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USAC: Steele, Newman Stoops Stars at IRP, Winchester square off in Salem Sunday

17 August 1999

Dave Steele of Tampa, Fla. and Ryan Newman of South Bend, Ind., two of America's finest racing talents, square off in Sunday's "Joe James-Pat O'Connor Classic" at the Salem (Ind.) Speedway, the longest race on the 1999 Stoops Freightliner USAC Sprint Car calendar.

Steele won Wednesday night's "Turbines Sprint Car Challenge" at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Newman won Sunday afternoon's "Anchor Glass Winchester Oldtimers Weekend" feature at the Winchester (Ind.) Speedway. Steele's victory was his fourth this season while Newman's was his first ever in the series.

Practice at Salem Sunday begins at 11 am and qualifying commences at 1 pm. Racing starts at 2 and the feature event is 50 laps around Salem's 1/2-mile paved oval.

Steele led all 30 laps of Wednesday's IRP feature in his Northside Propane Special to beat Newman, Eric Gordon, Dave Darland and Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. He also appeared to be headed for victory at Winchester until a leaking fuel tank forced him to the sidelines. He took the lead from Newman on a restart at lap 23 and was leading when the red flag flew on lap 29 for Brian Tyler's flip on the frontstretch. Tyler escaped injury but Bill Eubanks suffered a bruised knee in the multi-car incident. Steele was unable to restart and Newman led the final two laps in the Aristocrat Products Special to beat Brian Gerster, Darland, Puterbaugh and Jason McCord to the checkered flag. Darland's two "top-five" finishes helped him maintain the Stoops Freightliner series point lead over Tracy Hines, who failed to make the "top-10" at IRP and Winchester.

Turbines, Inc. fast qualifiers in the two races were Puterbaugh at IRP and Newman at Winchester (with a new track record of 126.324 mph), while True Value semis went to Jeff Bloom and Steve Surniak respectively. The Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car race originally scheduled for Friday night, September 3, at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisc., has been canceled.

STOOPS FREIGHTLINER SPRINT CAR STANDINGS

1. Dave Darland 1,271 6. Robbie Rice 618
2. Tracy Hines 1,090 7. Derek Davidson 605
3. Tony Elliott 1,037 8. Brian Gerster 574
4. Brian Tyler 813 9. Jack Hewitt 552
5. Eric Gordon 689 10. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. 539

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot photos and racing art, please visit The Racing Image Galleries and The Visions of Speed Art Gallery

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