Story By: RICHIE MURRAY / USAC – MADISON, IL – For the 11th time, USAC Silver Crown National Championship racing will take a trip to the biggest, boldest and fastest circuit on the USAC Silver Crown trail this Friday, August 16.
Nineteen drivers and cars are entered for the Ranken Technical College Silver Crown Showdown Presented By Welsch Heating & Cooling at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois for the 60-lap, 75-mile extravaganza on the 1.25-mile paved oval.
Among the entries are three past WWT Raceway Silver Crown winners: Franklin, Massachusetts’ Bobby Santos (2013 & 2014); current series point leader Kingsburg, California’s Kody Swanson (2022); and defending victor, Boise, Idaho’s Davey Hamilton Jr. (2023).
Past top-five WWT Silver Crown finishers looking to upgrade to a first career victory this Friday night at the St. Louis area oval are Ione, California’s Justin Grant (3rd in 2023); Auburn, Illinois’ Mario Clouser (3rd in 2022); defending series champion, Sutter, California’s Logan Seavey (4th in 2023; and Goodyear, Arizona’s Nathan Byrd (5th in 2022).
A handful more who have previously raced their way into a top-10 result at WWT are returning to the fray this Friday, including Peru, Indiana’s Russ Gamester (6th in 1999); Muskogee, Oklahoma’s Kaylee Bryson (7th in 2023); Fort Collins, Colorado’s Bryan Gossel (8th in 2022); Shelby Township, Michigan’s Taylor Ferns (9th in 2022); Greenfield, Indiana’s C.J. Leary (10th in 2022); and New Castle, Indiana’s Dakoda Armstrong (10th in 2023).
Returning to WWT Raceway after making previous starts at the track are Edwardsville, Illinois’ Patrick Lawson (12th in 2014 & 2016); Kaufman, Texas’ Nathan Moore (13th in 2023); Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania’s Dave Berkheimer (17th in 2022) and Shelbyville, Indiana’s Gregg Cory (18th in 2022).
Looking to make their first main event start at WWT Raceway are Tyler Roahrig (Plymouth, Ind.) and Kyle Steffens (St. Charles, Mo.).
RACE DETAILS
The Ranken Technical College Silver Crown Showdown Presented by Welsch Heating & Cooling features the USAC Silver Crown National Championship at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois on Friday, August 16.
Silver Crown Hauler Parking will take place from 8-10am Central time, followed by Silver Crown practice from 1:05-1:50pm, Silver Crown Qualifying starting at 4:40, followed by the 60-lap, 75-mile Silver Crown main event at 9pm.
General admission tickets are $30 (early bird), $35 (advance) and $40 (at gate). General admission tickets for ages 15 and under are free. Free tickets for ages 15 & under will only be available at the gate or by contacting WWT Raceway directly in advance to hold tickets at will call. Advance tickets are on sale now at: https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/indycar.
================
USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST
06 BRYAN GOSSEL/Fort Collins, CO (Bryan Gossel)
08 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Charles, MO (Steffens Motorsports)
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
5 DAKODA ARMSTRONG/New Castle, IN (C & A Motorsports)
6 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Klatt Enterprises)
14 DAVEY HAMILTON JR./Boise, ID (Davey Hamilton Racing)
22 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)
26 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Sam Pierce)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
32 GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN (Williams-Cory Racing)
40 NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ (Legacy Autosport-Robert Wilson Racing)
41 TYLER ROAHRIG/Plymouth, IN (Michael Newman)
48 (R) NATHAN MOORE/Kaufman, TX (Chip Thomas-Joe Moore)
51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
60 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Legacy Autosport-Robert Wilson Racing)
77 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Doran-Binks Racing)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
98 BOBBY SANTOS/Franklin, MA (DJ Racing)
555 TAYLOR FERNS/Shelby Township, MI (Taylor Ferns Racing)
(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender
================
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC SILVER CROWN AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY:
1 Lap – 8/19/2022 – Kody Swanson – 30.675 – 146.699 mph
60 Laps – 6/25/2016 – Tanner Swanson – 44:33.031 – 101.009 mph
80 Laps – 6/14/2014 – Bobby Santos – 49:46.000 – 120.563 mph
================
USAC SILVER CROWN WINS AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY:
2-Bobby Santos
1-Pat Abold, Davey Hamilton Jr., Tracy Hines, Ryan Newman, Dave Steele, Kody Swanson, Tanner Swanson & J.J. Yeley
================
USAC SILVER CROWN WINNERS AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY:
1997: Pat Abold (9/14)
1998: J.J. Yeley (10/17)
1999: Ryan Newman (7/30)
2000: Tracy Hines (5/7)
2001: Dave Steele (8/25)
2013: Bobby Santos (6/1)
2014: Bobby Santos (6/14)
2016: Tanner Swanson (6/25)
2022: Kody Swanson (8/19)
2023: Davey Hamilton Jr. (8/27)