DALLAS HEWITT AIMS TO MAKE HIS MARK IN SILVER CROWN RACING IN 2019
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana………A familiar surname in the annals of USAC Silver Crown racing will return for the 2019 season as Dallas Hewitt plans to pilot his new ride in all six races on the dirt schedule this coming season.
Dallas, of Troy, Ohio, is the nephew of 1986-87 Silver Crown champ and 23-time race winner Jack Hewitt. Dallas has been highly-successful in sprint car racing over the past several seasons, including a runner-up finish in the #LetsRaceTwo / Don Branson-Jud Larson Classic at Eldora Speedway in 2017. Though Dallas certainly has the chops to get the job done, it certainly won’t hurt to have Uncle Jack in his corner.
“You don’t have to go to him for advice, you’re going to get it anyways,” Dallas said with a laugh. “I will for sure. He’s got a lot of knowledge on these cars. There’s a lot of stuff I have no idea about. Other than when I ran at Eldora, I haven’t even been to a Silver Crown race since 2000, even just being down in the pits and helping out. It’s going to be a whole new deal for me.”
The debut for Dallas in a Silver Crown car came at Eldora in 2016 in a substitution role aboard the Mark Swanson-owned machine that was qualified by Kent Wolters. Dallas put in a solid performance, driving from 20th to 13th in his lone series start to date.
Dallas and his sprint car owner Todd Keen hatched a plan late last season to jump into the series with both feet after the two had achieved a myriad of success together. The two acquired the cars from Grant and Kenny Simpson - Grant raced the car once on the Belleville (Kans.) High Banks in 2014. Now with the car in the shop, the wheels are in motion and the eagerness grows until the first event just months away.
“I’ve always wanted to run one and I’ve always wanted to do the miles,” Dallas said. “With my sprint car, it was never feasible to run both. It’s hard enough to field one car. We were driving to Gas City last year and I thought, if we’re running together next year, I’ll just sell all my sprint car stuff and buy a Silver Crown car and run that. He said it sounded like a good idea.”
Dallas is tickled when he imagines the prestige of driving 100 laps on a one-mile dirt oval at such historical venues that make up the dirt portion of the schedule that he will compete on. Though he admits there will certainly be a learning curve to adapting to the Silver Crown car, he’s confident in his abilities to get the job done.
“As a kid, we were always at the races, but it was always a big special event when you went to a mile,” Dallas remembers. “That’s always stood out to me. How many guys get to say they’ve run 100 miles in a Silver Crown car anywhere? More laps will fit me a little better anyway. You have to bide your time and race at the end. I have a lot of endurance and I’m more accustomed to the slick tracks, so hopefully it will fit us a little bit better and we’ll see what happens.”
2019 USAC SILVER CROWN SCHEDULE
Mar 22-23: (P#) Memphis International Raceway (Millington, TN)
Apr 14: (D) Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)
Apr 27: (P) Toledo Speedway (Toledo, OH)
May 23: (D) Indiana State Fairgrounds (Indianapolis, IN)
May 24: (P) Lucas Oil Raceway (Brownsburg, IN)
Jun 14: (D) Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA)
Jun 28: (P) Madison International Speedway (Oregon, WI)
Aug 10: (P) Salem Speedway (Salem, IN)
Aug 17: (D#) Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, IL)
Sep 1: (D) Du Quoin State Fairgrounds (Du Quoin, IL)
Sep 7: (P) Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis (Brownsburg, IN)
Sep 27-28: (D) Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)
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(P) = Pavement Race
(D) = Dirt Race
# = Daytime Race