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USAC: Hewitt eyes Larry Dickson's record; Number 2 on all-time winner's list

24 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

HEWITT PREPARES FOR THE "BRANSON/LARSON" CLASSIC AT ELDORA

Jack Hewitt of Troy, Ohio hopes to become USAC's second-winningest Sprint car driver of all time on Saturday night, April 1. He currently has 44 career wins and trails Larry Dickson by just one. Tom Bigelow is the all-time leader at 52.

Hewitt's first opportunity to tie Dickson comes in the 18th "Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic" at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The race kicks off the 2000 Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car Series and opens a weekend which also includes the "Glen Niebel Classic" doubleheader of USAC Sprint/Midget Car racing at Anderson, Ind. on Sunday, April 2.

Hewitt has had a fantastic record in the "Branson/Larson" 30-lapper, winning it in 1982 and 1990, but he's had 15 "top-seven" finishes in the previous 17 runnings of the race. Between 1982 and 1993 he never finished worse than third!

Last year Jack again finished third but his record at the 1/2-mile dirt oval is legendary. Few will ever forget his stunning "4-Crown Nationals" sweep in 1998, a feat many veteran observers refer to as the crowning achievement of American oval-track racing. In one spectacular afternoon he won a 25-lap Midget Car, 30-lap Sprint Car, 40-lap Late Model and 50-lap Silver Bullet feature, the only man ever to win four sanctioned events in one day at a single track!

Hewitt, who owns a record 24 USAC feature wins at Eldora, will face stiff competition from defending Stoops Freightliner Champion Dave Darland, who won the "4-Crown" Midget Car and Sprint Car features there last September. Darland's best finish in the "Branson/Larson Classic" was a second in 1995. Derek Davidson also poses a threat, having won last year's "Branson/Larson" feature.

The race will be race organizer Earl Baltes' 257th at various tracks under USAC sanction, having presented his 200th USAC event at Eldora during last year's "4-Crown Nationals" program.

Practice for the "Branson/Larson Classic" April 1 starts at 6:30 pm. Qualifying gets under way at 7 and the first race is scheduled for 8 pm.

"Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic" Race Winners

1981--Dave Peperak
1982--Jack Hewitt
1983--Rich Vogler
1984--Steve Butler
1985--Jac Haudenschild
1986--Rick Hood
1987--Rich Vogler
1988--Jac Haudenschild
1989--No Race
1990--Jack Hewitt
1991--No Race
1992--Terry Shepherd
1993--Robbie Stanley
1994--Frankie Kerr
1995--Kevin Doty
1996--Frankie Kerr
1997--Kevin Huntley
1998--Kevin Doty
1999-Derek Davidson
2000--TBD

Text provided by Dick Jordan

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.