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.
2013 USAC SILVER CROWN SEASON
For the first time in 23 years, no driver repeated as a winner in the USAC Silver Crown series in 2013 with eight different drivers emerging victorious in each of the eight events.
However, the parity from top-to-bottom didn’t keep Bobby East from repeating as USAC Silver Crown champion, the fifth driver to claim back-to-back titles with the series in the past 12 seasons.
East repeated as the champion by only six points over the fast-closing Chris Windom, but East’s title also produced a record-extending 16th USAC National Championship for Tony Stewart. To date, Stewart’s crowns include four as a driver and 12 as a car owner in USAC’s three National series.
Brownsburg, Indiana’s East was on the chase for the majority of the season, finally reaching the top of the standings in the next-to-last race at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds while four other drivers exchanged the lead throughout the year, starting with Levi Jones, Jerry Coons Jr., Kody Swanson and Tracy Hines, whom, ultimately, East surpassed for the top spot late in the season.
Jones of Olney, Ill. finally broke through with his first-ever Hoosier Hundred win in May at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, capping an exciting 100-miler with a pass in turn three on lap 94 to stop Coons from making it three wins in a row at the historic Memorial Day weekend race.
Bobby Santos from Franklin, Mass. took part in an unbelievable race-long battle with East before becoming a beneficiary of East’s problems late in the race, and held on over Kody Swanson by just a .040-second margin in a final two-lap dash at the end of the 80 laps around the 1.25-mile oval to win June’s Gateway 100 in the series’ return to Gateway Motorsports Park.
East won the 100-mile Rocky Mountain Classic at Pikes Peak International Raceway in late June aboard his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing Chevrolet Performance/Curb Beast/Kistler. The victory was the 29th in series competition for Stewart as a car owner.
Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. picked up his second career USAC TRAXXAS Silver Crown win and the first for car owner Mike Bowman in dominant fashion during July’s J.D. Byrider 100 at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Hines of New Castle, Ind. picked up his ninth career win with the series in the August’s Inaugural Hustle on the High Banks at the Belleville (Kans.) High Banks, which marked the first career Silver Crown victory for his car owner Mark Lightfoot. Hines was dominant in posting fast time before wiring the field in the 50-lapper.
Galesburg native A.J. Fike made his home state proud as he backed up his Tony Bettenhausen 100 win from 2012 by going back-to-back in the annual mid-August 100-miler for the series at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.
Chris Urish of Elkhart, Ill. was an upset winner in the traditional Labor Day weekend Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds. It was an unpredictable affair down the stretch as Urish ran third with four laps remaining, then inherited the lead after leaders Chris Windom and Shane Cockrum ran out of fuel.
Windom of Canton, Illinois began September’s 4-Crown Nationals without a previous Eldora win nor a Silver Crown victory to his name. By the end of the night, he became a two-time Eldora winner, also picking up a USAC Sprint Car win, and finally broke through with a strong win in the 50-lap Silver Crown finale to close out the season.
While Windom won, East locked up his second-straight series championship by finishing sixth. He also won the owner's championship for the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 10, as problems for other contenders Coons and Hines propelled the series Rookie of the Year, Windom, to finish second in the championship, six points behind East.
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JONES FIRST HOOSIER HUNDRED WIN STOPS COONS' STREAK
Indianapolis, Indiana………Levi Jones of Olney, Illinois finally broke through with his first-ever Hoosier Hundred win on Friday night at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, capping an exciting 100-miler with a pass in turn three on lap 94 to stop Jerry Coons, Jr. from making it three wins in a row at the historic Memorial Day weekend race.
Russ Gamester took the pole after setting B & W Auto Mart Fast Time to begin the night and led through the first half of the race. Brian Tyler was the early mover in the race as he jumped to third from ninth in the first fifteen laps. Coons came right along with him as he moved past Tyler to the third spot in the first 25 laps.
Coons then moved to second just before a restart around halfway, as front row starter Tracy Hines went from second to fourth. Shortly after halfway, Coons pressured Gamester through traffic before taking the lead on lap 59. Gamester held onto second until the leaders encountered traffic again, as Tyler and Jones moved into the top-three.
The race changed quickly when Tyler’s race came to an end on the backstretch on lap 79 when contact between himself, a lapped car, and Coons left Tyler spun around and damaged.
With 18 to go, Coons led the field back to green with Gamester, Jones, Hines, and Shane Hollingsworth trailing. Jones jumped to second on the restart and took off, as the top-two checked out on the rest of the field.
Jones moved in on Coons, and Jones finally saw his opportunity on lap 94 as the two headed down the backstretch. The clinching move came in turn three and Jones immediately drove away from the field. It was the first-ever win on a mile for Jones, coming aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing – Chevrolet Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler Chevy.
“My car really didn’t feel very good early in the race,” Jones said, adding, “I really didn’t make that many adjustments, though. I saw Darland smoking the tire a bit early, and I knew I had to save stuff and maybe catch a couple cautions to be able to race for it at the end.”
“We got a great restart there at the end, and I could see him smoking his tire just a bit on that last run. I had this race won (in 2006) and a late restart led to me getting passed in turn three on the last lap, so to get the lead in that very same spot feels pretty good,” Jones noted of his Hoosier Hundred history. A southern Illinoisan with a love for the dirt miles closed by saying “You hear it all the time, that words can’t describe it, but growing up going to the dirt miles with all my family, it means a lot to put my name on the list of winners here.”
For Coons, second place was a disappointing end to his amazing run at the Fairgrounds in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #27 Beast/Wallace Toyota, thinking the backstretch altercation late in the race may have been his undoing.
“We just found something wrong in the left-front suspension, and I can only assume it was from the contact on the backstretch. It definitely didn’t feel the same after that yellow. We were able to stay in a pretty good spot throughout the race and got Gamester in traffic, although he got us back in the exact same way later and I got lucky to be saved by a caution. I was doing all I could and wasn’t worried about saving tires or anything at the end, and Levi was really good at the end of the race. I’m not sure we could have held him off even without our issues, but I know it didn’t help. It’s definitely disappointing to miss out on winning three in a row, but I never like to get too optimistic and we knew it would be tough coming into this. We had a great race car, and it’s certainly disappointing to lose it in the last ten laps,” Coons said.
Hines came home third in the Lightfoot Racing #16 Beast/Stanton Mopar, rounding out a strong podium, while former race winner Shane Hollingsworth finished fourth in the Gene Nolen – Ray Skillman Auto Centers #20 Twister/Tranter Chevy. A.J. Fike rounded out the top-five in the RFMS Racing – Liberty Village #3 Beast/Foxco, and Justin Grant came home sixth in the Marc Longworth #19 Beast/Toyota to pick up the B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger Award.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: May 24, 2013 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana State Fairgrounds – Hoosier Hundred presented by Federated Auto Parts
QUALIFYING: 1. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-32.937; 2. Casey Shuman, 15, Hardy-33.070; 3. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-33.245; 4. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-33.277; 5. Robert Ballou, 63, DePalma-33.313; 6. Levi Jones, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-33.375; 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-33.680; 8. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-33.999; 9. Dave Darland, 14, McQuinn-34.061; 10. Shane Hollingsworth, 20, Nolen-34.085; 11. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-34.280; 12. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-34.398; 13. Bobby East, 22, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-34.427; 14. Tim Barber, 28, Finkenbinder-34.539; 15. Shane Cockrum, 114, Hardy-34.599; 16. Kody Swanson, 43, Nix-34.661; 17. Todd Kane, 78, Kane-34.738; 18. Justin Grant, 19, Longworth-34.974; 19. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-35.269; 20. Miranda Throckmorton, 25, Sachs-35.602; 21. Kellen Conover, 76, Conover-36.258; 22. Kenny Gentry, 18, Gentry-37.745; 23. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-NT; 24. Tad Roach, 84, Spivey-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Levi Jones (5), 2. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 3. Tracy Hines (2), 4. Shane Hollingsworth (8), 5. A.J. Fike (10), 6. Justin Grant (18), 7. Aaron Pierce (3), 8. Bobby East (11), 9. Miranda Throckmorton (20), 10. Kellen Conover (21), 11. Russ Gamester (1), 12. Kody Swanson (16), 13. Brian Tyler (9), 14. Dave Darland (7), 15. Casey Shuman (13), 16. Chris Windom (14), 17. Tim Barber (12), 18. Taylor Ferns (23), 19. Randy Bateman (19), 20. Tad Roach (24), 21. Shane Cockrum (15), 22. Kenny Gentry (22), 23. Todd Kane (17), 24. Robert Ballou (4). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-58 Russ Gamester, Laps 59-93 Jerry Coons Jr., Laps 94-100 Levi Jones.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Levi Jones-60, 2-Jerry Coons-57, 3-Tracy Hines-54, 4-Shane Hollingsworth-51, 5-A.J. Fike-48, 6-Justin Grant-45, 7-Aaron Pierce-42, 8-Bobby East-39, 9-Russ Gamester-37, 10-Miranda Throckmorton-36.
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SANTOS HOLDS ON TO WIN TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN GATEWAY 100
Madison, Illinois………Bobby Santos from Franklin, Massachusetts took part in an unbelievable race-long battle with Bobby East before becoming a beneficiary of East’s problems late in the race, and held on in a final two-lap dash to win Saturday’s Gateway 100 TRAXXAS Silver Crown race in the series’ return to Gateway Motorsports Park.
Santos led three times for twenty laps, but held on over Kody Swanson by just a .040-second margin at the end of the 80 laps around the 1.25-mile oval to capture his first win of the season aboard the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #17 Beast/Wallace Toyota.
“I knew I had a good car, but the motor was laying down the second half of the race, and we definitely almost gave it away at the end with it going away. I didn’t see (Kody) coming at the end, but I just felt that somebody was going to be coming and make it close. That was a great race with Bobby (East) up at the front, too. We raced each other really hard and clean. I have a lot of respect for him and his family, and it’s nice to race that hard for the lead like that. It means a lot to win here and even get to race here. Places like this are right up my alley,” Santos said.
Santos’ teammate, Chris Windom, led the field to the green after posting a sizzling lap of 31.082 seconds to set a new Track Record of 144.779 miles per hour. Windom held on to lead the opening lap, but East quickly dove under him into turn-one for the lead. That set off a race full of lead changes and back-and-forth battling at the front of the field.
Brian Tyler moved to the lead on lap ten over East as Windom hung with the lead pack, while Santos hung back in fourth. Tyler led the biggest single chunk of the race, even as East repeatedly looked low on him down the front-stretch. Finally, East cleared him on lap 29 getting into turn-one to take his second turn at the front.
Tyler did not take long to go back to the lead, as he brought Windom into the fray on lap 32. The three raced for the top spot while Santos reeled them back in from nearly a straightaway back. Just after Santos got by Windom for third, East snuck under Tyler coming to complete lap 38.
Just past halfway, Santos disposed of Tyler and set his sights on the lead. Windom came with him, and the duo closed on East as the race neared the 50-lap mark. On lap 51, Santos made his first bid for the lead successful, but East was up for the challenge. Four lead changes between the two ended when East took the lead on lap 68 with a big run into turn-one and pulled away from the field.
Just as Swanson took third from Windom, East started to slow. He came to a stop to bring out the only caution of the race on lap 76. East came to the pits and added fuel, and the race was set up for a green-white-checkered finish. Santos stumbled a bit coming to the green, but Swanson lost a lot of ground down the front-stretch, with Windom moving to second. As the leaders came under the white-flag, Windom and Swanson were hooked up and had a full head of steam reeling in the leaders.
Swanson jumped to the outside of Windom as they rolled into turn-three, looking low off turn-four as the three passed under the checkers all within .177-seconds of each other. For Swanson, it was his first race aboard the DePalma Motorsports-owned Radio Hospital – Hampshire Engines #63 Beast/Hampshire.
“A month ago, this car was in storage, so to come that close…we got beat so bad on the original start and then again at the restart at the end. I know he was having his problems with running out of fuel or the engine going away, and we had our problems too, but I just really wanted that one bad. I was third down the backstretch and I just wasn’t going to lift to go to the bottom. We had a run on Santos coming off four, and I knew I couldn’t go around the outside, and he had just enough to hold us off. We just came up a little short,” Swanson said.
Windom’s first race aboard a pavement Silver Crown car ended with a podium after setting a blistering track record and racing amongst the top-four the entire race in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #7 Beast/Wallace Toyota.
“That was my first pavement Silver Crown race ever, so it’s pretty cool to get that record and run so well. I think I wore my tire out a little too much early, and then I couldn’t keep up there at the end. I definitely thought we had a shot at the win after we got such a good restart, but we were just too free. With the problems Bobby (Santos) was having, it definitely was getting interested at the end, especially after we caught the draft on Santos, but we were good and I’m happy for our team to run first and third,” Windom said.
Early leader Tyler held on for fourth in the Team Six-R – Jet Star #21 Beast/Claxton Toyota, while Jacob Wilson rounded out the top-five in the Wilson Brothers Racing – Jet Star #07 Beast/Toyota.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: June 1, 2013 – Madison, Illinois – Gateway Motorsports Park – Gateway 100
QUALIFYING: 1. Chris Windom, 7, RW/Curb-Agajanian-31.082 (New Track Record); 2. Bobby East, 22, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-31.220; 3. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-31.309; 4. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-31.334; 5. Bobby Santos, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-31.423; 6. Levi Jones, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-31.512; 7. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-31.638; 8. Jerry Coons, Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-31.797; 9. Jarett Andretti, 4, Andretti-31.846; 10. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-31.869; 11. Shane Hollingsworth, 20, Nolen-32.018; 12. Zach Daum, 5, Daum-32.302; 13. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-32.481; 14. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-NT; 15. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-NT; 16. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-NT.
FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bobby Santos (5), 2. Kody Swanson (3), 3. Chris Windom (1), 4. Brian Tyler (10), 5. Jacob Wilson (7), 6. Jerry Coons, Jr. (8), 7. Levi Jones (6), 8. Bobby East (2), 9. Shane Hollingsworth (11), 10. A.J. Fike (4), 11. David Byrne (15), 12. Zach Daum (12), 13. Jarett Andretti (9), 14. Tracy Hines (14), 15. Aaron Pierce (13), 16. Randy Bateman (16). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Chris Windom, Laps 2-9 Bobby East, Laps 10-28 Brian Tyler, Laps 29-31 Bobby East, Laps 32-37 Brian Tyler, Laps 38-50 Bobby East, Laps 51-54 Bobby Santos, Laps 55-57 Bobby East, Laps 58-67 Bobby Santos, Laps 68-74 Bobby East, Laps 75-80 Bobby Santos.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Levi Jones-102; 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-102; 3-Shane Hollingsworth-87; 4-Kody Swanson-86; 5-A.J. Fike-81; 6-Bobby East-81; 7-Tracy Hines-79; 8-Chris Windom-78; 9-Brian Tyler-78; 10-Aaron Pierce-65.
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EAST WINS ROCKY MOUNTAIN CLASSIC
Fountain, Colorado………Bobby East of Brownsburg, Ind. won Saturday’s 100-mile Rocky Mountain Classic TRAXXAS USAC Silver Crown Championship race at Pikes Peak International Raceway in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing Chevrolet Performance/Curb Beast/Kistler. The victory was the 29th in series competition for Stewart as a car owner.
East passed Brian Tyler on lap 26 and held off a late-race challenge from Jerry Coons Jr. to post the victory over Coons, Tracy Hines, Tyler and fast qualifier Kody Swanson, who qualified at 141.188 mph.
Coons emerged as the series point leader by 15 over East. Hines led the first four laps and Tyler led the next 21 before yielding to East.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 29, 2013 – Fountain, Colorado – Pikes Peak International Raceway – Rocky Mountain Classic
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-25.498; 2. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-25.687; 3. Kyle Hamilton, 33, Six-R/Hamilton-25.709; 4. Bobby Santos, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-25.787; 5. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-25.893; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-25.906; 7. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-25.913; 8. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-25.920; 9. Chris Windom, 7, RW/Curb-Agajanian-25.954; 10. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-25.993; 11. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-26.148; 12. Shane Hollingsworth, 20, Nolen-26.236; 13. Jarett Andretti, 4, Andretti-26.427; 14. Frank D’Alonso, 25, Sachs-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bobby East (8), 2. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 3. Tracy Hines (2), 4. Brian Tyler (10), 5. Kody Swanson (1), 6. Shane Hollingsworth (12), 7. David Byrne (5), 8. Jarett Andretti (13), 9. Chris Windom (9), 10. Kyle Hamilton (3), 11. Taylor Ferns (11), 12. A.J. Fike (7), 13. Bobby Santos (4), 14. Frank D’Alonso (14). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Tracy Hines, Laps 5-25 Brian Tyler, Laps 26-100 Bobby East.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Jerry Coons Jr.-159, 2-Bobby East-144, 3-Kody Swanson-137, 4-Tracy Hines-133, 5-Shane Hollingsworth-132, 6-Brian Tyler-129, 7-Chris Windom-114, 8-A.J. Fike-110, 9-Levi Jones-102, 10-Bobby Santos-87.
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TANNER SWANSON TERRORIZES TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN J.D. BYRIDER 100 AT LOR
Brownsburg, Indiana………Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg, California picked up his second career USAC TRAXXAS Silver Crown win and the first for car owner Mike Bowman in dominant fashion during Saturday night’s J.D. Byrider 100 at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Swanson started from row two and followed his brother Kody to a comfortable margin in the opening laps before hounding the lead before the race even hit lap ten. By lap 15, Tanner was able to clear Kody and take a lead that would never be challenged.
Swanson opened up a half-track margin as he lapped through the field, slowed only by one caution at the halfway mark. The dominating performance ended just short of lapping the sixth-place car for the Bowman/Canine Racing – Banjo Corporation #11 Beast/Kistler.
Kody Swanson, who also took the pole, racked up his second runner-up finish of the season in the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Beast/Hampshire, and David Byrne recorded his best career Silver Crown finish as he rounded out the podium in the Byrne Racing – Bytec #40 Beast/Chevy.
Chris Windom finished fourth in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #7 Beast/Wallace Toyota, and Tracy Hines rounded out the top-five in the Lightfoot Racing #16 Beast/Stanton Mopar.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: July 27, 2013 – Brownsburg, Indiana – Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis – J.D. Byrider 100
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-21.047; 2. Jerry Coons, Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-21.090; 3. Chris Windom, 7, RW/Curb-Agajanian-21.166; 4. Tanner Swanson, 11, Bowman/Canine-21.169; 5. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-21.181; 6. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-21.287; 7. Bobby Santos, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-21.294; 8. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-21.404; 9. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-21.435; 10. Shane Hollingsworth, 20, Nolen-21.480; 11. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-21.543; 12. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-21.711; 13. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-21.746; 14. Jarett Andretti, 4, Andretti-22.097; 15. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-22.371; 16. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-23.218; 17. Frank D’Alonso, 25, Sachs-23.371.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Swanson (4), 2. Kody Swanson (1), 3. David Byrne (6), 4. Chris Windom (3), 5. Tracy Hines (5), 6. Jacob Wilson (8), 7. Bobby East (11), 8. Aaron Pierce (13), 9. Brian Tyler (15), 10. Taylor Ferns (9), 11. Russ Gamester (12), 12. Frank D’Alonso (17), 13. Randy Bateman (16), 14. Jerry Coons Jr. (2), 15. Jarett Andretti (14), 16. Bobby Santos (7), 17. Shane Hollingsworth (10). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Kody Swanson, Laps 15-100 Tanner Swanson.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-197, 2-Bobby East-186, 3-Jerry Coons Jr.-184, 4-Tracy Hines-181, 5-Chris Windom-165, 6-Brian Tyler-165, 7-Shane Hollingsworth-151, 8-David Byrne-127, 9-A.J. Fike-110, 10-Bobby Santos-108.
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HINES LANDS LIGHTFOOT'S FIRST TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN WIN AT BELLEVILLE
Belleville, Kansas………Tracy Hines of New Castle, Indiana is a former TRAXXAS Silver Crown Series champion, but his ninth career win in the series on Friday in the “Hustle on the High Banks” at the Belleville High Banks marked the first for his car owner Mark Lightfoot. The win came in dominant fashion, as he posted “Fast Time” before wiring the field in the 50lapper.
Hines set out from the pole and beat Bobby East into the first turn. Two early cautions set up restarts where East and Robert Ballou battled for the second spot as Hines sped away up against the cushion.
A red flag on lap 24 for sixth-running Shane Hollingsworth offered Hines’ biggest challenge, as he restarted after with East and Ballou hot on his tail. But as the laps wound, Hines became stronger and stronger, opening up a comfortable margin.
With traffic in front of him over the final handful of circuits, his lead was carved down, but Hines was never seriously threatened en route to the 1.848-second win in the Lightfoot Racing #16 Beast/Stanton Mopar.
“It’s really cool to win for Mark Lightfoot. We put a deal together a couple years ago, and it’s turned into a great combination and a really good relationship. To finally get him a win is exciting. I’ve run second here a lot of times, so I’m happy to get a win here, whatever division it’s in. It was definitely treacherous to run a big heavy Silver Crown car here, with a full fuel load, without lifting up against a curb three feet from a little guardrail. My right-rear bled down under the red, so I had to ride it out after that, but once we got some air back I could attack it harder. We have three good tracks coming up for us in Silver Crown, so we’ll see what happens,” Hines said.
East pulled away from Ballou in the closing stages, keeping pace with new point-leader Hines as he finished second in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing – Chevy Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler.
“I think if we could have gotten out front at the beginning, we definitely were good enough to win. We could hang with him for stretches, but just couldn’t do much with him. We had some issues near the end of the race, so we’re happy to hang on for second,” East said.
Ballou rounded out the podium in the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire.
“I feel like I made some mistakes, because we had a really good car. It’s kind of disappointing to finish third, but I have to thank the DePalma family and Bob Hampshire, whose engines was really strong. We are starting up front and running well, but I’m still pretty inexperience in this stuff, and guys like Tracy seem to have Silver Crown pretty well figured out,” Ballou said.
Jerry Coons, Jr. came home fourth in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #27 Beast/Wallace Toyota, while his teammate Chris Windom rounded out the top-five as the final car on the lead lap in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #17 Beast/Wallace Toyota.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: August 2, 2013 – Belleville, Kansas – Belleville High Banks
QUALIFYING: 1. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-16.856; 2. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-16.949; 3. Jerry Coons, Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-17.050; 4. Robert Ballou, 63, DePalma-17.068; 5. Shane Hollingsworth, 20, Nolen-17.211; 6. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-17.274; 7. Kody Swanson, 25, Sachs-17.421; 8. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-17.502; 9. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-17.747; 10. Miranda Throckmorton, 33, Six-R-17.765; 11. Tim Barber, 28, Finkenbinder-17.983; 12. Dave Darland, 14, McQuinn-18.090; 13. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-18.672.
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tracy Hines (1), 2. Bobby East (2), 3. Robert Ballou (4), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (3), 5. Chris Windom (6), 6. A.J. Fike (9), 7. Kody Swanson (7), 8. Brian Tyler (8), 9. Dave Darland (12), 10. Tim Barber (11), 11. Shane Hollingsworth (5), 12. Miranda Throckmorton (10), 13. Chris Urish (13). NT
**Shane Hollingsworth flipped on lap 24 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-50 Tracy Hines.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Tracy Hines-247; 2-Bobby East-243; 3-Kody Swanson-239; 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-235; 5-Chris Windom-213; 6-Brian Tyler-204; 7-Shane Hollingsworth-182; 8-A.J. Fike-155; 9-David Byrne-127; 10-Bobby Santos-108.
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FIKE FLIES TO SECOND-STRAIGHT TONY BETTENHAUSEN 100
Springfield, Illinois………Galesburg native A.J. Fike made his home state proud as he backed up his “Tony Bettenhausen 100” win from 2012 by going back-to-back in Saturday’s 100-miler for the USAC TRAXXAS Silver Crown Series at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Fike, who set fast time earlier in the day, led the field early in the race before a quick yellow for Kenny Gentry. On the restart, Fike’s original attempt was called back for picking up the pace too early. On the next attempt, Chris Windom timed it just right to jump alongside Fike into turn-one and take the lead.
From there, Windom led as his teammate Jerry Coons, Jr. moved by Fike for second and the lead trio moved away from the field. Near the mid-point of the race, they encountered traffic that proved challenging for all three, as Windom fought to hold off both challengers as he moved by them. Fike snuck past Coons in traffic along the way.
The final restart came with 19 laps to go, as Windom led Fike and Coons to the green. After getting out to a comfortable advantage, Windom saw his lead dwindle until lap 93 when Fike made his winning move down the backstretch and into turn-three, finishing unchallenged for the win in the RFMS Racing – Liberty Village #3 Beast/Foxco.
“We fought to earn this one, and it honestly feels even better than the win last year. Winning here is so special to me. I consider this my home track, and to do it in front of a lot of friends and family means a lot. I have a lot of great memories here growing up, coming here with my family, so this place is just special to me. We had a car that was good from the time we unloaded. We lost the lead to Windom when he timed that restart just right, and we just weren’t as good back in traffic. I threw a lot at our Factory Kahne shocks on that last restart, and the car really came on over that last run,” Fike said.
Windom turned in his strongest Silver Crown performance to date, just missing a win in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #17 Beast/Wallace Toyota. Coons joined his teammate on the podium in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #27 Beast/Wallace Toyota.
Series point-leader Tracy Hines closed strong to come home fourth in the Lightfoot Racing #16 Beast/Stanton Mopar, while Shane Cockrum took home a top-five in the Hardy Boys Racing #15 Beast/Foxco.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 17, 2013 – Springfield, Illinois – Illinois State Fairgrounds – Tony Bettenhausen 100
QUALIFYING: 1. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-32.125; 2. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-32.298; 3. Shane Cockrum, 15, Hardy-NT; 32.414; 4. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-32.544; 5. Todd Kane, 78, Kane-32.798; 6. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-32.817; 7. Kody Swanson, 25, Sachs-32.887; 8. Jerry Coons Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-32.888; 9. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-33.011; 10. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-33.069; 11. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-33.074; 12. Jarett Andretti, 141, McQuinn-33.494; 13. Miranda Throckmorton, 33, Six-R-33.513; 14. Robert Ballou, 63, DePalma-33.605; 15. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-34.739; 16. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-35.316; 17. Kenny Gentry, 18, Gentry-35.470; 18. Dave Darland, 14, McQuinn-37.693; 19. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-NT; 20. Kellen Conover, 76, Conover-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. A.J. Fike (1), 2. Chris Windom (4), 3. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 4. Tracy Hines (7), 5. Shane Cockrum (11), 6. Brian Tyler (2), 7. Kody Swanson (5), 8. Bobby East (9), 9. Robert Ballou (14), 10. Taylor Ferns (16), 11. Chris Urish (8), 12. Jarett Andretti (10), 13. Dave Darland (18), 14. Patrick Lawson (15), 15. Todd Kane (12), 16. Miranda Throckmorton (13), 17. Kenny Gentry (17), 18. Russ Gamester (3). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1- 7 A.J. Fike, Laps 8-92 Chris Windom, Laps 93-100 A.J. Fike.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Tracy Hines-298, 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-289, 3-Bobby East-282, 4-Kody Swanson-281, 5-Chris Windom-273, 6-Brian Tyler-249, 7-A.J. Fike-218, 8-Shane Hollingsworth-182, 9-David Byrne-127, 10-Jarett Andretti-118.
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URISH TAKES STUNNING TED HORN 100 AT Du QUOIN
Du Quoin, Illinois………Chris Urish of Elkhart, Ill. won Sunday night’s unpredictable “Ted Horn 100” TRAXXAS USAC Silver Crown race at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. He was running third with four laps remaining, then inherited the lead after leaders Chris Windom and Shane Cockrum started to run out of fuel.
Urish was strong through the middle portion of the race and moved into the top-five before race-long leader Robert Ballou stumbled, short of fuel, on lap 81. From there, he raced with Cockrum for second as Windom raced away from them and tried to hold off a determined Ballou, who was trying to make up the two laps he lost in the pits.
Urish officially led the final three laps in his Urish Motorsports Beast/Foxco! Ballou led the first 80 laps before his problems, then Windom led the next 17 laps before his misfortune. It was the first win in the series for Urish in his Urish Motorsports #77 Beast/Foxco.
"Du Quoin is a special place for me. I've been coming here for years, and just wanted to race here. Tonight, by no means were we the fastest, but we knew if we stuck to it, there would be some things shake out at the end. I felt pretty good anyway, and then they just kept telling me that other guys were having problems and I needed to keep diggin'. It was pretty unbelievable taking the white - we had a whole lap to get back around this thing. I was pretty calm finishing it off, but I've got the best group involved in this and we might not stop celebrating this for a day or two. This is a big part of our lives, and there's nothing more special than to win a Silver Crown race on a mile," Urish said.
Bobby East finished second in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing - Chevy Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler and is the new series point leader, while A.J. Fike ended up third in his RFMS Racing - Liberty Village #3 Beast/Foxco ahead of Cockrum and Ballou, who were able to finish. Ballou was repositioned to the tail due to missing scales, so Taylor Ferns is credited with fifth.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 1, 2013 – Du Quoin, Illinois – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – Ted Horn 100
QUALIFYING: 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-30.462; 2. Robert Ballou, 63, DePalma-30.484; 3. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-30.507; 4. Christopher Bell, 21, Six-R-30.678; 5. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-30.870; 6. Shane Cockrum, 15, Hardy-31.439; 7. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-31.772; 8. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-31.948; 9. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-32.032; 10. Miranda Throckmorton, 33, Six-R-32.513; 11. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-32.603; 12. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-33.490; 13. Tiffany Wyzard, 30, King-34.989; 14. Kody Swanson, 25, Sachs-NT; 15. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Chris Urish (9), 2. Bobby East (3), 3. A.J. Fike (11), 4. Shane Cockrum (6), 5. Taylor Ferns (7), 6. Chris Windom (5), 7. Jerry Coons Jr. (1), 8. Christopher Bell (4), 9. Russ Gamester (8), 10. Miranda Throckmorton (10), 11. Tiffany Wyzard (13), 12. Kody Swanson (14), 13. Patrick Lawson (12), 14. Tracy Hines (15), 15. Robert Ballou (2). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-80 Robert Ballou, Laps 81-97 Chris Windom, Laps 98-100 Chris Urish.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Bobby East-339, 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-334, 3-Tracy Hines-323, 4-Chris Windom-318, 5-Kody Swanson-310, 6-A.J. Fike-272, 7-Brian Tyler-249, 8-Shane Hollingsworth-182, 9-Taylor Ferns-162, 10-David Byrne-127.
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WINDOM DOUBLES UP AT 4-CROWN; EAST TAKES SECOND-STRAIGHT SERIES TITLE
Rossburg, Ohio………Chris Windom of Canton, Illinois began the night without an Eldora win nor a TRAXXAS Silver Crown Series victory to his name. By the end of the night, he became a two-time Eldora winner and finally broke through with a strong win in the 50-lap Silver Crown finale to close the "4-Crown Nationals."
While Windom won, Bobby East locked up his second-straight series championship by finishing sixth. He also won the owner's championship for the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #10, as problems for other contenders Jerry Coons, Jr. and Tracy Hines propelled Windom to finish second in the championship, six points behind East.
East did a lot to help his chances at the title after grabbing the pole during ProSource Qualifying, and he led the field to green. An early caution gave Windom an opportunity on the Delaware double-file restart, as he got a big run and threw a slider under East for the lead in turn-one.
After two more early cautions, Windom kept his lead as Chris Bell moved to the second spot and they drew away from the field. Windom nearly spun on lap 16, and Bell had nowhere to go as they made contact in turn-one and kept going. Hines darted underneath both for the lead, but the yellow would quickly fly as Bell's right-rear tire shredded and additional damage from the contact took him out of the event.
With another chance at the lead, Windom was comfortably out front over the last half of the race, holding Hines behind him throughout. With just two laps to go, Hines made contact with the turn-four wall and flipped, bringing out a red flag and setting up a tense ending for Windom.
A great restart and then a big run off turn-two helped Windom to hold off a hard-charging Matt Westfall as the Rotondo Weirich - Curb Records #17 Beast/Wallace Toyota won the "4-Crown" for the second year in a row, this time with Windom at the wheel.
"I don't even know if it's really set in yet. I can't believe I won one, let alone both. I've wanted to win here for so long. We've been so close all year in Silver Crown, but I don't think I had the experience yet to finish them off. We had some problems from the incident earlier with Bell, which I hated for him, but that made it pretty ill-handling the rest of the race. They said I had a decent lead before that last restart, and our car restarts really well so I knew it'd be tough to get around us. I have to thank the RW bunch for sticking with me and getting a win together," Windom said.
Westfall finished a strong night with his runner-up finish in his first start of the season aboard the MTR-Martco - Longworth Equipment #19 Beast/Toyota.
"Marc (Longworth)'s got a really good car. We chucked the brake pads early, so we fell back quite a bit at the beginning. I went to the bottom just to be out of the way, and it really worked out for us. I was hoping for a real long run, and we got it up to second, so I wasn't even really wanting to see that caution at the end. It worked out for us, and I wish we had some brake to go after Windom a little harder at the end, but we had a good night," Westfall said.
Shane Cockrum came on strong in the latter portion of the race to claim his first podium finish in the series, and third-straight top-five, aboard the Hardy Boys Motorsports - Infinity Shocks #15 Beast/Foxco.
"Maybe we just get the middle and bottom working because I'm that scared of the wall, I don't know. My car worked really good in the middle, and I just had to keep rolling through there. I needed to get out a bit farther to arc it in there, but it was tough with guys running around the top-side. We were good last year, too, running a lot the same way. We're going the right direction with this car, and tonight we were without our crew chief Levi Jones, so hopefully with him back in our corner next year we can finish a couple better," Cockrum said.
Taylor Ferns finished a busy day that included the earlier ARCA Series event at Kentucky Speedway by finishing 4th after starting 13th to earn the "Larry Rice High Performance Award" in the Motor City Auto Transport - Simpson #35 Beast/Toyota, and Dave Darland rounded out the top-five aboard the Sam Pierce Chevrolet #26 Beast/Chevy.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: September 21, 2013 – Rossburg, Ohio – Eldora Speedway – 32nd 4-Crown Nationals
QUALIFYING: 1. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-16.517; 2. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-16.598; 3. Christopher Bell, 21, Six-R-16.749; 4. Matt Westfall, 19, Longworth-16.750; 5. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-16.879; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-17.031; 7. Kody Swanson, 25, Sachs-17.163; 8. Mitch Wissmiller, 7, RW/Curb-Agajanian-17.200; 9. Dave Darland, 26, Pierce-17.207; 10. Shane Cockrum, 15, Hardy-17.589; 11. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-17.817; 12. Joe Liguori, 99, Gormly-18.137; 13. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-18.140; 14. Jarett Andretti, 14, McQuinn-18.267; 15. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-18.413; 16. John Hunt, 91, Hunt-18.509; 17. Jerry Nemire, 176, Nemire-18.763; 18. Kellen Conover, 76, Conover-19.024; 19. Tad Roach, 84, Spivey-19.255; 20. Robert Ballou, 63, DePalma-NT.
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Chris Windom (5), 2. Matt Westfall (4), 3. Shane Cockrum (10), 4. Taylor Ferns (13), 5. Dave Darland (9), 6. Bobby East (1), 7. Joe Liguori (12), 8. Kody Swanson (7), 9. Tracy Hines (2), 10. Patrick Lawson (15), 11. Jarett Andretti (14), 12. Jerry Nemire (17), 13. Robert Ballou (20), 14. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 15. Christopher Bell (3), 16. Tad Roach (19), 17. John Hunt (16), 18. Kellen Conover (18), 19. Mitch Wissmiller (8), 20. Chris Urish (11). NT
**Robert Ballou flipped during practice. Tracy Hines flipped on lap 49 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Bobby East, Laps 4-50 Chris Windom.
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2013 USAC SILVER CROWN DRIVER POINTS
1. (387) Bobby East, Brownsburg, Ind.
2. (381) Chris Windom, Canton, Ill.
3. (359) Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind.
4. (359) Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, Ariz.
5. (349) Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.
6. (272) A.J. Fike, Galesburg, Ill.
7. (249) Brian Tyler, Parma, Mich.
8. (213) Taylor Ferns, Shelby Township, Mich.
9. (182) Shane Hollingsworth, Indianapolis, Ind.
10. (165) Shane Cockrum, Benton, Ill.
11. (152) Robert Ballou, Rocklin, Calif.
12. (149) Jarett Andretti, Mooresville, N.C.
13. (136) Dave Darland, Lincoln, Ind.
14. (131) Chris Urish, Elkhart, Ill.
15. (127) David Byrne, Shullsburg, Wisc.
16. (121) Russ Gamester, Peru, Ind.
17. (119) Miranda Throckmorton, Avon, Ind.
18. (108) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass.
19. (104) Aaron Pierce, Muncie, Ind.
20. (102) Levi Jones, Olney, Ill.
21. (93) Jacob Wilson, Crawfordsville, Ind.
22. (85) Patrick Lawson, Edwardsville, Ill.
23. (64) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill.
24. (63) Tanner Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.
25. (62) Christopher Bell, Norman, Okla.
26. (57) Matt Westfall, Pleasant Hill, Ohio
27. (54) Frank D’Alonso, Rochester, Mich.
28. (52) Tim Barber, San Francisco, Calif.
29. (51) Kellen Conover, Sumner, Ill.
30. (45) Justin Grant, Ione, Calif.
31. (42) Joe Liguori, Tampa, Fla.
32. (34) Tad Roach, Granite City, Ill.
33. (33) Todd Kane, Powell, Ohio
34. (33) Kyle Hamilton, Danville, Ind.
35. (31) Tiffany Wyzard, Williamsville, Ill.
36. (30) Kenny Gentry, Henderson, Ky.
37. (29) Zach Daum, Pocahontas, Ill.
38. (29) Jerry Nemire, Erie, Mich.
39. (23) Casey Shuman, Tempe, Ariz.
40. (19) John Hunt, Tulsa, Okla.
41. (15) Mitch Wissmiller, Saybrook, Ill.
2013 USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRANT POINTS
1. (408) Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Brownsburg, Ind. (#10)
2. (359) Lightfoot Racing, Springfield, Mo. (#16)
3. (359) RW Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, Lederach, Pa. (#27)
4. (345) RW Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, Lederach, Pa. (#17)
5. (320 DePalma Motorsports, Lima, Ohio (#63)
6. (311) Six-R Racing, Westfield, Ind. (#21)
7. (272) RFMS Racing, Galesburg, Ill. (#3)
8. (242) Eddie Sachs Racing, Mt. Clemens, Mich. (#25)
9. (213) Taylor Ferns Racing, Shelby Twp., Mich. (#35)
10. (182) Nolen Racing, Greenwood, Ind. (#20)
11. (176) Hardy Boys Racing, Benton, Ill. (#15)
12. (159) RW Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, Lederach, Pa. (#7)
13. (152) Sam Pierce, Daleville, Ind. (#26)
14. (131) Urish Motorsports, Elkhart, Ill. (#77)
15. (127) Byrne Racing, Shullsburg, Wisc. (#40)
16. (121) Gamester Racing, Peru, Ind. (#51)
17. (119) McQuinn Motorsports, Springfield, Ill. (#14)
18. (116) Hamilton Motorsports, Danville, Ind. (#33)
19. (102) Marc Longworth, Trenton, Ohio (#19)
20. (93) Wilson Brothers Racing, Crawfordsville, Ind. (#07)
21. (89) Andretti Autosport Short Track, Mooresville, N.C. (#4)
22. (85) Patrick Lawson, Edwardsville, Ill. (#2)
23. (81) Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Brownsburg, Ind. (#22)
24. (64) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill. (#55)
25. (63) Bowman-Canine Racing, Brownsburg, Ind. (#11)
26. (52) Ted Finkenbinder, Fairfield, Calif. (#28)
27. (51) Kellen Conover, Sumner, Ill. (#76)
28. (42) Fred Gormly, Brownsburg, Ind. (#99)
29. (34) Scott Spivey, Ontario, Calif. (#84)
30. (33) Todd Kane, Powell, Ohio (#78)
31. (31) Rick King, Maroa, Ill. (#30)
32. (30) Valerie Gentry, Henderson, Ky. (#18)
33. (29) Ricky Nix, Benton, Ill. (#43)
34. (29) Daum Motorsports, Pocahontas, Ill. (#5)
35. (29) McQuinn Motorsports, Springfield, Ill. (#141)
36. (29) Jerry Nemire, Erie, Mich. (#176)
37. (19) John Hunt, Tulsa, Okla. (#91)
38. (12) Hardy Boys Racing, Benton, Ill. (#114)