SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. became the youngest winner of the Tony Bettenhausen 100 for the K&N USAC Silver Crown Series Saturday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Driving Tony Stewart’s Chevrolet, Stenhouse won the event that was shorted by curfew to just 75 of the 100 scheduled laps of the historic one-mile oval.
Stenhouse, who turns 20 on Oct. 2, trailed his teammate and pole winner, Levi Jones, for the first 28 laps, then took the lead on a restart and led the rest of the way. Jones pressured Stenhouse until his right rear-tire blew two laps from the checkered flag, relegating him to a 23rd-place finish.
Billy Wease finished second with a late-race charge, followed by point-leader Bud Kaeding, Paul White and Shane Cottle.
Kaeding, the defending series champion, emerged with a 26-point lead over Wayne Reutimann, Jr., who finished 16th.
Saturday’s race featured the largest starting field in series history on dirt, as 39 cars faced the green flag after rain washed out qualifications.
Stenhouse, who also won the only previous Silver Crown race on dirt this season at Phoenix, Ariz., in February, earned $11,000.
The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Levi Jones, Stewart 10, 30.316; 2. Mitch Wissmiller, Onken 23, 30.431; 3. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Stewart 22, 30.518; 4. Tom Capie, Paternoster 41, 30.627; 5. Jerry Coons, Jr., RW 27, 30.840; 6. Brian Tyler, Team Six-R 21, 30.943; 7. Bud Kaeding, BK 29, 31.015; 8. Shane Cottle, Contos 4, 31.021; 9. Jon Stanbrough, Baldwin 5, 31.057; 10. Paul White, Mucci/Matczak 99, 31.118; 11. Justin Allgaier, Bergfield 86, 31.174; 12. Mat Neely, RW 17, 31.235; 13. John Heydenreich, Bank 90, 31.381; 14. Aaron Pierce, Pierce 26, 31.388; 15. A.J. Fike, Hemelgarn/RFMS 91, 31.399; 16. Dave Darland, Foxco 56, 31.425; 17. Billy Wease, Western Speed 12, 31.479; 18. Johnny Parsons, Nix 43, 31.504; 19. Shane Hollingsworth, Nolen 20, 31.516; 20. Ron Gregory, Irvin/Nolen 48, 31.767; 21. Kevin Huntley, SC 97, 31.804; 22. Roger Rager, Loucks 33, 31.857; 23. Kyle Steffens, Hartenstine 65, 32.133; 24. Donnie Beechler, McQuinn 45, 32.152; 25. Chris Urish, Urish 177, 32.217; 26. Mike Murgoitio, Team Six R 19, 32.286; 27. Russ Gamester, Gamester 51, 32.368; 28. Hud Cone, Galas 112, 32.371; 29. Mike Hess, Hess 151, 32.368; 30. Cameron Dodson, Edwards/RE 199, 32.395; 31. Wayne Reutimann, Jr., Reutimann 00, 32.422; 32. Ray Bull, MEGA 63, 32.439; 33. Dickie Gaines, S & R 59, 32.603; 34. Tim Siner, Siner 62, 32.886; 35. Dereck King, Harris 191, 33.263; 36. Chappy Knaack, Miller 36, 33.619; 37. Tim Barber, Pierson 28, 33.753; 38. Mike Stroehle, Stroehle 83, 33.771; 39. Randy Bateman, Bateman 55, no time.
Feature (75 laps): Stenhouse, Wease, Kaeding, White, Cottle, Parsons, Huntley, Heydenreich, Beechler, Tyler, Wissmiller, Neely, Bull, Hollingsworth, Rager, Reutimann, Barber, Murgoitio, Cone, Siner, Steffens, Knaack, Jones, Dodson, Capie, Allgaier, Darland, Coons, King, Fike, Pierce, Bateman, Stroehle, Gamester, Gregory, Stanbrough, Urish, Hess, Gaines.