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USAC: The Week in Sprints, Midgets, Silver Crown and F2000

25 August 1998

SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
GAMESTER TAKES "BETTENHAUSEN 100;" DuQUOIN'S "100" LABOR DAY

Russ Gamester of Peru, Ind. scored his second career USAC Silver Crown Championship victory in Saturday's "Tony Bettenhausen 100" at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. He won the pole position in his Terre Haute First National Bank Chevy with a speed of 112.778 mph and averaged 96.128 mph for the 100-mile distance to beat Dave Darland of Kokomo, Ind. and Jack Hewitt of Troy, Ohio to the checkered flag. Robby Flock of Murietta, Calif. and Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. of Brownsburg, Ind. rounded out the "top-five."

"I didn't want to push it too hard," said a happy Gamester after the race. "I needed to save my tires for the late stages of the race. My brother George kept me informed on the radio as to where Jack (Hewitt) and Dave (Darland) were so I was pretty confident." As to the point race, he added: "I sure wish I had the Pikes Peak and Memphis races back." The win boosted him to fifth in the new standings behind point leader Jason Leffler, who won the "qualifying race" and finished 12th in the 100-mile feature.

Jerry Coons, Jr. of Tucson, Ariz. earned the Turbines, Ind. "Rookie of the Race" award for his ninth-place finish.

The race was interrupted by only three caution periods. Terry Babb of Decatur, Ill. hit the wall in turn three on lap 10 and Cary Faas hit the wall in turn three on lap 66. Neither driver was injured.

The Silver Crown series now gears up for its annual Labor Day showcase, the "DuQuoin Century," at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds.

Silver Crown Point Standings: 1-Jason Leffler-417; 2-Brian Tyler-393; 3-Ryan Newman-376; 4-Jimmy Sills-297; 5-Russ Gamester-286; 6-Dave Darland-282; 7-Robby Flock-269; 8-Jack Hewitt-264; 9-Dave Steele-259; 10-J.J. Yeley-232. STOOPS FREIGHTLINER SPRINT CAR SERIES
TYLER, DRAKE WIN SALEM'S 30-LAP, 50-LAP FEATURES; POINT LEAD IS 28

Jay Drake of Canyon Country, Calif. and Brian Tyler of Parma, Mich. shared the spotlight Sunday in Stoops Freightliner/USAC Sprint Car action at the Salem (Ind.) Speedway.

Drake led all 50 laps to win the Emge "Joe James/Pat O'Connor Classic" in the CED Motorsports/ARS Special, while Tyler won the 30-lap "Six Sigma Open Wheel Classic" main event which had been postponed from May 31 because of rain. Tyler led the last seven laps in his Loggers Inc./R.Booe & Son Hardwoods Special.

Series point leaders Kevin Thomas and Tony Elliott recorded "top-10" finishes in both features and Thomas leads Elliott by 28 points going into this Saturday night's "Danny Milburn Classic" program at the Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway. Practice at the 1/4-mile dirt Lawrenceburg track starts at 6 p.m., with qualifying set for 7 and racing at 8. The feature is a 30-lapper. Thomas was eighth and ninth at Salem, while Elliott was seventh and 10th.

Trailing Turbines, Inc. fast qualifier Tyler at the checkered flag in Sunday's 30-lapper were Brad Armstrong, Tracy Hines, Tim Cox and Derek Davidson. Jason McCord led the first 23 laps before he and Tyler tangled exiting turn four. Tyler was able to continue, inheriting the lead. Drake was followed in the 50-lap finale by McCord, Tyler, Davidson and Pat Abold.

Defending race winner Dave Steele was eliminated with engine problems during practice and a crash during practice also eliminated Chet Fillip, another former race winner.

Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car Point Standings: 1-Kevin Thomas-1,596; 2-Tony Elliott-1,568; 3-Derek Davidson-1,347; 4-J.J. Yeley-1,189; 5-Tim Cox-1,175; 6-Dave Darland-1,143; 7-Jason McCord-1,099; 8-Brian Tyler-1,037; 9-Kevin Doty-1,020; 10-Brian Hayden-977. NATIONAL/16TH STREET/SPEEDROME MIDGET SERIES
TREADWAY GETS #1 AT 16TH STREET, SLUSS GETS #4 AT SPEEDROME
NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES RETURNS TO NEW CASTLE SUNDAY NIGHT

Jason Leffler, Jay Drake and Ricky Shelton renew their battle for the USAC National Midget Championship Sunday night at Mount Lawn Speedway in New Castle, Ind. in a race which was rained out on August 16. A 40-lap feature is scheduled on the 3/10-mile paved oval. Leffler leads Drake, who is coming off his first-ever USAC Sprint Car win Sunday at Salem, Ind., by only eight points, with Shelton another 51 back. Practice at Mount Lawn begins at 5 p.m., with qualifying at 6 and racing at 7.

Rick Treadway and John Sluss earned "regional" USAC Midget triumphs in Indianapolis, Ind. last week but Michael Lang continues to lead both series point standings.

Treadway scored his initial victory at the 16th Street Speedway Saturday, leading all but the first six laps in his Sprint PCS/WavePhore/Mi-Jack/Miller Lite Gaerte. He passed Johnny Parsons III on the seventh lap and led the rest of the way to win the 30-lapper. Andy Pierce, Roy Caruthers, David Bridges and Tim Mehner trailed him to the checkered flag.

Sluss caught Lang on the 39th lap of Thursday night's 50-lapper at the Speedrome's 1/5-mile paved oval and led the final 12 laps in his Ultra Sun/KECO Coatings/Pro-Motion Motorsports VW. Lang was second ahead of Brad Kuhn, Norm Young and Daryl Campbell.

Lang flipped during Saturday night's feature at 16th Street but still leads Pierce by 37 points in that series' standings. He enjoys a comfortable lead over Sluss at the Speedrome, with remaining races there slated this Thursday and September 3.

National Midget Standings: 1-Jason Leffler-664; 2-Jay Drake-656; 3-Ricky Shelton-605; 5-Jerry Coons, Jr.-486; 5-Jimmy McCune-431; 6-Tracy Hines-374; 7-Ronnie Johncox-284; 8-Travis Welpott-245; 9-Dave Steele-243; 10-Michael Lewis-208.

16th Street Midget Standings: 1-Michael Lang-240; 2-Andy Pierce-203; 3-Ron Smoker-188; 4-Critter Malone-180; 5-Rick Treadway-171; 6-Roy Caruthers-163; 7-Steve Knepper-149; 8-Johnny Parsons III-148; 9-David Bridges-144; 10-Jeff Hampton-143.

Speedrome Midget Standings: 1-Michael Lang-6,640; 2-John Sluss-5,300; 3-Norm Young-1,980; 4-Dean Franklin-1,960; 5-Daryl Campbell-1,790; 6-Brad Kuhn-1,775; 7-Gregg Cory-1,610; 8-Ron Hamm-1,560; 9-John Mount-1,550; 10-Robbie Parish-1,320. FORMULA 2000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
F2000 OVAL CROWN TITLE UP FOR GRABS AT ATLANTA

The USAC/SCCA United States Formula 2000 National Championship Series competes at Atlanta Motor Speedway's 1.6-mile "modified" oval this weekend, with the USAC Oval Crown title up for grabs, as well as valuable National points in the series which concludes September 26-27 at Fountain, Colo.

David Besnard of Australia is eyeing both championships and has a nine-point lead over Ryan Hampton in the Oval Crown standings going into Saturday's 30-lap finale at Atlanta. Robby McGehee is another 10 back in third place. Besnard's National point lead is a bit more comfortable, as Hampton trails him by 51.

Friday's Atlanta timetable has practice from 1-2 p.m. and qualifying from 2:30-3:45 p.m. A warmup session is scheduled Saturday from 3:30-4:15 p.m. and Saturday's race gets the green flag at 7 p.m.

Oval Crown race winners this year have included Besnard at Orlando, Fla. and Phoenix, Ariz. and Hampton in both races at Charlotte, N.C.

Formula 2000 National Point Standings: 1-David Besnard-306; 2-Ryan Hampton-255; 3-Robby McGehee-215; 4-Andy Lally-182; 5-Marc Antoine Camirand-171; 6-Mike Johnson-152; 7-Bobby Oergel-151; 8-Jonathan Bottoms-148; 9-Steve Rikert-138; 10-Sam Hornish, Jr.-135.

Formula 2000 Oval Crown Point Standings: 1-David Besnard-110; 2-Ryan Hampton-101; 3-Robby McGehee-91; 4-Andy Lally-78; 5-Sam Hornish-68; 6-Jonathan Bottoms-60; 7-Bobby Oergel-56; 8-Mike Johnson-53; 9-Ric Rushton-51; 10-James Yott-44. WESTERN STATES SERIES
FACCINTO STILL #1 REBEL; TUCSON HOSTS "TRIPLEHEADER" SATURDAY

Monte Faccinto of Hanford, Calif. extended his lead in the USAC Regional Rebel Sprint Car standings Saturday night, winning the 30-lap feature at his "home" track - Kings Speedway.

Faccinto led all 30 laps to beat Tim Worth, fast qualifier Davey Pombo, Ricci Faria and Bobby McMahan and he holds a 19-point lead over Pombo going into a September 5 race at the Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway.

The USAC "Western States" Sprint Cars, "Western States" Midgets and TQ Midgets join forces this Saturday for a unique "tripleheader" at the Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park. A 20-lap TQ feature and 30-lappers for the Midgets and Sprint Cars are scheduled on the 3/8-mile paved oval.

Jeff Gardner of Fresno, Calif. (Sprints), Rick Hendrix of Simi Valley, Calif. (Midgets) and Alex Harris of Simi Valley, Calif. (TQs) are the respective point leaders entering this Saturday's events. Gardner has three 1998 wins to his credit, while Hendrix has two and Harris has eight. Hendrix won the May 30 Midget race at Tucson, while Tony Hunt won the May 30 Sprint race there.

Western States Midget Standings: 1-Rick Hendrix-359; 2-Bryan Stanfill-324; 3-Wally Pankratz-317; 4-Shane Scully-271; 5-Jason Leffler-266; 6-Bobby Boone-252; 7-Steve Paden-232; 8-Ricky Shelton-197; 9-Marc DeBeaumont-195; 10-Clay Klepper-193.

Western States Sprint Standings: 1-Jeff Gardner-491; 2-Rick Williams-433; 3-Tony Hunt-256; 4-Tyler Haylett-236; 5-Monte Faccinto-177; 6-Dave Fitzgerald-170; 7-Rick Sipe-151; 8-Kirk Wartman-151; 9-Davey Pombo-148; 10-Ray Evans-110.

TQ Midget Standings: 1-Alex Harris-342; 2-Gene Godepski-270; 3-Josh Lakatos-245; 4-Brian Harris-231; 5-West Evans-227; 6-Randi Pankratz-227; 7-Ron Ahrendt-198; 8-Paul Krueger-192; 9-Joe Bishop-154; 10-Ron Wade-152.

Regional Rebel Sprint Standings: 1-Monte Faccinto-617; 2-Davey Pombo-598; 3-Mark Barroso-445; 4-Lawrence Edlund-439; 5-Craig Stidham-334; 6-Jeff Gardner-278; 7-Larry Brown-270; 8-H.P. Myatt-254; 9-Ricci Faria-204; 10-Shane Travioli-199.