From Dick Jordan
The torrid battle for the 2013 Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Championship point lead continues Saturday in the โRocky Mountain Classicโ at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo.
In the shadow of Pikes Peak, the one-mile paved oval re-opens for USAC racing this weekend with a 100-mile Silver Crown race and a 25-mile Honda USAC National Midget race on tap.
Former series champions Levi Jones and Jerry Coons Jr. share the Silver Crown point lead after the first two races. Jones won the โHoosier Hundredโ opener in May at Indianapolis, Ind and added a seventh at Madison, Ill. the following week. Coons has recorded a second and sixth in the two races.
Bobby Santos is not in the โtop-10โ in the standings but won the June 1 โGateway 100โ and rates among favorites for Saturdayโs race at PPIR.
Itโs been eight years since USAC last raced at the track located just south of Colorado Springs. A โmedia dayโ is on tap Friday and the racing activity unfolds Saturday.
Defending series champion Bobby East will pilot a car entered by NASCAR star and former USAC Triple Crown Champion Tony Stewart. Sixth in the current series standings, will have to contend with the RW Motorsports team of drivers Coons and Santos. Last year, the RW team won five of the eight series races with three different drivers!
Silver Crown drivers will challenge Tracy Hinesโ 1-lap qualifying record of 143.227 mph in Saturdayโs time trials. Hines ranks seventh in the current standings. Hines won at PPIR in 1999 and Brian Tyler, who is also expected to compete Saturday, won at PPIR in 2002.
2013 TRAXXAS USAC Silver Crown Point Standings: 1-Levi Jones-102, 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-102, 3-Shane Hollingsworth-87, 4-Kody Swanson-86, 5-A.J. Fike-81, 6-Bobby East-81, 7-Tracy Hines-79, 8-Chris Windom-78, 9-Brian Tyler-78, 10-Aaron Pierce-65.