at Springfield and Jones at Milwaukee. In 1965, it was Foyt, for all intents and purposes, who stole the headlines for the weekend by bringing his Springfield-winning dirt car to the asphalt of Milwaukee and proceeded to put it on the pole and finished as the runner-up to first-time series winner Gordon Johncock.
Foyt and Mario Andretti defined the era and defined the Springfield/Milwaukee weekend in 1967 with respective victories. Roger McCluskey (Springfield) and Lloyd Ruby (Milwaukee) traded triumphs in 1968. Al Unser returned to form in 1969 at Milwaukee, picking up his first win since breaking his leg in a motorcycle incident in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield in May while Mario hit paydirt the next day at Springfield.
Al Unser dominated pretty much everything in 1970 aboard the Johnny Lightning Special, winning 10 times in 18 starts on the USAC National Championship trail. He swept the Springfield/Milwaukee weekend, then proceeded to do just the same late in the season on the Trenton pavement in New Jersey and, amazingly, the very next day on the other side of the country at Sacramento’s California State Fairgrounds, the final event on dirt for “IndyCar racing.” Sandwiched between the two Unser sweeps was Jim McElreath’s mastery of the brand-new Ontario Motor Speedway in California. Unser answered by winning the second end of the double with a winning performance on the magic mile dirt oval at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois.
WWT RACEWAY RACE DETAILS:
This Friday night, August 16, at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., the Ranken Technical College Silver Crown Showdown Presented by Welsch Heating & Cooling features the USAC Silver Crown National Championship. Silver Crown Hauler Parking will take place from 8-10am Central time, followed by Silver Crown practice from 1:05-1:50pm, Silver Crown Qualifying starting at 4:40, followed by the 60-lap, 75-mile Silver Crown main event at 9pm.
General admission tickets are $30 (early bird), $35 (advance) and $40 (at gate). General admission tickets for ages 15 and under are free. Free tickets for ages 15 & under will only be available at the gate or by contacting WWT Raceway directly in advance to hold tickets at will call. Advance tickets are on sale now at: https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/indycar.
SPRINGFIELD RACE DETAILS:
On Saturday, August 17, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois, the Bettenhausen 100 pits and registration open at 7am Central with the ticket office and grandstands opening at 9am, the drivers meeting at 9:30am, practice from 10am-11am, Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying at 11:30am, followed by the qualifying race at 12:30pm, pre-race ceremonies at 1:30pm and the 100-lap main event at 2pm. Tickets will be available on race day or by calling the State Fair office at 217-782-1979. Info and tickets can also be obtained by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200.
Advance tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for children 11 and under. At the gate on race day, adults are $30 and $10 for children 11 and under. Infield tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for children age 6-11 and free children age 5 & under. Pit passes are $35 for USAC members and $40 for non-members. Infield parking is $5 for those parking in the infield with no infield or pit passes. All drivers/pit crews should enter through gate 7 or 8. The infield tunnel is gate 6.
Every lap this weekend will be aired live on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac.
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CONSECUTIVE USAC SILVER CROWN RACES ON PAVEMENT & DIRT IN ONE WEEKEND:
2003
5/22: Clermont, IN | Indianapolis Raceway Park | J.J. Yeley | Bob East-Tony Stewart #9 | 100 L
5/23: Indianapolis, IN | Indiana State Fairgrounds | J.J. Yeley | Bob East-Tony Stewart #9 | 100 L
2008
7/23: Terre Haute, IN | Terre Haute Action Track | Dave Darland | Foxco Racing #56 | 100 L
7/24: Clermont, IN | O’Reilly Raceway Park | Bobby East | Klatt Enterprises #6 | 100 L
2016
5/26: Indianapolis, IN | Indiana State Fairgrounds | Kody Swanson | DePalma Motorsports #63 | 100 L
5/27: Brownsburg, IN | Lucas Oil Raceway | Tanner Swanson | Bowman Racing #02 | 100 L
2018
5/24: Indianapolis, IN | Indiana State Fairgrounds | Kody Swanson | DePalma Motorsports #63 | 100 L
5/25: Brownsburg, IN | Lucas Oil Raceway | Kody Swanson | DePalma Motorsports #63 | 100 L
2019
5/23: Indianapolis, IN | Indiana State Fairgrounds | Tyler Courtney | Hans Lein #97 | 100 L
5/24: Brownsburg, IN | Lucas Oil Raceway | Kyle Hamilton | Klatt Enterprises #6 | 100 L
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