INDIANAPOLIS – After a nearly two-year absence, USAC Triple Crown champion Jerry Coons Jr. will return to the USAC Silver Crown Series aboard Patty Bateman’s No. 55 in the Sumar Classic on May 27 at Terre Haute Action Track.
At press time, Coons plans to compete for the Bateman team at three USAC Silver Crown events this year, including Terre Haute and the dirt miles at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Aug. 21 and the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds on Sept. 4.
Coons now resides in Greencastle, Ind., and recently started his own business – Fish Window Cleaning – which covers the western Indiana territory. While building the business up and working with his 12-year-old son, Cale, who competes in A-Class Micro Sprints, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for his own racing.
However, it does give him the freedom of choice to compete at tracks and events in which he has a personal fondness for.
“With Cale racing, I’m really trying to concentrate on him,” said Coons, who ranks fourth all-time in USAC Silver Crown starts with 176. “I feel guilty when I’m at a race track racing on a Saturday night, and he’s not, when he could be. I still enjoy (racing) and I do miss being at a race track three, four, five times a week during the summer.
“Some of the race tracks, sometimes, aren’t what I’d go to if I didn’t have to, so I’m definitely being a little bit selective on that sometimes.”
Terre Haute is one of those places that fits that mold for Coons, who’s won three career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series features on the half-mile, including his very first win there in 1999.
At the Sumar Classic, Coons has finished as the runner-up twice in 2008 and 2012. In the most recent Sumar Classic run in 2018, he started on the front row and led the opening 10 laps.
The first of Coons’ 176 career Silver Crown starts came at Terre Haute in 1998. He ran 10th and was rookie-of-the-race that night for car owner Ralph Potter.
For Coons, the 2008 Silver Crown champ, Terre Haute simply suits his style.
“I’ve always enjoyed Terre Haute. I think because I grew up running at Manzanita Speedway’s half-mile, I’ve always liked the half-miles,” Coons said of the now-defunct Phoenix, Ariz., track. The first time I ever ran at Terre Haute was in a USAC National Midget race for (car owner) Larry Martz. I was leading with five to go when we ran out of fuel, so right off the bat, I felt good at Terre Haute. We’re usually decent there whether it’s in a Silver Crown car and the Sprint Car.
“We haven’t had any wins in the Silver Crown car there, but we’re always battling up front.”
Coons’ most recent Silver Crown appearance came during the 2019 Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds for Bateman. Coons qualified fourth in the 38-car field but was forced to drop out with a throttle linkage issue just 44 laps into the 100-lapper.
His one and only previous appearance for Bateman came in a last minute deal that same night when the team’s regular driver, Casey Shuman, was forced to miss the race due to his commitments as the World of Outlaws Late Models series director, whose race was postponed by rain to the following day, creating a conflict with Du Quoin.
Despite his race concluding short of halfway that night at DuQuoin, Coons knew the Bateman team and the No. 55 were special. Getting to victory lane next Thursday at Terre Haute would be extra special for Coons in a myriad of ways, especially for the team who has soldiered on with the series after their driver, Patty’s husband Randy Bateman, passed away in 2017 due to ALS.
“The car was great; they had just put together that new DRC and it’s a beautiful race car,” Coons recalled. “It’s a great situation. Patty’s great, as is Wade (Seiler) who takes care of the car. They’re there to do well, but also to have fun. She’s called me as we’re getting ready for Terre haute asking, ‘what do you want to do here?’ Anything I’ve wanted to do, she’s all on board and ready to go. Not that we really needed to do anything, because the car is a really good racecar. I’m really looking forward to getting in it and running for her; she’s just a great person.
“Whether we get a win or not, there’s tough competition, but I think we have a good shot at it. To see her in victory lane, it would be very special.”