DU QUOIN, Ill. — The USAC Silver Crown National Championship makes its annual pilgrimage to the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds for the Ted Horn 100 this weekend.
The Ted Horn 100 dates to the year 1948 when the three-time AAA National champion in 1946, 1947 and 1948 and namesake of the race, lost his life on the very same Du Quoin track.
It’s the most tenured dirt race on the Silver Crown slate, celebrating its 70th running this Saturday, August 31.
Let’s celebrate with six of the key champ car storylines for the event:
Ted Horn Winners
Six past Ted Horn 100 winners are represented in Saturday’s Ted Horn 100 field.
Defending Ted Horn 100 winner Justin Grant leads a cast of 33 USAC Silver Crown entries this weekend at the one-mile dirt oval. Grant’s main nemeses in the championship in the 2024 series title fight are Kody Swanson, a two-time winner of the event in 2010 and 2017, as well as Logan Seavey, a victor of the race in 2022.
Two-time Ted Horn 100 winner Shane Cockrum grew up and resides just down the road from the Magic Mile where he won back-to-back in 2014-15 Russ Gamester, the 1997 race winner, is the most experienced in the field with 23 Ted Horn 100 starts dating back to 1989. Chris Urish (2013) scored his first and only Silver Crown win on the Du Quoin Mile as well.
Interestingly, for four of the six past winners in Saturday’s field, their Du Quoin win also marked their first career USAC Silver Crown victory. That includes Swanson, Cockrum, Gamester and Urish.
Grant Likes Miles
Only once in the past 15 years has a driver swept to champ car victories on both the Illinois dirt miles in a single season. After scoring at the Springfield Mile two weeks ago, Justin Grant has the opportunity to achieve this feat.
On 22 occasions, a AAA or USAC Champ Car driver has won at both the Illinois State Fairgrounds and the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in the same calendar year: Tony Bettenhausen (1951), Sam Hanks (1953), Jimmy Bryan (1955-56), Johnny Thomson (1958), A.J. Foyt (1964 & 1967), Al Unser (1970), Mario Andretti (1973-74), Gary Bettenhausen (1983), Jack Hewitt (1986-87-93), Chuck Gurney (1989-94-96), Paul White (2001), J.J. Yeley (2002), Tracy Hines (2006), Brian Tyler (2008) and Chris Windom (2018).
Furthermore, after winning at Du Quoin a year ago in 2023, Grant also has the chance to become the first driver in a decade to win there in consecutive years. The only drivers to do that include Tony Bettenhausen (1949-51), Sam Hanks (1953-54), Jimmy Bryan (1955-56), A.J. Foyt (1960-61-63-64), Al Unser (1969-70), Mario Andretti (1973-74), Gary Bettenhausen (1980), Gary Bettenhausen (1982-83), Jack Hewitt (1986-87), Tracy Hines (2005-06) and Shane Cockrum (2014-15).
TITLE RACE
With four races remaining in the USAC Silver Crown season, the championship race is tight among point leader Kody Swanson, second-running Justin Grant and third-place Logan Seavey.
These same drivers finished 1-2-3 in the 2023 final standings with Seavey the champ, Swanson second and Grant in third.
Additionally, these same three finished 1-2-3 in the most recent USAC Silver Crown race at Springfield on Aug. 17 with Grant winning, Swanson second and Seavey third.
All three have also won with the USAC Silver Crown series at Du Quoin, making the tussle for position between the three paramount this coming weekend.
Entering Du Quoin, Swanson holds the upper hand in the standings by just 21 points over Grant with Seavey in third, 58 points back as he seeks his first series victory of 2024.
FOND FAREWELL
The race marks the farewell of one USAC Silver Crown racing’s longest tenured teams – Bateman Racing. Team principal Patty Bateman recently announced that this would be the final appearance for the familiar No. 55 at Du Quoin.
Bateman Racing made its USAC Silver Crown debut in September of 1982 with Patty’s husband, Randy Bateman, at the wheel. Randy was a longtime competitor with the series through the 2015 season before Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis claimed his life in 2017.
Patty soldiered on with the team, which finished a best of fourth at Du Quoin in 2016 with driver Casey Shuman and again in 2021 with Jerry Coons Jr. behind the wheel. Coons also gave the team its best Silver Crown finish of second at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in 2022.
Coons will attempt to earn a first win at Du Quoin for both him and the Bateman Racing team, a victory that would surely bring the house down.