By Dick Jordan
Five drivers remain in the running for the 2013 TRAXXAS USAC Silver Crown championship after one of the strangest finishes in series history! Only 29 points separate the contenders entering the series final at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio September 21 – the “4-Crown Nationals.”
Defending series champion Bobby East stands atop the mountain after finishing second in Sunday night’s “Ted Horn 100” at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds. He is five points ahead of Jerry Coons Jr., 16 ahead of Tracy Hines, 21 ahead of Chris Windom and 29 ahead of Kody Swanson.
Concluding with a script nobody in Hollywood could have imagined, Sunday’s 100-miler at DuQuoin concluded with Elkhart, Ind. driver Chris Urish earning his first series victory in his Urish Motorsports Beast/Foxco. He was third five laps from the end and watched as leaders Chris Windom and Shane Cockrum encountered problems. Urish officially led the final three laps for the win, becoming the seventh different race winner in seven series events this season!
Robert Ballou had the field covered most of the day but ran out of fuel after leading the first 80 miles. Windom then led the next 17 laps before he, too, ran out of fuel. Jerry Coons Jr. also fell victim to engine woes.
Neither Hines nor Swanson were able to complete a lap and will need top finishes at Eldora to challenge for the title.
A.J. Fike ended up third in the official finish, ahead of Cockrum and Taylor Ferns, whose fifth-place finish was the highest in series history by a female driver.
Honda USAC National Midget Dirt point leader Christopher Bell ran third for numerous laps before eventually taking eighth in the final tally.
2013 TRAXXAS USAC Silver Crown Point Standings: 1-Bobby East-339, 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-334, 3-Tracy Hines-323, 4-Chris Windom-318, 5-Kody Swanson-310, 6-A.J. Fike-272, 7-Brian Tyler-249, 8-Shane Hollingsworth-182, 9-Taylor Ferns-162, 10-David Byrne-127.