3 MEMBERS OF “150-PLUS CLUB” AT DuQUOIN SUNDAY


Dave Darland, Brian Tyler and Russ Gamester continue to pursue Jack Hewitt to become the all-time leader in terms of career USAC Silver Crown Championship starts. They will each try to take another step toward that goal Sunday night when the “Ted Horn 100” unfolds at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds


 


Hewitt started 162 Silver Crown races during his career, which also included a series-record 23 wins, including 1986, 1987 and 1993 victories at DuQuoin’s Magic Mile.


 


Darland has 156 career starts but continues to seek his first DuQuoin triumph, while Tyler, with 154 starts, is the defending race winner. Gamester, who won at DuQuoin in 1997, also has 154 career Silver Crown starts.


 


The trio, plus Hewitt, are joined in the “150-plus” club by the retired Johnny Parsons, who made his 153rd career start at DuQuoin last year.


 


The trio has accounted for a total of 35 Silver Crown wins. Darland is the only former series champion, claiming the 1997 title, although Tyler was second in 1998 and 2006 and Gamester was the 1999 and 2001 runner-up.


 


Tyler, with victories at Richmond, Va. and Oswego, NY this year, ranks sixth in the current standings, while Darland, second in the “Hoosier Hundred” in May, ranks 18th after three dirt-track outings and Gamester, fifth at the “Hoosier Hundred,” ranks 19th.


 


All of the above are chasing Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Calif., who leads the standings in his quest to join Jimmy Sills as three-time Silver Crown Champions. Kaeding won the series opener at Phoenix, Ariz. and is the only driver to post “top-10” finishes in all seven races so far this season. He’ll try to improve on last year’s 11th-place DuQuoin finish.