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.
2005 USAC SILVER CROWN SEASON REVIEW
Dave Steele said in July the only place he enjoys being in is first place.
And, once again, in 2005, the Tampa, Fla. native finished there.
On the strength of four victories – all on pavement – and by virtue of finishing dirt races, Steele defended his 2004 USAC Silver Crown title with a slim 21-point margin over Rookie of the Year Josh Wise.
Steele won the season opening Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway – his fourth straight victory in the annual event – and rattled off three straight triumphs on the hardtop to take a sizable advantage in the point standings.
But that lead was not safe. Wise crept closer as the series shifted to dirt and was within 40 points as the series headed to Eldora Speedway for the season finale.
However, Wise and Brian Tyler – the only other driver eligible to wrestle the title from Steele – were both involved in a late-race tangle, sending Tyler to the sidelines and Wise toward the back of the lead lap. Steele hung tough and finished 10th.
Only once did Steele’s familiar No. 9 machine falter; at Terre Haute, he dropped out with a mechanical failure. Wise took advantage of that mishap and scored his first career series victory.
Tyler stayed in contention with a victory of his own, taking his second straight Tony Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Steele was the only driver to triumph more than once. Bobby East won the other pavement race of the season at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Teddy Beach topped the field in the prestigious Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, while Tracy Hines won the Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds and Dave Darland scored the victory at Eldora.
John Heydenreich and Jay Drake finished fourth and fifth in the standings respectively.
Wayne Reutimann Jr., meanwhile, was names the series' Most Improved Driver.
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STEELE TAKES FOURTH-STRAIGHT AT COPPER WORLD
Avondale, Arizona………Defending USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown Series champion Dave Steele of Tampa, Fla. ran his Copper World Classic victory streak to four Sunday, winning the 100-mile FastSigns 100 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. driving the Bob East/Tony Stewart-owned Ford.
Steele led all 100 laps for the second straight year, pushing his total in the event to 267 straight laps on the point. He was challenged by runner-up Tracy Hines in the final quarter of the event but led Hines to the checkered flag for the third straight year. Trailing the lead duo were Tyler Walker, J.J. Yeley and Brian Tyler.
“I’ve got to give credit to my team,” said Steele, who won the event by .224 seconds. “Those guys know what setup to use on the car, and it stayed consistent throughout the race.”
Steele, who started on the outside of the front row, darted to the front and was unmatched throughout the event, which featured eight cautions for 42 laps, including three yellows in the final 10 laps. The stoppages in competition made Steele uneasy at times, however. His best runs came during long periods of green.
“I think on short runs, he was better,” Steele said, “so it would have been better for us if we had longer green-flag periods. I hated to see those cautions, especially the last one, but we were able to hold on to win.”
Russ Gamester won the 15-lap qualifying race on Saturday. Bobby East ended Steele’s three-race polesitter streak at the one-mile track, lapping the track at 139.147 mph.
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: January 29-30, 2005 – Avondale, Arizona – Phoenix International Raceway – 28th Copper World Classic
QUALIFYING: (Top-30 locked into the feature) 1. Bobby East, 6, Klatt-25,872; 2. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-25.934; 3. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-26.095; 4. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-26.166; 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-26.217; 6. Danny Ebberts, 44, Schlachter/Ebberts-26.230; 7. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-26.238; 8. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-26.238; 9. Michael Lewis, 40, Western Speed-26.313; 10. Jimmy Kite, 5, Westcon-26.380; 11. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-26.394; 12. Justin Barger, 29, S & S-26.446; 13. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-26.487; 14. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-26.499; 15. John Starks, 98, Starks-26.532; 16. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-26.548; 17. Tyler Walker, 41, Panther-26.553; 18. Tom Hessert III, 52, BWB-26.584; 19. Eric Gordon, 69, Dynamics-26.606; 20. J.J. Yeley, 111, Snider-26.635; 21. Michael Roselli Jr., 198, Roselli-26.645; 22. Dave Darland, 92, Hoerner-26.717; 23. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-26.745; 24. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-26.773; 25. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-26.788; 26. Aaron Pollock, 03, TNT-26.812; 27. Bud Kaeding, 291, BK-26.825; 28. Aaron Pierce, 105, Hanks-26.827; 29. Bobby Santos, 67, Western Speed-26.830; 30. Stevie Reeves, 71, Skillman-26.938; 31. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-27.029; 32. Kraig Kinser, 19, Kahne-27.067; 33. Todd Beach, 47, Paternoster-27.105; 34. Boston Reid, 135, RE Technologies-27.160; 35. Troy Cline, 25, BWB-27.241; 36. Steve Irwin, 75, Westcon-27.257; 37. Erin Crocker, 79, Kahne-27.315; 38. Rich Tobias Jr., 17, RW-27.322; 39. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-27.520; 40. Brad Armstrong, 110, Armstrong-27.869; 41. Ryan Durst, 11, Snider-28.096; 42. Rodney Weesner, 96, Wallace/Weesner-28.702; 43. Jackie Burke, 36, Miller-28.784; 44. Dustin Lindquist, 50, Lindquist-29.748; 45. David Mirk, 13, MCM-NT; 46. P.J. Jones, 23, Six-R-NT; 47. Tim Barber, 28, Pierson-NT; 48. Aaron Pierce, 05, Hanks-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-9 transfer to the feature) 1. Russ Gamester, 2. Todd Beach, 3. Boston Reid, 4. Kraig Kinser, 5. Rich Tobias Jr., 6. Nick Lundgreen, 7. Erin Crocker, 8. Brad Armstrong, 9. Ryan Durst, 10. Dustin Lindquist, 11. Jackie Burke, 12. Rodney Weesner, 13. Steve Irwin, 14. Troy Cline. 6:50.29
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Dave Steele (2), 2. Tracy Hines (3), 3. Tyler Walker (17), 4. J.J. Yeley (20), 5. Brian Tyler (7), 6. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (24), 7. Jimmy Kite (10), 8. Ron Gregory (8), 9. Dave Darland (22), 10. Eric Gordon (19), 11. Danny Ebberts (6), 12. Bud Kaeding (27), 13. John Heydenreich (25), 14. Paul White (16), 15. Teddy Beach (14), 16. Jay Drake (11), 17. Todd Beach (31), 18. Erin Crocker (36), 19. Nick Lundgreen (35), 20. Russ Gamester (30), 21. Tom Hessert III (18), 22. Jerry Coons Jr. (5), 23. Jason McCord (23), 24. Rich Tobias Jr. (34), 25. Aaron Pollock (26), 26. Chet Fillip (13), 27. Josh Wise (4), 28. Kraig Kinser (33), 29. John Starks (15), 30. Michael Roselli Jr. (21), 31. Stevie Reeves (29), 32. Justin Barger (12), 33. Ryan Durst (37), 34. Bobby East (1), 35. Michael Lewis (9), 36. Aaron Pierce (28), 37. Boston Reid (32). 1:06:07.75
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Dave Steele.
NEW SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Dave Steele-63; 2-Tracy Hines-57; 3-J.J. Yeley-51; 4-Brian Tyler-48; 5-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-45; 6-Jimmy Kite-42; 7-Ron Gregory-39; 8-Dave Darland-36; 9-Eric Gordon-33; 10-Danny Ebberts-31.
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BEACH WINS HIS FIRST AT THE HOOSIER HUNDRED
Indianapolis, Indiana………The 54th Coors Light Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds was dominated Friday by two drivers – winner Teddy Beach and runner-up Josh Wise – who two years ago couldn’t legally use the race’s product sponsor.
Beach – who suffered a broken torque tube prior to the start of the 100-miler – charged from 10th to fourth in the first half of the race, then whipped past Wise on Lap 86 to lead the final 15 circuits for his first Weld Racing Silver Crown Series victory.
“Words can’t describe how good I feel right now,” said Beach of Donnelsville, Ohio, who drove the No. 15 Beach Manufacturing/Fram Beast/Pink Chevy. “I just joined a list of great drivers who won this race.”
That list includes the names of A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Jimmy Bryan and Mario Andretti.
The evening had belonged to Wise of Riverside, Calif., who was making only his third series start. A red flag on Lap 3 halted the field, and early leader and polesitter Paul White was sent to the tail of the field after having been push started.
Wise had the track figured out almost immediately. Leading his first career laps in the series, Wise inched away from the rest of the field and was not seriously challenged by second place running Tom Capie.
Capie pushed Wise to his limits on several ensuing caution flags, and at one time, made contact with the rear of Wise’s car on a restart. Neither driver suffered severe damage to their machines.
Capie continued his hounding of Wise despite the Californian’s lead increase, but by Lap 40, appeared to be off the pace. Beach, who had passed defending series winner Dave Darland just a handful of laps earlier, zipped by Capie on Lap 40 for second.
Wise kept Beach in check for the next 30 laps before the Buckeye driver began reeling him in. The advantage closed even further on Lap 80, when Darland, running third, stopped on the front stretch.
The restart set up a dash between the 20-something drivers, and Beach took full advantage of it. He drove inside of Wise on Lap 86, and quickly attained a six-car length lead.
Wise wasn’t done yet though. The last 10 laps were flanked with two caution periods, and Wise kept close on both restarts. He stayed within two car lengths, but couldn’t jump past Beach, who beat Wise by .266 seconds.
Russ Gamester had his best series finish in nearly three years, while Jay Drake and Tracy Hines finished fourth and fifth. Drake finished third earlier in the day in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while Hines – who set quick time at 31.532 seconds and took over the points lead – ventured to the back of the field in search of a $50,000 bonus. Hines’ take of the $58,700 purse was $5,800, second to Beach’s $15,200.
Beach had to hustle all evening. He set the event’s sixth-fastest time, but qualifications stipends forced the Top 10 fastest drivers to compete in another session, where he was the 10th quickest.
Even after that, he had to fix the broken torque tube, and push the car out on the grid in time not to be penalized.
“This feels really good,” Beach said. “I’m in awe right now.”
Wise had mixed emotions on finishing second.
“I feel almost greedy being disappointed running second,” Wise said. “It’s just when you run that strong and started losing that advantage, it’s a bummer. But I’m really happy and it’s a good deal for us.”
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 27, 2005 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana State Fairgrounds – 54th Coors Light Hoosier Hundred – Presented by The Indiana National Guard
QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into the feature) 1. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-31.532; 2. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-31.651; 3. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-31.928; 4. Shane Hollingsworth, 85, Baldwin-32.032; 5. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-32.101; 6. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-32.123; 7. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-32.159; 8. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-32.177; 9. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-32.193; 10. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-32.237; 11. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-32.260; 12. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-32.270; 13. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-32.327; 14. Aaron Fike, 32, RFMS-32.357; 15. Bud Kaeding, 67, BK/Leffler-32.415; 16. Tom Hessert III, 52, BWB-32.456; 17. Matt Westfall, 14, Daugherty-32.460; 18. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-32.512; 19. Aaron Pierce, 05, Hanks-32.513; 20. Johnny Parsons, 43, Nix-32.522; 21. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-32.525; 22. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-32.595; 23. Rich Tobias Jr., 17, RW-32.633; 24. Kevin Huntley, 97, SC-32.659; 25. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-32.691; 26. Levi Jones, 2, Vance-32.709; 27. Jesse Hockett, 19, Kahne-32.795; 28. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-32.897; 29. Tony Elliott, 03, TNT-33.046; 30. David Gough, 82, Gough-33.082; 31. Ryan Durst, 59, S & R-33.311; 32. Mat Neely, 69, Dynamics-33.394; 33. Gary Irvin, 48, Irvin/Nolen-33.546; 34. Sport Allen, 89, Moore-33.999; 35. Alex Shanks, 155, Baker-34.153; 36. Jimmy Stinson, 184, Westfall-35.207; 37. Tad Roach, 84, Spivey-35.950; 38. Nelson Stewart, 115, Lawson-NT; 39. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 23, Six-R-NT; 40. Dickie Gaines, 24, Parker-NT; 41. Danny Long, 68, Long-NT; 42. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-NT; 43. Hud Cone, 91, Harris-NT; 44. Danny Ebberts, 144, Schlachter/Ebberts-NT; 45. #135, RE Technologies-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (14 laps, top-11 transfer to the feature) 1. Aaron Fike, 2. Levi Jones, 3. Jesse Hockett, 4. Nick Lundgreen, 5. Mat Neely, 6. David Gough, 7. John Heydenreich, 8. Alex Shanks, 9. Ryan Durst, 10. Gary Irvin, 11. Dickie Gaines, 12. Randy Bateman, 13. Tad Roach, 14. Jimmy Stinson, 15. Sport Allen, 16. Tony Elliott. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Teddy Beach (10), 2. Josh Wise (4), 3. Russ Gamester (9), 4. Jay Drake (20), 5. Tracy Hines (2), 6. Bud Kaeding (13), 7. Dave Steele (11), 8. Aaron Fike (23), 9. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (16), 10. Paul White (1), 11. John Heydenreich (29), 12. Nick Lundgreen (26), 13. Shane Hollingsworth (6), 14. Jon Stanbrough (7), 15. Ron Gregory (12), 16. Rich Tobias Jr. (21), 17. Aaron Pierce (17), 18. Dave Darland (5), 19. Jason McCord (8), 20. Dickie Gaines (33), 21. Tom Capie (3), 22. Ryan Durst (31), 23. Jesse Hockett (25), 24. Levi Jones (24), 25. Matt Westfall (15), 26. Alex Shanks (30), 27. Brian Tyler (#48) (32), 28. Mat Neely (27), 29. Jerry Coons Jr. (19), 30. Tom Hessert III (14), 31. Johnny Parsons (18), 32. Kevin Huntley (22), 33. David Gough (28). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Paul White, Laps 3-85 Josh Wise, Laps 86-100 Teddy Beach.
NEW SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Tracy Hines-108; 2-Dave Steele-105; 3-Teddy Beach-83; 4-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-81; 5-Bud Kaeding-74; 6-Jay Drake-72; 7-Russ Gamester-67; 8-Josh Wise-66; 9-Ron Gregory-62; 10-Paul White-58.
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WISE BECOMES NEWEST FIRST-TIME SERIES WINNER AT THE SUMAR CLASSIC
Terre Haute, Indiana………Josh Wise of Riverside, Calif. led the final 53 laps to win Saturday night’s First Financial Sumar Classic USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown race at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. The victory was his first in the series.
Wise piloted the Tony Stewart Racing Mopar/Vital Express Eagle/Mopar to the win, taking the lead from teammate Jay Drake on lap 48 and leading the rest of the way. Brian Tyler came from 20th starting position to take second at the checkered flag ahead of Dave Darland, Jon Stanbrough and Jesse Hockett.
Wise was also Saturday night’s pole winner and emerged as the new leader in the series standings.
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 4, 2005 – Terre Haute, Indiana – Terre Haute Action Track – First Financial Sumar Classic
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-20.139; 2. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-20.170; 3. Jesse Hockett, 19, Kahne-20.244; 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-20.370; 5. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-20.463; 6. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-20.596; 7. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-20.702; 8. Levi Jones, 37, Riggs-20.741; 9. Bud Kaeding, 67, BK/Leffler-20.801; 10. Aaron Pierce, 05, Hanks-20.819; 11. Tony Elliott, 03, TNT-20.870; 12. Tom Hessert III, 52, BWB-21.065; 13. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-21.074; 14. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-21.121; 15. Kevin Huntley, 97, SC-21.132; 16. Rich Tobias Jr., 17, RW-21.269; 17. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-21.284; 18. Shane Hollingsworth, 85, Baldwin-21.310; 19. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-21.346; 20. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-21.427; 21. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-21.506; 22. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-21.510; 23. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-21.520; 24. Mat Neely, 69, Dynamics-21.551; 25. Kyle Steffens, 12, Galas-21.560; 26. Ryan Durst, 59, S & R-21.613; 27. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-22.101; 28. Alex Shanks, 155, Baker-22.104; 29. Ron Gregory, 48, Irvin/Nolen-22.448; 30. Tad Roach, 84, Spivey-23.035; 31. Danny Long, 68, Long-25.127; 32. Matt Westfall, 14, Daugherty-NT; 33. Danny Ebberts, 144, Schlachter/Ebberts-NT. (Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-20.798-Withdrawn).
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Dave Steele, 2. Mat Neely, 3. Matt Westfall, 4. Russ Gamester, 5. Tom Capie, 6. Kyle Steffens, 7. Ryan Durst, 8. Alex Shanks, 9. Ron Gregory (#48), 10. Tad Roach, 11. Danny Long. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Josh Wise (1), 2. Brian Tyler (20), 3. Dave Darland (2), 4. Jon Stanbrough (7), 5. Jesse Hockett (3), 6. Levi Jones (8), 7. Bud Kaeding (9), 8. Kevin Huntley (15), 9. Aaron Pierce (10), 10. Jerry Coons Jr. (4), 11. Jay Drake (5), 12. Tom Capie (25), 13. Teddy Beach (19), 14. Russ Gamester (24), 15. Nick Lundgreen (13), 16. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (27), 17. Paul White (17), 18. John Heydenreich (14), 19. Rich Tobias Jr. (16), 20. Matt Westfall (23), 21. Dave Steele (21), 22. Tom Hessert III (12), 23. Jason McCord (6), 24. Shane Hollingsworth (18), 25. Mat Neely (22), 26. Tony Elliott (11), 27. Kyle Steffens (26). NT
**Ron Gregory flipped during qualifying.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-43 Dave Darland, Laps 44-47 Jay Drake, Laps 48-100 Josh Wise.
NEW SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Josh Wise-132; 2-Dave Steele-118; 3-Bud Kaeding-116; 4-Brian Tyler-111; 5-Teddy Beach-110; 6-Tracy Hines-108; 7-Dave Darland-107; 8-Jay Drake-103; 9-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-102; 10-Russ Gamester-92.
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STEELE A RICHER MAN AFTER RICHMOND WIN
Richmond, Virginia………Dave Steele dominated Saturday's Richmond Times-Dispatch 100 USAC Silver Crown Series race at Richmond International Raceway, starting from the pole and leading every lap.
Steele took command at the green, and was never challenged on any of the race's four restarts. Not only was this his third win in the past four years at the ¾-mile Strawberry Hill tri-oval, but he has never finished out of the top-10 and has now led 350 of all 768 Silver Crown laps run here.
"Winning never gets old," Steele said. "It's still hard to get a win. This time I had a small part to play. The car was great ever since we unloaded this weekend. Everybody on the crew did a good job. The car was good for 100 laps - that's what it takes. We ran here back in the late 1990s. Right off the bat it was one of my favorite tracks. When we see it coming up in the schedule, we're pretty excited about it."
"It was pretty much car today," the pavement ace continued. "I was just along for the ride. Bob East is a great setup guy and great to have on your team. When you pair him up with Ed Pink with his engines under the hood - Ford powerplant - it's just a tough combination. So, I'm just excited to be able to drive that car."
Steele was followed home by Brian Tyler, who started third, and Michael Lewis, who started in back in eleventh. Neither one had as clear a run as Steele.
"My car was good in the beginning," Tyler said, "but as the race went on the car got looser and looser and looser. I got a bunch of knobs in there where I can jack weight around. I turned everything in there in all directions and never really got it together.
"Hoosier makes a pretty hard tire here - you might call it a hockey puck - but it's hard to get a car to hook up and make that hard tire work. We missed it just a little bit.”
"I love racing at Richmond," Brian continued. "Usually it's two and three lanes out there. Today it seemed like it was a lane and a half wide. It was a little bit tough to pass. You kind of had to root a guy up off the bottom a little bit, get underneath him, and kind of get him out in the grey in order to drive by. A couple of restarts helped me more than anything. I was able to get under somebody, kind of root him out of the way getting into one. I picked up two or three spots that way.
"But I'll take second. We're chasing the points this year. You've got to be consistent to win a championship."
Michael Lewis was tonight's passing ace, moving up eight positions in a first-class field while working on his car's handling.
"We started the race off really loose," Lewis said, "and like, man, it normally doesn't get better. Like Brian, I had knobs in the car - but they actually did something. I was able to adjust the car.”
"Like Brian said, the track was really narrow today. But I was able to get a lot of guys going into one. I'd get a run on them coming out of four and shoot under them at the last minute and slide under and take the line away. It was very cool."
Lewis worked his way forward from his sixth row start, using his patented turn one move and taking advantage of restarts. He reached fourth place after a restart on Lap 93, then set his sights on third place Bud Kaeding. Three laps later he took Kaeding - underneath in turn one, of course - but the yellow came out when Eric Gordon hit the Turn 1 wall seconds later. The pass did not count.
USAC Silver Crown rules specify that the final five laps will be run under green. The lap counter was reset to 95, and Lewis lined up in fourth, behind Kaeding. Michael stalked Bud for three laps and made his moves during the final two laps of the race.
"After caution, he moved his line down a little bit," Michael explained as he retold the final shootout, "and I got beside him going into one. "On the next lap he kind of moved up a little bit on the straightaway and gave me a shot to get under him and that's all it took."
Bobby East's bad luck for the weekend continued tonight. Last night he finished first in the sixty lap USAC National Sprint Car race, dominating the event, but was disqualified when his car was underweight in post-race tech inspection. The missing weight was the cooling water he lost from a hot-running engine. Saturday, he started on the outside pole and ran a solid second behind his teammate for the first 80 laps, but his run ended after 87 laps when he tangled with the lapped car of Tom Hessert in turn four.
"There was a lapped car," East said, "and he should have gotten out of the way. All four wheels were above the groove all the way around. We were getting slower and slower, and I got my wheel up underneath him, and he turned down on it. I don't know if he forgot I was there or what."
"We got behind the ball in qualifying," said Hessert, who started 17th. "We came up a little bit there through the field. About halfway the car was getting pretty loose. I think Bobby and I got together going into turn three. I think he got into my left rear and spun it out.
"We got lapped, and we were struggling. If one of the leaders shows me a nose, I don't race them hard. Bobby and I know each other well. He knows that if he had shown me something I would have gotten out of his way. I don't try to hold anybody up. If I'm on the lead lap, and I'm trying to lap cars, I expect them to do the same for me. It's just the way it goes."
Dave Steele now leads the USAC Silver Crown Series championship, with183 points. Brian Tyler and Josh Wise are tied for second with 168 points, and Bud Kaeding is close behind in fourth with 167 points.
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 25, 2005 – Richmond, Virginia – Richmond International Raceway – Richmond Times-Dispatch 100
QUALIFYING: (All locked into the feature) 1. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-19.719; 2. Bobby East, 6, Klatt-19.945; 3. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-20.174; 4. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-20.231; 5. Bud Kaeding, 19, Kahne-20.253; 6. Eric Gordon, 69, Dynamics-20.295; 7. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-20.332; 8. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-20.365; 9. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-20.368; 10. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-20.377; 11. Michael Lewis, 40, Western Speed-20.431; 12. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-20.456; 13. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-20.465; 14. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-20.532; 15. John Heydenreich, 199, Mucci/Matczak-20.541; 16. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-20.572; 17. Tom Hessert III, 52, BWB-20.580; 18. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-20.601; 19. Stevie Reeves, 71, Skillman-20.606; 20. Brad Noffsinger, 129, S & S-20.673; 21. Bobby Santos, 67, Western Speed-20.679; 22. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-20.684; 23. Erin Crocker, 79, Kahne-20.687; 24. Michael Roselli Jr., 198, Roselli-20.692; 25. Todd Beach, 47, Paternoster-20.845; 26. Ryan Durst, 11, Snider-21.024; 27. Brad Armstrong, 37, Riggs-21.077; 28. Aaron Pollock, 03, TNT-21.110; 29. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-21.336; 30. Jackie Burke, 36, Miller-21.650; 31. Rodney Weesner, 96, Wallace/Weesner-22.875; 32. Mike Lichty, 94, Lichty-NT; 33. Justin Barger, 29, S & S-NT; 34. Dustin Lindquist, 50, Lindquist-NT; 35. Aaron Pierce, 05, Hanks-NT; 36. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-NT; 37. #135, RE Technologies-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Dave Steele (1), 2. Brian Tyler (3), 3. Michael Lewis (11), 4. Bud Kaeding (5), 5. Bobby Santos (21), 6. Jason McCord (7), 7. Russ Gamester (9), 8. Ron Gregory (18), 9. Josh Wise (8), 10. Jay Drake (13), 11. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (22), 12. Jerry Coons Jr. (16), 13. Michael Roselli Jr. (24), 14. Todd Beach (25), 15. Nick Lundgreen (12), 16. Ryan Durst (26), 17. Tom Capie (29), 18. Brad Armstrong (27), 19. Paul White (14), 20. Eric Gordon (6), 21. Aaron Pierce (33), 22. Bobby East (2), 23. Tom Hessert III (17), 24. Mike Lichty (32), 25. Jackie Burke (30), 26. Chet Fillip (10), 27. Stevie Reeves (19), 28. Brad Noffsinger (20), 29. Erin Crocker (23), 30. Teddy Beach (4), 31. John Heydenreich (15), 32. Rodney Weesner (31), 33. Aaron Pollock (28). 45:18.468
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Dave Steele.
NEW SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Dave Steele-183; 2-Brian Tyler-168; 3-Josh Wise-168; 4-Bud Kaeding-167; 5-Jay Drake-136; 6-Russ Gamester-134; 7-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-133; 8-Teddy Beach-113; 9-Tracy Hines-108; 10-Dave Darland-107.
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STEELE SETS LAPS LED RECORD IN WIN AT PIKES PEAK
Fountain, Colorado………Make no mistake about – Dave Steele is most comfortable when he’s out front.
He proved that again Sunday in the Rocky Mountain Classic at Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Steele, who came into the 100-lapper two laps in arrears of Jimmy Sills’ all-time laps led total, annihilated that mark in scoring his 13th career USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown Series win. Steele, of Tampa, Fla., led the final 60 laps, and his new laps led total stands at 1,643.
“I just had a good car,” said Steele, driver of the No. 9 Beast/Ford who has won all three pavement races on the schedule thus far this year. “This record means a lot. To get it away from Jimmy Sills, who I grew up watching, is pretty cool to put on your résumé.”
The Floridian couldn’t have been that happy at the start of the race, however. Starting second, he dropped in behind polesitter Tracy Hines and trailed the New Castle, Ind. native and 2000 race winner. Steele said the first 10 laps went well, but after that, he said, his car tightened up, leaving him to lose ground on Hines.
Hines showed his strong hand early. He led by half a straightaway within the first 20 laps and was lapping cars after the first score of laps.
“Tracy ran us really hard at the beginning,” Steele said, “and then it looked like his car started getting pretty tight.
His assumption may have been right.
Steele didn’t seem to catch Hines until Lap 30, at that point trailing by over two seconds. But by Lap 31, he began reeling in Hines and by Lap 35 was within a second. By Lap 36, Steele had disposed of any lapped traffic separating him and Hines and within two laps, was all over Hines’ tail tank.
And even that didn’t last long.
When Steele got inside of Hines on Lap 41, he made sure he would make the move stick and grab the point. As the two exited turn four, Steele surged forward, and on that lap, tied Sills at 1,584.
The new record was established a lap later, when he led Hines by over four car lengths at the stripe.
Steele eventually pulled away, leaving Hines to battle for second with a multitude of cars, but even Steele’s lead wasn’t safe.
In fact, it wasn’t even close.
J.J. Yeley, taking a holiday break from his NASCAR Busch Series endeavors, was also on the move. He got by Hines on the lap 60 restart, leading a bundle of cars ahead of the early leader. Hines broke on lap 70, stopping on the backstretch and pulling out of competition with driveline problems.
Hines’ problem brought out the second yellow flag, and on the lap 74 restart, Josh Wise attempted to take second from Yeley. Yeley closed the door and by turn three was challenging Steele for the point. He was unable to move in front.
Yeley had one more opportunity to pester and pass Steele. Paul White’s spin on lap 86 brought out the event’s final caution, and on the restart, Yeley went to the high groove in turns one and two for a final effort. When Steele pulled away, he left Yeley to challenge with two of the best cars at the end: National/Western Midget Series victor Michael Lewis and John Heydenreich.
Lewis and Heydenreich both picked off several cars in the final 10 laps of the race. Lewis dove underneath Yeley on the white flag and took second, 1.344 seconds behind Steele. Yeley took third, ahead of Heydenreich and Eric Gordon.
Steele said he was a bit frustrated at the start, watching Hines drive away.
“You never want to see a guy run away into the sunset,” Steele said. “It kind of takes a little wind out of your sails. But we got better, and things worked out well.”
But of taking the lead, he added: “It gives you a little adrenaline, and I like leading. I’d like to lead them all (laps) if I can.”
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: July 3, 2005 – Fountain, Colorado – Pikes Peak International Raceway – Rocky Mountain Classic
QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into the feature) 1. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-25.135; 2. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-25.244; 3. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-25.253; 4. Bobby East, 6, Klatt-25.340; 5. Eric Gordon, 69, Dynamics-25.470; 6. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-25.482; 7. J.J. Yeley, 111, Snider-25.600; 8. Tim Barber, 28, Pierson-25.749; 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-25.786; 10. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-25.841; 11. Michael Lewis, 40, Western Speed-25.850; 12. Erin Crocker, 79, Kahne-25.889; 13. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-25.894; 14. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-25.908; 15. Tyler Walker, 19, Kahne-25.954; 16. Danny Ebberts, 144, Schlachter/Ebberts-26.072; 17. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-26.081; 18. Steve Irwin, 5, Westcon-26.088; 19. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-26.151; 20. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-26.212; 21. Todd Beach, 47, Paternoster-26.218; 22. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-26.297; 23. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-26.350; 24. Tom Hessert III, 52, BWB-26.368; 25. Bobby Santos, 67, Western Speed-26.368; 26. Bud Kaeding, 291, BK/Leffler-26.375; 27. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-26.402; 28. Robby Flock, 25, BWB-26.416; 29. Stevie Reeves, 71, Skillman-26.445; 30. Michael Roselli Jr., 198, Roselli-26.450; 31. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-26.612; 32. Ryan Durst, 11, Snider-26.701; 33. Aaron Pierce, 05, Hanks-26.713; 34. Rodney Weesner, 96, Wallace/Weesner-27.324; 35. Dustin Lindquist, 03, TNT-27.377; 36. Jackie Burke, 36, Miller-27.486; 37. David Mirk, 13, MCM-34.104; 38. Paul Corbaley, 18, Corbaley-NT; 39. Mike Lichty, 94, Lichty-NT; 40. #135, RE Technologies-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-8 transfer to the feature) 1. Stevie Reeves, 2. Brian Tyler, 3. Bobby Santos, 4. Bud Kaeding, 5. Robby Flock, 6. Michael Roselli Jr., 7. Aaron Pierce, 8. Nick Lundgreen, 9. Ryan Durst, 10. Dustin Lindquist, 11. Jackie Burke. 6:38.80
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Dave Steele (2), 2. Michael Lewis (11), 3. J.J. Yeley (7), 4. John Heydenreich (23), 5. Eric Gordon (5), 6. Jay Drake (3), 7. Tyler Walker (15), 8. Bobby East (4), 9. Tim Barber (8), 10. Josh Wise (6), 11. Todd Beach (21), 12. Russ Gamester (17), 13. Jerry Coons Jr. (9), 14. Aaron Pierce (32), 15. Tom Hessert (24), 16. Bud Kaeding (28), 17. Stevie Reeves (25), 18. Jason McCord (22), 19. Chet Fillip (20), 20. Brian Tyler (26), 21. Teddy Beach (10), 22. Nick Lundgreen (31), 23. Michael Roselli Jr. (30), 24. Paul White (13), 25. Ron Gregory (14), 26. Tracy Hines (1), 27. Erin Crocker (12), 28. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (19), 29. Danny Ebberts (16), 30. Robby Flock (29), 31. Steve Irwin (18), 32. Bobby Santos (27). 51:09.032
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Tracy Hines, Laps 41-100 Dave Steele.
NEW SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Dave Steele-246; 2-Josh Wise-201; 3-Bud Kaeding-188; 4-Jay Drake-181; 5-Brian Tyler-181; 6-Russ Gamester-163; 7-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-138; 8-John Heydenreich-128; 9-Teddy Beach-125; 10-Tracy Hines-115.
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STEELE DOMINATES AT MILWAUKEE FOR 4TH STRAIGHT PAVEMENT WIN
Milwaukee, Wisconsin………Dave Steele of Tampa, Fla. recorded his fourth straight pavement Weld Racing Silver Crown Series victory during Saturday’s weather-interrupted Milwaukee 100 at the historic Milwaukee Mile.
Steele, in the No. 9 Beast/Ford owned by Bob East and Tony Stewart, led all 100 laps of the race, the third time he has done so in a pavement race this season. He is now tied with Chuck Gurney for second on the all-time victory list with 14.
“This car was fun to drive tonight,” said Steele in Victory Lane, the first time he’s visited the one-mile’s winner circle in three starts.
It was never a challenge for the Floridian, who came into the event having just taken over the all-time laps led mark July 3 at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo. He was never headed on his way to the victory, opening up gaps of more than a half-straightaway over East and Tony Stewart Racing drivers Jay Drake and Josh Wise.
The only times East got close to Steele were on one of the race’s six caution periods. Two of those caution periods came as a result of rain, as separate three and eight-lap periods were run under combined green and yellow conditions.
High winds and flashes of lightning halted the race on Lap 19, minutes after the race’s 3:15 p.m. start. Rain fell for nearly two and a half hours before stopping at around 6 p.m. USAC and track officials began nearly an hour-long track preparation shortly thereafter, and the green flag was displayed again on Lap 26, at around 7:45.
With 74 laps and darkness quickly approaching, Steele left the pack at the green, and minus the ensuing caution periods, was never challenged to give car owners East and Stewart their 16th career victory together.
Brian Tyler, Drake and Wise finished third, fourth and fifth.
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series regulars Jimmy Kite and A.J. Foyt IV competed in the race, finishing 13th and 21st respectively.
Steele set fast time Friday afternoon with a record 27.808-second effort, besting East’s time from last season.
Steele now leads the points by 63 over Wise.
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: July 22-23, 2005 – West Allis, Wisconsin – Milwaukee Mile
QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into the feature) 1. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-27.808; 2. Bobby East, 6, Klatt-27.979; 3. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-28.011; 4. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-28.144; 5. Michael Lewis, 40, Western Speed-28.267; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-28.354; 7. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-28.454; 8. Eric Gordon, 69, Dynamics-28.532; 9. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-28.641; 10. A.J. Foyt, IV, 111, Snider-28.659; 11. Jimmy Kite, 5, Westcon-28.694; 12. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-28.702; 13. Ryan Durst, 11, Snider-28.714; 14. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-28.723; 15. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-28.743; 16. Levi Jones, 37, Riggs-28.747; 17. Kevin Conway, 25, BWB-28.812; 18. Bud Kaeding, 19, Kahne-28.832; 19. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-28.868; 20. Bobby Santos, 67, Western Speed-28.872; 21. Tom Hessert III, 52, BWB-28.885; 22. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-28.887; 23. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-28.948; 24. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-28.956; 25. Todd Beach, 47, Paternoster-28.956; 26. Dave Darland, 92, Hoerner-28.970; 27. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-29.097; 28. Tim Barber, 28, Pierson-29.122; 29. Tony Elliott, 03, TNT-29.156; 30. Mike Lichty, 94, Lichty-29.214; 31. Sondi Eden, 16, Logan-29.252; 32. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-29.329; 33. Brad Armstrong, 110, Armstrong-29.364; 34. Bentley Warren, 129, S & S-29.714; 35. David Mirk, 13, MCM-30.176; 36. Michael Roselli Jr., 198, Roselli-NT; 37. #135, RE Technologies-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Tim Barber, 2. Mike Lichty, 3. Tom Capie, 4. Todd Beach, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Michael Roselli Jr., 7. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 8. Brad Armstrong, 9. Sondi Eden, 10. David Mirk. 7:17.045
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Dave Steele (1), 2. Bobby East (2), 3. Brian Tyler (12), 4. Jay Drake (3), 5. Josh Wise (4), 6. Ron Gregory (7), 7. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (30), 8. Eric Gordon (8), 9. Jason McCord (15), 10. Bud Kaeding (18), 11. Nick Lundgreen (22), 12. John Heydenreich (19), 13. Jimmy Kite (11), 14. Paul White (9), 15. Dave Darland (28), 16. Levi Jones (16), 17. Todd Beach (27), 18. Brad Armstrong (31), 19. Teddy Beach (14), 20. Sondi Eden (32), 21. A.J. Foyt IV (10), 22. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 23. Bobby Santos (20), 24. Michael Roselli Jr. (29), 25. Tom Capie (26), 26. Mike Lichty (25), 27. Tim Barber (24), 28. Kevin Conway (17), 29. Russ Gamester (23), 30. Ryan Durst (13), 31. Tom Hessert III (21), 32. Michael Lewis (5), 33. David Mirk (33). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Dave Steele.
NEW SILVER CROWN STANDINGS: 1-Dave Steele-312; 2-Josh Wise-249; 3-Brian Tyler-235; 4-Jay Drake-232; 5-Bud Kaeding-221; 6-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-180; 7-Russ Gamester-167; 8-John Heydenreich-157; 9-Ron Gregory-154; 10-Teddy Beach-140.
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EAST TURNS IT UP TO TAKE J.D. BYRIDER 100 AT IRP
Clermont, Indiana………Bobby East was simply fast in Thursday’s J.D. Byrider 100 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The Brownsburg, Ind. native, set to compete in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Friday at the .686-mile track, tuned up for the event with his second career Weld Racing Silver Crown Series victory.
"We were fast from the green flag," East. "The Ford motor was great. Everything went good tonight."
East was on a tear from the onset. Starting fourth in the final Silver Crown race run Thursday, East jumped to second within the first handful of laps, and by lap 9, was challenging early leader Jay Drake for the point.
After placing his nose underneath the left rear tire of Drake through the turns, East finally grabbed the point on the exit of turn 2 on lap 14. He began building a lead he would never relinquish, increasing his lead by leaps and bounds over polesitter Jason Leffler. East weaved through traffic with relative ease and never lost much ground on Leffler, making a rare appearance in the cars in which he won the 1998 championship with.
East’s lead was never challenged as he and the rest of the field went nearly 70 laps without a caution. But when the yellow flag flew on Lap 91, it started a string of four cautions in the final 10 laps that provided as many fireworks as those set off when East climbed out of the car.
Jessup scraped the Turn 4 wall on Lap 91, and less than a lap after the green flew, the yellow returned for debris on the front stretch.
Because the final 10 laps needed to be completed under the green flag, Leffler got a chance to pull alongside East as the two came out of turn 4 during one of the four cautions.
When the green flag flew again on Lap 91, the lead duo kept within a pair of car lengths before Teddy Beach spun in turn 2 on lap 95. East pulled away on the restart, only to lose his advantage on lap 98, when NASCAR Nextel Cup Series veteran Carl Edwards spun in turn 1.
East would not be denied on the final restart, pulling away from Leffler as the two entered Turn 1. The lead extended to over three car lengths at the checkered flags.
The hometown winner was anxious over those final 10 laps, as he claimed the car was losing fuel. On multiple occasions, he turned the fuel down in conservation.
“We didn’t know how much fuel to put in the thing, and I started getting frustrated when the yellow flags flew,” East said. “But we had enough to get it done.
“This ranks right up there with Belleville and Turkey Night (Midget wins),” said East, who scored his initial victory last year at Richmond International Raceway. “To win the last Silver Crown race (with these cars), and to have my name in the record books for that reason, is a great thing.”
Leffler said he had fun in his first USAC Silver Crown race in two seasons, though he confessed he had nothing for East in the waning laps.
“He got so far ahead of me, and I knew I had to conserve what I had,” said the four-time USAC champion Leffler, who is set to compete in Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. “It was good to run here tonight. I saw a lot of friends, and a lot of guys from Joe Gibbs Racing were here tonight to see it.”
Josh Wise turned in an admirable effort, finishing third, while 2003 winner Jason McCord finished fourth and Tracy Hines – ranked as the second all-time winningest driver at IRP behind Mike Bliss – finished fifth.
Leffler walked away as the luckiest NASCAR Nextel Cup to compete in the event. Kasey Kahne, who started third, finished 19th, two laps off the lead pace, while Edwards finished 21st after spin on Lap 95.
Mike Bliss, who returned to George Snider’s second car another time, completed 19 laps before falling out with engine trouble.
Dave Steele, who came in leading the series points, started at the tail of the field as pre-race car troubles kept him in the pits until the field started the pace lap. He charged to 10th.
Wise’s third-place finish allowed him to cut into Steele’s 63-point lead, which now sits at 42.
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 4, 2005 – Clermont, Indiana – Indianapolis Raceway Park – J.D. Byrider 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Jason Leffler, 41, Panther-21.115; 2. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-21.235; 3. Kasey Kahne, 19, Kahne-21.273; 4. Bobby East, 6, Klatt-21.341; 5. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-21.362; 6. Marc Jessup, 2, Vance-21.400; 7. Tyler Walker, 79, Kahne-21.408; 8. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-21.423; 9. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-21.460; 10. Dave Darland, 92, Hoerner-21.468; 11. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-21.489; 12. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-21.508; 13. Carl Edwards, 191, RE Technologies-21.575; 14. Ryan Durst, 11, Snider-21.589; 15. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-21.595; 16. Chet Fillip, 77, Advanced-21.598; 17. Tim Barber, 28, Pierson-21.607; 18. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-21.637; 19. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-21.647; 20. Mike Bliss, 111, Snider-21.650; 21. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-21.685; 22. Jimmy Kite, 5, Westcon-21.690; 23. Eric Gordon, 69, Dynamics-21.727; 24. Kevin Swindell, 129, S & S-21.740; 25. Stevie Reeves, 71, Skillman-21.755; 26. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-21.755; 27. Todd Beach, 47, Paternoster-21.772; 28. Kevin Conway, 25, BWB-21.811; 29. Michael Lewis, 40, Western Speed-21.820; 30. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-21.859; 31. Bobby Santos, 67, Western Speed-21.892; 32. Kyle Nicholas, 3, Vance-22.063; 33. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-22.085; 34. Brad Armstrong, 110, Armstrong-22.090; 35. Bud Kaeding, 291, BK/Leffler-22.093; 36. Danny Ebberts, 144, Schlachter/Ebberts-22.123; 37. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-22.133; 38. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-22.218; 39. Sondi Eden, 16, Logan-22.237; 40. Michael Roselli Jr., 198, Roselli-22.253; 41. Tom Hessert III, 52, BWB-22.310; 42. Mike Lichty, 94, Lichty-22.324; 43. Jason Fuller, 49, Smith-22.347; 44. Aaron Pierce, 96, Wallace/Weesner-22.434; 45. Boston Reid, 135, RE Technologies-22.515; 46. #199, Mucci/Matczak-NT.
FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Eric Gordon, 2. Michael Lewis, 3. Todd Beach, 4. Stevie Reeves, 5. Brian Tyler, 6. Nick Lundgreen, 7. Bud Kaeding, 8. Sondi Eden, 9. Boston Reid, 10. Jason Fuller, 11. Tom Hessert, 12. Bobby Santos. 6:04.71
SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Jason McCord, 2. Jimmy Kite, 3. Kevin Swindell, 4. Kyle Nicholas, 5. Brad Armstrong, 6. John Heydenreich, 7. Danny Ebberts, 8. Tom Capie, 9. Kevin Conway, 10. Mike Lichty, 11. Aaron Pierce. 12. Michael Roselli Jr. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Bobby East (4), 2. Jason Leffler (1), 3. Josh Wise (5), 4. Jason McCord (22), 5. Tracy Hines (9), 6. Eric Gordon (21), 7. Chet Fillip (16), 8. Jimmy Kite (24), 9. Michael Lewis (23), 10. Dave Steele (8), 11. Ryan Durst (14), 12. Stevie Reeves (27), 13. Ron Gregory (12), 14. Tim Barber (17), 15. Todd Beach (25), 16. John Heydenreich (32), 17. Brian Tyler (29), 18. Dave Darland (10), 19. Kasey Kahne (3), 20. Teddy Beach (15), 21. Carl Edwards (13), 22. Jerry Coons Jr. (18), 23. Marc Jessup (6), 24. Tyler Walker (7), 25. Paul White (19), 26. Jay Drake (2), 27. Kyle Nicholas (28), 28. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (11), 29. Brad Armstrong (30), 30. Kevin Swindell (26), 31. Mike Bliss (20), 32. Russ Gamester (31). 40:07.731
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Jay Drake, Laps 14-100 Bobby East.
NEW SILVER CROWN STANDINGS: 1-Dave Steele-345; 2-Josh Wise-303; 3-Brian Tyler-254; 4-Jay Drake-239; 5-Bud Kaeding-221; 6-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-185; 7-Jason McCord-184; 8-Ron Gregory-181; 9-Eric Gordon-178; 10-John Heydenreich-178.
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TYLER SUCCEEDS IN TONY BETTENHAUSEN 100 REPEAT BID
Springfield, Illinois………Brian Tyler of Parma, Mich. succeeded Saturday in his bid to repeat in the “Tony Bettenhausen 100,” winning his second straight classic at the historic one-mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
The two-time National Sprint Car Series champion staged a fierce battle with another Tyler – Tyler Walker – over the middle portion of the Weld Racing Silver Crown Series 100-lapper before passing the current NASCAR Busch Car Series star on lap 55 and leading the rest of the way in the No. 21 Team Six-R machine to beat a hard-charging Tom Capie.
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 20, 2005 – Springfield, Illinois – Illinois State Fairgrounds – Tony Bettenhausen 100
QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-29.776; 2. Tyler Walker, 19, Kahne-29.824; 3. Cole Carter, 7, Carter-29.891; 4. Kevin Huntley, 97, SC-30.180; 5. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-30.207; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-30.271; 7. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-30.479; 8. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-30.490; 9. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-30.501; 10. A.J. Fike, 32, RFMS-30.617; 11. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-30.669; 12. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-30.730; 13. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-30.739; 14. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-30.744; 15. Rich Tobias Jr., 17, RW-30.772; 16. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-30.833; 17. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-30.848; 18. Johnny Parsons, 43, Nix-30.970; 19. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-30.997; 20. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-31.008; 21. Matt Westfall, 14, Daugherty-31.023; 22. Tony Elliott, 03, TNT-31.220; 23. Shane Hollingsworth, 48, Irvin/Nolen-31.315; 24. Justin Allgaier, 86, Bergfield-31.327; 25. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-31.347; 26. Hud Cone, 91, Harris-31.365; 27. Chris Urish, 61, Team Purple-31.408; 28. Ryan Durst, 59, S & R-31.505; 29. Bill Rose, 52, BWB-31.739; 30. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-31.746; 31. Kyle Steffens, 12, Galas-31.777; 32. Alex Shanks, 155, Baker-31.834; 33. Tad Roach, 84, Spivey-32.355; 34. Jackie Burke, 36, Miller-32.817; 35. Danny Long, 68, Long-33.449; 36. Levi Jones, 22, Stewart-NT; 37. Mat Neely, 69, Dynamics-NT; 38. #135, RE Technologies-NT.
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, top-10 transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Shane Hollingsworth, 3. Hud Cone, 4. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 5. Justin Allgaier, 6. Ryan Durst, 7. Ron Gregory, 8. Alex Shanks, 9. Kyle Steffens, 10. Chris Urish, 11. Jackie Burke, 12. Bill Rose, 13. Tony Elliott, 14. Tad Roach, 15. Danny Long. 7:58.00
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Brian Tyler (16), 2. Tom Capie (7), 3. Josh Wise (1), 4. Tyler Walker (2), 5. Kevin Huntley (4), 6. John Heydenreich (11), 7. Nick Lundgreen (17), 8. Teddy Beach (12), 9. Jason McCord (13), 10. Hud Cone (23), 11. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (24), 12. Dave Steele (8), 13. Kyle Steffens (29), 14. A.J. Fike (10), 15. Jon Stanbrough (20), 16. Shane Hollingsworth (22), 17. Paul White (19), 18. Chris Urish (30), 19. Justin Allgaier (25), 20. Dave Darland (5), 21. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 22. Johnny Parsons (18), 23. Ryan Durst (26), 24. Matt Westfall (21), 25. Ron Gregory (27), 26. Alex Shanks (28), 27. Randy Bateman (14), 28. Tracy Hines (9), 29. Rich Tobias Jr. (15), 30. Cole Carter (3). 1:04:20.00
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Josh Wise, Laps 5-54 Tyler Walker, Laps 55-100 Brian Tyler.
NEW SILVER CROWN STANDINGS: 1-Dave Steele-374; 2-Josh Wise-360; 3-Brian Tyler-314; 4-Jay Drake-239; 5-John Heydenreich-223; 6-Bud Kaeding-221; 7-Jason McCord-220; 8-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-216; 9-Teddy Beach-192; 10-Ron Gregory-189.
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HINES MAGICAL AT THE MAGIC MILE IN Du QUOIN
Du Quoin, Illinois………Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. on Saturday won his fourth career USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown Series race at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds.
Hines, driving the No. 37 Terry Riggs’ owned Indiana Underground Construction machine, led the final 50 laps after passing polesitter Tyler Walker at the halfway point, and cruised to a 4.326-second victory over Brian Tyler and Walker.
“The car was awesome tonight,” Hines said in Victory Lane. “We’ve been coming here a long time and I’m glad to finally get one here.”
Five cautions interrupted the race, including two incidents, but there were no serious injuries.
Walker set the night’s fast time with a 29.298-second lap.
By virtue of a ninth-place finish, Dave Steele continues to lead the points standings by 31 over Josh Wise and 39 over Brian Tyler.
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 4, 2005 – Du Quoin, Illinois – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – Ted Horn 100
QUALIFYING: (All locked into the feature) 1. Tyler Walker, 19, Kahne-29.298; 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-29.341; 3. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-29.700; 4. Cole Carter, 7, Carter-30.022; 5. Tracy Hines, 37, Riggs-30.089; 6. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-30.267; 7. Kevin Huntley, 97, SC-30.274; 8. Bill Rose, 52, BWB-30.371; 9. Jason McCord, 4, Contos-30.392; 10. Levi Jones, 135, RE Technologies-30.425; 11. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-30.456; 12. Shane Hollingsworth, 48, Irvin/Nolen-30.589; 13. Rich Tobias Jr., 17, RW-30.669; 14. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-30.744; 15. Tom Capie, 153, Capie-30.798; 16. A.J. Fike, 32, RFMS-30.849; 17. Johnny Parsons, 43, Nix-30.995; 18. Justin Allgaier, 86, Bergfield-31.218; 19. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-31.345; 20. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-31.380; 21. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-31.400; 22. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-31.403; 23. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-31.499; 24. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-31.763; 25. Alex Shanks, 155, Baker-32.004; 26. Ryan Durst, 59, S & R-32.122; 27. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-32.231; 28. Kyle Steffens, 12, Galas-32.396; 29. Mat Neely, 69, Dynamics-32.572; 30. Hud Cone, 91, Harris-32.582; 31. Tony Elliott, 03, TNT-32.969; 32. Chappy Knaack, 36, Miller-33.281; 33. Danny Long, 68, Long-34.509; 34. Chris Urish, 61, Team Purple-NT; 35. Davey Ray, 114, FattFro-NT; 36. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-NT; 37. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tracy Hines (5), 2. Brian Tyler (20), 3. Tyler Walker (1), 4. Jon Stanbrough (3), 5. Dave Darland (19), 6. John Heydenreich (21), 7. A.J. Fike (16), 8. Nick Lundgreen (23), 9. Dave Steele (6), 10. Levi Jones (10), 11. Kevin Huntley (7), 12. Tom Capie (15), 13. Rich Tobias Jr. (13), 14. Paul White (22), 15. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (14), 16. Randy Bateman (25), 17. Josh Wise (#59) (33), 18. Teddy Beach (11), 19. Davey Ray (32), 20. Johnny Parsons (17), 21. Chappy Knaack (30), 22. Jason McCord (9), 23. Cole Carter (4), 24. Alex Shanks (24), 25. Bill Rose (8), 26. Kyle Steffens (26), 27. Hud Cone (28), 28. Justin Allgaier (18), 29. Shane Hollingsworth (12), 30. Jerry Coons Jr. (2), 31. Danny Long (31), 32. Mat Neely (27), 33. Tony Elliott (29). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-49 Tyler Walker, Laps 50-100 Tracy Hines.
NEW SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Dave Steele-410; 2-Josh Wise-379; 3-Brian Tyler-371; 4-John Heydenreich-268; 5-Jay Drake-239; 6-Wayne Reutimann Jr.-239; 7-Tracy Hines-234; 8-Jason McCord-231; 9-Bud Kaeding-221; 10-Nick Lundgreen-213.
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DARLAND REPEATS 4-CROWN VICTORY; STEELE REPEATS AS CHAMP
Rossburg, Ohio………Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind. successfully defended his USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown Series 4-Crown Nationals win on Saturday at Eldora Speedway, while Dave Steele repeated as the series champion by the slimmest of margins.
Darland, in the No. 56 Foxco-powered machine, led all 50 laps of the feature for the second straight season, beating Mat Neely and John Heydenreich with a faltering machine, which began sputtering with a handful of laps to go.
“We just thought that we had to stay out there and get the best result that we could,” Darland said. “We had to keep at a consistent RPM as well as keep the lapped cars behind us. We were really lucky to hold everybody off.”
Steele’s final margin reached nine points. Fellow competitors Josh Wise and Brian Tyler – both eligible for the championship entering the season finale – were involved in a Lap 42 incident in Turn 2. The occurrence all but secured the title for Steele, who finished 10th.
“We’re really happy tonight,” Steele said. “My crew gave me a great car and we’re ecstatic about defending the title.”
USAC WELD RACING SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 23-24, 2005 – Rossburg, Ohio – Eldora Speedway – 4-Crown Nationals
QUALIFYING: (Top-12 locked into the feature) 1. Josh Wise, 10, Stewart-15.334; 2. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-15.466; 3. Levi Jones, 37, Riggs-15.547; 4. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-15.592; 5. Tyler Walker, 19, Kahne-15.661; 6. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-15.725; 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 35, RE Technologies-15.739; 8. Rob Chaney, 70, SC-15.824; 9. Jay Drake, 22, Stewart-16.027; 10. Davey Ray, 114, FattFro-16.054; 11. Dickie Gaines, 59, S & R-16.145; 12. Kevin Huntley, 97, SC-16.147; 13. Mat Neely, 69, Dynamics-16.179; 14. Bill Rose, 52, BWB-16.262; 15. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-16.270; 16. Dave Steele, 9, East/Stewart-16.289; 17. Teddy Beach, 15, Beach-16.302; 18. Bud Kaeding, 67, BK/Leffler-16.305; 19. Paul White, 99, Mucci/Matczak-16.513; 20. Nick Lundgreen, 0, Lundgreen-16.514; 21. Rich Tobias Jr., 17, RW-16.727; 22. Cole Carter, 7, Baldwin-16.757; 23. Ron Gregory, 20, Irvin/Nolen-16.935; 24. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-17.130; 25. Jimmy Stinson, 184, Westfall-17.274; 26. #135, RE Technologies-NT. (NOTE: Ryan Durst also in car #59).
QUALIFYING RACE: (15 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Mat Neely, 2. Bill Rose, 3. John Heydenreich, 4. Teddy Beach, 5. Bud Kaeding, 6. Cole Carter, 7. Nick Lundgreen, 8. Dave Steele, 9. Paul White. 10. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 11. Ron Gregory, 12. Jimmy Stinson, 13. Rich Tobias Jr. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Dave Darland (2), 2. Mat Neely (13), 3. John Heydenreich (15), 4. Kevin Huntley (12), 5. Rob Chaney (8), 6. Jay Drake (9), 7. Josh Wise (1), 8. Rich Tobias Jr. (24), 9. Nick Lundgreen (18), 10. Dave Steele (19), 11. Ron Gregory (22), 12. Davey Ray (10), 13. Jon Stanbrough (4), 14. Brian Tyler (6), 15. Bud Kaeding (16), 16. Wayne Reutimann Jr. (21), 17. Levi Jones (3), 18. Paul White (20), 19. Cole Carter (17), 20. Dickie Gaines (11), 21. Jerry Coons Jr. (7), 22. Bill Rose (14), 23. Tyler Walker (5), 24. Jimmy Stinson (23). NT
**Bud Kaeding flipped on lap 42 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-50 Dave Darland.
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2005 USAC SILVER CROWN DRIVER POINTS
1. (443) Dave Steele, Tampa, Fla.
2. (424) Josh Wise, Riverside, Calif.
3. (396) Brian Tyler, Parma, Mich.
4. (322) John Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, Pa.
5. (284) Jay Drake, Val Verde, Calif.
6. (271) Dave Darland, Lincoln, Ind.
7. (260) Wayne Reutimann Jr., Zephyrhills, Fla.
8. (249) Nick Lundgreen, New Berlin, Wisc.
9. (244) Bud Kaeding, Campbell, Calif.
10. (234) Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind.
11. (231) Jason McCord, Anderson, Ind.
12. (220) Ron Gregory, Noblesville, Ind.
13. (209) Teddy Beach, Donnelsville, Ohio
14. (195) Paul White, Temple, Texas
15. (178) Eric Gordon. Greenfield, Ind.
16. (177) Jon Stanbrough, Avon, Ind.
17. (176) Bobby East, Brownsburg, Ind.
18. (172) Tyler Walker, Los Angeles, Calif.
19. (170) Kevin Huntley, Bloomington, Ind.
20. (168) Russ Gamester, Peru, Ind.
21. (154) Tom Capie, Trevose, Pa.
22. (153) Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, Ariz.
23. (149) Michael Lewis, Noblesville, Ind.
24. (127) Levi Jones, Olney, Ill.
25. (117) Todd Beach, Donnelsville, Ohio
26. (115) Rich Tobias Jr., Lebanon, Pa.
27. (108) Jimmy Kite, Stockbridge, Ga.
28. (105) J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, Ariz.
29. (93) Aaron Pierce, Muncie, Ind.
30. (77) Ryan Durst, Lincoln, Neb.
31. (71) Chet Fillip, San Angelo, Texas
32. (71) Mat Neely, Robinson, Ill.
33. (67) Tim Barber, San Francisco, Calif.
34. (67) A.J. Fike, Galesburg, Ill.
35. (61) Tom Hessert III, Cherry Hill, N.J.
36. (61) Shane Hollingsworth, Indianapolis, Ind.
37. (59) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass.
38. (56) Stevie Reeves, Speedway, Ind.
39. (49) Michael Roselli Jr., Brodheadsville, Pa.
40. (44) Davey Ray, Davenport, Iowa
41. (39) Aaron Fike, Galesburg, Ill.
42. (39) Hud Cone, Oakland City, Ind.
43. (38) Brad Armstrong, New Palestine, Ind.
44. (35) Danny Ebberts, Canyon Lake, Calif.
45. (34) Kyle Steffens, St. Charles, Mo.
46. (30) Matt Westfall, Pleasant Hill, Ohio
47. (28) Cole Carter, Brownsburg, Ind.
48. (27) Erin Crocker, Wilbraham, Mass.
49. (27) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill.
50. (26) Johnny Parsons, Indianapolis, Ind.
51. (26) Dickie Gaines, Mitchell, Ind.
52. (23) Alex Shanks, Marion, Ill.
53. (20) Justin Allgaier, Riverton, Ill.
54. (19) Bill Rose, Plainfield, Ind.
55. (17) Chris Urish, Elkhart, Ill.
56. (16) Mike Lichty, Innerkip, ON
57. (9) Aaron Pollock, Troy, Ohio
58. (9) Jimmy Stinson, Vandalia, Ohio
59. (8) Jackie Burke, Houston, Texas
60. (5) Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, Ind.
61. (5) Brad Noffsinger, Huntington Beach, Calif.
62. (4) John Starks, Edgewood, Wash.
63. (3) Kevin Swindell, Bartlett, Tenn.
64. (2) Steve Irwin, Flint, Mich.
65. (2) Danny Long, Bonne Terre, Mo.
66. (1) David Gough, Machesney Park, Ill.
67. (1) Justin Barger, Montrose, N.Y.
68. (1) Rodney Weesner, Portland, Ind.
69. (1) David Mirk, Forest, Colo.
70. (1) Tony Elliott, Kokomo, Ind.
2005 USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRANT POINTS
1. (593) Bob East & Tony Stewart, Indianapolis, Ind. (#9)
2. (555) Tony Stewart Racing, Indianapolis, Ind. (#10)
3. (540) Team Six-R, Zionsville, Ind. (#21)
4. (483) Indiana Underground Construction (Terry Riggs), Shelbyville, Ind. (#37)
5. (470) Sharon Bank, Sewickley, Pa. (#90)
6. (434) Tony Stewart Racing, Indianapolis, Ind. (#22)
7. (410) Reutimann Motorsports, Zephyrhills, Fla. (#00)
8. (399) Dynamics, Inc., Milford, Ohio (#69)
9. (399) Dean Lundgreen, Randolph, Wisc. (#0)
10. (385) Kasey Kahne, Mooresville, N.C. (#19)
11. (370) Irvin-Nolen Racing, Noblesville, Ind. (#20)
12. (366) Contos Racing, Anderson, Ind. (#4)
13. (315) Mucci-Matczak Racing, Liverpool, N.Y. (#99)
14. (314) Beach Boys Motorsports, Donnelsville, Ohio (#15)
15. (288) RE Technologies, Bartlett, Tenn. (#35)
16. (273) Gamester Racing, Peru, Ind. (#51)
17. (270) Foxco Engineering, Avon, Ind. (#56)
18. (252) Fox Brothers Racing, Avon, Ind. (#53)
19. (251) Klatt Enterprises, Hastings, Neb. (#6)
20. (244) Western Speed Racing, Visalia, Calif. (#67)
21. (230) BWB Racing, Terre Haute, Ind. (#52)
22. (224) Western Speed Racing, Fresno, Calif. (#40)
23. (214) Capie Racing, Indianapolis, Ind. (#153)
24. (205) RW Motorsports, Lederach, Pa. (#17)
25. (192) Jim Paternoster, Oswego, N.Y. (#47)
26. (185) SC Racing, Carey, Ohio (#97)
27. (170) Westcon Racing, Holly, Mich. (#5)
28. (152) Hanks Motorsports, Holly, Mich. (#05)
29. (151) RFMS Racing, Galesburg, Ind. (#32)
30. (146) Advanced Racing Suspensions, Indianapolis, Ind. (#77)
31. (144) Panther Racing, Avon, Ind. (#41)
32. (139) RE Technologies, Bartlett, Tenn. (#135)
33. (134) George Snider Racing, Bakersfield, Calif. (#111)
34. (128) S & R Racing, Springfield, Ill. (#59)
35. (124) Roselli Enterprises, Brodheadsville, Pa. (#198)
36. (124) Baldwin Brothers Racing, Lafayette, Ind. (#85)
37. (122) TNT Motorsports, Maple Grove, Minn. (#03)
38. (121) Hoerner Racing, Crest Hill, Ill. (#92)
39. (116) Ray Skillman Motorsports, Indianapolis, Ind. (#71)
40. (110) Danny Ebberts, Canyon Lake, Calif. (#44)
41. (86) George Snider Racing, Bakersfield, Calif. (#11)
42. (84) Harris Racing, Vergennes, Ill. (#91)
43. (82) Ken Pierson, Elk Grove, Calif. (#28)
44. (81) Kasey Kahne, Mooresville, N.C. (#79)
45. (76) Irvin-Nolen Racing, Noblesville, Ind. (#48)
46. (72) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill. (#55)
47. (71) Ricky Nix Goodyear Tire Service, Benton, Ill. (#43)
48. (70) Galas Motorsports, O’Fallon, Ill. (#12)
49. (65) Dodie Miller, Seabrook, Texas (#36)
50. (65) Loan City-BK Motorsports, Campbell, Calif. (#291)
51. (61) Brad Lichty, Innerkip, Ont. (#94)
52. (60) Rick Daugherty, Findlay, Ohio (#14)
53. (53) BWB Racing, Terre Haute, Ind. (#25)
54. (53) Baker Auto & Truck, Marion, Ill. (#155)
55. (50) Ebby Bergfield, Arcola, Ill. (#86)
56. (49) Johnny Vance Racing Team, Dayton, Ohio (#2)
57. (48) SC Racing, Carey, Ohio (#70)
58. (47) Team Purple Racing, Jacksonville, Ill. (#61)
59. (46) Wallace-Weesner Racing, Portland, Ind. (#96)
60. (45) Herb Spivey, Ontario, Calif. (#84)
61. (44) FattFro Motorsports, Hoffman Estates, Ill. (#114)
62. (43) Dr. Jim Logan, St. Louis, Mo. (#16)
63. (38) S & S Racing, Marlboro, Mass. (#129)
64. (32) Danny Long, Bonne Terre, Mo. (#68)
65. (31) S & S Racing, Marlboro, Mass. (#29)
66. (31) MCM Racing, Black Forest, Colo. (#13)
67. (27) Hemelgarn-Johnson Motorsports, Bartlett, Tenn. (#191)
68. (21) Brad Armstrong, New Palestine, Ind. (#110)
69. (21) Johnny Vance Racing Team, Dayton, Ohio (#3)
70. (19) Western Racing, Vancouver, Wash. (#98)
71. (17) Mucci-Bank Motorsports, Sewickley, Pa. (#199)
72. (16) Hanks Motorsports, Holly, Mich. (#105)
73. (16) David Gough, Machesney Park, Ill. (#82)
74. (15) Team Six-R, Zionsville, Ind. (#23)
75. (15) Moore Racing, Largo, Fla. (#89)
76. (15) Dustin Lindquist, Floodwood, Minn. (#50)
77. (15) Paul Corbaley, Colorado Springs, Colo. (#18)
78. (13) Parker Motorsports, Indianapolis, Ind. (#24)
79. (9) Westfall Motorsports, Troy, Ohio (#184)