MADISON, Ill. — Twenty-nine years ago in 1997, Chuck Leary christened the then-brand-new World Wide Technology Raceway (then known as Gateway Motorsports Park) by capturing the pole position for the inaugural USAC Silver Crown event at the track.
Twenty-nine years later, on a Sunday afternoon, Chuck’s son, C.J. Leary, established his own mark at the 1.25-mile paved oval by not only repeating his dad’s feat of starting on the pole, but then took it another step further by going on to win the main event.
C.J., from Greenfield, Indiana, took the lead when Davey Hamilton Jr.’s car overheated on the back straightaway on lap 22. Leary then led the final 45 laps en route to victory lane at the slightly shortened OUTFRONT Route 66 Classic Presented by Welsch Heating & Cooling.
Leary’s sixth career USAC Silver Crown win moved him to 21st place on the all-time list. Leary is now the Silver Crown point leader as he remains on the hunt for his first series title.
The race concluded one lap short of the scheduled 66-lap distance due to a combination of oil being laid down on the racing surface on the final lap as well as time constraints, which required the race to go checkered at 4 p.m. sharp.
Yet, whether it was 65 laps or 66 laps, Leary had the field covered aboard his Team AZ-Petty-Rossi/Curb Agajanian Racing/Avanti Windows & Doors – Curb Records/DRC/Stanton Chevy.
“I’m out of breath,” Leary exhaled. “We unloaded fast. Thanks to Corey (Fillip) with Advanced Racing Shocks for coming up with a new shock program versus what we had on last year, which was still pretty good. Thanks to the Burkhart family and Joe Devin, who has really taken on the crew chief role, at least on my car. This thing was a rocket ship.”
That said, it was outside front row starter Bobby Santos who initially found the front as he got out in front of Leary to lead the opening lap. That didn’t last long as fourth starting Davey Hamilton Jr. surged to the front on the second lap by going three-wide alongside Leary and Santos down the back straightaway.
On the fourth lap, the left front spindle broke on the car of 14th running Brent Yarnal, who was making his WWTR debut. His contact with the outside turn three wall resulted in significant damage to the left side of his car as well as the SAFER barrier. Yarnal was conscious and alert and was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Upon the restart, Leary made his way back up to second as he dove under Santos entering turn one on lap 15. Utilizing the draft off of Hamilton’s car, Leary immediately began to close up the 1.2 second gap for the lead. However, that gap instantly went to nil on lap 21 when Hamilton’s engine overheated, sending him into the pits and out of the race for good.
With Leary the new leader, he was set on cruise control. However, another factor began to weigh on his and the team’s mind, which altered their strategic thought process a bit.
“I knew that the 14 (Hamilton) couldn’t keep up that pace on the start and I was trying to conserve,” Leary explained. “Then, on that red, we were talking about maybe a time limit. So, I just got up on the wheel and got after it.”
Attrition was an issue for many front runners throughout the midsection of the race. Second place runner Briggs Danner, making his first USAC pavement start, pulled off the pace when smoke began billowing from his ride on the 30th lap. Armstrong was the next victim while running second as he too slowed dramatically before stopping on lap 35.
Jackson Macenko, who started 16th in the field after changing a right rear tire following qualifying, made his way into third as he beat Santos in a drag race to the entry of turn one on lap 45.
Leary continuously upped the interval over Grant during the last 20 laps, where it sat at 3.532 seconds over Grant. Macenko kept his incredible charge going on the bottom of turn one when he took the second spot from Grant on lap 57. Moments later, Grant began to fall off the pace and then fell out of the race with a magneto failure. Now occupying second, Santos moved up another position in the pecking order from as he breezed by Macenko on the back straight on lap 63.
All the while, Leary was setting the pace to the tune of 4.5 seconds. But by then, a slight disturbance came into play. Although, Leary seemed comfortably in control by that point.
“We picked up a pretty good vibration there towards the end of the race and tried to milk it home,” Leary revealed. “We were getting a little free, then the 6 blew up going into three and laid oil down on the track.”
With the yellow and checkered flags waving simultaneously, Leary crossed the line as the winner for the third time in his USAC career on pavement.
Santos finished second as Macenko earned a career best series finish in third. Kyle Steffens posted a fourth-place result for the second straight series race while Mario Clouser rounded out the top five.
USAC Silver Crown Championship, World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Illinois, June 7, 2026
LEARNLAB QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 21, Team AZ/Petty/Rossi/Curb-Agajanian-30.641; 2. Bobby Santos, 98, DJ-30.667; 3. Briggs Danner, 77, Doran/Swanson-30.958; 4. Davey Hamilton Jr., 14, Hamilton/DB-31.016; 5. Michael Lewis, 6, Klatt-31.070; 6. Mario Clouser, 20, Team AZ/Petty/Rossi/Curb-Agajanian-31.180; 7. Dakoda Armstrong, 5, C & A-31.272; 8. Kyle O’Gara, 92, Kazmark-31.434; 9. Kyle Steffens, 8, Steffens-31.442; 10. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-31.450; 11. Jackson Macenko, 124, Hayes-31.628; 12. Colton Bettis, 26, Pierce-32.060; 13. Kaylee Bryson, 11, Abacus/Droplight-32.141; 14. Gregg Cory, 32, Williams/Cory-33.711; 15. Brent Yarnal, 29, Yarnal-33.827; 16. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-35.834; 17. Jake Trainor, 126, Pierce-NT.
FEATURE: (65 laps, shortened from 66 laps due to time constraints, starting positions in parentheses) 1. C.J. Leary (1), 2. Bobby Santos (2), 3. Jackson Macenko (16), 4. Kyle Steffens (9), 5. Mario Clouser (6), 6. Kaylee Bryson (12), 7. Michael Lewis (5), 8. Justin Grant (10), 9. Dakoda Armstrong (7), 10. Briggs Danner (3), 11. Davey Hamilton Jr. (4), 12. Dave Berkheimer (15), 13. Gregg Cory (13), 14. Kyle O’Gara (8), 15. Brent Yarnal (14), 16. Colton Bettis (11).
