THIS DATE IN USAC HISTORY: MAY 10
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (May 10, 2020)………Bob Tattersall went on to become one of the USAC National Midget series’ most decorated drivers, producing 63 career wins (4th all-time) and the 1969 series driving championship. But USAC Midget win number one came on this date, May 10, of 1957 in a 100-lapper at 81 Speedway in Wichita, Kans.
Lee Osborne, known primarily for his prowess on the dirt tracks, as well an All Star Circuit of Champions titlist in 1981-82-83, got the win on the pavement of Indianapolis Raceway Park during the Pole Night Sprints on May 10, 1975.
Pancho Carter was one of the best drivers to have ever strapped into a sprint car. The 1974 and 1976 USAC Sprint champ scored 42 victories during his career, but the very last of those feature wins with the series came on this date, May 10, in 1980 on the pavement of IRP.
Rick Hood’s phenomenal 1985 campaign included a stretch in May and June where he won five out of six on the USAC National Sprint Car trail, helping him to a second-straight series title that year. The first triumph of that impressive stretch came on May 10, 1985 in the USAC vs. CRA Challenge round at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas, the only visit the USAC Sprints have ever made to the famed track.
Tony Stewart and Dave Steele took each end of a springtime USAC Midget/Sprint doubleheader at IRP, with Stewart collecting the midget round in Steve Lewis’ No. 91 after qualifying for the middle of the front row for the Indianapolis 500 earlier that day while Steele took the Sprint Car portion aboard Johnny Vance’s No. 2, the first of 10 series wins the pair would collect together between 1997 and 1999.
Michael Lewis, meanwhile, picked up a victory on May 10, 2002, on the short, flat bullring Legends Car track that was constructed between the front straightaway and the pits of the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway.
On the track “too tough to tame,” Aaron Pierce blitzed to a thrilling victory in the USAC Silver Crown Showdown at South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway. Pierce led a three-car freight train to the checkered flag as Floridian Wayne Reutimann Jr. and Chilean Pablo Donoso were less than a second behind in USAC’s first race at Darlington since Pat O’Connor’s 1956 Champ Car victory.
Tracy Hines scored his first USAC Sprint Car win as a driver for Tony Stewart Racing on this date in 2008 at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. Christopher Bell raced to the USAC National Midget victory at Belle-Clair Speedway in 2014 while Tyler Courtney displayed his dominance of Eldora in the late 2010s with a USAC National Sprint Car victory on the high banks in 2019.
MAY 10 USAC NATIONAL WINS: (Through 2019)
(1) Christopher Bell, Tyler Courtney, Pancho Carter, Tracy Hines, Rick Hood, Michael Lewis, Lee Osborne, Aaron Pierce, Dave Steele, Tony Stewart & Bob Tattersall
MAY 10 USAC NATIONAL WINNERS: (Through 2019)
1957: Bob Tattersall, USAC Midget at 81 Speedway – Wichita, Kans.
1975: Lee Osborne, USAC Sprint at Indianapolis Raceway Park – Clermont, Ind.
1980: Pancho Carter, USAC Sprint at Indianapolis Raceway Park – Clermont, Ind.
1985: Rick Hood, USAC Sprint at Devil’s Bowl Speedway – Mesquite, Texas
1997: Tony Stewart, USAC Midget at Indianapolis Raceway Park – Clermont, Ind.
1997: Dave Steele, USAC Sprint at Indianapolis Raceway Park – Clermont, Ind.
2002: Michael Lewis, USAC Midget at Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, Ky.
2007: Aaron Pierce, USAC Silver Crown at Darlington Raceway – Darlington, S.C.
2008: Tracy Hines, USAC Sprint at Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio
2014: Christopher Bell, USAC Midget at Belle-Clair Speedway – Belleville, Ill.
2019: Tyler Courtney, USAC Sprint at Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio
