DUQUOIN, Ill. – Tanner Thorson, the 2016 USAC National Midget Series champion, has been tabbed to drive the Chris Dyson Racing No. 9 in Sunday’s USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series Ted Horn 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
Thorson has made just one career start in his Silver Crown career, back in 2015 at Eldora Speedway’s 4-Crown Nationals. The drive came in a last-minute substitute role for Michael Dutcher Motorsports, where he started 19th and finished 17th.
Thorson does have previous experience at the one-mile dirt oval in DuQuoin. He started third and finished 17th with the ARCA Menards Series in 2017.
Dyson’s car has appeared in four Silver Crown events this season, all with team owner and driver Chris Dyson behind the wheel. Dyson finished a best of ninth in the opener on the pavement at Memphis in March. He was 19th on the dirt mile at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in May after riding out a wild turn two accident late in the 100-miler.
One year ago at DuQuoin, the No. 9 charged from 26th to 13th with Dyson in the seat.
Dyson, a two time American Le Mans Series titlist who sits second in the Trans Am Series standings with two victories, is unable to compete at Du Quoin due to a racing conflict.
Dyson maintains his support of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series by entering his car in as many races as possible even when he’s not driving himself.
Thorson, of Minden, Nev., has made his name with USAC in the midget division, where he owns 13 career NOS Energy Drink National Midget wins – including the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2015 and the Gold Crown Nationals in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016.
The latest of his USAC midget victories came in spectacular fashion during Indiana Midget Week in June, where he charged from 15th to first at Lincoln Park Speedway to grab the win.
The triumph came just three months following a multi-car highway accident in California that left him with a broken left arm and right foot, a cracked sternum, broken ribs and a punctured lung.