STOCKON CHASING 300TH STRAIGHT START AT PLYMOUTH
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Plymouth, Indiana (June 24, 2020)………In the annals of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car history, Chase Stockon has already scaled the mountain to become the ultimate ironman of his discipline, a record he set last Fall with his record 285th consecutive series start, surpassing seven-time USAC National champion Levi Jones for the longest enduring streak.
This Friday night at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway, Stockon has his sights set on reaching another milestone – his 300th straight career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car start. That accounts for an appearance in every single feature box score rundown since the streak began in February 2012 in Ocala, Fla.
To put the number 300 into perspective, in the 64-year history of USAC National Sprint Car racing, only three drivers have even reached the 200 threshold in their careers: Stockon (299), Jones (284) and Dave Darland (204), and only 11 times has a driver even reached the 100 consecutive mark.
In terms of current, ongoing streaks, only Chris Windom is in Stockon’s ballpark at the moment, but he has just half of Stockon’s number with 150 consecutive starts since 2016. Four drivers right now have active streaks of 100 or more: Stockon (299), Windom (150), Justin Grant (116) and Kevin Thomas Jr. (114).
In the span since the beginning of the streak in 2012, Stockon’s won some of the marquee events on the schedule, including the Fall Nationals at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, the Hall of Fame Classic at Arizona’s Canyon Speedway Park, the Jesse Hockett Classic at Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania, the Spring Showdown at Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway and the Western World at Arizona Speedway, plus the “Big Three” at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track: the Don Smith Classic, the Jim Hurtubise Classic and, at last, the long-coveted rifle at the Tony Hulman Classic in May 2019.
In each of the last three USAC Sprint races at Plymouth, Stockon has led laps in all three. He led two in May 2018 in finishing 4th. In July of that same year, the 2019 Jason Leffler Memorial Award winner won his heat and led the first 15 laps before dropping back to 7th in the final rundown.
Stockon, who currently resides 6th in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car standings, led the opening lap in 2019 and finished 8th. In his first visit to Plymouth in 2017, Stockon set quick time during qualifying, won his heat race and took home a 6th place finish in the feature.
Friday at Plymouth, the grandstands open at 4pm Eastern with hot laps set for 6pm. Along with the Sprint Cars, the event card also features 600cc non-wing micros and 4 Cylinders.
Tickets are available for the event exclusively on www.usactickets.com. Adult grandstand admission tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for children ages 6-12 and free for kids age 5 and under. Pit passes are $35 for apiece.
The event at Plymouth will be held with the capacity held at 50 percent. You must order tickets in advance from www.usactickets.com. Please bring your QR code receipt to be scanned at the gate. The receipt can be either printed or displayed on your phone.
All USAC National events can be seen LIVE exclusively on FloRacing.
CURRENT LONGEST USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR START STREAKS
299-Chase Stockon (2012-Present)
150-Chris Windom (2016-Present)
116-Justin Grant (2017-Present)
114-Kevin Thomas Jr. (2017-Present)
86-Brady Bacon (2017-Present)
82-C.J. Leary (2017-Present)
ALL-TIME LONGEST USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR START STREAKS
299-Chase Stockon (2012-Present)
284-Levi Jones (2004-2012)
204-Dave Darland (2012-2017)
150-Chris Windom (2016-Present)
147-Brady Bacon (2013-2017)
126-Damion Gardner (2008-2012)
123-Tracy Hines (2009-2012)
116-Justin Grant (2017-Present)
116-Tyler Courtney (2017-2019)
114-Kevin Thomas Jr. (2017-Present)
106-Dave Darland (2004-2008)
