By Richie Murray
Springfield, Illinois (October 14, 2020)………The 32-car entry list has been revealed for this Sunday’s USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series season finale – the Bettenhausen 100 presented by Fatheadz Eyewear at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.
On the driver list for the 100-mile race on the one-mile dirt oval are each of three past Bettenhausen 100 winners: Kingsburg, California’s Kody Swanson (2014-15), Ione, California’s Justin Grant (2017) and Chris Windom (2018) of Canton, Ill.
Grant leads a tight point race entering the event, the first time in series history that the top-10 have been separated by less than 100 points coming into the final race of the season. This year’s top-10 has an interval of just 63 points between first and 10th. Grant leads by just 22 points over K Swanson, the five-time Silver Crown driving titlist.
Also on the entry list are August’s Hoosier Hundred winner, Kyle Larson (Elk Grove, Calif.), plus six-time All Star Circuit of Champions driving champion, Chad Kemenah (Alvada, Ohio) and the series debut by 2019 Knoxville National winner, David Gravel (Watertown, Conn.).
An eclectic mix of racing stars will also see the three-time, and newly-crowned, USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Champion, Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.), along with 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Champion, Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.).
Ten USAC Silver Crown race winners are signed up for Sunday, with K. Swanson, Grant, Windom, Larson and Bacon as well as Jacob Wilson (Crawfordsville, Ind.), Aaron Pierce (Muncie, Ind.), Shane Cockrum (Benton, Ill.), Chris Urish (Elkhart, Ill.) and 2020 season-opening Silver Crown winner Shane Cottle (Kansas, Ill.).
Seven Illini-bred pilots are geared up for Sunday’s race with Windom, Cockrum, Urish and Cottle are joined by Patrick Lawson (Edwardsville, Ill.), Steven Russell (Springfield, Ill.) and Terry Babb (Decatur, Ill.).
Kevin Thomas Jr., a 27-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature winner, finished 2nd in his first Bettenhausen 100 start in 2018, and he remains on the hunt for his first Silver Crown win this Sunday.
On Sunday, grandstand ticket sales will be limited to 20% capacity in order to promote a safe atmosphere and allow for proper social distancing. In addition, face coverings will be required, temperatures will be checked upon arrival, and multiple handwashing and sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the venue.
The Sunday, October 18 Bettenhausen 100 presented by Fatheadz Eyewear will feature the USAC Silver Crown Series in the 57th edition of the event. Grandstand capacity is set at 20% and tickets are available online at www.trackenterprises.com or by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200. The advance sale tickets will also save fans a couple of bucks compared to purchasing them at the event.
Pit gates will open at 8am Central, grandstands and ticket office at 11am, practice at Noon, qualifying at 1:15pm, the last chance race at 2:15pm and the 57th running of the Bettenhausen 100 presented by Fatheadz Eyewear will take the green at 3pm. All times listed are central.
For more information or to order tickets, visit www.trackenterprises.com or call 217-764-3200.
The Bettenhausen 100 can also be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/2Zs7zFP.
2020 BETTENHAUSEN 100 ENTRY LIST:
06 BRYAN GOSSEL/Fort Collins, CO (Bryan Gossel)
07 JACOB WILSON/Crawfordsville, IN (Wilson Brothers Racing)
08 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Louis, MO (Kyle Steffens)
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
6 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Klatt Enterprises)
7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
9 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Chris Dyson Racing)
10 JAKE SWANSON/Anaheim, CA (DMW Motorsports)
14 STEVEN RUSSELL/Springfield, IL (Dennis & Dave McQuinn)
15 CHAD KEMENAH/Alvada, OH (Hampshire-Kemenah Racing)
16 AUSTIN NEMIRE/Sylvania, OH (Nemire-Lesko Racing)
17 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (Goodnight Racing)
18 TRAVIS WELPOTT/Pendleton, IN (Welpott Racing)
19 KYLE LARSON/Elk Grove, CA (Sean Michael Motorsports)
20 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Nolen Racing)
21 DAVID GRAVEL/Watertown, CT (Mark Swanson Encore Team)
22 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Prestige Worldwide Motorsports)
23 TERRY JAMES/St. Louis, MO (Todd Satterthwaite)
24 MIKE HAGGENBOTTOM/Levittown, PA (John Haggenbottom)
26 AARON PIERCE/Muncie, IN (Sam Pierce)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
33 RONNIE WUERDEMAN/Cincinnati, OH (Ronnie Wuerdeman)
39 MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
44 DANNY LONG/Bonne Terre, MO (Danny Long)
53 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL (Five Three Motorsports)
55 CASEY SHUMAN/Tempe, AZ (Patty Bateman)
69 KYLE CUMMINS/Princeton, IN (Pink 69 Racing)
77 CHRIS URISH/Elkhart, IL (Chris Urish)
81 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Curtis Williams)
88 TERRY BABB/Decatur, IL (Terry Babb)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
123 JIMMY LIGHT/West Springfield, PA (Two-Three Motorsports)