By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (December 13, 2022)โฆโฆโฆMatt Westfall has experienced it all in auto racing as a midget champion, sprint car champion, modified champion, late model champion, you name it.
However, the Pleasant Hill, Ohio driver has not yet chased a USAC Silver Crown championship in his highly distinguished career.
In 2023, heโll finally get that chance as he goes full-time with the series on dirt and pavement aboard the BCR Group No. 81, which has fielded both Shane Cottle and Brian Tyler full-time in recent years on the tour, both of whom won races for the team on the dirt.
Westfall has competed regularly in dirt Silver Crown events over the past few seasons in his own ride, procuring three runner-up finishes in his career.ย That first win has eluded him thus far in his first 41 career starts since 2001, but Westfall feels his new deal is a great opportunity to change that fact.
โIโve really been wanting to run the full USAC Silver Crown series on the pavement and the dirt,โ Westfall said.ย โBut with our budget, we couldnโt afford to do a pavement car, so Iโve just been running five or six races on the dirt the last couple of years.ย Weโve had a lot of success; we havenโt won one yet, but weโve been close, and weโve been right there.โ
Believe it or not, itโs been 20 years since Westfall has raced on the pavement.ย By chance, those last two appearances came in a Silver Crown car for BWB Racing in 2003 where he finished 20th at Phoenix International Raceway and 18th at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
BCRโs full-time driver in 2022, Brian Tyler, has scaled back his participation with the series in the coming year to race more often with his son who is at the beginning stages of his career.ย In turn, that decision opened the door for Westfall to secure full-time status with the Springfield, Ohio-based team wrenched by former USAC Sprint Car competitor Malcolm Lovelace, making it an all Buckeye team going for the brass ring in 2023.
โWith Malcolm, it was kind of a no-brainer,โ Westfall stated.ย โTheyโve got great equipment; theyโve won some races here in the last couple years; and his pavement program has really improved.ย I think thatโll help me as I get back to the pavement because I havenโt run on it since โ03.ย Itโs been a while!โ
โ(The pavement) is definitely going to be a challenge,โ Westfall continued, regarding the pavement.ย โBut, like anything else, if we have the racecar handling well, it makes it easier to drive.ย Hopefully weโll be on top of that, and thatโll make my job easier.ย Itโs going to be a learning curve but hopefully weโll go test a bit before the season starts and go from there.โ
Westfallโs accolades include the 1998 NAMARS Midget championship, the 2014 Eldora Speedway modified title, the 2015 Eldora Late Model crown, plus two Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Car championships in 2019 and 2021, just to name a few.ย But a major love for Westfall has always been the Silver Crown series.
โIโm really excited about it and itโs neat because Iโm going to be able to bring my crew with us and weโre all going to work together,โ the 46-year-old Westfall revealed.ย โ(Silver Crown racing) fits my style a little bit more.ย Itโs a long race and you take your time.ย ย Iโm getting older and Iโm not like a lot of these young kids where you got to get on it right away.ย But Iโm getting better at that because we ran the full USAC Sprint Car schedule last year.โ
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2023 USAC SILVER CROWN SCHEDULE
Apr 16: TBA
Apr 23: (P) (A) Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, IN | Hoosier Hundred | $25,000-To-Win
May 19-20: (D) Belleville High Banks | Belleville, KS | $8,000-To-Win
May 26: (P) Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, IN | Carb Night Classic | $10,000-To-Win
Jun 17: (D) Port Royal Speedway | Port Royal, PA | $8,000-To-Win
Jun 23: (P) Madison International Speedway | Oregon, WI | Dairyland 100 | $8,000-To-Win
Jul 20: (P) Winchester Speedway | Winchester, IN | Rich Vogler Classic | $8,000-To-Win
Aug 5: (P) Toledo Speedway | Toledo, OH | Rollie Beale Classic | $8,000-To-Win
Aug 19: (D) Illinois State Fairgrounds | Springfield, IL | Bettenhausen 100 | $10,000-To-Win
Aug 27: (P) World Wide Technology Raceway | Madison, IL | $10,000-To-Win
Sep 2: (D) Du Quoin State Fairgrounds | Du Quoin, IL | Ted Horn 100 | $10,000-To-Win
Sep 22-23: (D) Eldora Speedway | Rossburg, OH | 4-Crown Nationals | $10,000-To-Win
Oct 14: (P) Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, IN | $10,000-To-Win
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(A) represents an event paying appearance points only
(P) represents a pavement track event
(D) represents a dirt track event
Race dates & payouts subject to change