THE CHAMP

After finishing fourth in the season-opening race at Manzanita Speedway and again at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Bud Kaeding put together back-to-back third-place finishes on the dirt miles at Springfield and DuQuoin to build an insurmountable point lead.  Kaeding’s performance on the dirt was the key to a second-consecutive Silver Crown championship for the native of Campbell, Calif. 
While his average finish on pavement (8.11) was only fifth best among the contenders for the title, Kaeding easily tallied the best finishes in the four dirt races (5.25 avg.). Of those with better numbers on the pavement, their best average on the dirt was only 15.25

TIMELINE

March 23: Tracy Hines (below) wins at Homestead in the first of what would become six-consecutive races on pavement. It’s also the first win for the Foyt Enterprises-fielded Greer Special, which will sweep nearly half of the races.
April 30: Hines suffers serious injuries in a motorcycle accident near his home. At the time, he was leading the Silver Crown series and second in  sprint car points. Hines’s injuries include a fractured pelvis, fractured left femur and a dislocated right knee. J.J. Yeley, Bobby East and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.  share the seat in the Foyt 14 and collect five more wins. 
May 5: Subbing for Hines at Iowa Speedway, East collects his first of two victories.
Aug 18: With a strong third-place run at Springfield in his own car sponsored by Loan City and High Five Pizza, Bud Kaeding takes the series point lead from Wayne Reutimann, Jr. 
Sept 22: With his first career victory in the Silver Crown cars coming during Eldora Speedway’s 4-Crown Nationals, Jerry Coons, Jr. joins Stenhouse as the only drivers to win main events in USAC’s three national divisions.
Nov. 8: Kaeding secures his second consecutive Silver Crown title.  Even though he didn’t capture a victory, he proves to be the best at blending the new generation Silver Crown design with traditional champ dirt cars over the full season.
Nov. 22: Toyota debuts a new 360 engine that will be used in the Silver Crown Series and Western sprint car divisions beginning in 2008.  Its first win comes on Turkey Night in its first feature race.

ON THE RECORD

“While this isn’t an event that’s tied in with NASCAR or the IRL, winning at the Hoosier Hundred carries more prestige in my book.  Not only is it Indy 500 week, but the history behind this track and this race are amazing.” — Jerry Coons, Jr.

“The biggest adjustment driving the new Silver Crown car was the steering and the radial tires.  My previous experience with the NASCAR trucks and Busch cars helped with the tires.” — Bobby East at Iowa Speedway

“It helped us to run the sprint car feature because we had enough laps on the track that we started to figure some things out.” — Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. after winning at Manzanita

“We really wanted this one, but I guess you just deal with it and go on.  We’ll be back.”  — Shane Cottle after nearly winning at Manzanita

“Our plan, ever since we tested here, was to lay back and wait for the leaders to use up their tires.” — Aaron Pierce at Darlington

“Any time Dave Darland is behind you, it can be 20 car lengths and it can change in a lap.  I was pretty much driving as hard as I could every lap.”  — Coons after winning the Silver Crown event at Eldora’s 4-Crown Nationals

“I made my move early. It’s hard to pass out there and I figured I’d get to the front quick and stay there.” — Brian Tyler at Richmond Int’l Raceway

“I haven’t won for so long I kinda forgot what it was like. I felt bad after the Darlington race where we had such a good car and had a tire go down. I didn’t think they we’re gonna let me back in the car.”  — J.J. Yeley at Chicagoland Speedway

LOOKING AHEAD

USAC needs 2008 to be a big year for the Silver Crown series. The growth in the new-generation pavement cars has not been what was hoped and has not resulted in popularity with NASCAR audiences and sponsors that was expected from the move to the new machines and larger tracks.

STAT PACK

50      Years between USAC races at Darlington, S.C.  Pat O’Connor won there in 1956, USAC’s first year.

6      Races that were held without a pass for the lead during the K & N Silver Crown season

13      Lucky number for J.J. Yeley at Chicagoland.  He earned his 13th Silver Crown pole and won his 13th series event on Friday, July 13.

39      Cars starting the Tony Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield, the largest starting field in series history

31      Length in laps of the race at New Hampshire Int’l Speedway

265      Laps consecutively led by the Foyt Racing Greer Special over four       pavement races

TOP 10

    Driver    Points    Wins    Top 5    Top 10
    1. Bud Kaeding    543    0    5    9
    2. Wayne Reutimann, Jr.    505    0    4    8
    3. Tim Barber    473    0    4    8
    4. Jerry Coons, Jr.    472    1    4    7
    5. Mat Neely    464    0    2    7
    6. Cameron Dodson    460    1    6    8
    7. Brian Tyler    436    1    3    7
    8. Billy Wease    429    0    1    8
    9. Aaron Pierce    424    1    4    5
10. Pablo Donoso    421    0    6    7

WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE

    Date    Track        Winner    Car    Laps
    Feb. 10    Manzanita Speedway (Ariz.)    Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.    RE 199    50
    March 23    Homestead-Miami Speedway (Fla.)    Tracy Hines    Foyt 14    67
    May 5    Iowa Speedway        Bobby East    Foyt 14    100
    May 10    Darlington Raceway (S.C.)    Aaron Pierce    Pierce 26    100
    June 30    Richmond Int’l Raceway (Va.)    Brian Tyler    Team Six-R 21    100
    July 13    Chicagoland Speedway (Ill.)    J.J. Yeley    Foyt 14    67
    July 26    O’Reilly Raceway Park (Ind.)    Bobby East    Foyt 14    100
    Aug. 18    Illinois State Fairgrounds    Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.    Stewart 22    75
    Sept. 2    DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (Ill.)    Shane Cottle    Contos 4    100
    Sept. 15    New Hampshire Int’l Speedway    J.J. Yeley    Foyt 14    31
    Sept. 22    Eldora Speedway (Ohio)    Jerry Coons, Jr.    RW 27    50
    Sept. 28    Kansas Speedway    J.J. Yeley    Foyt 14    67   
    Nov. 8    Phoenix Int’l Raceway (Ariz.)    Cameron Dodson    RE 199    50