USAC SILVER CROWN HORN-SCHINDLER MEMORIAL BACK TO THE GROVE FRIDAY

A year after hosting one of the most revered USAC Silver Crown races in recent times, the series returns Friday, June 16 to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

The “Horn-Schindler Memorial” is round four of the 2017 Silver Crown season and this year’s edition is the dessert on a full plate of racing featuring three USAC divisions in back-to-back nights at the Grove.

Thursday night’s USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car and USAC/ARDC Midget doubleheader precedes Friday’s 100-lap Silver Crown event, which will also feature USAC/ARDC Midgets on a must-see twin-bill.

Last year’s “Horn-Schindler” marked the return of Silver Crown racing to Williams Grove for the first time in three-and-a-half decades.  Sheldon Kinser won the first in 1980 and Eddie Leavitt followed up with a victory year later in 1981.

In 2016, the “Horn-Schindler” was a race for the ages that many posed as the race of the year.  In the last few laps, the late Bryan Clauson seemingly came out of nowhere to challenge Chris Windom for the lead.  On the final lap, the two were side-by-side as they split around lapped traffic.  Clauson attempted a massive slider on Windom in turn one on lap 99 of 100 and they nearly touched.  Clauson came right back at him, but couldn’t quite catch the series’ eventual champion on the final corner as Windom held on for the dramatic victory in front of a massive crowd.

Windom, of Canton, Illinois, has an opportunity to join Jack Hewitt as the only other driver to win four Silver Crown races in a row on the dirt.  Hewitt was victorious at Springfield, Du Quoin, the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Eldora in 1986.  Windom’s streak began one year ago at Williams Grove.  Since then, he’s reeled off successive victories at Du Quoin, Eldora and this year’s season opener at Terre Haute.

Williams Grove Speedway has a rich history of AAA and USAC National Championship racing, hosting a AAA event in 1946 and non-points paying champ car races annually from 1949 to 1955, with USAC being the sanctioning body of those “Special Events” from 1956 to 1959.  The most recent USAC event hosted by Williams Grove was a National Sprint Car race won by Billy Pauch in 1996.

Gates for Friday’s “Horn-Schindler Memorial” open at 5:30pm with hot laps set for 7pm.

You can watch LIVE flag-to-flag coverage of USAC Silver Crown’s return to Williams Grove on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/.  Watch it again a day later, on-demand at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.