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USAC Silver Crown

Reimagined Hoosier Hundred Draws Largest Pavement Entry List in Decades

It’s the largest pavement field since 2005

In taking on the legacy of the Hoosier Hundred, Indianapolis Raceway Park general manager Kasey Coler wanted to create a signature pavement event for the USAC Silver Crown Series and the entry list for this reimagined event reflects it.

There are 35 cars set to compete in the $25,000-to-win, 146-lap and 100-mile showdown on the 686-mile oval as part of the famed Carb Night Classic in Brownsburg, Indiana. It’s the largest pavement entry list for the Champ Cars since a August 2005 race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

The event will also feature the USF Pro Championship, USF Pro 2000 and Pavement Midgets.

Using the Hoosier Hundred name was always a sort of gamble for Coler because even after a three-year hiatus, the legacy of that event is so intertwined with a 65-year history at the Indiana State Fairground, with the one-mile surface no longer being compatible with motor racing.

So Coler reached out to USAC with the intent of creating a signature event for Silver Crown that also pays homage to what came before.

“The first thing we did,” Coler told Short Track Scene on Tuesday. “We got our hands on every program for the Hoosier Hundred and poured through the details of what made that race so special. We’re not trying to live in the past because this isn’t apples-to-apples but we wanted to be sure that we understood why the community embraced that race so much. We wanted to respect that.”

It seems, at least based on the entry list, that the racers have responded in kind.

Two previous Hoosier Hundred winners are participating on Friday night in the form of Kody Swanson (2014-15-16-18) and Jerry Coons Jr. (2011-12). Kody (2017-18-21) is also one of three past Carb Night Classic winners in the lineup alongside Tanner Swanson (2016 & 2020) and Bobby Santos (2022).

The Hoosier Hundred was postponed by rain to Carb Night and has been combined with the previously scheduled Silver Crown event on the schedule.

This entry list is also a reflection of how much pavement Champ Cars are starting to grow again in modern times. In recent history, the dirt cars have been backboned of the schedule with only a handful of teams chasing points in the full schedule.

That’s different now with the likes of Justin Grant, Logan Seavey and Kaylee Byrson all joining Swanson on the full tour.

USAC historian Pat Sullivan, one of the most venerable personalities in racing, says the Hoosier Hundred entry list is as good as he can ever remember.

“It’s been many years now, but I wrote a column on Speed Sport where I told USAC to just kill the Champ Cars if they weren’t going to do something with it,” Sullivan told STS last month.

“Andy Hillenburg drug a show car out on an open trailer to a lot of the races. He started calling team owners to get them to come back. Kyle Larson and Tyler Courtney get dirt cars and had a lot of fun with it. Larson was telling people that it was an important part of USAC history. The interest is starting to pick up. David Gravel bought one and brought some eyeballs into it. Drivers really seem to love these cars again.

“And then Kasey has done so much with the track to revitalize the oval, giving those cars a track to shine and now he’s got this race and has made something that people really want to be a part of.”

IRP USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST (35):

02 TANNER SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Bowman Racing)
06 BRYAN GOSSEL/Fort Collins, CO (Bryan Gossel)
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
5 (R) DAKODA ARMSTRONG/New Castle, IN (Dakoda Armstrong)
6 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN Klatt Enterprises)
7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
8 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Charles, MO (Gordon Steffens)
11 (R) TREY BURKE/Alvin, TX (Davey Hamilton Racing-SRG)
12 (R) WAYNE JOHNSON/Tuttle, OK (Two C Racing)
14 DAVEY HAMILTON JR./Boise, ID (Davey Hamilton Racing-SRG)
18 TRAVIS WELPOTT/Pendleton, IN (Welpott Racing)
19 (R) TYLER ROAHRIG/Plymouth, IN (Legacy Autosport)
20 (R) EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN (Nolen Racing)
22 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)
24 JERRY COONS JR./Tucson, AZ (John Haggenbottom)
25 CASEY BUCKMAN/Chandler, AZ (C-Buck Motorsports-Eddie Sachs Jr.)
26 (R) KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Sam Pierce)
28 (R) WILL EDWARDS/Greenwood, IN (Alliance Racing)
29 (R) BRENT YARNAL/Phoenix, AZ (Brent Yarnal)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
32 GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN (Williams Racing)
44 (R) JOEY VALLONE/Crestwood, IL (Alliance Racing)
51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
60 BILLY WEASE/Noblesville, IN (Robert Wilson Racing)
67 KYLE O’GARA/Beech Grove, IN (SFHR Development)
77 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Doran-Binks Racing)
81 MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (BCR Group)
88 NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ (Byrd Racing)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Kazmark Motorsports)
94 MIKE McVETTA/Grafton, OH (Dick & Deborah Myers)
98 BOBBY SANTOS/Franklin, MA (DJ Racing)
111 TOM PATERSON/Argos, IN (Tom Paterson)
131 DEREK BISCHAK/Angola, IN (Derek Bischak)
555 TAYLOR FERNS/Shelby Township, MI (Taylor Ferns Racing)

(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender

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Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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