By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Madison, Illinois (August 12, 2024)………For the 11th time, USAC Silver Crown National Championship racing will take a trip to the biggest, boldest and fastest circuit on the USAC Silver Crown trail this Friday, August 16.
Nineteen drivers and cars are entered for the Ranken Technical College Silver Crown Showdown Presented By Welsch Heating & Cooling at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois for the 60-lap, 75-mile extravaganza on the 1.25-mile paved oval.
Among the entries are three past WWT Raceway Silver Crown winners: Franklin, Massachusetts’ Bobby Santos (2013 & 2014); current series point leader Kingsburg, California’s Kody Swanson (2022); and defending victor, Boise, Idaho’s Davey Hamilton Jr. (2023).
Past top-five WWT Silver Crown finishers looking to upgrade to a first career victory this Friday night at the St. Louis area oval are Ione, California’s Justin Grant (3rd in 2023); Auburn, Illinois’ Mario Clouser (3rd in 2022); defending series champion, Sutter, California’s Logan Seavey (4th in 2023; and Goodyear, Arizona’s Nathan Byrd (5th in 2022).
A handful more who have previously raced their way into a top-10 result at WWT are returning to the fray this Friday, including Peru, Indiana’s Russ Gamester (6th in 1999); Muskogee, Oklahoma’s Kaylee Bryson (7th in 2023); Fort Collins, Colorado’s Bryan Gossel (8th in 2022); Shelby Township, Michigan’s Taylor Ferns (9th in 2022); Greenfield, Indiana’s C.J. Leary (10th in 2022); and New Castle, Indiana’s Dakoda Armstrong (10th in 2023).
Returning to WWT Raceway after making previous starts at the track are Edwardsville, Illinois’ Patrick Lawson (12th in 2014 & 2016); Kaufman, Texas’ Nathan Moore (13th in 2023); Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania’s Dave Berkheimer (17th in 2022) and Shelbyville, Indiana’s Gregg Cory (18th in 2022).
Looking to make their first main event start at WWT Raceway are Tyler Roahrig (Plymouth, Ind.) and Kyle Steffens (St. Charles, Mo.).
RACE DETAILS
The Ranken Technical College Silver Crown Showdown Presented by Welsch Heating & Cooling features the USAC Silver Crown National Championship at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois on Friday, August 16.
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.
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USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST
06 BRYAN GOSSEL/Fort Collins, CO (Bryan Gossel)
08 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Charles, MO (Steffens Motorsports)
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
5 DAKODA ARMSTRONG/New Castle, IN (C & A Motorsports)
6 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Klatt Enterprises)
14 DAVEY HAMILTON JR./Boise, ID (Davey Hamilton Racing)
22 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)
26 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Sam Pierce)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
32 GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN (Williams-Cory Racing)
40 NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ (Legacy Autosport-Robert Wilson Racing)
41 TYLER ROAHRIG/Plymouth, IN (Michael Newman)
48 (R) NATHAN MOORE/Kaufman, TX (Chip Thomas-Joe Moore)
51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
60 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Legacy Autosport-Robert Wilson Racing)
77 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Doran-Binks Racing)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
98 BOBBY SANTOS/Franklin, MA (DJ Racing)
555 TAYLOR FERNS/Shelby Township, MI (Taylor Ferns Racing)
(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender
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TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC SILVER CROWN AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY:
1 Lap – 8/19/2022 – Kody Swanson – 30.675 – 146.699 mph
60 Laps – 6/25/2016 – Tanner Swanson – 44:33.031 – 101.009 mph
80 Laps – 6/14/2014 – Bobby Santos – 49:46.000 – 120.563 mph
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USAC SILVER CROWN WINS AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY:
2-Bobby Santos
1-Pat Abold, Davey Hamilton Jr., Tracy Hines, Ryan Newman, Dave Steele, Kody Swanson, Tanner Swanson & J.J. Yeley
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USAC SILVER CROWN WINNERS AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY:
1997: Pat Abold (9/14)
1998: J.J. Yeley (10/17)
1999: Ryan Newman (7/30)
2000: Tracy Hines (5/7)
2001: Dave Steele (8/25)
2013: Bobby Santos (6/1)
2014: Bobby Santos (6/14)
2016: Tanner Swanson (6/25)
2022: Kody Swanson (8/19)
2023: Davey Hamilton Jr. (8/27)
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PAST USAC SILVER CROWN RESULTS AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY:
1997 FEATURE (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Pat Abold (2), 2. Dave Steele (5), 3. Dan Drinan (10), 4. Kenny Irwin Jr. (25), 5. Robby Flock (6), 6. Tony Stewart (4), 7. Jimmy Sills (3), 8. Dave Darland (21), 9. Ryan Newman (12), 10. Mike Gregg (26), 11. Russ Gamester (17), 12. Jim Keeker (19), 13. Brian Tyler (22), 14. Ronnie Burke (30), 15. Eric Gordon (23), 16. Wally Pankratz (27), 17. Chuck Gurney (11), 18. Jason McCord (29), 19. Gary Irvin (24), 20. Donnie Beechler (13), 21. Bentley Warren (20), 22. Jack Hewitt (7), 23. Chuck Leary (1), 24. Ricky Logan (28), 25. Mike Bliss (9), 26. Kevin Thomas (14), 27. Davey Hamilton (8), 28. Johnny Parsons (16), 29. Gary Hieber (18), 30. Tracy Hines (15). NT
1998 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. J.J. Yeley (17), 2. Tracy Hines (12), 3. Ryan Newman (2), 4. Jason Leffler (3), 5. Bentley Warren (8), 6. Jason McCord (14), 7. Brad Armstrong (15), 8. Davey Hamilton (9), 9. Billy Puterbaugh Jr. (18), 10. Pat Abold (27), 11. Eric Gordon (19), 12. Derek Davidson (22), 13. Dave Darland (20), 14. Johnny Parsons (29), 15. Rebel Jackson Jr. (26), 16. Brian Tyler (10), 17. Jimmy Sills (6), 18. Mike Brooks (28), 19. Robby Flock (11), 20. Gary Hieber (25), 21. Doug Didero (24), 22. Dave Steele (1), 23. Kevin Bloomstran (30), 24. Jack Hewitt (16), 25. Jerry Coons Jr. (23), 26. Chet Fillip (21), 27. Stevie Reeves (13), 28. Dan Drinan (5), 29. Russ Gamester (4), DQ. Chuck Leary (7). 56:47.64
1999 FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Ryan Newman (6), 2. Kenny Irwin Jr. (8), 3. Jack Hewitt (1), 4. Gary Hieber (18), 5. Tracy Hines (5), 6. Russ Gamester (7), 7. Bentley Warren (15), 8. Brad Noffsinger (12), 9. Jimmy McCune (17), 10. Dave Darland (20), 11. Robby Flock (14), 12. Todd Kane (19), 13. Chuck Leary (2), 14. Brian Gerster (21), 15. Paul White (23), 16. Tony Elliott (4), 17. Tom Capie (27), 18. Rebel Jackson Jr. (16), 19. J.J. Yeley (26), 20. Brian Paulus (9), 21. Jason Leffler (3), 22. Brian Tyler (13), 23. Randy Bateman (30), 24. Chet Fillip (11), 25. Billy Puterbaugh Jr. (24), 26. Rich Tobias Jr. (29), 27. Keith Butler (28), 28. Jimmy Sills (10), 29. Jason McCord (22), 30. Jay Drake (25). 59:46.88
2000 FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tracy Hines (4), 2. Jason Leffler (6), 3. Brad Noffsinger (1), 4. J.J. Yeley (5), 5. John Heydenreich (26), 6. Jack Hewitt (15), 7. Dan Drinan (12), 8. Jimmy McCune (27), 9. Russ Gamester (8), 10. Brian Paulus (20), 11. Dave Darland (11), 12. Jay Drake (16), 13. Brian Gerster (18), 14. Billy Whittaker (22), 15. Todd Kane (23), 16. Jimmy Kite (28), 17. Bobby McMahan (24), 18. Kasey Kahne (17), 19. Tom Capie (29), 20. Jimmy Sills (7), 21. Jon Herb (14), 22. Bud Kaeding (3), 23. Paul White (2), 24. Chet Fillip (21), 25. Tony Elliott (30), 26. Brian Tyler (10), 27. Ed Carpenter (13), 28. Jason McCord (25), 29. Ryan Newman (9), 30. Gary Hieber (19). NT
2001 FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dave Steele (1), 2. Tracy Hines (10), 3. Mike Bliss (7), 4. Paul White (8), 5. Brian Tyler (6), 6. J.J. Yeley (2), 7. Ed Carpenter (11), 8. Kasey Kahne (9), 9. Bud Kaeding (14), 10. Chet Fillip (26), 11. Gary Hieber (27), 12. John Heydenreich (19), 13. Jerry Coons Jr. (17), 14. Billy Puterbaugh Jr. (22), 15. Jason McCord (15), 16. Rich Tobias Jr. (21), 17. Tom Capie (16), 18. A.J. Fike (18), 19. Robby Flock (24), 20. Dave Darland (4), 21. Derek Davidson (20), 22. Eric Butze (28), 23. Jay Drake (12), 24. Tony Elliott (13), 25. Bentley Warren (30), 26. Michael Lewis (23), 27. Dane Carter (25), 28. John Nervo (29), 29. Aaron Fike (3), 30. Russ Gamester (5). 51:14.28
2013 FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bobby Santos (5), 2. Kody Swanson (3), 3. Chris Windom (1), 4. Brian Tyler (10), 5. Jacob Wilson (7), 6. Jerry Coons Jr. (8), 7. Levi Jones (6), 8. Bobby East (2), 9. Shane Hollingsworth (11), 10. A.J. Fike (4), 11. David Byrne (15), 12. Zach Daum (12), 13. Jarett Andretti (9), 14. Tracy Hines (14), 15. Aaron Pierce (13), 16. Randy Bateman (16). NT
2014 FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bobby Santos (5), 2. Tracy Hines (1), 3. Bobby East (3), 4. Caleb Armstrong (7), 5. Kody Swanson (12), 6. Jarett Andretti (4), 7. Cale Thomas (9), 8. Chris Windom (13), 9. Tanner Swanson (2), 10. David Byrne (6), 11. Randy Bateman (10), 12. Patrick Lawson (11), 13. Jacob Wilson (8). 49:46.000
2016 FEATURE: (60 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Swanson (1), 2. Chris Windom (5), 3. Austin Nemire (4), 4. David Byrne (6), 5. Joe Liguori (9), 6. Justin Grant (7), 7. Casey Shuman (8), 8. Hunter Schuerenberg (12), 9. Jerry Coons Jr. (3), 10. Shane Cottle (11), 11. Kody Swanson (2), 12. Patrick Lawson (10), 13. Tad Roach (13). 44:33.031
2022 FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Davey Hamilton Jr. (7), 3. Mario Clouser (5), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Nathan Byrd (12), 6. Kyle Robbins (11), 7. Eric Gordon (14), 8. Bryan Gossel (17), 9. Taylor Ferns (6), 10. C.J. Leary (9), 11. Bobby Santos (2), 12. Brian Tyler (8), 13. Travis Welpott (15), 14. Derek Bischak (10), 15. Patrick Lawson (13), 16. Logan Seavey (4), 17. Dave Berkheimer (19), 18. Gregg Cory (16), 19. Tom Paterson (18), 20. Mike McVetta (20). 1:07:32.395
2023 FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Davey Hamilton Jr. (6), 2. Bobby Santos (3), 3. Justin Grant (9), 4. Logan Seavey (2), 5. Derek Bischak (7), 6. Trey Burke (11), 7. Kaylee Bryson (10), 8. Kyle O’Gara (8), 9. Mario Clouser (5), 10. Dakoda Armstrong (13), 11. Taylor Ferns (12), 12. Bryan Gossel (17), 13. Nathan Moore (19), 14. Kody Swanson (1), 15. Travis Welpott (18), 16. Matt Westfall (14), 17. Nathan Byrd (#11) (22), 18. Mike McVetta (16), 19. C.J. Leary (4), 20. Tom Paterson (20), 21. Aaron Pierce (15), 22. Patrick Lawson (21). 1:05:05.708