DARLAND RETURNS TO GOODNIGHT FOR MONTPELIER/LAWRENCEBURG USAC SPRINT DOUBLE
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
USAC Triple Crown champion Dave Darland will jump into the seat of Gene Goodnight’s No. 39G for this weekend’s USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car double-dip Friday, Sept. 29 at Montpelier (Ind.) Motor Speedway and Saturday, Sept. 30 at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.
The car regularly driven by Matt Goodnight is a familiar ride to Darland. For it was the Goodnight Racing team he competed with for the bulk of the 2010 USAC Sprint Car season that included an “Indiana Sprint Week” feature victory at Lawrenceburg during July of that season seven years ago.
The Goodnight ride marks the fourth team Darland will compete with during the 2017 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season, following stints in the Phillips Motorsports No. 71p, Michael Dutcher Motorsports No. 17GP and Mark Hery #40 as he seeks to extend his record to a 60th career USAC Sprint Car win.
Darland has seen success at both of this weekend’s venues. In the series’ lone visit to Montpelier in April of 2016, Darland led the first 11 laps before finishing third. He is the winningest driver in the history of USAC Sprint Car racing at Lawrenceburg with seven victories between 1998 and 2016 – the 6th and 58th USAC Sprint victories of his illustrious career.
On Friday at Montpelier, gates open at 3pm with the drivers meeting taking place at 5:30pm and cars taking the track at 6pm.
Saturday at Lawrenceburg, pits open at 3pm and front gates open at 5pm. The drivers meeting takes place at 5:30pm with cars set to hit the track at 6pm.