USAC: Coors Light Silver Bullet Quick Facts
20 January 1999
WHAT: The "Coors Light Silver Bullet 50"First of 15 events on the 1999 Coors Light Silver Bullet Series schedule
WHERE: Walt Disney World Speedway, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 1-mile paved tri-oval
WHEN: Saturday, January 23, 1999, 2:30 p.m. (EST)
DISTANCE: 50 miles/50 laps
TICKETS: Tickets available by calling (800) 822-INDY
POSTED AWARDS: More than $69,500 (winner receives $12,000 minimum)
CARS: Silver Crown, front-engine championship cars on Hoosier Racing Tires
FIELD: 30-car field
1998 RACE WINNER: Brian Tyler
1998 SERIES CHAMPION: Jason Leffler
SCHEDULE (all times local):
(Jan. 22 - Qualifying Day)
8 a.m.: Gates Open
9 - 10 a.m.: Coors Light Silver Bullet Series practice
10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.: Pep Boys IRL practice
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.: Coors Light Silver Bullet Series practice
1:45 - 3:15 p.m.: Pep Boys IRL practice
3:30 - 5 p.m.: Coors Light Silver Bullet Series qualifying (best of two
laps)
(Jan. 23 - Race Day)
8 a.m.: Gates open
9 - 9:30 a.m.: Coors Light Silver Bullet Series practice
9:45 - 11:15 a.m.: Pep Boys IRL practice
11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.: Coors Light Silver Bullet Series qualifying race (15
laps, qualifiers 25th and slower)
12:30 - 2 p.m.: Pep Boys IRL qualifying
2:30 p.m.: "Coors Light Silver Bullet 50" (50 miles/50 laps)
TRACK RECORDS:
(Qualifying) Kenny Irwin, 27.529 seconds, 130.771 mph, January 17,
1998
(Race) No record yet established
THE TRACK: Located at the entrance to Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom, this one-mile tri-oval hosted its first race in 1996. The three turns are banked from 7-10 degrees, the front straight is 910 feet, the mid straight 1,023 feet and the back straight is 572 feet. The track is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, and promoted by IMS Events.
THE RACE: This will be the second appearance of the Silver Crown cars at the Walt Disney World Speedway. Last year, the season also opened on the tricky tri-oval. That first race saw Brian Tyler win his first career Silver Crown victory after Jason Leffler dominated the race only to run out of fuel with two laps remaining. The race served as a season preview as Jason and Brian fought out a close championship battle that saw Jason emerge with his first Silver Crown title.
RACE NOTES: Local fans will have a chance to pull for two Florida drivers--Dave Steele of Tampa and Wayne Hammond of Plant City. Steele is a serious threat for the race win after his dominating performance at Memphis in 1998. He started fourth in this event last year only to be caught up in an accident after 15 laps.
The defending race winner Brian Tyler is back to do it again, although in different colors. Brian will be driving the famous Dynamics, Inc. number 69. A team that won two Silver Crown events during the 1997 season.
NASCAR Winston Cup rookie of the year Kenny Irwin is scheduled to compete in this event as a teammate to Dave Steele on the Johnny Vance team. Irwin is entered in the Aristocrat Products/Raybestos number 28. Irwin won the pole for this event last year.
SERIES NOTES: Coors Light will make their debut this week as the new sponsor of the Coors Light Silver Bullet Series. This will mark the first time the Coors Brewing Company has been the title sponsor of a major auto racing series. It will also mark the first time since the term was created in 1981 that silver crown will not appear in the series title.
1997 Pep Boys IRL champion Tony Stewart will try on a new hat this weekend, this time as a USAC car owner. He and Bob East now own the Team ASE number 9 team that won the 1998 championship with Jason Leffler. With Leffler back in the cockpit for 99, this team looks to give Stewart a new kind of USAC championship--a car entrant championship.
The 15 races scheduled for 1999 is a new series record. The previous record of 13 was set in 1998. The added venues are Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania and Irwindale Speedway in California. Both are paved facilities.
Despite the wealth of talent that has migrated to the Pep Boys IRL from the Coors Light Silver Bullet Series, the two series have never been together as part of the same weekend racing program. The Transworld Diversified Services Indy 200 weekend marks the first time the Silver Crown cars will support an IRL event. The two series are also scheduled to intersect at Pikes Peak International Raceway in June.
Rick Treadway, son of Pep Boys IRL owner Fred Treadway, plans to make his Coors Light Silver Bullet Series debut in the M & M Precision/Miller Brewing number 97. He spent the 1998 season turning heads in midget competition, including his first USAC midget win at the 16th Street Speedway in Indianapolis.
J.J. Yeley hopes the Disney race will continue his recent streak. Yeley won the final two events of the 1998 season, one on dirt and one on pavement. He is back with the same Zarounian number 67 team, but with a new sponsor--Car Quest Auto Parts.
Jason McCord will debut the new Contos Racing Silver Crown team at Disney. Although new to the series, the Contos team brings a wealth of successful experience from the USAC sprint car ranks, including taking Brian Tyler to two successive titles in 1996 and 1997.
Todd Kane, the 1998 Turbines, Inc. rookie of the year, will now tackle his rookie season as a car entrant. After his successful 1998 season, he purchased equipment from Stanton Racing and signed KCB Trucking as a sponsor.
Series champion Jason Leffler plans to become the latest USAC star to receive a shot at the IRL. Jason, who tested extensively for Treadway Racing in 1998, was recently told by the team that he would have an opportunity to get behind the wheel for this weekends Transworld Diversified Services Indy 200.
SERIES STATISTICS:
1998 Series Standings 1. Jason Leffler 553 2. Brian Tyler 537 3. Ryan Newman 526 4. Jimmy Sills 457 5. Dave Darland 447 6. J.J. Yeley 436 7. Jack Hewitt 404 8. Russ Gamester 368 9. Robby Flock 340 10. Tracy Hines 335 11. Dave Steele 276 12. Derek Davidson 266 13. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. 248 14. Bentley Warren 234 15. Eric Gordon 226 16. Gary Hieber 215 17. Donnie Beechler 206 18. Davey Hamilton 198 19. Pat Abold 198 20. Todd Kane 182 1998 Series Winners Tony Stewart (2) J.J. Yeley (2) Donnie Beechler (1) Tony Elliott (1) Russ Gamester (1) Jack Hewitt (1) John Heydenreich (1) Jason Leffler (1) Jimmy Sills (1) Dave Steele (1) Brian Tyler (1) 1998 Series Poles 1. Dave Steele (3) 2. Russ Gamester (2) Jason Leffler (2) Jimmy Sills (2) 5. Jack Hewitt (1) Tracy Hines (1) Kenny Irwin (1) George Snider (1)* * earned through draw at DuQuoin 1998 Series Lap Leaders(1,069 total laps) 1. Dave Steele 190 2. Jason Leffler 156 3. J.J. Yeley 141 4. Russ Gamester 127 5. Tony Stewart 118 1998 Turbines, Inc. "Rookies of the Race" 1. Todd Kane (4) 2. Jerry Coons, Jr. (3) 3. Brad Armstrong (2) 4. Randy Bauer (1) Don Carr (1) Doug Didero (1) Troy Regier (1)