Just read that the ARCA stock cars will be running under the lights on Sunday evening of Labor Day Weekend in 2016. For the last decade or so the USAC Silver Crown cars ran the Ted Horn Memorial 100 on that Sunday evening.
Wonder when the Ted Horn Memorial 100 Silver Crown race will be run in 2016.
A logical date would be on Saturday evening of Labor Day Weekend, the night before the scheduled 2016 Sunday evening ARCA race. They used to run the Horn Memorial on Monday afternoon in the years prior to the installation of the lights at Du Quoin but given that the Horn Memorial has been one of the better Silver Crown races of the season the past 4 or 5 years I would think Sarge would be reluctant to move that race to the daytime on Labor Day Monday and Labor Day Monday evening probably wouldn't be all that favorable to race teams and spectators, alike.
The reason they moved the Horn Memorial to Sunday and the ARCA race to Monday was back in the days when guys like Kenny Schrader and Stewart were willing to race in the ARCA race at Du Quoin the Sunday afternoon date conflicted with the NASCAR Cup race that was always run on Sunday of Labor Day Weekend. The NASCAR guys were able to travel to Du Quoin after the Sunday NASCAR race to compete at Du Quoin on Monday afternoon. Been that way ever since, even though Stewart and a few other NASCAR guys stopped making the effort to race in the ARCA show at Du Quoin for many years now.
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
Went this year and had a ball, despite the heat. The race was a good one and the crowd loved seeing Shane get the win. Sure hope the Ted Horn returns to this fun weekend.
Two things. First, the Champ Dirt Car race will be Saturday night, from the information I've been told.
Second, there may be an attempt to run a spring Champ Dirt Car race there. Shane Cockrum winning 2 in a row at Duquoin is the best thing that could have ever happened at the Magic Mile. The interest in the event has really climbed in southern Illinois. Great for Shane, and even greater for the series.
According to my records they had a USAC Dirt Championship race at DuQuoin on May 31, 1980. Gary Bettenhausen won over Pancho Carter (I think). I did not check my USAC Yearbook to confirm the winners, but that is just from memory (over 35 years ago)!
Originally Posted by ronmil:
According to my records they had a USAC Dirt Championship race at DuQuoin on May 31, 1980. Gary Bettenhausen won over Pancho Carter (I think). I did not check my USAC Yearbook to confirm the winners, but that is just from memory (over 35 years ago)!
Found the results for that race; my memory was correct!
Both Springfield & Syracuse were $700 to start, $10,000 to win, $45,800 total purse, this year. I would guess Indy & DuQuoin were the same. Short races pay less.
Originally Posted by sprntr:
Both Springfield & Syracuse were $700 to start, $10,000 to win, $45,800 total purse, this year. I would guess Indy & DuQuoin were the same. Short races pay less.
Thanks! The total purse in 2015 is less than it was in 1980, the winner's share in 2015 is more but the payout at the bottom is less. If you factor in inflation, the purses for Silver Crown, and all short track racing, haven't kept pace. I don't have an answer as to why; there are undoubtedly many factors that have caused this. As Joe Friday would say, these are "just the facts".
