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 LAKEVILLE,
IN (July 18-20) -- J.J. Yeley continues his amazing run in the USAC
Series winning three of the first four events in the eight-race
Indiana Sprint Week. In the race he failed to find victory lane, he
finished in second place behind Jay Drake who had switched to the
Hoosier brand earlier in the season. With both drivers using the
Indiana-based Hoosier tire brand, Hoosier is the only tire brand to
invade the winner's circle in this year's Indiana Sprint Week. With
four races yet to be contested in the annual Sprint Week, can anyone
stop Yeley from becoming the USAC driver to win the most races in a
single season? He needs just two more wins to become the winningest
driver in the series' history--and the season is only half over. The
USAC Series Indiana Sprint Week is comprised of eight nights of dirt
racing on eight different tracks over a 10-day period.
GAS CITY, IN (July 18) -- An amazing 66 cars
were entered in qualifying at the Gas City I-69 Speedway with 41
drivers placing their trust in the Hoosier brand. Tracy Hines set fast
time of the night with his 12.478 second lap on the 1/4-mile oval. He
was followed by Jay Drake and Boston Reid. All three drivers completed
qualifying laps using Hoosier's softest and fastest firing compound
(D10).
Three of the four heat races were won by Hoosier-shod
drivers. Dave Darland, Tony Elliott and Damion Gardner were the three
10-lap heat race winners on Hoosier tires.
In the 30-lap feature, 18 of the 23 starters rode on
Hoosier tires. J.J. Yeley, using a pair of Hoosier RD12's took the
lead from the opening lap and led the remainder of the event to
capture his tenth win in the USAC National Sprint Car Series. It was
also his third in a row in the series, while the #20 driver opened the
2003 Indiana Sprint Week a perfect two-for-two.
Jay Drake finished runner-up in the feature after
winning the 12-lap Semi. Tracy Hines took third place honors followed
by Boston Reid as Team-Hoosier captured the top four finishing
positions in the night's final race. All told, the Hoosier brand was
on eight of the top ten finishers. Critter Malone (6th), Damion
Gardner (8th), Bud Kaeding (9th) and Cory Kruseman (10th) were the
other top ten finishers on Hoosiers.
Hoosier Engineer Jon Huffman attended the event and
reported the details for this report.
PUTNAMVILLE, IN (July 19) -- The third stop on
the eight-race USAC Indiana Sprint Week schedule was Lincoln Park
Speedway. J.J. Yeley, fresh off his pair of wins in the first two
rounds, set fast time of the night on the 5/16-mile oval. Yeley's time
was 12.916 seconds in the Tony Stewart sponsored #20. Yeley was
followed by Jay Drake, Casey Shuman and Jerry Coons as Hoosier-shod
drivers captured the top four times among the 46 entrants.
Once again, three of the night's four heat races were
won by drivers using Hoosier tires. John Scott won the first heat,
while Brian Hayden won the second and Mitch Wissmiller won the fourth
and final heat race. J.J. Yeley then won the 12-lap Semi setting up
the night's 30-lap feature.
In the feature, it took four laps for a Hoosier-shod
driver to take over the race lead--Tracy Hines. Hines led until lap
23, before relinquishing the lead to Jay Drake who opted to run the
30-lapper using a Hoosier D10/RD12 combination. Drake led the final
eight laps to take the win and break J.J. Yeley's three-race win
streak. Yeley however, managed to finish in second place followed by
Matt Neely and Tracy Hines in third and fourth place, respectively. In
addition to the first four drivers to cross the finish line using the
Hoosier brand, so did Tony Elliott, Jerry Coons, Damion Gardner and
Levi Jones who finished sixth through ninth, respectively, and giving
Team-Hoosier claim to eight of the top ten finishing positions.
HAUBSTADT, IN (July 20) -- A total of 50
cars were entered in qualifying on the 1/4-mile Tri-State Speedway.
Damion Gardner set fast time of the night with a 13.305 second lap
followed by John Scott, Jay Drake and Tracy Hines as drivers using
Hoosier tires claimed the top four spots in qualifying.
Once again, three of the four preliminary heat races
were won by drivers using the Hoosier brand. Derek Davidson won the
first heat, while Levi Jones and Matt Neely won the second and third
heats. Tracy Hines won the 12-lap Semi which set the field for the
night's final race.
In the 30-lap feature, J.J. Yeley took the lead with
just five laps remaining en route to capturing his third win in the
first four races of the 2003 Indiana Sprint Week. Team-Hoosier claimed
nine of the top ten positions in the feature. Jay Drake, John Scott,
Tracy Hines, Damion Gardner, Bud Kaeding, Cory Kruseman, Levi Jones
and Casey Shuman finished third through tenth--all using Hoosier
tires.
J.J. Yeley has now won 18 USAC National events, one
shy of the record of 19 set by A.J. Foyt in 1961. In 1961, Foyt
tallied his 19 National event wins in three different series. He won
nine midget races, six sprint races and four champ car races for a
total of 19 National wins.
Hoosier Open Wheel Dirt Product Manager Neil Cowman
commented on Yeley's historic season, "J.J. has a lot of teams
scratching their heads right now. He has nearly broken a 40-year-old
record and the season is only half over." Cowman added, "If
he does break the record, we at Hoosier are elated he will have done
so using only the Hoosier brand."
The USAC Series will complete the eight-race Indiana
Sprint Week with four consecutive nights of action beginning this
Wednesday at Kokomo Speedway.
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