In celebration of the 50th year of USAC Silver Crown Champ Car racing in 2020, we are reviewing the past 49 years of series history.
2000 USAC SILVER CROWN SEASON REVIEW
After playing the role of runner-up in recent USAC point battles, Tracy Hines finally came through in a big way, winning the Coors Light Silver Bullet series title in 2000.
Hines, the National Midget runner-up in 1996 and 1997 and the National Sprint Car runner-up in 1999, proved to be one of the most consistent drivers of the 2000 season, as he also finished in the top-five of the Stoops Freightliner National Sprint Car and MCI Worldcom National Midget points.
“The Silver Bullet series was our major goal this season,” Hines revealed. “I didn’t have a midget ride and I knew we’d be a contender in the sprint cars, but I figured the Silver Bullets would be the best shot of the three as far as a championship.”
It might have been the best shot of the three, but it was certainly not easy. Hines was part of a fantastic three-way battle that also included eventual runner-up Dave Darland and Brian Tyler. Hines signaled his status as a favorite early in the season when he scored back-to-back wins at Nazareth and Gateway.
Tyler, the early point leader, lost ground when the series hit the dirt later in the year, while Darland surged into the lead. Hines gained momentum heading toward the end of the year because he and his team enjoyed great consistency both on the dirt and pavement. When Darland led with only two races remaining following a victory at the Cal Expo State Fairgrounds in Sacramento, Calif., Hines wasn’t too stressed about the task at hand.
“I wasn’t too worried toward the end of the year because our dirt program picked up so much,” Hines explained. “I figured if we could run as well on the dirt as we had on the pavement we’d be in contention.”
Hines cut deeply into Darland’s lead at the penultimate event in Irwindale, but it was more of a triumph than some may have noticed. Hines had struggled at Irwindale in 1999 but came back with numerous changes to the car this year. The calculated gamble worked for Hines, who is no stranger to crafting setups on a car. He and his team headed to the final race of the season at Memphis trailing Darland by only five points.
Hines and his team went on to finish second to Brian Tyler at Memphis, and he won the title by only 29 points. It finally put all the close calls behind him.
“I think the biggest thing is that it pretty much puts a close to all the if’s, should’s, would’s and could’s of the past few years.”
Hines was quick to thank Terry Riggs and the entire crew that worked on the car, including Jim McQueen who helped engineer the team’s impressive run on the dirt. Finally, M & M Automotive provided what Tracy described as “great motors.”
Darland finished 15th at the Memphis finale to take the runner-up spot in the standings ahead of Tyler, who claimed victories in the series opener and closer at Walt Disney World and Memphis, respectively.
Fourteen races at 13 tracks comprised the series schedule, with 10 drivers tasting victory. The series kicked off with a flourish after rain at Walt Disney World Speedway forced a 43-car starting field – the largest in series history.
Additional highlights of the season included Brad Noffsinger’s then-ultimate series track record of 143.930 mph at Gateway International Raceway, car owner Ralph Potter’s initial series triumph with Jay Drake at Knoxville Raceway and Jack Hewitt’s 23rd and final Silver Crown win at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, plus a return for the series to Knoxville Raceway for the first time in 19 years.
Kasey Kahne’s wire-to-wire victory in his first visit to the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds helped him collect the Oliver Trucking USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year award. John Heydenreich claimed series Most Improved Driver honors with eight top-10 finishes in 14 starts.
-------------------------------------------------------------
TYLER OUTRUNS 43-CAR DISNEY WORLD FIELD
Orlando, Florida………Brian Tyler of Parma, Mich. outran defending USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet Champion Ryan Newman to win the 50-mile series opener at Walt Disney World Speedway on January 29.
Tyler’s victory in the race, which immediately followed the Delphi Indy 200 IRL opener on the WDWS one-mile paved oval, was worth $12,350 from the total purse of $73,212.
“It’s always fun to race with Ryan,” said Tyler after the race. “You can trust him.”
Tyler had few laps on the track before Saturday’s race. Rain forced cancellation of Friday’s scheduled qualifying and Tyler’s crew had to replace a fuel pump after just a few practice laps.
Tyler started next to pole starter Dave Darland and led the opening lap in his Kroger/Pringles/Sunny Delight Special. On lap two, Tyler yielded to 1998 series champion Jason Leffler, who led the next 13 laps. Newman caught Leffler on lap 15 and led for 27 laps before Tyler made his winning move in turn one on lap 42.
Tyler led the final eight laps to beat Newman by about six car lengths but lap 46 provided some of the best competition all day. Tyler led down the home stretch, but Newman ducked beneath him in turn one. Exiting turn one, Tyler regained the lead.
“We were running short on fuel,” admitted Newman.
Six yellow flags and one red flag interrupted the 50-lap event. There were no injuries in any of the incidents.
Trailing Tyler and Newman at the checkered flag were Gary Hieber, Brad Noffsinger and Chet Fillip.
The race offered the largest starting field in series history, 43. The original 30-car field was expanded to 43 when rain forced cancellation of the planned qualifications and qualifying race.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: January 29, 2000 – Orlando, Florida – Walt Disney World Speedway – Coors Light Silver Bullet 50
QUALIFYING: Not Held due to weather
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brian Tyler (#69 Dynamics) (2), 2. Ryan Newman (#1 Vance) (6), 3. Gary Hieber (#66 EWH) (11), 4. Brad Noffsinger (#40 Curb-Agajanian) (19), 5. Chet Fillip (#77 Advanced) (14), 6. Dave Darland (#56 Foxco) (1), 7. Paul White (#100 Cook) (13), 8. Tracy Hines (#37 Riggs) (4), 9. Tony Elliott (#20 Nolen) (7), 10. Eric Gordon (#41 Bowen) (37), 11. J.J. Yeley (#67 Zarounian) (3), 12. Jay Drake (#6 Potter) (12), 13. Ricky Logan (#80 Beach) (24), 14. Dan Drinan (#333 RE Technologies) (29), 15. Rich Tobias Jr. (#74 RW) (26), 16. Greg Wilson (#63 Hampshire) (39), 17. Derek Davidson (#62 Beaver) (15), 18. Todd Kane (#75 Dixon-Kane) (16), 19. Dane Carter (#27 Carter) (28), 20. Jack Hewitt (#23 Dewit) (9), 21. Ray Bragg (#89 Moore) (40), 22. Brian Gerster (#25 BWB) (33), 23. Pat Abold (#01 West) (38), 24. Bobby McMahan (#26 Espindola) (22), 25. Billy Whittaker (#47 Paternoster) (30), 26. Jason McCord (#4 Contos) (18), 27. Jason Leffler (#9 East-Stewart) (5), 28. Brad Armstrong (#59 Westcon) (25), 29. Russ Gamester (#51 Gamester) (8), 30. John Heydenreich (#99 Mucci-Matczak) (32), 31. Bentley Warren (#29 S & S) (17), 32. Robin Bank (#72 Brown-Duda) (36), 33. Chuck Leary (#30 Leary) (20), 34. Gene Lee Gibson (#3 Van Klompenburg) (42), 35. Jimmy Sills (#11 Snider-Foyt) (10), 36. Donnie Beechler (#16 Logan) (21), 37. Jimmy Kite (#50 Aviators) (23), 38. Brian Paulus (#22 P & P) (34), 39. Troy Vaccaro (#18 Conroy) (27), 40. Jimmy McCune (#36 McCune) (31), 41. Randy Bateman (#96 T & D) (35), 42. Tom Capie (#153 Capie) (41), 43. Mike Lauterborn (#13 Lauterborn) (43). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Brian Tyler, Laps 2-14 Jason Leffler, Laps 15-41 Ryan Newman, Laps 42-50 Brian Tyler.
NEW COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Brian Tyler-60; 2-Ryan Newman-60; 3-Gary Hieber-54; 4-Brad Noffsinger-51; 5-Chet Fillip-48; 6-Dave Darland-45; 7-Paul White-42; 8-Tracy Hines-39; 9-Tony Elliott-36; 10-Eric Gordon-33.
-------------------------------------------------------------
LEFFLER CLAIMS 50-MILE COPPER SILVER
Avondale, Arizona………Jason Leffler of Long Beach, Calif. won the Copper World Classic 50-mile USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet race at Phoenix International Raceway on February 6.
The victory was worth $19,370 and was the second of the day for car co-owner Tony Stewart. Leffler drover the Team ASE/Wynn’s Beast Special.
Stewart, the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, earlier won the 25-mile USAC MCI Worldcom Midget race in his Wynn’s/ASE/Performance Racing Industry/Beast.
“The car was awesome,” said Leffler after the race. “We were lucky with traffic today. I got a break when Tracy Hines got held up by lapped cars and I got away. Tony was spotting for me in the turn one and two suites and it was nice having his help.”
Brian Tyler, the defending race winner and winner of the 2000 series opener at Disney World, finished second at Phoenix and leads the series standings. Rounding out the top-five were Brad Noffsinger, Hines and Dave Darland.
Four yellow flags and one red flag slowed the race. The red flag flew on lap 26 when Jack Hewitt and Pat Abold crashed exiting turn four. There were no injuries.
Leffler established a new track qualifying record of 140.806 mph to win the pole starting position. He led the first four laps before yielding to Kenny Irwin Jr. for laps 5-11. He regained the lead on lap 12 and led the rest of the way as Irwin retired after 43 laps with power steering problems.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: February 4-6, 2000 – Avondale, Arizona – Phoenix International Raceway – 23rd Copper World Classic
QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into the feature) 1. Jason Leffler, 9, East/Stewart-25.567; 2. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-25.859; 3. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-25.865; 4. Kenny Irwin Jr., 2, Vance-25.957; 5. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-25.994; 6. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-26.023; 7. Dan Drinan, 333, RE Technologies-26.123; 8. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-26.137; 9. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-26.176; 10. Paul White, 100, Cook-26.181; 11. Chuck Leary, 30, Leary-26.186; 12. Tony Hunt, 81, Bar-D-26.229; 13. J.J. Yeley, 67, Zarounian-26.266; 14. Bentley Warren, 29, S & S-26.275; 15. Jimmy Sills, 11, Snider/Foyt-26.300; 16. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-26.305; 17. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-26.306; 18. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-26.372; 19. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-26.379; 20. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-26.442; 21. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-26.473; 22. Donnie Beechler, 16, Logan-26.521; 23. Jay Drake, 6, Potter-26.544; 24. Jon Herb, 52, Nowicke-26.619; 25. Ed Carpenter, 111, Snider-26.624; 26. Ken Hamilton, 90, Hamilton-26.671; 27. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-26.687; 28. Pat Abold, 01, West-26.738; 29. Mike Ordway, 32, Kazmark-26.751; 30. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-26.917; 31. Derek Davidson, 62, Beaver-26.977; 32. Bobby McMahan, 26, Espindola-27.050; 33. Wally Pankratz, 98, Maples-27.129; 34. Todd Kane, 75, Dixon/Kane-27.394; 35. Robin Bank, 72, Brown/Duda-27.396; 36. Ron Horton, 117, Krenn-27.414; 37. Ray Bragg, 89, Moore-27.502; 38. Ricky Logan, 80, Beach-27.594; 39. Dane Carter, 27, Carter-28.090; 40. Joe Gosek, 122, Powell-28.191; 41. Mike Adkins, 71, Madkins-28.659; 42. Shane Scully, 45, Pritchett-28.805; 43. Ray Evans, 95, Burmeister-29.499; 44. Brian Gerster, 25, BWB-NT; 45. Vern Church, 114, Church-NT; 46. Mike Lauterborn, 13, Lauterborn-NT; 47. Bill Rose, 42, Robison-NT; 48. Ray Evans, 85, Evans-NT; 49. #120, Nolen-NT. NOTE: Rick Sipes also in car #45, Don Powell and Tyler Walker also in car #122, Lou Burmeister also in car #95).
QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Jack Hewitt, 2. Ed Carpenter, 3. Pat Abold, 4. Ken Hamilton, 5. Wally Pankratz, 6. Rich Tobias Jr., 7. Derek Davidson, 8. Todd Kane, 9. Bobby McMahan, 10. Robin Bank, 11. Ricky Logan, 12. Mike Adkins, 13. Ray Bragg, 14. Ray Evans, 15. Shane Scully, 16. Dane Carter, 17. Ron Horton, 18. Joe Gosek, 19. Mike Ordway. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jason Leffler (1), 2. Brian Tyler (6), 3. Brad Noffsinger (8), 4. Tracy Hines (3), 5. Dave Darland (18), 6. Gary Hieber (16), 7. John Heydenreich (20), 8. Ryan Newman (2), 9. Ed Carpenter (26), 10. Jimmy Sills (15), 11. J.J. Yeley (13), 12. Paul White (10), 13. Jay Drake (23), 14. Eric Gordon (19), 15. Bentley Warren (14), 16. Tony Hunt (12), 17. Chuck Leary (11), 18. Rich Tobias Jr. (30), 19. Jon Herb (24), 20. Russ Gamester (9), 21. Kenny Irwin Jr. (4), 22. Tony Elliott (21), 23. Jack Hewitt (25), 24. Pat Abold (27), 25. Wally Pankratz (29), 26. Dan Drinan (7), 27. Ken Hamilton (28), 28. Jason McCord (5), 29. Chet Fillip (17), 30. Donnie Beechler (22). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Jason Leffler, Laps 5-11 Kenny Irwin Jr., Laps 12-50 Jason Leffler.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Brian Tyler-117; 2-Brad Noffsinger-105; 3-Gary Hieber-99; 4-Ryan Newman-99; 5-Dave Darland-93; 6-Tracy Hines-90; 7-Jason Leffler-72; 8-Paul White-71; 9-Eric Gordon-58; 10-Chet Fillip-51.
-------------------------------------------------------------
HINES TAKES NAZARETH VICTORY
Nazareth, Pennsylvania………Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. captured the accident-shortened Coors Light Silver Bullet race at Nazareth Speedway on April 8 in his Indiana Underground Construction Chevy/Beast.
Hines led 44 of the 98 laps contested before a four-car accident halted the event two laps short of the scheduled finish.
“I laid back early to save my tires,” admitted Hines after the race. “I could see everyone in front of me was abusing theirs. We made some chassis adjustments and I knew it would be hard for anybody to pass me late in the race. What motivated me most was TV.”
The race was taped for an April 23 broadcast by ESPN2. Hines also had one scary moment during the race when he inadvertently hit Stevie Reeves in the tail.
Brian Tyler finished second and said, “I didn’t need those reds at the end. I might have been able to beat him. My tires were like brand new.”
Jimmy McCune, who led late in the race, finished third, ahead of Paul White and Brian Paulus.
The first red flag flew on lap 87 when Jack Hewitt and pole starter Gary Hieber tangled at the start/finish line. John Heydenreich and Dave Darland were also involved but Darland restarted. The final red flag which halted the event came out when Stevie Reeves and Brad Noffsinger tangled at the start/finish line and collected Pat Abold and Jimmy Sills. There were no serious injuries, although Sills suffered a bruised leg.
Hieber was the fastest qualifier at 139.524 mph, a new track record, and led the first 48 laps of the race. Jack Hewitt of Troy, Ohio won the 15-lap qualifying race.
Ed Carpenter of Indianapolis, Ind. earned the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award for his seventh-place finish.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 7-8, 2000 – Nazareth, Pennsylvania – Nazareth Speedway
QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into the feature) 1. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-25.802; 2. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-25.910; 3. Stevie Reeves, 9, East/Stewart-25.939; 4. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-26.259; 5. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-26.287; 6. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-26.304; 7. Paul White, 100, Cook-26.326; 8. Jay Drake, 6, Potter-26.327; 9. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-26.336; 10. Brian Gerster, 25, BWB-26.356; 11. Jimmy Sills, 11, Snider/Foyt-26.449; 12. Bentley Warren, 29, S & S-26.490; 13. Jimmy McCune, 2, Vance-26.664; 14. Pat Abold, 01, West-26.670; 15. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-26.730; 16. Brian Paulus, 22, P & P-26.755; 17. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-26.795; 18. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-26.818; 29. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-26.948; 20. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-26.961; 21. Dan Drinan, 333, RE Technologies-26.971; 22. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-26.987; 23. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-27.106; 24. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-27.117; 25. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-27.126; 26. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-27.372; 27. Billy Whittaker, 47, Paternoster-27.418; 28. Todd Kane, 75, Dixon/Kane-27.524; 29. Bobby McMahan, 26, Espindola-27.594; 30. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-27.741; 31. Ken Woolley, 31, Mataka-28.233; 32. Troy Vaccaro, 18, Conroy-29.578; 33. Gary Mondschein, 158, Capie-30.220; 34. Robin Bank, 72, Brown/Duda-NT; 35. Derek Davidson, 50, Aviators-NT; 36. Brad Armstrong, 59, Westcon-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Jack Hewitt, 2. Tony Elliott, 3. Billy Whittaker, 4. Bobby McMahan, 5. Bud Kaeding, 6. Todd Kane, 7. Brad Armstrong, 8. Troy Vaccaro, 9. Gary Mondschein, 10. Ken Woolley. NT
FEATURE: (98 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tracy Hines (6), Brian Tyler (9), 3. Jimmy McCune (13), 4. Paul White (7), 5. Brian Paulus (16), 6. Eric Gordon (19), 7. Ed Carpenter (18), 8. Ryan Newman (2), 9. Tony Elliott (26), 10. Bentley Warren (12), 11. Stevie Reeves (3), 12. Brad Noffsinger (5), 13. Jimmy Sills (11), 14. Pat Abold (14), 15. Dave Darland (23), 16. Brian Gerster (10), 17. Billy Whittaker (27), 18. Bud Kaeding (29), 19. Tom Capie (17), 20. Jack Hewitt (25), 21. John Heydenreich (15), 22. Gary Hieber (1), 23. Rich Tobias Jr. (22), 24, Bobby McMahan (28), 25. Kasey Kahne (20), 26. Dan Drinan (21), 27. Todd Kane (30), 28. Robby Flock (24), 29. Jason McCord (4), 30. Jay Drake (8). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-48 Gary Hieber, Laps 49-50 Jimmy McCune, Laps 51-77 Tracy Hines, Laps 78-81 Jimmy McCune, Laps 82-98 Tracy Hines (Race halted after 98 laps due to red flag).
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Brian Tyler-174; 2-Tracy Hines-150; 3-Ryan Newman-138; 4-Brad Noffsinger-134; 5-Paul White-122; 6-Dave Darland-116; 7-Gary Hieber-116; 8-Eric Gordon-103; 9-Tony Elliott-83; 10-Ed Carpenter-78.
-------------------------------------------------------------
GATEWAY’S SHOP ‘N SAVE 100 TO HINES
Madison, Illinois………Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. scored his second consecutive USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet victory in the Shop ‘N Save 100 at Gateway International Raceway on May 7. Hines also won on April 8 at Nazareth, Pa.
Hines passed Jason Leffler on the 67th lap of the 80-lap race around the 1.25-mile paved oval, then led the final 14 laps in his Indiana Underground Construction Special. Hines’ victory boosted him into the series point lead.
The race, featured on ESPN2, included 10 lead changes among five drivers. Trailing Hines and Leffler at the checkered flag were pole winner Brad Noffsinger, J.J. Yeley and John Heydenreich. Noffsinger established an ultimate series speed record with his qualifying speed of 143.930 mph on May 6.
“It was a matter of survival,” commented Hines in victory lane. “Everybody was together, and you had to break away from somebody. Brad was holding Jason and I up because of a blistered tire but Jason gave me a signal and we got past. The last restart really helped me because my car restarts well.”
Only four yellow flags interrupted the event but the final one for Tom Capie’s spin into the wall in turn three forced a yellow flag finish.
Although unable to match last year’s series record 16 lead changes, the field engaged in numerous position changes at the front in the early laps. “It was really dicey at the start,” concluded Hines.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 6-7, 2000 – Madison, Illinois – Gateway International Raceway – Shop ‘N Save 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into the feature) 1. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-31.448; 2. Paul White, 100, Cook-31.774; 3. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-31.908; 4. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-31.963; 5. J.J. Yeley, 92, Hoerner-31.968; 6. Jason Leffler, 9, East/Stewart-31.977; 7. Jimmy Sills, 11, Snider/Foyt-32.036; 8. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-32.056; 9. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-32.097; 10. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-32.111; 11. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-32.143; 12. Dan Drinan, 333, RE Technologies-32.151; 13. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-32.162; 14. Jon Herb, 52, Nowicke-32.193; 15. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-32.238; 16. Jay Drake, 6, Potter-32.257; 17. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-32.281; 18. Brian Gerster, 25, BWB-32.288; 19. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-32.344; 20. Brian Paulus, 22, P & P-32.348; 21. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-32.405; 22. Billy Whittaker, 47, Paternoster-32.467; 23. Todd Kane, 75, Dixon/Kane-32.499; 24. Bobby McMahan, 26, Espindola-32.529; 25. Chuck Leary, 30, Leary-32.529; 26. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-32.558; 27. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-32.564; 28. Jimmy McCune, 2, Vance-32.622; 29. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-32.648; 30. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-32.685; 31. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 92, Hoerner-32.708; 32. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-32.715; 33. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-32.733; 34. Jimmy Kite, 50, Aviators-32.782; 35. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-32.843; 36. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-33.265; 37. Randy Bateman, 96, T & D-33.323; 38. Dana Laliberte, 70, LaLiberte-34.541; 39. Eric Butze, 35, RE Technologies-34.921; 40. Donnie Lehmann, 46, Lehmann-34.929; 41. Tad Roach, 16, Logan-36.516; 42. Dean Franklin, 83, Sohm-NT; 43. Troy Vaccaro, 18, Conroy-NT; 44. Ricky Shelton, 8, Wallace-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Jason McCord, 2. John Heydenreich, 3. Jimmy McCune, 4. Jimmy Kite, 5. Tom Capie, 6. Tony Elliott, 7. Robby Flock, 8. Bill Rose, 9. Randy Bateman, 10. Dean Franklin, 11. Eric Butze, 12. Tad Roach, 13. Chuck Leary, 14. Eric Gordon, 15. Donnie Lehmann, 16. Rich Tobias Jr., 17. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 18. Dana Laliberte. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tracy Hines (4), 2. Jason Leffler (6), 3. Brad Noffsinger (1), 4. J.J. Yeley (5), 5. John Heydenreich (26), 6. Jack Hewitt (15), 7. Dan Drinan (12), 8. Jimmy McCune (27), 9. Russ Gamester (8), 10. Brian Paulus (20), 11. Dave Darland (11), 12. Jay Drake (16), 13. Brian Gerster (18), 14. Billy Whittaker (22), 15. Todd Kane (23), 16. Jimmy Kite (28), 17. Bobby McMahan (24), 18. Kasey Kahne (17), 19. Tom Capie (29), 20. Jimmy Sills (7), 21. Jon Herb (14), 22. Bud Kaeding (3), 23. Paul White (2), 24. Chet Fillip (21), 25. Tony Elliott (30), 26. Brian Tyler (10), 27. Ed Carpenter (13), 28. Jason McCord (25), 29. Ryan Newman (9), 30. Gary Hieber (19). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-17 Paul White, Lap 18 Dan Drinan, Lap 19 Brad Noffsinger, Lap 20 Jason Leffler, Laps 21-22 Paul White, Laps 23-24 Dan Drinan, Laps 25-27 Jason Leffler, Laps 28-65 Brad Noffsinger, Lap 66 Jason Leffler, Laps 67-80 Tracy Hines.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Tracy Hines-210; 2-Brad Noffsinger-194; 3-Brian Tyler-181; 4-Dave Darland-147; 5-Ryan Newman-142; 6-Paul White-132; 7-Jason Leffler-129; 8-Gary Hieber-119; 9-J.J. Yeley-113; 10-John Heydenreich-105.
-------------------------------------------------------------
LEFFLER WIRE-TO-WIRE AT IRP’S COCA-COLA 100
Clermont, Indiana………Jason Leffler of Long Beach, Calif., who qualified for his first Indianapolis 500 earlier in the afternoon, drove to victory in the Coca-Cola 100 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on May 20, leading all 100 laps after winning the pole starting position in his Team ASE/Beast Special, co-owned by Tony Stewart and Bob East.
Brian Tyler, who finished fifth, emerged as the leader in the Coors Light Silver Bullet series.
Leffler qualified for the Indianapolis 500 at a speed of over 220 mph, but his 121.667 mph track record speed at IRP was good enough to outqualify the 52-car Silver Bullet field. He seemed unbeatable in the 100-lap main event, stretching his lead after each of four restarts due to caution periods.
“The car was on a rail tonight,” Leffler admitted after the race. “We had a slight vibration, but I thought we had the race in command from the outset. I knew Ryan Newman would hang it out in the final laps after the last restart, but I didn’t think he had the tires left to beat me.”
Newman finished second, ahead of teammate Jimmy McCune, with Kasey Kahne taking fourth place after starting 27th in the 30-car field. Kahne grabbed the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award for his performance.
Tracy Hines, who was trying to become the first driver to win three consecutive Silver Bullet races in 14 years, was eliminated in a nine-car accident on the third lap which brought out the red flag. There were no driver injuries in the incident.
Jack Hewitt of Troy, Ohio was honored in pre-race ceremonies for making his 150th career Silver Bullet start, the first driver to reach that figure. He finished 10th after starting 26th.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 20, 2000 – Clermont, Indiana – Indianapolis Raceway Park – Coca-Cola 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Jason Leffler, 9, East/Stewart-20.298; 2. Dave Steele, 19, Gratton-20.446; 3. Jimmy McCune, 2, Vance-20.530; 4. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-20.617; 5. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-20.630; 6. Billy Whittaker, 47, Paternoster-20.645; 7. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-20.652; 8. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-20.678; 9. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-20.708; 10. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-20.727; 11. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-20.740; 12. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-20.754; 13. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-20.812; 14. Brian Paulus, 22, P & P-20.825; 15. J.J. Yeley, 92, Hoerner-20.835; 16. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-20.847; 17. Paul White, 100, Cook-20.880; 18. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-20.894; 19. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-20.920; 20. Jimmy Sills, 11, Snider/Foyt-20.928; 21. A.J. Fike, 93, RFMS-20.950; 22. Bobby McMahan, 26, Espindola-20.958; 23. Jay Drake, 6, Potter-20.968; 24. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-20.970; 25. Pat Abold, 01, West-20.999; 26. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-21.043; 27. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-21.114; 28. Brian Gerster, 25, BWB-21.120; 29. Dan Drinan, 333, RE Technologies-21.121; 30. Todd Kane, 75, Dixon/Kane-21.195; 31. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-21.325; 32. Clay Klepper, 18, Conroy-21.347; 33. Chuck Leary, 30, Leary-21.375; 34. Bentley Warren, 29, S & S-21.491; 35. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-21.501; 36. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-21.517; 37. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-21.575; 38. Brad Armstrong, 59, Westcon-21.590; 39. Dane Carter, 27, Carter-21.687; 40. Randy Bateman, 96, T & D-21.880; 41. Donnie Lehmann, 46, Lehmann-21.924; 42. Marc DeBeaumont, 50, Aviators-22.080; 43. Ken Hamilton, 90, Tyler-22.351; 44. Steve Surniak, 31, Mataka-22.625; 45. Craig Dori, 38, Shoestring-23.311; 46. Chris Petersen, 98, Maples-23.329; 47. Bruce Field, 89, Moore-23.535; 48. Lou Burmeister, 95, Burmeister-24.855; 49. Don Carr, 84, Spivey-NT; 50. Larry Gibson, 3, Van Klompenburg-NT; 51. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-NT; 52. Eric Butze, 35, RE Technologies-NT.
FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Jay Drake, 2. Eric Gordon, 3. A.J. Fike, 4. Kasey Kahne, 5. Pat Abold, 6. Dan Drinan, 7. Chuck Leary, 8. Dane Carter, 9. Bruce Field, 10. Robby Flock, 11. Donnie Lehmann, 12. Craig Dori, 13. Tom Capie, 14. Ken Hamilton. 5:19.10
SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Bobby McMahan, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Jack Hewitt, 4. Todd Kane, 5. Bentley Warren, 6. Brian Gerster, 7. Brad Armstrong, 8. Rich Tobias Jr., 9. Clay Klepper, 10. Bill Rose, 11. Randy Bateman, 12. Steve Surniak, 13. Marc DeBeaumont, 14. Chris Petersen, 15. Lou Burmeister. 5:16.84
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jason Leffler (1), 2. Ryan Newman (10), 3. Jimmy McCune (3), 4. Kasey Kahne (27), 5. Brian Tyler (13), 6. Brian Paulus (14), 7. Dave Darland (24), 8. Russ Gamester (16), 9. Tony Elliott (19), 10. Jack Hewitt (26), 11. Dave Steele (2), 12. John Heydenreich (4), 13. Pat Abold (29), 14. Paul White (17), 15. Jimmy Sills (20), 16. Jay Drake (21), 17. Bobby McMahan (22), 18. Brad Noffsinger (18), 19. Billy Whittaker (6), 20. Eric Gordon (23), 21. J.J. Yeley (15), 22. Gary Hieber (7), 23. Ed Carpenter (8), 24. Todd Kane (28), 25. Jason McCord (5), 26. Chet Fillip (9), 27. Tracy Hines (11), 28. Bud Kaeding (12), 29. A.J. Fike (25), 30. Bentley Warren (30). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Jason Leffler.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Brian Tyler-229; 2-Tracy Hines-216; 3-Brad Noffsinger-211; 4-Ryan Newman-199; 5-Jason Leffler-195; 6-Dave Darland-189; 7-Paul White-157; 8-Jimmy McCune-150; 9-John Heydenreich-134; 10-Gary Hieber-130.
-------------------------------------------------------------
RAIN POSTPONES HOOSIER HUNDRED
Indianapolis, Indiana………Rain forced postponement of A.J. Foyt’s True Value Hulman-Hoosier Hundred on May 26 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The race has been rescheduled for Friday night, September 22, the Friday night before the United States Grand Prix, which will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Cary Faas was the only incident during the brief program, flipping in turn one during practice. He was uninjured.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 26, 2000 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana State Fairgrounds – A.J. Foyt's True Value Hulman-Hoosier Hundred
RACING PROGRAM RAINED OUT, RESCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 22
**Cary Faas flipped in turn 1 during practice.
-------------------------------------------------------------
DRAKES TAKES KNOXVILLE’S NAPA HAWKEYE HUNDRED
Knoxville, Iowa………Jay Drake of Val Verde, Calif. saved his tires during the early stages of the NAPA Hawkeye Hundred and the strategy paid off as he scored his first USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet victory at Knoxville Raceway on June 3.
Drake started 11th in the 26-car field on the half-mile dirt track but caught J.J. Yeley on the 88th lap and led the rest of the way to win the race in his Ralph’s Muffler & Brake Shops Special.
“I never thought I’d be standing in victory lane at Knoxville,” said Drake after the race. “To get my first Silver Bullet win here is special. I thought we were in trouble early in the race because we started with a hard tire and most of the guys didn’t. I really thought we had goofed, but after 25 laps, I figured we would be okay at the end.”
Yeley led 37 laps before yielding to Drake and ended up finishing second ahead of Kasey Kahne, who earned the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award. Brad Fox, who passed pole starter Ryan Newman on lap five and led through lap 50, took fourth at the checkered flag ahead of fifth-place finisher Jack Hewitt.
Drake earned $9,533 from the total purse of $53,050.
Brian Tyler of Parma, Mich. continues to lead the series standings after finishing seventh at Knoxville. He has a 34-point lead over Tracy Hines, who was 16th in the 100-lapper.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 2-3, 2000 – Knoxville, Iowa – Knoxville Raceway – NAPA Hawkeye Hundred
QUALIFYING: (Top-16 locked into the feature) 1. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-21.375; 2. Brad Fox, 53, Fox-21.381; 3. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-21.557; 4. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-21.567; 5. J.J. Yeley, 9, East/Stewart-21.569; 6. Donnie Lehmann, 46, Egan-21.607; 7. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-21.740; 8. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-21.743; 9. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-21.772; 10. Jimmy Sills, 11, Snider/Foyt-21.792; 11. Jay Drake, 6, Potter-21.854; 12. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-21.862; 13. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-21.876; 14. Greg Wilson, 63, Hampshire-21.889; 15. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-21.910; 16. Jerry Coons Jr., 50, Aviators-21.912; 17. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-21.972; 18. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-21.984; 19. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-22.041; 20. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-22.060; 21. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-22.099; 22. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-22.175; 23. Terry Pletch, 79, Pletch-22.334; 24. Brett Hearn, 175, Stanton-22.374; 25. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-22.618; 26. Joe McCarthy, 189, Peachey-22.634; 27. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-22.665; 28. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-22.696; 29. Paul White, 100, Cook-22.873; 30. Dan Drinan, 333, RE Technologies-22.894; 31. Jon Agan, 57, Dolner-23.032; 32. Todd Kane, 75, Dixon/Kane-23.220; 33. John Barrick, 82, Barrick-23.267; 34. Rod Holshouser, 12, Galas-23.429; 35. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-23.437; 36. Terry Babb, 49, Babb-23.464; 37. Al Thomas, 172, Thomas-23.631; 38. Don Carr, 84, Spivey-23.768; 39. Craig Dori, 38, Shoestring-23.851; 40. Jerry Nemire, 76, Nemire-23.973; 41. Mike Lauterborn, 13, Lauterborn-24.089.
QUALIFYING RACE: (20 laps, top-10 transfer to the feature) 1. Tracy Hines, 2. Robby Flock, 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Ed Carpenter, 5. Brian Tyler, 6. Tom Capie, 7. Brett Hearn, 8. Paul White, 9. Rod Holshouser, 10. Eric Gordon, 11. Terry Pletch, 12. Joe McCarthy, 13. Jon Agan, 14. Jerry Nemire, 15. Don Carr, 16. Al Thomas, 17. John Barrick, 18. Rich Tobias Jr., 19. Dan Drinan, 20. Gary Hieber, 21. Craig Dori, 22. Todd Kane, 23. Randy Bateman, 24. Terry Babb. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jay Drake (11), 2. J.J. Yeley (5), 3. Kasey Kahne (4), 4. Brad Fox (2), 5. Jack Hewitt (12), 6. Russ Gamester (3), 7. Brian Tyler (21), 8. John Heydenreich (7), 9. Dave Darland (13), 10. Bud Kaeding (19), 11. Greg Wilson (14), 12. Tony Elliott (15), 13. Paul White (24), 14. Ryan Newman (1), 15. Brett Hearn (23), 16. Tracy Hines (17), 17. Robby Flock (18), 18. Eric Gordon (26), 19. Ed Carpenter (20), 20. Tom Capie (22), 21. Rod Holshouser (25), 22. Brad Noffsinger (9), 23. Jerry Coons Jr. (16), 24. Donnie Lehmann (6), 25. Jimmy Sills (10), 26. Bill Rose (8). NT
**Jimmy Sills flipped on lap 90 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Ryan Newman, Laps 5-50 Brad Fox, Laps 51-87 J.J. Yeley, Laps 88-100 Jay Drake.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Brian Tyler-271; 2-Tracy Hines-237; 3-Ryan Newman-227; 4-Dave Darland-225; 5-Brad Noffsinger-222; 6-Jason Leffler-195; 7-J.J. Yeley-182; 8-Paul White-184; 9-John Heydenreich-173; 10-Jay Drake-169.
-------------------------------------------------------------
GAMESTER GETS FIRST ON PAVEMENT IN DuPONT 100 AT IRP
Clermont, Indiana………Russ Gamester of Peru, Ind. scored his third career USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet victory in the August 6 resumption of the DuPont 100, which was rained out on August 2 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The win was Gamester’s first on pavement with the series and earned his Terre Haute First National Bank team a first-place paycheck of $9,400 from the total purse of $58,268.
“I’ve never been fortunate here before tonight,” Gamester said in victory lane. “But my car kept getting better as the race wore on and we were able to run down the leader.”
Gamester started fifth and trailed early leaders J.J. Yeley and Ryan Newman until making his winning pass for the lead on lap 74. Gamester led the final 27 laps of the 100-lap race despite late-race pressure from Yeley, who won the pole Wednesday night at 120.070 mph.
“I tried not to run too hard,” Gamester added. “I knew J.J. was pressing me but I knew if I let him by, I might not get him back. Lapped traffic at the end nearly cost me but we were able to hang on.”
Gamester’s winning speed of 105.215 mph broke Dave Steele’s year-old race record of 100.383 mph.
Trailing Gamester and Yeley at the checkered flag were Chet Fillip, defending race winner Dave Steele and John Heydenreich, while NASCAR veterans Jason Leffler and Tony Stewart finished sixth and ninth, respectively. Stewart, who started alongside Yeley on the front row, ran with the leaders in the early laps but slipped a lap down on the 93rd lap.
Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw, Wash. earned the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award and Jimmy McCune earned the Hard Charger award for his drive from 24th starting spot to 10th.
The race was interrupted only once by the yellow flag when Tracy Hines and Gary Hieber spun in turn two on lap seven.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 2 & 6, 2000 – Clermont, Indiana – Indianapolis Raceway Park – DuPont 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. J.J. Yeley, 92, Hoerner-20.568; 2. Tony Stewart, 11, Snider/Foyt-20.667; 3. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-20.673; 4. Jason Leffler, 9, East/Stewart-20.757; 5. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-20.770; 6. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-20.773; 7. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-20.822; 8. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-20.905; 9. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-20.921; 10. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-20.940; 11. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-20.950; 12. Dave Steele, 19, Gratton-20.952; 13. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-20.971; 14. Paul White, 100, Cook-20.984; 15. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-21.031; 16. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-21.071; 17. A..J. Fike, 93, RFMS-21.075; 18. Brian Paulus, 22, P & P-21.075; 19. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-21.125; 20. Jay Drake, 6, Potter-21.135; 21. Dan Drinan, 333, RE Technologies-21.140; 22. Pat Abold, 01, West-21.170; 23. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-21.210; 24. Dane Carter, 27, Carter-21.212; 25. Derek Davidson, 25, BWB-21.248; 26. Jimmy McCune, 2, Vance-21.266; 27. Bentley Warren, 29, S & S-21.271; 28. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-21.302; 29. Chuck Leary, 30, Leary-21.305; 30. Jon Herb, 52, Nowicke-21.312; 31. Tony Hunt, 81, Bar-D-21.333; 32. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-21.340; 33. Joe Gosek, 110, West-21.398; 34. Tony Ave, 3, Van Klompenburg-21.416; 35. Clay Klepper, 18, Conroy-21.430; 36. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-21.446; 37. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-21.488; 38. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-21.492; 39. Mark Boice, 54, Boice-21.510; 40. Eric Butze, 35, RE Technologies-21.725; 41. Dana Laliberte, 70, LaLiberte-21.752; 42. Brad Armstrong, 8, Wallace-21.753; 43. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-21.793; 44. Chris Petersen, 98, Maples-21.917; 45. David Bridges, 16, Logan-21.921; 46. Donnie Lehmann, 46, Egan-22.170; 47. Kenny Jacobs, 17, Holt-22.492; 48. Billy Whittaker, 47, Paternoster-NT; 49. Johnny Gilbertson, 89, Moore-NT; 50. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-11 transfer to the feature) 1. Brian Tyler, 2. Pat Abold, 3. Dane Carter, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Jimmy McCune, 6. Derek Davidson, 7. Ed Carpenter, 8. Eric Gordon, 9. Rich Tobias Jr., 10. Chuck Leary, 11. Tony Elliott, 12. Brad Armstrong (#110), 13. Mark Boice, 14. Jon Herb, 15. Dana Laliberte, 16. David Bridges, 17. Tony Ave, 18. Dan Drinan, 19. Eric Butze. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Russ Gamester (5), 2. J.J. Yeley (1), 3. Chet Fillip (10), 4. Dave Steele (12), 5. John Heydenreich (13), 6. Jason McCord (8), 7. Jason Leffler (4), 8. Brad Noffsinger (7), 9. Tony Stewart (2), 10. Jimmy McCune (24), 11. Brian Tyler (20), 12. Dave Darland (23), 13. Kasey Kahne (9), 14. Ed Carpenter (26), 15. Eric Gordon (27), 16. Tracy Hines (16), 17. A.J. Fike (17), 18. Pat Abold (21), 19. Derek Davidson (25), 20. Jack Hewitt (11), 21. Ryan Newman (3), 22. Bud Kaeding (6), 23. Rich Tobias Jr. (28), 24. Dane Carter (22), 25. Gary Hieber (15), 26. Brian Paulus (18), 27. Bill Rose (19), 28. Tony Elliott (30), 29. Chuck Leary (29), 30. Paul White (14). 39:07.17
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-21 J.J. Yeley, Laps 22-73 Ryan Newman, Laps 74-100 Russ Gamester.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Brian Tyler-302; 2-Brad Noffsinger-261; 3-Tracy Hines-258; 4-Dave Darland-254; 5-J.J. Yeley-242; 6-Ryan Newman-242; 7-Jason Leffler-237; 8-John Heydenreich-221; 9-Russ Gamester-197; 10-Paul White-187.
-------------------------------------------------------------
HEWITT SCORES #23 AT THE TONY BETTENHAUSEN 100
Springfield, Illinois………Jack Hewitt of Troy, Ohio scored the 23rd victory of his USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet career on August 19 in the Tony Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Hewitt trailed series Rookie Bud Kaeding until lap 86, then made a bold pass going into turn one and held on for the final 15 laps in his Utility Peterbilt/Print Express/Café Santa Fe Special.
“This was one of those days when you had to slow down to go fast,” said Hewitt after the 100-mile grind. “Bud is young and brave and was driving hard, but I just tried to be patient and look for the first opportunity to get around him. I decided I’d better get him when I could, because there might not be another chance.”
Hewitt put his win in perspective with his final comment, “I used to baby-sit for Bud.”
Kaeding earned the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award for his second-place finish, narrowly beating Jay Drake to the checkered flag. Dave Darland and pole starter Tony Elliott rounded out the top-five.
The race was halted after four laps for Terry Pletch, who crashed into the inside guardrail after a three-car tangle on the backstretch. He was uninjured.
The only other caution period came on lap eight when Randy Bateman hit the wall in turn one. He also escaped injury.
Elliott led the first six laps before yielding to Kaeding.
Three-time series champion Jimmy Sills won the 15-lap qualifying race, which preceded the 100-lap feature. Brian Tyler of Parma, Mich. continues to lead the series standings after finishing seventh.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 19, 2000 – Springfield, Illinois – Illinois State Fairgrounds – Tony Bettenhausen 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-30.221; 2. Jay Drake, 6, Potter-30.752; 3. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-30.881; 4. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-31.127; 5. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-31.245; 6. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-31.383; 7. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-31.444; 8. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-31.448 ;9. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-31.578; 10. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-31.620; 11. J.J. Yeley, 11, Snider/Foyt-31.642; 12. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-31.674; 13. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-31.831; 14. Johnny Parsons, 43, Nix-31.868; 15. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-31.904; 16. Jerry Coons Jr., 135, RE Technologies-32.039; 17. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-32.064; 18. Donnie Beechler, 16, Logan-32.107; 19. Brad Fox, 53, Fox-32.130; 20. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-32.194; 21. Jimmy Sills, 175, Stanton-32.225; 22. Terry Pletch, 79, Pletch-32.380; 23. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-32.542; 24. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-32.561; 25. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-32.672; 26. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-32.692; 27. Rob Chaney, 97, SC-32.709; 28. Chuck Gurney, 9, East/Stewart-32.712; 29. Rod Holshouser, 12, Galas-32.783; 30. Dean Franklin, 83, Sohm-32.850; 31. Paul White, 100, Cook-33.022; 32. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-33.466; 33. Steve Sheppard Jr., 95, Burmeister-33.664; 34. Jerry Nemire, 76, Nemire-34.017; 35. Donnie Lehmann, 82, Barrick-34.372; 36. Craig Dori, 38, Shoestring-34.704; 37. Bill Schemonia, 64, Schemonia-34.848; 38. Dana Laliberte, 70, LaLiberte-34.954; 39. Chris Peterson, 98, Maples-35.754; 40. Tad Roach, 116, Logan-36.362; 41. Tom Davies, 168, Davies-39.292; 42. Ricky Shelton, 50, Aviators-NT; 43. Donnie Lehmann, 46, Egan-NT; 44. Joe McCarthy, 89, Peachey-NT. (NOTE: John Barrick also in car #82).
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-10 transfer to the feature) 1. Jimmy Sills, 2. Tom Capie, 2. Chuck Gurney, 4. Brad Noffsinger, 5. Paul White, 6. Eric Gordon, 7. Rod Holshouser, 8. Terry Pletch, 9. Steve Sheppard Jr., 10. Randy Bateman, 11. Jerry Nemire, 12. Rob Chaney, 13. Dana Laliberte, 14. Chris Peterson, 15. Donnie Lehmann (#82), 16. Craig Dori, 17. Dean Franklin, 18. Bill Schemonia, 19. Tom Davies. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jack Hewitt (8), 2. Bud Kaeding (4), 3. Jay Drake (2), 4. Dave Darland (10), 5. Tony Elliott (1), 6. Robby Flock (7), 7. Brian Tyler (15), 8. John Heydenreich (17), 9. Tracy Hines (3), 10. Ed Carpenter (6), 11. Donnie Beechler (18), 12. Kasey Kahne (13), 13. Johnny Parsons (14), 14. Tom Capie (22), 15. Paul White (25), 16. Jimmy Sills (21), 17. Brad Noffsinger (24), 18. Jerry Coons Jr. (16), 19. Gary Hieber (9), 20. Rod Holshouser (27), 21. Brad Fox (19), 22. Eric Gordon (26), 23. Steve Sheppard Jr. (29), 24. Ryan Newman (20), 25. J.J. Yeley (11), 26. Chuck Gurney (23), 27. Russ Gamester (5), 28. Bill Rose (12), 29. Randy Bateman (30), 30. Terry Pletch (28). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Tony Elliott, Laps 7-85 Bud Kaeding, Laps 86-100 Jack Hewitt.
NEW SILVER BULLET STANDINGS: 1-Brian Tyler-344; 2-Dave Darland-305; 3-Tracy Hines-294; 4-Brad Noffsinger-280; 5-John Heydenreich-260; 6-Ryan Newman-251; 7-J.J. Yeley-250; 8-Jason Leffler-237; 9-Jack Hewitt-235; 10-Jay Drake-223.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ROOKIE KAHNE WIRE-TO-WIRE AT Du QUOIN
Du Quoin, Illinois………Twenty-year-old Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw, Wash. earned his first career USAC Silver Bullet series victory, leading all 100 laps to win the Southern Illinoisan 100 at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds on September 4.
Kahne’s wire-to-wire triumph in the Brian & Gary’s Cars for Less Special earned him the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award and a total payout of $9,500.
“We were lucky,” admitted Kahne in victory lane. “We were able to clear our main fuel jet during a red flag prior to the restart and that enabled us to overcome our starting problems.”
Pole starter Kahne slipped behind Tony Elliott on the original start, but after 15 laps of yellows, USAC officials opted for a complete restart.
Kahne was pressured by J.J. Yeley for the entire 100 laps but his spotters kept him informed of Yeley’s presence.
“I knew if he got by me, the race would be over, so I did everything I could to hold him off,” added Kahne.
Trailing Kahne and Yeley at the checkered flag were Dave Darland, Russ Gamester and Tracy Hines.
The race was red flagged when Randy Bateman hit the first turn wall and flipped, causing a third aborted start after which the race was completely restarted. Bateman was uninjured, as was Bud Kaeding who flipped during practice.
Brian Tyler, who finished eighth, retained a 24-point lead over Darland in the series standings.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 4, 2000 – Du Quoin, Illinois – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – Southern Illinoisan 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-30.559; 2. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-30.625; 3. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-30.890; 4. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-30.891; 5. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-30.959; 6. J.J. Yeley, 11, Snider/Foyt-30.982; 7. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-30.993; 8. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-30.997; 9. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-31.132; 10. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-31.246; 11. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-31.337; 12. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-31.376; 13. Paul White, 100, Cook-31.424; 14. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-31.438; 15. Jason Leffler, 9, East/Stewart-31.477; 16. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-31.731; 17. Donnie Beechler, 16, Logan-31.786; 18. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-31.810; 19. Johnny Parsons, 43, Nix-31.873; 20. Brad Fox, 53, Fox-31.963; 21. Jimmy Sills, 175, Stanton-32.044; 22. Chuck Leary, 30, Leary-32.185; 23. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-32.238; 24. Jerry Coons Jr., 135, RE-32.320; 25. Ricky Shelton, 50, Aviators-32.334; 26. Terry Pletch, 79, Pletch-32.376; 27. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-32.979; 28. Terry Babb, 49, Babb-33.018; 29. Donnie Lehmann, 46, Egan-33.240; 30. Craig Dori, 38, Shoestring-33.483; 31. Dana Laliberte, 70, LaLiberte-34.103; 32. Bill Schemonia, 64, Schemonia-34.227; 33. Chris Petersen, 98, Maples-34.880; 34. Ronnie Franklin, 60, Franklin-NT; 35. Jerry Nemire, 76, Nemire-NT; 36. Jackie Burke, 86, Burke-NT; 37. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-NT; 38. Rod Holshouser, 12, Galas-NT; 39. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-NT; 40. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-10 transfer to the feature) 1. Chuck Leary, 2. Johnny Parsons, 3. Gary Hieber, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Terry Pletch, 6. Donnie Lehmann, 7. Randy Bateman, 8. Rich Tobias Jr., 9. Dana Laliberte, 10. Craig Dori, 11. Terry Babb, 12. Bill Schemonia, 13. Chris Peterson, 14. Jackie Burke, 15. Ricky Shelton. 8:07.23
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kasey Kahne (1), 2. J.J. Yeley (6), 3. Dave Darland (3), 4. Russ Gamester (5), 5. Tracy Hines (7), 6. Ed Carpenter (9), 7. Robby Flock (11), 8. Brian Tyler (18), 9. Donnie Beechler (17), 10. Paul White (13), 11. Gary Hieber (23), 12. Brad Fox (19), 13. Jack Hewitt (10), 14. Tony Elliott (2), 15. Donnie Lehmann (26), 16. Jerry Coons Jr. (24), 17. Brad Noffsinger (14), 18. Johnny Parsons (22), 19. Craig Dori (30), 20. John Heydenreich (16), 21. Terry Pletch (25), 22. Ryan Newman (12), 23. Chuck Leary (21), 24. Bill Rose (8), 25. Jimmy Sills (20), 26. Jason Leffler (15), 27. Randy Bateman (27), 28. Dana Laliberte (29), 29. Tom Capie (4), 30. Rich Tobias Jr. (28) 58:10.02
**Bud Kaeding flipped during practice. Randy Bateman flipped at the start of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Kasey Kahne.
NEW SILVER BULLET STANDINGS: 1-Brian Tyler-383; 2-Dave Darland-359; 3-Tracy Hines-342; 4-J.J. Yeley-307; 5-Brad Noffsinger-299; 6-John Heydenreich-273; 7-Jack Hewitt-262; 8-Ryan Newman-262; 9-Russ Gamester-254; 10-Kasey Kahne-252.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ELLIOTT WINS FOYT’S HULMAN-HOOSIER HUNDRED
Indianapolis, Indiana………Tony Elliott of Kokomo, Ind. won A.J. Foyt’s True Value Hulman-Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on September 22, leading the final 20 laps after Ed Carpenter had a rear tire deflate and spun entering turn three. Carpenter had led the first 80 laps after winning the pole position, his first in the Coors Light Silver Bullet series.
“We kept getting faster as the race wore on,” said Elliott after the race, “but Ed had a strong car and I’m not sure we could have caught him.”
Elliott started third in his WorldBestBuy.com/Irvin’s Interstate Brick & Block Special and passed Tracy Hines for second on the 46th lap. Elliott remained there until Carpenter’s misfortune.
The race was red flagged on lap eight when Tom Capie of Trevose, Pa. hit the outside wall and flipped end-over-end while running second. He was uninjured.
“We didn’t make any changes during the red,” said Elliott. “We just switched from four-wheel to three-wheel brakes and that helped.”
Jack Hewitt of Troy, Ohio finished second behind Elliott.
“I knew if I stayed in the groove at the end, Jack couldn’t get me,” added Elliott.
Hines finished third and emerged with the series point lead over Dave Darland by one point. Darland finished ninth. John Heydenreich and Brad Noffsinger rounded out the top-five at the checkered flag.
Brian Tyler, who led the standings before the race, won the qualifying race but hit the wall coming out of turn four on the 15th lap of the feature and slipped to third in the new standings as a result.
Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw, Wash. earned the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award for his 10th place finish.
Donnie Beechler and J.J. Yeley brought out two of the four yellow flags when their cars stalled on laps 16 and 93, respectively.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 22, 2000 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana State Fairgrounds – A.J. Foyt's True Value Hulman-Hoosier Hundred
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-32.490; 2. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-32.702; 3. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-32.755; 4. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-32.772; 5. J.J. Yeley, 11, Snider/Foyt-32.926; 6. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-33.067; 7. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-33.159; 8. Jay Drake, 9, East/Stewart-33.328; 9. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-33.392; 10. Terry Pletch, 79, Pletch-33.473; 11. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-33.550; 12. Jerry Coons Jr., 135, RE Technologies-33.608; 13. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-33.643; 14. Todd Kane, 75, Dixon/Kane-33.701; 15. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-33.717; 16. Paul White, 100, Cook-33.740; 17. Gary Hieber, 66, EWH-33.839; 18. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-33.863; 19. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-33.902; 20. Greg Wilson, 63, Hampshire-33.931; 21. Ricky Shelton, 50, Aviators-33.980; 22. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-33.984; 23. Joe McCarthy, 189, Peachey-34.040; 24. Jimmy Sills, 175, Stanton-34.068; 25. Bill Schemonia, 64, Schemonia-34.088; 26. Brad Fox, 53, Fox-34.095; 27. Jackie Burke, 86, Burke-34.142; 28. Derek Davidson, 25, BWB-34.146; 29. Donnie Beechler, 16, Logan-34.231; 30. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-34.303; 31. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-34.360; 32. Brian Gerster, 123, Parker-34.368; 33. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-34.452; 34. Craig Dori, 38, Shoestring-34.486; 35. Critter Malone, 65, Burghardt-34.662; 36. Randy Bateman, 96, T & D-34.675; 37. Rob Chaney, 97, SC-34.773; 38. Dana Laliberte, 70, LaLiberte-34.928; 39. Terry Thorson, 95, Burmeister-35.019; 40. Jerry Nemire, 76, Nemire-35.090; 41. Donnie Lehmann, 46, Egan-35.094; 42. Jeff Hampton, 160, Meister-35.891; 43. Ray Bull, 31, Mataka-36.089; 44. Tom Davies, 168, Davies-38.057; 45. Mike Lauterborn, 13, Lauterborn-NT; 46. Johnny Parsons, 43, Nix-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-10 transfer to the feature) 1. Brian Tyler, 2. Jimmy Sills, 3. Joe McCarthy, 4. Derek Davidson, 5. Ryan Newman, 6. Rich Tobias Jr., 7. Ricky Shelton, 8. Donnie Beechler, 9. Brad Fox, 10. Jackie Burke, 11. Eric Gordon, 12. Bill Schemonia, 13. Craig Dori 14. Critter Malone, 15. Rob Chaney, 16. Brian Gerster, 17. Terry Thorson, 18. Jeff Hampton, 19. Jerry Nemire, 20. Donnie Lehmann, 21. Tom Davies, 22. Dana Laliberte, 23. Randy Bateman, 24. Ray Bull. 8:30.96
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tony Elliott (3), 2. Jack Hewitt (9), 3. Tracy Hines (4), 4. John Heydenreich (11), 5. Brad Noffsinger (7), 6. Jay Drake (8), 7. Gary Hieber (17), 8. Jerry Coons Jr. (12), 9. Dave Darland (18), 10. Kasey Kahne (6), 11. Jimmy Sills (22), 12. Russ Gamester (19), 13. Brad Fox (29), 14. Bill Rose (13), 15. Paul White (16), 16. Derek Davidson (24), 17. Greg Wilson (20), 18. Joe McCarthy (23), 19. J.J. Yeley (5), 20. Ed Carpenter (1), 21. Rich Tobias Jr. (26), 22. Terry Pletch (10), 23. Jackie Burke (30), 24. Donnie Beechler (28), 25. Ryan Newman (25), 26. Robby Flock (15), 27. Brian Tyler (21), 28. Tom Capie (2), 29. Todd Kane (14), 30. Ricky Shelton (27). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-80 Ed Carpenter, Laps 81-100 Tony Elliott.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Tracy Hines-396; 2-Dave Darland-395; 3-Brian Tyler-389; 4-Brad Noffsinger-347; 5-John Heydenreich-324; 6-J.J. Yeley-322; 7-Jack Hewitt-319; 8-Tony Elliott-297; 9-Kasey Kahne-285; 10-Russ Gamester-283.
-------------------------------------------------------------
YELEY NOTCHES 4-CROWN SCORE AT ELDORA
Rossburg, Ohio………J.J. Yeley won the 20th annual USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet portion of the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway on September 30.
Yeley’s victory in the True Value machine was the second in a row at Eldora for the Snider-Foyt Racing team, having put Jimmy Sills in victory lane there in 1999.
Sills was pressing Yeley for the lead this time around when he flipped on the backstretch on the 44th lap. He was uninjured.
Trailing Yeley to the checkered flag were new series point leader Dave Darland with Greg Wilson, Brad Noffsinger and Tracy Hines rounding out the top-five.
“I knew Darland was behind me, but I knew he couldn’t get by me without a great slide job,” said Yeley in victory lane. “I didn’t know Jimmy (Sills) crashed, but I figured I could stay ahead of him if I held my line. It’s nice to win this race, it’s a big one.”
Brad Fox, who finished 12th, earned the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award. Russ Gamester won the 20-lap qualifying race and Yeley was the fastest qualifier. Ricky Shelton escaped injury in a flip during the qualifying race.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 29-30, 2000 – Rossburg, Ohio – Eldora Speedway – 20th 4-Crown Nationals
QUALIFYING: (Top-12 locked into the feature) 1. J.J. Yeley, 11, Snider/Foyt-16.667; 2. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-16.719; 3. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-16.819; 4. Jimmy Sills, 175, Stanton-16.901; 5. Jay Drake, 9, East/Stewart-16.912; 6. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-16.927; 7. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-16.948; 8. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-16.949; 9. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-17.016; 10. Brad Fox, 53, Fox-17.062; 11. Todd Kane, 75, Dixon/Kane-17.085; 12. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-17.127; 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 135, RE Technologies-17.128; 14. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-17.146; 15. Greg Wilson, 63, Hampshire-17.222; 16. Derek Davidson, 25, BWB-17.230; 17. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-17.335; 18. Terry Pletch, 79, Pletch-17.357; 19. Paul White, 100, Cook-17.370; 20. Robbie Rice, 24, LeFevre-17.375; 21. Rob Chaney, 97, SC-17.420; 22. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-17.473; 23. Jerry Nemire, 76, Nemire-17.598; 24. Joe McCarthy, 189, Peachey-17.620; 25. Terry Babb, 49, Babb-18.041; 26. Ricky Shelton, 50, Aviators-18.186; 27. Critter Malone, 65, Burghardt-18.189; 28. Dana Laliberte, 70, LaLiberte-18.515; 29. Craig Dori, 38, Shoestring-18.665; 30. Jonathan Vennard, 31, Mataka-NT; 31. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-NT; 32. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (20 laps, top-12 transfer to the feature) 1. Russ Gamester, 2. Derek Davidson, 3. Greg Wilson, 4. Terry Pletch, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Ryan Newman, 7. Paul White, 8. Kasey Kahne, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. John Heydenreich, 11. Robbie Rice, 12. Rob Chaney, 13. Joe McCarthy, 14. Jerry Nemire, 15. Critter Malone, 16. Eric Gordon (#31), 17. Craig Dori, 18. Terry Babb, 19. Dana Laliberte, 20. Ricky Shelton. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. J.J. Yeley (1), 2. Dave Darland (17), 3. Greg Wilson (15), 4. Brad Noffsinger (9), 5. Tracy Hines (8), 6. Jack Hewitt (7), 7. Tony Elliott (3), 8. Derek Davidson (14), 9. John Heydenreich (22), 10. Brian Tyler (2), 11. Paul White (19), 12. Brad Fox (10), 13. Terry Pletch (16), 14. Jerry Coons Jr. (21), 15. Russ Gamester (13), 16. Jimmy Sills (4), 17. Jay Drake (5), 18. Kasey Kahne (20), 19. Rob Chaney (24), 20. Ryan Newman (18), 21. Bill Rose (6), 22. Robbie Rice (23), 23. Todd Kane (11), 24. Ed Carpenter (12). NT
**Ricky Shelton flipped during the semi. Jimmy Sills flipped on lap 44 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Brian Tyler, Laps 4-50 J.J. Yeley.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Dave Darland-452; 2-Tracy Hines-444; 3-Brian Tyler-422; 4-Brad Noffsinger-398; 5-J.J. Yeley-388; 6-Jack Hewitt-364; 7-John Heydenreich-360; 8-Tony Elliott-339; 9-Russ Gamester-306; 10-Kasey Kahne-302.
-------------------------------------------------------------
DARLAND DOES IT AT CURFEW-SHORTENED CAL EXPO RACE
Sacramento, California………Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind. won the curfew abbreviated USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet race at the Cal Expo State Fairgrounds on October 7.
Darland outraced Yeley to turn one on a lap 67 restart, then held him off to the checkered flag, which was waved 17 laps from the scheduled end of the 100-mile race because of a local curfew. Trailing Yeley to the finish line were Paul White, Tony Elliott and Tracy Hines.
“We didn’t get a good start,” Darland said after the race. “But the red flags helped. We changed tires on the first red and, on that last restart, we knew we had a better car than J.J. and we’re able to get a good run on him down the stretch.”
The first red flag flew when Jay Drake flipped over the first turn wall on lap 17. The second flew when Mike Adkins flipped exiting turn two on lap 28. Neither driver was injured.
Bud Kaeding, who started on the pole and finished sixth, earned the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race award.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 7, 2000 – Sacramento, California – Cal Expo State Fairgrounds – Silver Bullet 100 presented by Folsom Automall
QUALIFYING: 1. Bud Kaeding, 23, Dewit-33.049; 2. J.J. Yeley, 11, Snider/Foyt-33.076; 3. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-33.156; 4. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-33.260; 5. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-33.262; 6. Paul White, 100, Cook-33.270; 7. Jay Drake, 9, East/Stewart-33.361; 8. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-33.387; 9. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-33.611; 10. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-33.905; 11. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-33.944;12. A.J. Fike, 93, RFMS-33.983; 13. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-33.993; 14. Scott Hansen, 42, Robison-34.113; 15. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-34.125; 16. Russ Gamester, 14, Ede-34.276; 17. Johnny Parsons, 98, Maples-34.394; 18. Ronnie Day, 07, Krenn-34.450; 19. Wally Pankratz, 57, Dolner-34.774; 20. Randy Bateman, 96, T & D-35.371; 21. Mike Adkins, 71, Madkins-35.952; 22. Craig Dori, 38, Shoestring-37.199; 23. Joe McCarthy, 189, Peachey-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dave Darland (5), 2. J.J. Yeley (2), 3. Paul White (6), 4. Tony Elliott (4), 5. Tracy Hines (11), 6. Bud Kaeding (1), 7. Kasey Kahne (3), 8. Ed Carpenter (9), 9. Brian Tyler (10), 10. Brad Noffsinger (15), 11. John Heydenreich (13), 12. Bill Rose (8), 13. Russ Gamester (16), 14. Ronnie Day (18), 15. Johnny Parsons (17), 16. Scott Hansen (14), 17. Wally Pankratz (19), 18. A.J. Fike (12), 19. Craig Dori (22), 20. Mike Adkins (21), 21. Randy Bateman (20), 22. Jay Drake (7), 23. Joe McCarthy (23). NT
**Jay Drake flipped over the first turn wall on lap 17 of the feature. Mike Adkins flipped exiting turn two on lap 28 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-27 J.J. Yeley, Laps 28-64 Paul White, Laps 65-66 J.J. Yeley, Laps 67-83 Dave Darland.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Dave Darland-512; 2-Tracy Hines-492; 3-Brian Tyler-458; 4-J.J. Yeley-445; 5-Brad Noffsinger-431; 6-John Heydenreich-391; 7-Tony Elliott-390; 8-Jack Hewitt-364; 9-Paul White-354; 10-Kasey Kahne-344.
-------------------------------------------------------------
GAMESTER GRABS IRWINDALE GLORY
Irwindale, California………“I wish I could run here every week,” said Russ Gamester of Peru, Ind. after winning the 100-lap USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet race at Irwindale Speedway on October 14.
Gamester outran USAC champion Jason Leffler to the checkered flag in the penultimate race of the 2000 season.
“It feels good to win,” added Gamester in victory lane. “At the beginning of the race, I was just feeling out the track and the car started coming in at about 20 laps.”
Gamester caught Leffler for the lead in a turn four pass on lap 46 and never looked back in his Terre Haute First National Bank machine.
“I knew when I got by Jason McCord for second, I could catch Leffler,” said Gamester.
Aaron Fike of Galesburg, Ill. finished third to earn the Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race honors. Tracy Hines and Bud Kaeding rounded out the top-five.
Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind., who finished eighth, emerged from the race with a narrow five-point lead over Hines in the series standings.
Hines won the pole at a new track record speed of 93.163 mph.
Leffler grabbed the lead at the start and led for four laps before Jason McCord, who started fourth, moved to the front. McCord led for 14 laps until yielding to Leffler, who then lost the lead to Gamester on lap 46.
The only yellow flag flew on lap 48 when Brad Noffsinger spun off turn four and slid into the inside wall.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 14, 2000 – Irwindale, California – Irwindale Speedway
QUALIFYING: (Top-14 locked into the feature) 1. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-16.549; 2. Jason Leffler, 9, East/Stewart-16.568; 3. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-16.587; 4. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-16.635; 5. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-16.681; 6. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-16.741; 7. Bud Kaeding, 23, Dewit-16.778; 8. Aaron Fike, 93, RFMS-16.876; 9. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-16.948; 10. Jay Drake, 1, Vance-16.982; 11. Pat Abold, 01, West-17.007; 12. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-17.062; 13. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-17.087; 14. Bobby McMahan, 26, Espindola-17.171; 15. Paul White, 100, Cook-17.187; 16. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-17.234; 17. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-17.241; 18. Bill Rose, 62, Beaver-17.350; 19. Darren Spiers, 81, Bar-D-17.385; 20. Brad Armstrong, 59, Wetscon-17.425; 21. Jeff West, 110, West-17.429; 22. Chuck Gurney Jr., 07, JR-17.446; 23. Jimmy McCune, 2, Vance-17.477; 24. Kevin Kierce, 170, Swann-17.716; 25. Scott Hansen, 42, Robison-17.800; 26. Amy Barnes, 126, Barnes-NT; 27. Dave Steele, 19, Gratton-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Dave Steele, 2. Jimmy McCune, 3. Ed Carpenter, 4. Paul White, 5. Jeff West, 6. Brad Armstrong, 7. Bill Rose, 8. Kevin Kierce, 9. Scott Hansen, 10. Darren Spiers, 11. Chuck Gurney Jr., 12. John Heydenreich. 4:22.84
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Russ Gamester (5), 2. Jason Leffler (2), 3. Aaron Fike (8), 4. Tracy Hines (1), 5. Bud Kaeding (7), 6. Brian Tyler (12), 7. Tony Elliott (9), 8. Dave Darland (3), 9. Paul White (18), 10. John Heydenreich (26), 11. Jeff West (19), 12. Ed Carpenter (17), 13. Jason McCord (4), 14. Bill Rose (21), 15. Pat Abold (11), 16. Kevin Kierce (22), 17. Bobby McMahan (14), 18. Brad Armstrong (20), 19. Scott Hansen (23), 20. Jay Drake (10), 21. Darren Spiers (24), 22. Kasey Kahne (13), 23. Brad Noffsinger (6), 24. Jimmy McCune (16), 25. Chuck Gurney Jr. (25), 26. Dave Steele (15). 32:12.10
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Jason Leffler, Laps 5-18 Jason McCord, Laps 19-45 Jason Leffler, Laps 46-100 Russ Gamester.
NEW SILVER BULLET POINTS: 1-Dave Darland-551; 2-Tracy Hines-546; 3-Brian Tyler-503; 4-J.J. Yeley-445; 5-Brad Noffsinger-441; 6-Tony Elliott-432; 7-John Heydenreich-424; 8-Russ Gamester-396; 9-Paul White-390; 10-Jack Hewitt-364.
-------------------------------------------------------------
MEMPHIS FINALE TO TYLER; CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO HINES
Millington, Tennessee………Brian Tyler won the race and Tracy Hines won the championship as the USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet series capped its 14-race season with a competitive Memphis 100 finale on October 29 at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Tyler took the lead when Ryan Newman’s clutch broke after 75 laps, then led the final 25 laps in his Kroger/Pringles/Sunny Delight Special to win the 100-lap race on the ¾-mile paved oval. Tyler was the fourth race leader of the day.
“The car was perfect at the start,” said Tyler in victory lane. “But a left front shock cover broke and let the car drag on the track which caused me to fall back.”
When the red flag came out for a three-car accident in turn one involving John Heydenreich, Bobby McMahan and Jimmy Sills, Tyler’s team fixed the problem. “That helped,” said Tyler. “The car was a rocket again and we were able to move back up in the field. I saw some smoke from Ryan’s car and knew he was in trouble. Race traffic was no problem the rest of the way.”
Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. overhauled Dave Darland for the series championship, finishing second in the race and ending with a 29-point margin as Tyler took third in the standings. Darland ran out of the top-10 most of the race and spun out on the white flag lap.
Trailing Tyler and Hines at the finish were pole starter Russ Gamester, Oliver Trucking Rookie of the Race Kasey Kahne and Derek Davidson. Jack Hewitt won Saturday’s 15-lap qualifying race.
USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 28-29, 2000 – Millington, Tennessee – Memphis Motorsports Park – Memphis 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into the feature) 1. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-21.369; 2. Derek Davidson, 25, BWB-21.412; 3. Dave Steele, 19, Gratton-21.428; 4. Kasey Kahne, 67, Zarounian-21.441; 5. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-21.462; 6. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-21.481; 7. Dane Carter, 27, Carter-21.509; 8. Brian Tyler, 69, Dynamics-21.540; 9. Bentley Warren, 29, S & S-21.579; 10. Brad Noffsinger, 40, Curb/Agajanian-21.584; 11. Ryan Newman, 1, Vance-21.585; 12. Ed Carpenter, 7, Snider-21.586; 13. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-21.636; 14. Bobby McMahan, 26, Espindola-21.655; 15. Jason Leffler, 9, East/Stewart-21.702; 16. Billy Whittaker, 47, Paternoster-21.752; 17. Bud Kaeding, 44, Helmling-21.806; 18. Robby Flock, 80, Beach-21.824; 19. John Heydenreich, 99, Mucci/Matczak-21.837; 20. Tony Elliott, 20, Nolen-21.958; 21. Eric Gordon, 41, Bowen-21.978; 22. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-22.028; 23. Aaron Fike, 93, RFMS-22.118; 24. Mike Ordway, 110, West-22.124; 25. Pat Abold, 01, West-22.129; 26. Jimmy Sills, 92, Hoerner-22.135; 27. Jack Hewitt, 23, Dewit-22.201; 28. Mark Boice, 54, Boice-22.209; 29. Paul White, 100, Cook-22.210; 30. Jeff Bloom, 3, Van Klompenburg-22.334; 31. Rich Tobias Jr., 74, RW-22.378; 32. Jerry Coons Jr., 333, RE Technologies-22.461; 33. J.J. Yeley, 11, Snider/Foyt-22.511; 34. Ricky Shelton, 50, Aviators-22.561; 35. Eric Butze, 35, RE Technologies-22.591; 36. Kenny Jacobs, 17, Holt-22.635; 37. David Bridges, 16, Logan-22.735; 38. Jackie Burke, 86, Burke-22.951; 39. Johnny Gilbertson, 89, Moore-23.262; 40. Jimmy McCune, 2, Vance-NT; 41. Robbie Rice, 8, Wallace-NT; 42. Jim Childers, 78, Miller/Holz-NT. (Jerry Coons Jr., 135, RE Technologies-22.461-withdrawn).
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Jack Hewitt, 2. Pat Abold, 3. Jimmy Sills, 4. Paul White, 5. Rich Tobias Jr., 6. J.J. Yeley, 7. Mark Boice, 8. Jerry Coons Jr. (#333), 9. Ricky Shelton, 10. Kenny Jacobs, 11. Eric Butze, 12. David Bridges, 13. Johnny Gilbertson, 14. Jackie Burke. 5:34.15
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses 9) 1. Brian Tyler (8), 2. Tracy Hines (6), 3. Russ Gamester (1), 4. Kasey Kahne (4), 5. Derek Davidson (2), 6. J.J. Yeley (30), 7. Brad Noffsinger (10), 8. Jason McCord (5), 9. Dane Carter (7), 10. Bud Kaeding (17), 11. Jack Hewitt (25), 12. Paul White (28), 13. Bentley Warren (9), 14. Aaron Fike (23), 15. Dave Darland (13), 16. Ed Carpenter (12), 17. Jimmy Sills (27), 18. Rich Tobias Jr. (29), 19. Mike Ordway (24), 20. Robby Flock (18), 21. Dave Steele (3), 22. Ryan Newman (11), 23. Billy Whitaker (16), 24. Jason Leffler (15), 25. Chet Fillip (22), 26. Eric Gordon (21), 27. Pat Abold (26), 28. John Heydenreich (19), 29. Bobby McMahan (14), 30. Tony Elliott (20). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-23 Derek Davidson, Laps 24-50 Kasey Kahne, Laps 51-75 Ryan Newman, Laps 76-100 Brian Tyler.
-------------------------------------------------------------
2000 USAC SILVER BULLET DRIVER POINTS
1. (603) Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind.
2. (574) Dave Darland, Lincoln, Ind.
3. (563) Brian Tyler, Parma, Mich.
4. (490) J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, Ariz.
5. (483) Brad Noffsinger, Huntington Beach, Calif.
6. (453) Russ Gamester, Peru, Ind.
7. (435) Tony Elliott, Kokomo, Ind.
8. (429) John Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, Pa.
9. (419) Paul White, Temple, Texas
10. (409) Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, Wash.
11. (395) Jack Hewitt, Troy, Ohio
12. (329) Ed Carpenter, Indianapolis, Ind.
13. (311) Jay Drake, Val Verde, Calif.
14. (310) Jason Leffler, Long Beach, Calif.
15. (294) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind.
16. (266) Bud Kaeding, Campbell, Calif.
17. (226) Gary Hieber, Langhorne, Pa.
18. (207) Jimmy Sills, Placerville, Calif.
19. (192) Jimmy McCune, Toledo, Ohio
20. (174) Eric Gordon, Greenfield, Ind.
21. (151) Brad Fox, Avon, Ind.
22. (142) Derek Davidson, Lafayette, Ind.
23. (140) Jason McCord, Anderson, Ind.
24. (136) Brian Paulus, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
25. (131) Robby Flock, Murrieta, Calif.
26. (130) Chet Fillip, San Angelo, Texas
27. (125) Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, Ohio
28. (118) Bill Rose, Plainfield, Ind.
29. (117) Pat Abold, Pennellville, N.Y.
30. (112) Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, Ariz.
31. (101) Dave Steele, Tampa, Fla.
32. (92) Rich Tobias Jr., Lebanon, Pa.
33. (89) Bentley Warren, Kennebunkport, Maine
34. (82) Donnie Beechler, Springfield, Ill.
35. (81) Dan Drinan, Scottsdale, Ariz.
36. (80) Tom Capie, Trevose, Pa.
37. (79) Bobby McMahan, Sacramento, Calif.
38. (79) Aaron Fike, Galesburg, Ill.
39. (77) Billy Whittaker, Central Square, N.Y.
40. (69) Todd Kane, Powell, Ohio
41. (67) Johnny Parsons, Indianapolis, Ind.
42. (60) Dane Carter, Brownsburg, Ind.
43. (59) Brian Gerster, Indianapolis, Ind.
44. (53) Terry Pletch, Frankfort, Ind.
45. (40) A.J. Fike, Galesburg, Ill.
46. (36) Chuck Leary, Greenfield, Ind.
47. (36) Scott Hansen, Simi Valley, Calif.
48. (32) Donnie Lehmann, Springfield, Ill.
49. (31) Stevie Reeves, Speedway, Ind.
50. (31) Jeff West, Oswego, N.Y.
51. (30) Craig Dori, Chicago, Ill.
52. (27) Ricky Logan, Little Rock, Ark.
53. (27) Jon Herb, Chicago, Ill.
54. (27) Joe McCarthy, Broomfield, Colo.
55. (25) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill.
56. (24) Jimmy Kite, Stockbridge, Ga.
57. (23) Brett Hearn, Vernon, N.J.
58. (22) Brad Armstrong, New Palestine, Ind.
59. (21) Tony Hunt, Fair Oaks, Calif.
60. (19) Wally Pankratz, Orange, Calif.
61. (15) Rob Chaney, Wooster, Ohio
62. (15) Mike Ordway, Fremont, N.H.
63. (13) Rod Holshouser, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
64. (13) Mike Adkins, Bothell, Wash.
65. (12) Ray Bragg, Tampa, Fla.
66. (12) Kenny Irwin Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.
67. (12) Darren Spiers, Boise, Idaho
68. (11) Robbie Rice, Brownsburg, Ind.
69. (10) Jackie Burke, Houston, Texas
70. (7) Chuck Gurney, Livermore, Calif.
71. (6) Ken Hamilton, Boise, Idaho
72. (5) Dana LaLiberte, Indianapolis, Ind.
73. (3) Robin Bank, Pittsburgh, Pa.
74. (3) Gene Lee Gibson, Richwood, Ohio
75. (3) Troy Vaccaro, Sandusky, Ohio
76. (3) Ricky Shelton, Huntington Beach, Calif.
77. (3) Mike Lauterborn, Rochester, N.Y.
2000 USAC SILVER BULLET ENTRANT POINTS
1. (603) Indiana Underground Construction (Terry Riggs), Indianapolis, Ind. (#37)
2. (574) Foxco Engineering, Avon, Ind. (#56)
3. (563) Dynamics, Inc., Milford, Ohio (#69)
4. (491) Dewit Motorsports, Zionsville, Ind. (#23)
5. (483) Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, Concord, N.C. (#40)
6. (480) Bob East-Tony Stewart, Indianapolis, Ind. (#9)
7. (471) Zarounian Motorsports, Visalia, Calif. (#67)
8. (435) Nolen Racing, Greenwood, Ind. (#20)
9. (429) Mucci-Matczak Racing, East Hartford, Conn. (#99)
10. (426) Gamester Racing, Peru, Ind. (#51)
11. (419) Paul Cook Racing, Mansfield, Texas (#100)
12. (391) Snider-Foyt Racing, Bakersfield, Calif. (#11)
13. (329) Debbie Snider, Bakersfield, Calif. (#7)
14. (307) Johnny Vance Racing Team, Dayton, Ohio (#1)
15. (226) EWH Service, Langhorne, Pa. (#66)
16. (223) Ralph Potter, Indianapolis, Ind. (#6)
17. (201) Johnny Vance Racing Team, Dayton, Ohio (#2)
18. (182) BWB Motorsports, Terre Haute, Ind. (#25)
19. (174) Bowen Oldsmobile, Terre Haute, Ind. (#41)
20. (170) Helmling Racing, Vincennes, Ind. (#44)
21. (158) Gene Beach, Franklin, Mo. (#80)
22. (151) Brad Fox, Avon, Ind. (#53)
23. (142) Bob Hoerner, Crest Hill, Ill. (#92)
24. (140) Contos Racing, Anderson, Ind. (#4)
25. (137) Beaver Racing, Noblesville, Ind. (#62)
26. (136) P & P Motorsports, Mechanicsburg, Pa. (#22)
27. (130) Advanced Racing Suspensions, Indianapolis, Ind. (#77)
28. (125) Bob Hampshire, Findlay, Ohio (#63)
29. (119) RFMS Racing, Galesburg, Ill. (#93)
30. (117) J.L. West Motorsports, Oswego, N.Y. (#01)
31. (104) Stanton Racing, Nicholasville, Ky. (#175)
32. (102) RE Technologies, Bartlett, Tenn. (#135)
33. (101) Bob Gratton Motorsports, Tampa, Fla. (#19)
34. (92) RW Motorsports, Annville, Pa. (#74)
35. (89) S & S Racing, Marlboro, Mass. (#29)
36. (82) Dr. Jim Logan, St. Louis, Mo. (#16)
37. (81) RE Technologies, Bartlett, Tenn. (#333)
38. (80) Capie Racing, Trevose, Pa. (#153)
39. (79) Keith Espindola, San Jose, Calif. (#26)
40. (77) Jim Paternoster Autosport, Oswego, N.Y. (#47)
41. (69) Dixon/Kane Motorsports, Delaware, Ohio (#75)
42. (60) Pancho Carter, Brownsburg, Ind. (#27)
43. (53) Terry Pletch, Frankfort, Ind. (#79)
44. (46) J.L. West Motorsports, Oswego, N.Y. (#110)
45. (44) Ricky Nix Tire Service, Benton, Ill. (#43)
46. (37) Aviators Racing, Chicago, Ill. (#50)
47. (36) Chuck Leary, Greenfield, Ind. (#30)
48. (36) Robison Motorsports, Lakeside, Calif. (#42)
49. (33) Jack Krenn, Concord, Calif. (#07)
50. (33) Bar-D Racing, Boise, Idaho (#81)
51. (32) George Egan, Hazelwood, Mo. (#46)
52. (31) Tommy Ray Maples, Brush Prairie, Wash. (#98)
53. (30) Shoestring Racing, Fort Wayne, Ind. (#38)
54. (27) Mike Nowicke-Racing Professionals, Indianapolis, Ind. (#52)
55. (27) Steve Peachey, Denver, Colo. (#189)
56. (27) M & L Plumbing (Fred Ede), Fresno, Calif. (#14)
57. (25) Galas Motorsports, O’Fallon, Ill. (#12)
58. (22) Westcon Racing, Lebanon, Ohio (#59)
59. (21) Swann Motorsports, Burbank, Calif. (#170)
60. (19) EJay's Motorsports, Sacramento, Calif. (#57)
61. (15) SC Racing, Carey, Ohio (#97)
62. (15) T & D Motorsports, Bethalto, Ill. (#96)
63. (13) Madkins Racing, Bothell, Wash. (#71)
64. (12) Moore Racing, Clearwater, Fla. (#89)
65. (11) Dave LeFevre, Lafayette, Ind. (#24)
66. (10) Burmeister Motorsports, Oconomowoc, Wisc. (#95)
67. (10) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill. (#55)
68. (10) Jackie Burke, Houston, Texas (#86)
69. (6) Jacque Tyler, Centerville, Utah (#90)
70. (5) Dana LaLiberte Motorsports, Schoolcraft, Mich. (#70)
71. (3) Steve Brown, New Washington, Ind. (#72)
72. (3) 3D Motorsports (Doug Van Klompenburg), Columbus, Ind. (#3)
73. (3) Joe Conroy, Brunswick, Ohio (#18)
74. (3) Jimmy McCune, Sylvania, Ohio (#36)
75. (3) Mike Lauterborn, Rochester, N.Y. (#13)