ENTRY LIST RELEASED FOR FRIDAY’S DAIRYLAND 100 AT MADISON
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Oregon, Wisconsin………The entry list has been released for the Bytec “Dairyland 100,” featuring the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series’ debut at Madison International Speedway this Friday night, June 29.
The list includes four former Silver Crown champs, headed by series point leader and three-time titlist Kody Swanson. Swanson has two milestones that he could equal Friday. Swanson stands at 22 career Silver Crown victories, and with another win at Madison, he would equal Jack Hewitt’s all-time record of 23. He also has the opportunity to become just the third driver to win four-straight Silver Crown races, joining Tom Bigelow in 1975-76 and Jack Hewitt, who is the only other driver to do the quadruple in a single-season back in 1986.
Additionally, 2016 champ Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) and 2008 titlist Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, Ariz.) head a stout two-car Gene Nolen Racing lineup. Lincoln, Indiana’s Dave Darland, the 1997 champion, will make his third start with the Williams & Wright Racing team.
Five additional entries have accumulated victories in their Silver Crown careers, including Greenfield, Indiana’s Eric Gordon, whose only Silver Crown victory came in the state of Wisconsin, at the Milwaukee Mile, back in 1990. Shullsburg’s David Byrne is the lone Badger state representative in the field. Bobby Santos of Franklin, Mass. was victorious in the season opener at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz. while Ione, California’s Justin Grant won the dirt season opener at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in April. Aaron Pierce recorded the fastest lap in the history of Silver Crown racing back in 2006 and was strong in his last series outing at Brownsburg, Indiana’s Lucas Oil Raceway in May, recording a 3rd place result.
Seven rookies and four veterans are looking for their first series win this Friday night. The veterans list consists of past series’ Rookie of the Year Kyle Hamilton of Danville, Ind., HPD Midget champion Austin Nemire of Sylvania, Ohio, Edwardsville, Illinois pilot Patrick Lawson and Winchester, Indiana’s Matt Goodnight.
Among the Rookies are top first-year driver Travis Welpott of Pendleton, Ind., who stands 7th in the standings, plus USAC’s winningest female driver Toni Breidinger of Hillsborough, Calif and past USAC D1 Midget champ Jim Anderson of Joliet, Ill. New Castle, Indiana’s Kyle Robbins, Fairview Heights, Illinois, Austin Blair, Levittown, Pennsylvania’s Mike Haggenbottom and Angola, Indiana’s Derek Bischak are all set to take on the half-mile paved Madison oval for the first time in their initial season on the circuit.
Pits open at 3:30pm. The drivers meeting will take place at 4:30pm. Two practice sessions will hit the track from 5:20pm to 5:45pm and from 6:05pm to 6:30pm. Front gates open at 6pm. Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 6:35pm with racing action set for 7:30pm.
Adult tickets are $20. Seniors age 62+ are $18. Students age 12-17 are $10. Children age 6-11 are $5. Children 5 and under are free.
Catch the race audio LIVE on the USAC app or watch a day later, on-demand at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
BYTEC “DAIRYLAND 100” ENTRY LIST:
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
6 KYLE HAMILTON/Danville, IN (Klatt Enterprises)
7 (R) KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR 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)
21 ERIC GORDON/Greenfield, IN (Armstrong Racing)
22 BOBBY SANTOS/Franklin, MA (DJ Racing)
24 (R) MIKE HAGGENBOTTOM/Levittown, PA (Haggenbottom Racing)
26 AARON PIERCE/Muncie, IN (Sam Pierce)
31 (R) DEREK BISCHAK/Angola, IN (Derek Bischak)
32 DAVE DARLAND/Lincoln, IN (Williams & Wright Racing)
39 MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
40 DAVID BYRNE/Shullsburg, WI (Byrne Racing)
63 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (DePalma Motorsports)
80 (R) TONI BREIDINGER/Hillsborough, CA (Breidinger Racing)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 (R) JIM ANDERSON/Joliet, IL (Gene Kazmark)
96 (R) AUSTIN BLAIR/Fairview Heights, IL (Blair Racing)
(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series Rookie of the Year contender.