By Dick Jordan
Kevin Montgomery Tucson, AZ (February 13th, 2010) – Jack Hewitt, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee and undoubtedly one of the greatest open wheel drivers of all time, will make his way to Tucson’s USA Raceway were he will be honored as Grand Marshal for the 4th running of The “Copper on Dirt”.
Hewitt, the first and only driver to win the elusive 4-Crown at Eldora Speedway, will also be in action on the track! The famous two-seat sprint car will be on hand and attendee’s of the event will have a rare opportunity to ride along with the legendary Jack Hewitt.
Two USAC Silver Crown Championships are just a few notables on a very renowned racing career. Known for his straight talking no-nonsense personality, Hewitt is one of the most respected drivers in the history of the sport with several hundred victories to his credit and sits at the top of the all time win list in USAC Silver Crown competition. Hewitt also ranks in the top spots for all time career USAC Sprint Car feats and ultimately achieved a life long quest when he finished 12th in the 1998 Indianapolis 500.
“This is a once in a life time opportunity to have such a great racer come to USA Raceway and we are extremely excited for him to be part of the Copper on Dirt,” said Benji Lyons of USA Raceway. “I can not wait to see the face’s on the people that are brave enough to get in and take a ride in the back seat of a sprint car with Jack Hewitt at the wheel.”
The 4th Annual “Copper on Dirt” featuring USAC Silver Crown, USAC National/CRA Sprint Cars and USAC National/Western States Midgets all taking part in a sensational racing spectacle at Tucson’s USA Raceway’s for two nights on February 19th and 20th marking USA Raceway as one of only two dirt track venues to host USAC’s Triple Crown all in one event.
As the 2010 racing season goes into to full swing, USAC championship hopefuls will make their way west to start the year off at one of the premier events of the season. More than a hundred of the nations top open wheel teams are anticipated to take part in the 4th Annual “Copper on Dirt” making this a must see event of 2010.
Ticket pricing, seating charts and purchasing information can be found online at http://www.usaraceway.net/Uploads/CopperOnDirtTicketForm.pdf or by calling the USA Raceway office at 520-574-8515
Hotel Information can be found at www.usaraceway.net/lodging.php or by calling the Tucson Airport Courtyard by Marriott at 520-573-0000
USA Raceway is located east of Tucson off I-10 exit 265, then 1.6 miles south on Craycroft Road, which turns into Los Reales. For more information please, contact the track at 520-574-8515 or additional information regarding USA Raceway can be found at http://www.usaraceway.net
Mississippi’s Ricky Stenhouse became the first and only driver to win multiple “Copper on Dirt” features in a single year. Stenhouse set the bar high at the inaugural “Copper on Dirt” by winning back to back races in the 40-lap sprint car feature and finishing off the night by capturing the 50-lap USAC Silver Crown Feature.
California native, Darren Hagen, is the only other driver to win in two divisions with a midget victory in 2008 and a sprint car win in 2009. Hagen will lead the USAC trio into Tucson as the defending “Copper on Dirt” Sprint Car Champion while Brad Sweet and Bud Kaeding will likely set out to defend the USAC Midget and Silver Crown titles respectively. Hagen also leads the “Copper on Dirt” stats with 8 of 9 feature starts (Did not participate in 2007 Silver Crown portion) and an average finish of 5th in 8 total events.
Past Copper on Dirt Winners:
2007 USAC Midgets – Cory Kruseman
2007 USAC Sprint Cars – Ricky Stenhouse
2007 USAC Silver Crown – Ricky Stenhouse
2008 USAC Midgets – Darren Hagen
2008 USAC Sprint Cars – Shane Cottle
2008 USAC Silver Crown – Jerry Coons Jr.
2009 USAC Midgets – Brad Sweet
2009 USAC Sprint Cars – Darren Hagen
2009 USAC Silver Crown – Bud Kaeding