DuQuoin, IL (September 3, 2015)-By Jay Hardin Track Enterprises Staff
Kody Swanson won the Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield in convincing fashion on August 22 as the USAC Silver Crown Series visited the Springfield Mile with the largest field in eight years in attendance. Southern Ilinois native Shane Cockrum made noise as a serious contender for the victory starting on the outside of the front row and leading the first 40 laps. The same cast plus a few extras are expected as the focus of the Silver Crown title chase turns to the beautiful DuQuoin State Fairgrounds for the 63rd Ted Horn 100 under the lights September 6.
California’s Swanson is in search of a second consecutive Silver Crown title and has won 5 of the last 6 Silver Crown events on one mile dirt tracks. The lone event escaping his grasp was the 2014 Ted Horn 100 where a faulty belly pan knocked him from contention. The 2010 winner of the Ted Horn 100 returns looking to add to his commanding lead in the point standings.
Defending Ted Horn 100 winner Cockrum had a large crowd dancing in the aisles last year as he became the first driver from the deep southern part of the state to score a 100-mile national championship victory on the “Magic Mile”. The recently appointed fire chief of Benton won earlier at Terre Haute in a car purchased by his owners from Tony Stewart Racing.
Other former winners of the Ted Horn 100 expected include Rick Hood (1985) of Memphis, TN, Russ Gamester (1997) of Peru, IN, Rich Tobias (2003) of Annville, PA, Shane Cottle (2007) of Kokomo, IN, Brian Tyler (2008) and Chris Urish (2013).
Illinois drivers were well represented at Springfield with 12 on the pre-race entry list. In addition to Cockrum, A.J. Fike (Galesburg), Patrick Lawson (Edwardsville), Terry Babb (Decatur), Chris Windom (Canton), Levi Jones (Swansea), Tad Roach (Granite City), J.C. Bland (Springfield, Joey Moughan (Springfield) and Steven Russell (Springfield) were all on the pre-race entry list. Windom is a past winner in the series and led several circuits at Springfield while Jones is a two-time series champ and a past winner of the Hoosier Hundred. Fike is a two-time winner at Springfield and won the ARCA stock car race on Sunday at the Illinois State Fair.
USAC regulars heading for Southern Illinois include Dave Darland, 1997 USAC Silver Crown champ and Jerry Coons, Jr. 2008 USAC Silver Crown champ. Several younger drivers are becoming a force in the big cars as well, including C.J. Leary, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Justin Grant. Murphysboro native Randy Bateman is on the mend and stepped out of his ride at Springfield, placing talented second generation driver Casey Shuman behind the wheel.
The USAC Silver Crown Series appears headed in a direction of growth and re-birth after series director Andy Hillenburg, a former Silver Crown pilot himself, took over nearly two years ago. His leadership combined with commitment from teams and promoters have led to increased car counts at nearly every venue in 2015 with the Tony Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield being pointed to as a breakthrough event. It is entirely possible that DuQuoin could have an entry list equal to or exceeding that of the sister fair to the north. At press time 31 cars had pre-entered with more possible on race day.
The 2014 event was one for the history books. After a light rain shower forced a small delay in the festivities, a real cushion developed in practice and never left even after 100-miles of pounding from the big dirt cars. Unlike 2013, fuel did not become a concern at the end and jumble the standings. Last year saw seven lead changes, several cautions and a red flag before Cockrum emerged victorious and revived a tradition as he and the entire crew took a dip in the infield lake!
This year’s event promises to be just as exciting with the potential for a large field of cars and the possibility of the first semi-feature since 2007. Practice for the 63rd Ted Horn 100 begins at 5 p.m. September 6 with qualifications at 6 and the 100-mile event starting at 8.