Largest Silver Crown field in 3 years expected for Bettenhausen 100 at Illinois State Fair
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Kody Swanson, of Kingsburg, Calif. enters the Tony Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Aug. 16 with a 45-point lead over Tracy Hines in the USAC Silver Crown Championship series following his third victory of the season last Friday at Belleville, Kansas.
Swanson will lead a field of cars expected to eclipse the 30-car starting field. It could mark the largest Silver Crown field on dirt since the 2011 Hoosier Hundred in Indianapolis, Ind.
Friday’s Hustle on the High Banks 50-lapper at the Belleville High Banks saw Swanson catch Chris Windom on lap 45, and he led the final six laps around the half-mile oval in the Radio Hospital Maxim/Hampshire. Windom led the first 45 laps but encountered problems and was relegated to a ninth-place finish.
Tracy Hines, the 2013 Belleville winner, finished second ahead of Christopher Bell, Bobby East and Dave Darland. Swanson was the fastest qualifier and the win was his third of the campaign.
At Springfield, Swanson will try to improve on his seventh-place finish a year ago. Windom finished second last year at Springfield behind Illinois’ A.J. Fike, the Galesburg,Ill., dirt ace who has won back-to-back Bettenhausen 100’s.
For tickets, call 217-764-3200.
Silver Crown standings
Kody Swanson 345, 2. Tracy Hines 300, 3. Bobby East 291, 4. Chris Windom 243, 5. Jacob Wilson 195, 6. Jerry Coons Jr. 177, 7. Tanner Swanson. 165, 8. Bobby Santos 159, 9. Caleb Armtsrong 155, 10. David Byrne 147.