Aaron Pierce Scores First Silver Crown Victory/ Riley Success/ Owner’s Points/ NASCAR Drivers Take Note/ USAC 300/ Spotter Carl/ Good Crowd
Aaron Pierce Scores First Silver Crown Victory - Final
JOLIET, Ill. – Aaron Pierce battled USAC veteran Jay Drake and went the distance to win his first USAC Silver Crown race Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. Pierce had one of the fastest cars of the day turning in the top time of the 1.5 hour morning practice session of 30.932 seconds. Wayne Reutimann Jr. was second quick at 31.051 and Jay Drake was third quick at 31.119. Several teams including the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing team had mechanical gremlins near the end of the practice session. To fit in with the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series activities, qualifying immediately followed the practice session and five cars missed qualifying due to the gremlins. Their starting positions were set by their practice times. Pierce continued to be error free; capturing the pole with a time of 30.982 or 174.295mph. Jay Drake grabbed the second spot at 31.089 in his second weekend in the No. 41 car. Reigning USAC Silver Crown Champion Dave Steele qualified third with a time of 31.520. The teams then went to work on their cars during a seven hour break while NASCAR was on the track. The long break didn’t bother Aaron Pierce.
“Being here with Busch and Cup will be good,” said Pierce following qualifying. “Hopefully we can pull one off tonight in front of everyone.”
The Muncie, Indiana native was prophetic with his statement. Starting upfront, Pierce led the first 14 laps before Jay Drake passed him. Aaron Pierce took the lead again on lap 26 only to have Drake take it back two laps later. Jay Drake then turned up the heat and pulled away from the No. 26. On lap 60, the USAC veteran’s luck changed as smoke appeared from the No. 41. Jay Drake pulled to the low side to allow Pierce to pass and the 32 year old never looked back. Meanwhile, two rookies were making their way through the field. Peter Shepherd moved from 11th to 2nd, taking advantage of others problems and passing at the right moment. With team owner Carl Edwards as his spotter, Shepherd would go on to finish 2nd, making USAC history as the best finish for a Canadian driver in the Silver Crown division.
“Carl told me there was a possibility to catch the leader,” smiled Shepherd. “I think we were one caution short of giving the leader a run for the race.”
Fellow rookie Bryn Gohn started 9th but was able to also run a smooth race and take advantage of other’s misfortunes to gain his career best finish in the series. The yellow flag only flew twice Friday. Once for a spin involving Josh Wise in turn 4 early in the race. Wise did not make contact and finished 6th, 7 laps down. The second caution came out on lap 21 for a water bottle in turn 4. Reining Silver Crown champion Dave Steele finished 4th. Points leader Bud Kaeding was forced to retire early with engine problems. Brian Tyler leave Chicagoland only 6 points back of Kaeding. Tyler finished 5th Friday. For a complete rundown, please visit www.retechracing.com and click on the Live Trackside icon.
Top 5 Unofficial Owner’s Points
No. 29 BK-Leffler Motorsports 408
No. 21 Team Six-R 402
No. 1 Randy Steenbergen/Team 354
No. 199 Carl Edwards/RE Technologies 345
No. 00 Reutimann Motorsports 344
Riley Success
Friday night was the first win for the Riley Chassis in the USAC Silver Crown Series presented by K&N. The Riley Chassis dominated the weekend, grabbing the two top qualifying spots. Two of their cars driven by Jay Drake and Aaron Pierce battled for position during the USG Fiberock 100 all night with Pierce winning.
NASCAR Drivers Take Note
As Pierce pointed out, Friday was a good time for the Silver Crown drivers to show their stuff in front of NASCAR teams and owners. It also gave Open Wheel drivers and admirers a chance to see the cars in action. JJ Yeley, John Andretti, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne spent time on pit road Friday.
“I kind of like the format for the week with everything moved back a bit,” said Kahne. I get to watch the USAC race tonight. I think it is going to be a pretty cool race to watch.”
Even non-Open Wheeler David Stremme was looking forward to the action and watching Wayne Reutiman Jr.
“I think it will be neat for the drivers and the concept where they are going,” said Stremme. “I look forward to when we go to the Brickyard here and going to (ORP) and watching them, so I think it’ll be a pretty good show.”
USAC 300
Friday’s Silver Crown race was the 300 Silver Crown race in the history of the series. Prior to the start of the event, participating drivers and officials got together in victory land for this photo op.
Spotter Carl
Carl Edwards took some time from the Roush Busch and Cup teams to go work on the Silver Crown car he owns Friday. He grabbed some tools and joined his crew who were making repairs to the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Silver Crown car. Later, following Busch Series practice, he came back to the team to spot for them and driver Peter Shepherd. From there he guided the young driver around the track, using lines that worked for him.
Good Crowd
About half the massive grandstands at Chicagoland appeared full during NEXTEL Cup qualifying Friday. About half of those stayed to watch the USAC Silver Crown race. The crowd appeared larger for the Silver Crown race than past IRL Indy Pro Series crowds but smaller than what the IRL’s IndyCar Series draws. The crowd was quite vocal responding to passes made by the leaders and the finish.
Surprise, UPS to Michael Waltrip Racing
In other news from the Media Center at Chicagoland, UPS announced that they would be leaving Robert Yates Racing to move with Dale Jarrett to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.
Crocker Scored the Pole but Wrecked at KY
Erin Crocker scored her second pole in the ARCA ReMax Series at Kentucky. When the green dropped on the race, she stayed up front until pitstops. Later in the race, she slammed the wall after making contact with the Matt Hagans. She finished 27th.
All images in this update courtesy of RE Technologies.
JOLIET, Ill. – Aaron Pierce battled USAC veteran Jay Drake and went the distance to win his first USAC Silver Crown race Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. Pierce had one of the fastest cars of the day turning in the top time of the 1.5 hour morning practice session of 30.932 seconds. Wayne Reutimann Jr. was second quick at 31.051 and Jay Drake was third quick at 31.119. Several teams including the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing team had mechanical gremlins near the end of the practice session. To fit in with the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series activities, qualifying immediately followed the practice session and five cars missed qualifying due to the gremlins. Their starting positions were set by their practice times. Pierce continued to be error free; capturing the pole with a time of 30.982 or 174.295mph. Jay Drake grabbed the second spot at 31.089 in his second weekend in the No. 41 car. Reigning USAC Silver Crown Champion Dave Steele qualified third with a time of 31.520. The teams then went to work on their cars during a seven hour break while NASCAR was on the track. The long break didn’t bother Aaron Pierce.
“Being here with Busch and Cup will be good,” said Pierce following qualifying. “Hopefully we can pull one off tonight in front of everyone.”
The Muncie, Indiana native was prophetic with his statement. Starting upfront, Pierce led the first 14 laps before Jay Drake passed him. Aaron Pierce took the lead again on lap 26 only to have Drake take it back two laps later. Jay Drake then turned up the heat and pulled away from the No. 26. On lap 60, the USAC veteran’s luck changed as smoke appeared from the No. 41. Jay Drake pulled to the low side to allow Pierce to pass and the 32 year old never looked back. Meanwhile, two rookies were making their way through the field. Peter Shepherd moved from 11th to 2nd, taking advantage of others problems and passing at the right moment. With team owner Carl Edwards as his spotter, Shepherd would go on to finish 2nd, making USAC history as the best finish for a Canadian driver in the Silver Crown division.
“Carl told me there was a possibility to catch the leader,” smiled Shepherd. “I think we were one caution short of giving the leader a run for the race.”
Fellow rookie Bryn Gohn started 9th but was able to also run a smooth race and take advantage of other’s misfortunes to gain his career best finish in the series. The yellow flag only flew twice Friday. Once for a spin involving Josh Wise in turn 4 early in the race. Wise did not make contact and finished 6th, 7 laps down. The second caution came out on lap 21 for a water bottle in turn 4. Reining Silver Crown champion Dave Steele finished 4th. Points leader Bud Kaeding was forced to retire early with engine problems. Brian Tyler leave Chicagoland only 6 points back of Kaeding. Tyler finished 5th Friday. For a complete rundown, please visit www.retechracing.com and click on the Live Trackside icon.
Top 5 Unofficial Owner’s Points
No. 29 BK-Leffler Motorsports 408
No. 21 Team Six-R 402
No. 1 Randy Steenbergen/Team 354
No. 199 Carl Edwards/RE Technologies 345
No. 00 Reutimann Motorsports 344
Riley Success
Friday night was the first win for the Riley Chassis in the USAC Silver Crown Series presented by K&N. The Riley Chassis dominated the weekend, grabbing the two top qualifying spots. Two of their cars driven by Jay Drake and Aaron Pierce battled for position during the USG Fiberock 100 all night with Pierce winning.
NASCAR Drivers Take Note
As Pierce pointed out, Friday was a good time for the Silver Crown drivers to show their stuff in front of NASCAR teams and owners. It also gave Open Wheel drivers and admirers a chance to see the cars in action. JJ Yeley, John Andretti, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne spent time on pit road Friday.
“I kind of like the format for the week with everything moved back a bit,” said Kahne. I get to watch the USAC race tonight. I think it is going to be a pretty cool race to watch.”
Even non-Open Wheeler David Stremme was looking forward to the action and watching Wayne Reutiman Jr.
“I think it will be neat for the drivers and the concept where they are going,” said Stremme. “I look forward to when we go to the Brickyard here and going to (ORP) and watching them, so I think it’ll be a pretty good show.”
USAC 300
Friday’s Silver Crown race was the 300 Silver Crown race in the history of the series. Prior to the start of the event, participating drivers and officials got together in victory land for this photo op.
Spotter Carl
Carl Edwards took some time from the Roush Busch and Cup teams to go work on the Silver Crown car he owns Friday. He grabbed some tools and joined his crew who were making repairs to the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Silver Crown car. Later, following Busch Series practice, he came back to the team to spot for them and driver Peter Shepherd. From there he guided the young driver around the track, using lines that worked for him.
Good Crowd
About half the massive grandstands at Chicagoland appeared full during NEXTEL Cup qualifying Friday. About half of those stayed to watch the USAC Silver Crown race. The crowd appeared larger for the Silver Crown race than past IRL Indy Pro Series crowds but smaller than what the IRL’s IndyCar Series draws. The crowd was quite vocal responding to passes made by the leaders and the finish.
Surprise, UPS to Michael Waltrip Racing
In other news from the Media Center at Chicagoland, UPS announced that they would be leaving Robert Yates Racing to move with Dale Jarrett to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.
Crocker Scored the Pole but Wrecked at KY
Erin Crocker scored her second pole in the ARCA ReMax Series at Kentucky. When the green dropped on the race, she stayed up front until pitstops. Later in the race, she slammed the wall after making contact with the Matt Hagans. She finished 27th.
All images in this update courtesy of RE Technologies.
posted by Blake Johnson at 2:12 PM
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