LIGUORI SIGNS IN AS 30TH ENTRY FOR SUNDAY’S SUMAR CLASSIC
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Terre Haute, Indiana………Joe Liguori has signed in to become the 30th driver to enter this Sunday’s “Sumar Classic” USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series race at the Terre Haute Action Track.
The Tampa, Florida native has two previous starts in his “Sumar Classic” career, including a 10th place run in 2014 and a 12th place finish in 2017. The Midget, Sprint Car and Silver Crown veteran is amongst a crop of 30 car/driver combinations for the 18th running of the event which includes past “Sumar” winners Chris Windom, the reigning race winner, of Canton, Ill., who continued a streak of different “Sumar” winners that dates back to 1999. Among the other additional winners are C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Ind. (2016), Shane Cockrum of Benton, Ill. (2015) and Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. (2014).
Swanson has won three of the last four Silver Crown titles and is aiming for an unprecedented fourth this year with the DePalma Motorsports team. Windom was the lone driver to halt the streak in 2016 and then opened up the 2017 season with a “Sumar” score last April with team owner Gene Kazmark, whose car was flawless during the 100-lapper to score the dominant win. This year, Windom finds himself in new scenery with the Gene Nolen Racing team as a teammate to USAC Triple Crown champ Jerry Coons, Jr. of Tucson, Ariz.
Among the remainder of the entries includes past Silver Crown Series race winners Tyler Courtney of Indianapolis, Ind., Justin Grant of Ione, Calif., Shane Cottle of Kokomo, Ind., David Byrne of Shullsburg, Wisc. as well as previous USAC National Sprint Car and Midget feature winners who are seeking their first career Silver Crown victories Sunday are Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon, Crawfordsville, Indiana’s Jacob Wilson, Royersford, Pennsylvania’s Steve Buckwalter and Plainfield, Indiana’s Bill Rose.
Veterans Austin Nemire of Sylvania, Ohio, Coleman Gulick of Binghamton, N.Y., Matt Goodnight of Winchester, Ind. and Chris Fetter of Troy, Mo. are among the veterans returning to the lineup while past Silver Crown Rookies of the Year Aaron Pierce of Muncie, Ind. (2004), Casey Shuman of Tempe, Ariz. (2016) and Columbus, Indiana’s Joss Moffatt (2017) will be joined by this year’s new crop of Rookies that includes Warsaw, Indiana’s Neil Shepherd, Denton, North Carolina’s Johnny Petrozelle, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania’s Dave Berkheimer, Korey Weyant of Springfield, Ill., Kyle Robbins of New Castle, Ind., Travis Welpott of Pendleton, Ind., Austin Mundie of Dallas, Texas, Mike Haggenbottom of Levittown, Pa. and the versatile Chris Dyson from Pleasant Valley, N.Y., a two-time American LeMans Series champ, a veteran of the 24 Hours of LeMans and a Trans Am winner at Road Atlanta earlier this year.
The “Sumar Classic,” debuted with Donnie Beechler’s 1995 score, but the the first ever Silver Crown event held at Terre Haute was in 1980 when Gary Bettenhausen drove the Delrose-Holt Racing machine to the victory.
Pit gates open at 1pm while the grandstands open at 2pm. An open pit party will take place from 2-3pm. Silver Crown cars hit the track for hot laps beginning at 4pm.
The pit party is free for everyone purchasing a ticket for the race. The pit area will be open from 2-3pm, allowing fans up-close and personal access to the drivers and cars of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series. You can also watch and listen to USAC’s pre-race show, “The Lowdown Before It Goes Down” LIVE from the pit area.
Tickets for the “Sumar Classic” can be purchased now at https://usacracing.ticketspice.com/2018-sumar-classic-at-terre-haute. Adult infield tickets start at just $15 while children age 11 and under are FREE! Adult grandstand tickets are $25.
The Terre Haute Action Track is located at 3901 South US Hwy 41, Terre Haute, IN, 47807.
For fans who are unable to make the trip in-person, the “Sumar Classic” will be streamed live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/. If you miss the love coverage or would like to watch the full event, you can catch it again a day later, on-demand, at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
“SUMAR CLASSIC” ENTRY LIST:
04 (R) NEIL SHEPHERD/Warsaw, IN (Shepherd Racing)
07 JACOB WILSON/Crawfordsville, IN (Wilson Brothers Racing)
4 JOE LIGUORI/Tampa, FL (Liguori Racing)
6 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Klatt Enterprises)
7 (R) KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
8 (R) JOHNNY PETROZELLE/Denton, NC (Cornell-Petrozelle Racing)
9 (R) CHRIS DYSON/Pleasant Valley, NY (Chris Dyson Racing)
16 AUSTIN NEMIRE/Sylvania, OH (Nemire-Lesko Racing)
17 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (Gene Nolen Racing)
18 (R) TRAVIS WELPOTT/Pendleton, IN (Welpott Racing)
20 JERRY COONS, JR./Tucson, AZ (Gene Nolen Racing)
26 AARON PIERCE/Muncie, IN (Sam Pierce)
30 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Leary Racing)
31 (R) DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
32 JOSS MOFFATT/Columbus, IN (Williams & Wright Racing)
39 MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
40 DAVID BYRNE/Shullsburg, WI (Byrne Racing)
47 (R) AUSTIN MUNDIE/Dallas, TX (Les Butler)
53 STEVE BUCKWALTER/Royersford, PA (SET Racing)
55 CASEY SHUMAN/Tempe, AZ (Bateman Racing)
63 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (DePalma Motorsports)
66 BILL ROSE/Plainfield, IN (Bill Rose Racing)
71 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL (Hardy Boys Racing)
81 SHANE COTTLE/Kokomo, IN (Curtis Williams)
89 CHRIS FETTER/Troy, MO (Fetter Racing)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
97 TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Hans Lein)
99 (R) KOREY WEYANT/Springfield, IL (Scott Weyant)
114 COLEMAN GULICK/Binghamton, NY (Team Scorpion)
124 (R) MIKE HAGGENBOTTOM/Levittown, PA (Haggenbottom Racing)
(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series Rookie of the Year contender.