By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Madison, Illinois (August 15, 2022)………The return of USAC Silver Crown racing to World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. this Friday night, August 19, brings with it a full slate of USAC Silver Crown stars and those looking to breakthrough with a strong performance on the biggest venue on the series’ schedule.
The event brings the heavy artillery of the USAC national divisions to the OutFront 100 on the 1.25-mile paved oval with the main event consisting of 80 laps and 100 miles for the first Silver Crown race at the track since 2016.
Bobby Santos (Franklin, Mass.) comes in as the lone past USAC Silver Crown winner at the track formerly known as Gateway Motorsports Park, having won in back-to-back seasons in 2013-14.
Santos is joined by fellow 2022 season winners, point leader Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.), Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.), C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) and Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.), plus Brian Tyler (Parma, Mich.) who ranks third in all-time series wins and fellow series winner Eric Gordon (Greenfield, Ind.).
Joining along in the 22-car lineup are a slew of multi-year Silver Crown vets, including Illinois native Patrick Lawson (Edwardsville, Ill.), series full-timers Kyle Robbins (New Castle, Ind.), Travis Welpott (Pendleton, Ind.) and Dave Berkheimer (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) as well as the most successful woman in series history, Taylor Ferns (Shelby Township, Mich.).
Indianapolis Raceway Park Midget winner Kyle O’Gara (Beech Grove, Calif.) will make his first foray to WWT as will past Rookies of the Year, Angola, Indiana’s Derek Bischak (2019) and Fort Collins, Colorado’s Bryan Gossel (2020), plus Davey Hamilton Jr. in one of two DHR machines alongside teammate Nathan Byrd (Goodyear, Ariz.).
Byrd is one of six USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contenders in Friday night’s lineup along with leading candidate Gregg Cory (Shelbyville, Ind.), USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget standout Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.), POWRi WAR Sprint Car champ Mario Clouser (Auburn, Ill.), Midwest Super Modified Association titlist and NASA Test Engineer Mike McVetta (Grafton, Ohio) and 2021 Auto Value Super Sprint champion Tom Paterson (Argos, Ind.).
This Friday night, August 19, at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., the OutFront 100 features the USAC Silver Crown National Championship, INDYCAR Practice/Qualifying and Indy Lights Practice/Qualifying. Front gates open at 8am central, with the first Silver Crown practice at 10am followed by Fatheadz Qualifying at 1:15pm. Silver Crown final practice takes shape at 4:30pm with driver introductions at 8pm and the 80-lap, 100-mile main event at 8:30pm.
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST:
06 BRYAN GOSSEL/Fort Collins, CO
1 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL
6 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN
7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN
11 (R) NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ
14 DAVEY HAMILTON JR./Boise, ID
18 TRAVIS WELPOTT/Pendleton, IN
22 BOBBY SANTOS/Franklin, MA
26 (R) KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA
32 (R) GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN
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55 TAYLOR FERNS/Shelby Township, MI
67 KYLE O’GARA/Beech Grove, IN
81 BRIAN TYLER/Parma, MI
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA
92 (R) MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL
94 (R) MIKE McVETTA/Grafton, OH
99 ERIC GORDON/Greenfield, IN
111 (R) TOM PATERSON/Argos, IN
131 DEREK BISCHAK/Angola, IN
222 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA
(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender