From USAC
Speedway, Indiana………Only six drivers have competed in the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Little 500 Sprint Car race in their career: Tony Stewart, Parnelli Jones, Johnny Rutherford, Larry Dickson, Jim McElreath and Chet Fillip.
Fillip joins the set as this week’s guest on episode 17 of USAC’s Thunder Relived this Thursday night, June 11, at 8pm Eastern on FloRacing.
Throughout his career, Fillip, out of San Angelo, Texas, was one of the most versatile racers, competing at Indy and Daytona, USAC Silver Crown, Sprints and Midgets, plus Super Modifieds and even Sports Car racing. On the show, Fillip discusses which of those was the most hair-raising experience to be a part of.
Fillip raced Indy Cars between 1982 and 85, making 10 starts, finishing a best of 10th at Milwaukee in that final year, and in his two Indy starts, he finished 24th in 1982 and a 33rd in 1983. Soon after, Fillip made the transition to NASCAR stock cars, making 24 Winston Cup starts between 1985 and 1987, including the Daytona 500 in 1987.
By 1991, he had found his way to USAC Sprint Car racing where his first three starts that year came at the daunting high banked paved ovals of Salem and Winchester where he found instantaneous success. There, he and brother Corey designed and developed a radical looking sprint car that turned the racing world on its ear.
An eight-time winner in USAC’s National Sprint Car division, when Fillip entered the 1995 season, he was just starting to hit his stride with the car, and that’s the year Thunder Relived hosts Richie Murray and Kirk Spridgeon, along with guest Chet Fillip, will review on the show – the August 10, 1995 USAC National Sprint Car event held at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway from ESPN’s Thursday Night Thunder.
Thunder Relived takes you in-depth with USAC personalities past and present as we revisit all the thrills, spills and the greatest moments from USAC’s vast Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown video vault.
Stay tuned for more information regarding Thunder Relived on USAC’s website at www.usacracing.com and social media channels at www.facebook.com/usacracing, www.twitter.com/usacnation and on Instagram @usacnation.