USAC
embarks on 53rd season of Eldora action Saturday
Four
of Top Five Point Drivers Hope to End Eldora Winless Streak
ROSSBURG,
OH (April 14) – With 185 completed events and 71 different winners,
Eldora Speedway and the United States Auto Club (USAC) enters its
53rd consecutive year of association on the venerable .500-mile clay
oval this Saturday evening (April 19), with the annual Don
Branson/Jud Larson Classic for ‘traditional’ non-winged Sprint
Cars and some interesting statistics.
Of
the 71 different winners, 39 have repeated their Eldora wins at least
one-time, and four of them remain active in USAC racing. Ironically
those four account for 12 wins out of the past 16 USAC National
Sprint Car Series events at Eldora; to shut out drivers aspiring to
either increase their presence on the win list or etch their name
into the Eldora archives.
Veteran
Tracy Hines sits second on the all-time win list and has been the
most prolific of the quartet by capturing five of his nine Eldora
wins during this time span, a period in which Robert Ballou has
scored his three USAC wins. Jerry Coons, Jr. picked up two of his
three wins during this interval with current USAC point leader Dave
Darland notching one win to increase his total to four.
Now
retired from active racing, Levi Jones was in that 16-race mix that
includes Brad Sweet, Kyle Larson and most recently Chris Windom as
first-time USAC winners at Eldora.
Darland,
Hines, Coons Jr., Ballou and Windom are expected to be competing
Saturday in anticipation of increasing their win count and extending
the momentum of repeat winners. Their opposition will be a bevy of
drivers seeking their first USAC checkered flag at the historic
Rossburg, OH speed plant.
Atop
that list are the four drivers that follow Darland in the current
USAC point ranking, including two-time defending champion Bryan
Clauson. Clauson’s resume shows two USAC Silver Crown victories at
Eldora but none in the division that he has dominated in over the
past two years. That fact, plus, by his standards, a disappointing
fourth-place ranking will be the fuel behind his drive Saturday.
Justin
Grant (2nd), Chase Stockon (3rd) and Brady Bacon (5th) also continue
their chase towards the USAC National championship Saturday winless
in Eldora competition; a fact they hope to change. Hines enters the
fray seventh in the point chase, while Ballou is ninth and Coons, Jr.
sixteenth.
Completing
the tripleheader program Saturday evening will be the UMP DIRTcar
Modifieds and Eldora Stock Cars, with a 7:30 p.m. race starting time.
Tickets for Saturday night or any of the other events on Eldora’s
exciting menu may be purchased by going to the track’s website
www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the track office during normal
business hours (937) 338-3815. Additionally, race fans and race
teams can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway
on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and
view video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc. Mobile
device users can access the Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad
and Android which is available for download via iTunes and Google
Play.
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