By Richie Murray
Oregon, Wisconsin (June 26, 2019)………Twenty-two drivers and cars are entered for this Friday night’s Bytec “Dairyland 100” from Madison International Speedway on June 28, the second ever visit for the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series on the half-mile paved oval following last year’s debut.
Kyle Hamilton (Danville, Ind.) comes into the race as the most recent Silver Crown winner on the pavement of Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in May. His Klatt Enterprises team has been victorious in each of the past two Silver Crown events, both on pavement and dirt.
Meanwhile, four-time series champ and current point leader Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.) arrives as the defending winner of the “Dairyland 100” and has already won twice on the pavement this season, along with three poles and 193 laps led in three races.
Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) is the second of the two champs entered for the event, winning the Silver Crown title in 2016 and is an eight-time victor in the series, one of eight past Silver Crown winners in the lineup alongside 10-time winner Bobby Santos (Franklin, Mass.), six-time winner Russ Gamester (Peru, Ind.) and two-time winner Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) who won the pole for the 2018 “Dairyland 100.”
One-time Silver Crown winners David Byrne and Eric Gordon have a bit of a Wisconsin connection in different ways. Byrne (Shullsburg, Wisc.) is the lone representative of the state of Wisconsin in Friday night’s field and owns the one-lap track record in a wing sprint car at Madison. Fortville, Indiana’s Eric Gordon earned his only Silver Crown victory thus far, back in 1990, at the Milwaukee Mile and also won his only career Silver Crown pole position in 1993 at Milwaukee.
Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) and Brian Gerster (Fishers, Ind.) are both veterans of victory lane in USAC’s National Sprint Car and Midget divisions, but still have an eye on capturing Silver Crown win number one this Friday.
The field is filled with a strong crop of series Rookies, including leading Rookie driver, in terms of points earned, Derek Bischak (Angola, Ind.), along with Chris Dyson (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.), Cody Gerhardt (Fresno, Calif.) and Cody Gallogly (Pataskala, Ohio).
Silver Crown veterans in the lineup include Kyle Robbins (New Castle, Ind.), Austin Nemire (Sylvania, Ohio), Travis Welpott (Pendleton, Ind.), Mike Haggenbottom (Levittown, Pa.) and Matt Goodnight (Winchester, Ind.). Series veterans Patrick Lawson (Edwardsville, Ill.) and Toni Breidinger (Hillsborough, Calif.) aim to make their season debuts at Madison.
Friday at Madison, the pits open at 3pm (Central), drivers meeting at 4pm and cars on track for practice at 4:45pm. Qualifying is slated for 6:25 with racing set to begin at 7:30pm.
Adult tickets are $20. Seniors age 62+ are $18. Students age 12-17 are $10. Children age 6-11 are $5. Children 5 and under are free. Pit passes are $30 apiece for members, $40 for non-members.
It’s also Salute to America Night with the area’s biggest and best aerial and ground fireworks display by Spielbauer Fireworks. The Big 8 Late Model Series will also be on hand.
Watch the “Dairyland 100” from Madison live and on-demand at http://www.FloRacing.com/. Listen live on the USAC app. Follow along with live updates on https://www.facebook.com/usacracing/ and https://twitter.com/USACNation, plus live timing and scoring on the Race Monitor app.
BYTEC DAIRYLAND 100 ENTRY LIST
NO. / DRIVER / HOMETOWN / ENTRANT
2 Patrick Lawson/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
6 Kyle Hamilton/Danville, IN (Klatt Enterprises)
7 Kyle Robbins/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
9 ®Chris Dyson/Pleasant Valley, NY (Chris Dyson Racing)
11 Kevin Thomas, Jr./Cullman, AL (DHR-Byrd Racing)
16 Austin Nemire/Sylvania, OH (Nemire-Lesko Racing)
17 Chris Windom/Canton, IL (Goodnight-Byrd Racing)
18 Travis Welpott/Pendleton, IN (Travis Welpott/Ernie Gorman Racing)
20 Kody Swanson/Kingsburg, CA (Gene Nolen Racing)
22 Bobby Santos/Franklin, MA (DJ Racing)
24 Mike Haggenbottom/Levittown, PA (John Haggenbottom)
31 ®Derek Bischak/Angola, IN (Derek Bischak)
39 Matt Goodnight/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
40 David Byrne/Shullsburg, WI (Byrne Racing)
51 Russ Gamester/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
60 ®Cody Gerhardt/Fresno, CA (Cody Gerhardt)
78 Eric Gordon/Fortville, IN (Armstrong-Slinkard Racing)
80 Toni Breidinger/Hillsborough, CA (Breidinger Motorsports)
81 ®Cody Gallogly/Pataskala, OH (Curtis Williams)
91 Justin Grant/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 Jim Anderson/Joliet, IL (Kazmark Motorsports)
94 Brian Gerster/Fishers, IN (Ram Engineering)
® = USAC Silver Crown Rookie