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 SPRINGFIELD,
IL (August 17) -- When Paul White won last year's "Tony
Bettenhausen 100" in USAC Silver Crown competition, it was the
first time the historical event was ever won by a Hoosier-shod car.
That's right. Prior to 2001, the event had never had a winner on
Hoosier tires since it began in 1934. But now, after J.J. Yeley took
the win this past Saturday, it appears as if a new streak has
started--a Hoosier-shod winner two years in a row.
Forty cars were entered in qualifying with 28 of them
opting to ride on Hoosier tires. The six fastest times were posted by
Hoosier-shod cars. J.J. Yeley was the fastest qualifier around the
1-mile dirt oval after circling the track in 30.534 seconds. Jay
Drake, Jerry Coons, Jr., Paul White, Tracy Hines and Russ Gamester
were second through sixth fastest in qualifying.
In the feature, 23 of the 30 starters were on
Hoosiers. Starting from the pole, Yeley looked to improve on last
year's fourth place finish. Yeley opted to run the 100-lap marathon on
a D50/F75 combination. Yeley's choice kept the 2001 USAC Sprint Car
Series champion out front all 100 circuits to take the wire-to-wire
win.
Finishing in second through fourth place on Hoosier
tires were Jerry Coons, Jr., Tracy Hines and Dave Darland. All three
opted to run a Hoosier F55/F75 combination which was the same compound
set-up used by nine of the top ten finishers in last year's event.
Other top ten finishers on Hoosiers were: Jay Drake
(7th); Jason McCord (8th); Russ Gamester (9th); and Carl Edwards
(10th).
Hoosier Engineer John Reynolds attended the event and
reported the details for this report.
With just three more races left on the schedule, Dave
Steele's series point lead is down to 11 points after his 17th place
finish. Steele is in first place in the USAC Silver Crown standings
with 339 points followed by J.J. Yeley with 328 points.
The series resumes action on another 1-mile dirt
oval--the DuQuion State Fairgrounds on September 1, where Team-Hoosier
looks to continue its undefeated streak in the series.
The USAC Silver Crown Series competes exclusively on
Hoosier tires when the series runs on pavement, but has no such rule
on dirt.
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