SILVER CROWN MAGIC RETURNS TO Du QUOIN THIS SUNDAY
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Du Quoin, Illinois………Simply put. The one-mile dirt oval at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds is magical.
The view of the moonlight dancing off the water in the infield and the thunderous roar of a full field of USAC Silver Crown Champ Cars reverberating off the covered grandstand is enough to make the hair on your neck stand up straight.
Du Quoin has been a staple of the USAC schedule since the club’s founding in 1956, and, prior to that, with AAA dating to 1948, has routinely produced magic when it comes to the on-track action as well.
This Sunday, September 2, the series makes its third and final visit of the year to a classic one-mile dirt oval. The legendary Southern Illinois track known as the “Magic Mile” always seems to pull a barnburner out of its hat at the “Ted Horn 100.”
Last year’s race definitely fit into that category with Kingsburg, California’s Kody Swanson flipped on the figurative switch in his patented style with ten laps remaining, passing Jeff Swindell in traffic to win his second career “Ted Horn 100,” and first since his first career series victory in 2010.
This year, Swanson is among eight past “Ted Horn 100” winners in the 42-car field, the largest car count since 2002. In fact, last year’s top-three all included past race winners. Runner-up finisher Shane Cockrum of nearby Benton, Ill. was a popular winner back in 2014 and 2015. Germantown, Tennessee’s Jeff Swindell may have finished third in 2017, but he was the show for a good portion, leading 68 laps and nearly pulling off his first win at the track in 27 years.
Chris Windom of Canton, Ill. was victorious on the most recent one-mile dirt race back in August at the Illinois State Fairgrounds where he also guided Gene Nolen’s car to its first win on the Springfield mile. Nolen’s cars have won at Du Quoin twice, but not since the 1990s with Johnny Parsons in 1992 and Tony Elliott in 1999. Windom captured his lone Du Quoin score in 2016 aboard RPM/Fred Gormly’s machine.
Peru, Indiana’s Russ Gamester is back in the familiar No. 51, which is the same combo that won at Du Quoin in the daylight back in 1997. Shane Cottle of Kansas, Ill. won in a white and red colored car for Contos Racing in 2007 and will sport the same colors this Sunday in Curtis Williams’ No. 81.
It’s been a decade since Brian Tyler won at Du Quoin, but the Pleasant Garden, North Carolina driver is hungrier than ever in the Galas Racing No. 12 in which he led in until midway at this year’s “Hoosier Hundred” at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Elkhart, Illinois driver Chris Urish led only three laps in the 2013 Du Quoin race, but those were the ones that counted the most as he earned his lone Silver Crown victory.
Justin Grant of Ione, Calif. finished sixth last year and owns the second spot in the series points heading into Du Quoin, 79 behind leader Swanson. David Byrne is fourth in the standings behind Windom in third. Byrne had a 28th place result in last year’s 100-miler, dropping out after 41 laps with engine trouble.
USAC Triple Crown champs Jerry Coons, Jr. of Tucson, Ariz. (5th in points) and Lincoln, Indiana’s Dave Darland (15th in points) have both had a victory at Du Quoin elude them over their legendary careers. Coons ran fifth last year after winning the pole position. Darland, meanwhile, started 12th and finished 12th.
A tight Rookie points race has emerged following Kyle Robbins strong sixth place run at the Springfield mile. The New Castle, Ind. racer is now only 26 behind Pendleton, Indiana’s Travis Welpott is the battle. Veteran Matt Goodnight of Winchester, Ind. is sandwiched between the two in points in the eighth spot.
Windom, Cockrum, Urish and Cottle are all Illinois natives who’ve struck gold at Du Quoin over the years and are among the 10 from the Land of Lincoln to enter along with Patrick Lawson (Edwardsville), J.C. Bland (Springfield), Joey Moughan (Springfield), Terry Babb (Decatur), A.J. Fike (Galesburg) and Korey Weyant (Springfield).
Pits and registration open at 1pm. The ticket office and grandstands open at 4pm. Silver Crown practice runs from 5pm to 6:10pm. Qualifying is set for 6:30pm. The Qualifying race is scheduled for 7:15pm. Pre-race ceremonies begin at 7:45pm with the 100-mile “Ted Horn 100” green flag set for 8:15pm.
Advance adult tickets are $25. Advanced children 11 and under are $10. On the day of the race, adult are $30. Children 11 and under are $10. Adult pit passes are $35 apiece. Pit passes for children 11 and under are $20.
If you miss it live or want to watch all the action again, catch it one http://www.Loudpedal.TV/ with on-demand coverage the very next day. You can also listen to flag-to-flag coverage LIVE on the USAC app.
“TED HORN 100” ENTRY LIST: (42 Cars Entered)
04 (R) NEIL SHEPHERD/Warsaw, IN (Shepherd Racing)
07 JACOB WILSON/Crawfordsville, IN (Wilson Brothers Racing)
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
4 JOE LIGUORI/Tampa, FL (Liguori Racing)
5 J.C. BLAND/Springfield, IL (Bland Brothers Enterprises)
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)
10 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Mickey Meyer)
12 BRIAN TYLER/Mt. Pleasant, NC (Galas Motorsports)
14 KEN SCHRADER/Fenton, MO (Dennis & Dave McQuinn)
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 JEFF SWINDELL/Germantown, TN (Swanson Racing)
23 TERRY JAMES/St. Louis, MO (Todd Satterthwaite)
24 (R) KEITH BURCH/Farmington, MO (Keith Burch)
29 JOEY MOUGHAN/Springfield, IL (Joey Moughan)
31 (R) DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
33 JACKIE BURKE/Houston, TX (Jackie Burke)
34 TERRY BABB/Decatur, IL (Ken Morford)
39 MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
40 DAVID BYRNE/Shullsburg, WI (Byrne Racing)
41 A.J. FIKE/Galesburg, IL (Dave & Dennis McQuinn)
44 DANNY LONG/Bonne Terre, MO (Danny Long)
47 (R) AUSTIN MUNDIE/Dallas, TX (Les Butler)
51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
56 (R) KEVIN THOMAS, JR./Cullman, AL (Foxco Racing)
63 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (DePalma Motorsports)
71 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL (Hardy Boys Racing)
75 BILL ROSE/Plainfield, IN (Bill Rose Racing)
77 CHRIS URISH/Elkhart, IL (Chris Urish)
81 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Curtis Williams)
89 CHRIS FETTER/Troy, MO (Fetter Racing)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 DAVE DARLAND/Lincoln, IN (Gene Kazmark)
97 TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Hans Lein)
99 (R) KOREY WEYANT/Springfield, IL (Scott Weyant)
124 (R) MIKE HAGGENBOTTOM/Levittown, PA (Haggenbottom Racing)
(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series Rookie of the Year contender.