TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Tyler Courtney will take the wheel of Chris Dyson’s potent No. 9 when the USAC Silver Crown season opens with the Sumar Classic on May 27 at Terre Haute Action Track.
Courtney has made 16 career USAC Silver Crown Series starts, the last 12 of which have been with team owner Hans Lein.
However, due to Courtney’s commitments across the racing landscape, which include a full All Star Circuit of Champions and select USAC National Sprint Car Series races, Courtney was unable to commit to a full slate of dirt Silver Crown events for this season.
As such, Chris Windom was announced as Lein’s driver for the new campaign during the offseason.
With Courtney a Silver Crown free agent, Chris Dyson Racing crew chief Sean Michael immediately made Courtney his first call to put a deal together to run the Sumar Classic at Terre Haute.
Courtney jumps in at Terre Haute for Buddy Kofoid, who was originally announced as Dyson’s driver for all of the dirt Silver Crown events this season.
“Sean called me to ask if I could do the first race, and maybe the last one, so I’m excited to team up with them and, hopefully, have continued success with the Silver Crown series,” Courtney said. “I’ve been close to winning a bunch of races but have only won just a couple.
“Hopefully, I can win another one here in the little bit of Silver Crown racing that I get to do this year.”
Courtney, the 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion and 2019 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget titlist, has won three times in USAC sprint car competition at Terre Haute’s half-mile dirt oval.
Two of his Silver Crown starts have come at Terre Haute, resulting in a 12th-place finish in 2015 and a third-place run in 2018 after starting on the pole.
Courtney’s 2018 podium finish came after an early race spin forced him to charge from the back of the pack. He knows he can win, knows he has the equipment, and is eager to try and get the job done at the famed Wabash Valley Fairgrounds track.
“To win this would be really cool. It’s the Sumar Classic; it’s another Don Smith legacy that pays homage to their Indy 500 runs with him and his partner (Chapman Root),” Courtney said, referring to Smith, the longtime track promoter and Terre Haute businessman.
“I think any Silver Crown race you can win is really cool, but to win a Silver Crown race at Terre Haute is even cooler,” Courtney added. “Obviously, that’s the only goal going in there since I’m not running for the championship; the goal is to try and go win the race. That adds a little bit of different pressure, but a little bit less pressure at the same time.”
Courtney’s two career USAC Silver Crown wins, at Eldora Speedway in 2017 and at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 2019, are matched by that of his crew chief, Sean Michael.
Michael won twice as a crew chief and entrant on the USAC Silver Crown trail in 2020 with driver Kyle Larson, winning at both the Indiana State Fairgrounds and the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Team owner Dyson, a two-time American Le Mans Series driving champion, hopes to get back behind the wheel of a Silver Crown car again in the future – he’s a veteran of seven series starts – but his racing commitments in the Trans-Am Series have kept him out of the Silver Crown cockpit for the time being.
In the meantime, Dyson is and has been committed to fielding a car in the Silver Crown ranks for other talented drivers, namely Kevin Thomas Jr. and Jason McDougal in recent years. Both of them have taken the Dyson No. 9 to top-five finishes.
For the Sumar, however, Courtney was given the call and Dyson was elated to get him in the seat.
“Sean and I have been talking for a while; Buddy Kofoid was going to do all the dirt Silver Crown events, but his manufacturer commitments have kind of limited what he can run with us and he’s welcome back with us whenever we can run him,” Dyson noted. “Tyler was Sean’s first call and we’re delighted to have him with us, and he’ll put on a hell of a show. He always runs up front and he’s determined to come back and have a good run.
“Our main aim is to win races since we’re not necessarily running for the points.”