USAC Update

As the summer is nearing it's end, the championship battle for the big four USAC titles are heating up.

Silver Crown
AJ Fike won the Tony Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Saturday. Fike led the first seven laps but was passed by Chris Windom who would go on and lead the next eighty-five laps but Fike would regain the lead on lap 93 and hold on for the victory. It was Fike's first Silver Crown victory of the year. Windom would finish second ahead of Jerry Coons, Jr., Tracy Hines and Shane Cockrum. Brian Tyler finished sixth with Kody Swanson in seventh, Pikes Peak winner Bobby East finished eight with Robert Ballou and Taylor Ferns rounding out the top ten. Chris Urish finished eleventh ahead of Jarett Andretti, son of John Andretti and Dave Darland.

Through six Silver Crown races in 2013, there have now been six different winners. The now retired Levi Jones won the first race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in May with Bobby Santos winning at Gateway the following week. East won at Pikes Peak at the end of June with Tanner Swanson winning at the former Indianapolis Raceway Park at the end of July. Tracy Hines won on the Belleville High Banks at the beginning of August and Fike's win on Saturday makes him the sixth different winner.

Tracy Hines leads Jerry Coons, Jr. by nine with two races to go. Bobby East is third, sixteen back. Tanner Swanson is one point behind East for third with Chris Windom rounding out the top five. The Silver Crown Series returns to the track on September 1st at DuQuoin Speedway before wrapping up their season September 21st at the Four-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway.

Sprint Cars
Jon Stanbrough won the most recent event at Southern Iowa Speedway on August 6th. The main event was shortened to 20 laps due to rain. Kyle Larson finished second that night with Brady Bacon, Chase Stockton and Jerry Coons, Jr. rounding out the top five. The top two in the championship, Dave Darland and Bryan Clauson finished fourteenth and twentieth respectively that night.

Darland leads Clauson by five points as the series heads to Kokomo for Sprint Car Smackdown II, August 22 through the 24th. Bacon is third in the standings, twenty back. Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Stockton round out the top five in the Sprint Car standings.

National Midget Dirt
Bryan Clauson won Sunday night at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. He took the lead from Andrew Felker on lap five and never looked back as he picked up his third Midget win of the year. Tracy Hines, Darren Hagen, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Zach Daum rounded out the top five with Felker finishing sixth. Christopher Bell finished seventh and retains his points lead.

The rookie Bell has four wins in 2013 and leads Clauson by fifty-eight points with Hines, Coons, Jr. and Hagen rounding out the top five. The next race for the midget cars will be the Four-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway on September 21st.

National Midget Pavement
Christopher Bell and Kyle Hamilton took the Battle on the Border races at Illiana Motor Speedway and Grundy County Speedway on August 9th and 10th. Bell led flag-to-flag at Illiana with Darren Hagen, Hamilton, Dalton Armstrong and Kyle O'Gara rounding out the top five. It was Bell's first win of the pavement season.

Hamilton took the lead on lap eleven from Jim Anderson at Grundy County and held on for his first win of the pavement season. Bobby Santos finished second with Dalton Armstrong finishing third. Bell and Brad Greenup rounded out the top five. Anderson finished eighteenth after leading the first ten laps.

Tracy Hines and Darren Hagan are tied for the pavement points lead as the series heads to it's final event at Columbus Motor Speedway on October 12th. Hines has two pavement wins at Pikes Peak and IRP in July while Hagan's lone win came at the Night Before the 500 in May. Santos is third in the standings, twenty-four back of Hines and Hagan. Kyle O'Gara is fourth in points with Kyle Hamilton's victory elevating him to fifth in points.