By Richie Murray
ROSSBURG, OH (September 19, 2025) — C.J. Leary stayed alive in the USAC Silver Crown National Championship points race by virtue of his pole position during Friday night’s Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying session at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.
Leary (Greenfield, Indiana) will start from the first position in Saturday night’s 50-lap USAC Silver Crown season finale, part of the 43rd running of the 4-Crown Nationals Presented by NKTELCO at the 1/2-mile dirt oval.
Entering Friday night, Leary needed to win the pole to remain mathematically eligible in the 2025 USAC Silver Crown title race. He did just that to earn the three bonus points after a qualifying run of 17.017 seconds in his Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Racing/Avanti Windows & Doors – Apache Transportation/DRC/Stanton Chevy.
Leary has previously won with the USAC Silver Crown series at Eldora in 2018, and has now earned three pole awards at the track in 2021-2022-2025.
The top-20 qualifiers were locked into the feature through time trials. The remainder of the field competed for the final six transfer spots in an eight lap qualifying race. Kyle Steffens (Saint Charles, Missouri) led all eight laps to collect the victory.
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 19, 2025 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – 43rd 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 21, Team AZ/Petty/Rossi-17.017; 2. Daison Pursley, 09, Dyson-17.052; 3. Brady Bacon, 9, Dyson-17.057; 4. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-17.110; 5. Briggs Danner, 10, DMW-17.158; 6. Chase Dietz, 86, Lee-17.196; 7. Jake Swanson, 6, Klatt-17.340; 8. Mario Clouser, 20, Team AZ/Petty/Rossi-17.380; 9. Mitchel Moles, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-17.559; 10. Kevin Thomas Jr., 24, Haggenbottom-17.641; 11. Chelby Hinton, 81, BCR-17.713; 12. Matt Westfall, 54, 4 Kings-17.754; 13. Chase Stockon, 69, Pink 69-17.816; 14. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-17.867; 15. Saban Bibent, 88, Fetter-17.893; 16. Jimmy Light, 118, Thomas-17.962; 17. Shane Cottle, 92, Kazmark-18.041; 18. Logan Seavey, 22, Rice/Abacus-18.074; 19. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-18.120; 20. Carmen Perigo, 52, Stehman-18.223; 21. Kyle Steffens, 8, Steffens-18.512; 22. Joe Trenca, 166, Karlsen-18.528; 23. Rob Caho Jr., 78, Caho-18.826; 24. Tom Savage, 38, Savage-18.860; 25. Gregg Cory, 32, Williams/Cory-18.978; 26. Travis Mahoney, 65, SV-19.000; 27. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-19.050; 28. Aric Gentry, 3, Simmons-19.492; 29. Mike Adkins, 71, Madkins-NT; 30. Tim Kent, 79, Hoover-NT.
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS QUALIFYING RACE: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Steffens, 2. Tom Savage, 3. Joe Trenca, 4. Travis Mahoney, 5. Rob Caho Jr., 6. Gregg Cory, 7. Dave Berkheimer, 8. Aric Gentry. NT
REMAINDER OF PROGRAM TO BE COMPLETED ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2025
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-774, 2-C.J. Leary-712, 3-Matt Westfall-582, 4-Kody Swanson-493, 5-Kyle Steffens-482, 6-Mario Clouser-450, 7-Dave Berkheimer-355, 8-Dakoda Armstrong-345, 9-Chase Stockon-310, 10-Taylor Ferns-299.
USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Kale Drake-213, 2-Briggs Danner-142, 3-Gunnar Setser-128, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-124, 5-C.J. Leary-113, 6-Justin Grant-109, 7-Logan Seavey-108, 8-Chase Stockon-98, 9-Kyle Cummins-96, 10-Hayden Reinbold-83.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 20, 2025 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – 43rd 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Practice Fastest Driver: Jake Swanson (16.382)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary (17.017)
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Qualifying Race Winner: Kyle Steffens