Press Release-Hoosier Hundred Preview for May 26 Race

Please contact Bob Sargent of Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200 or Jay
Hardin at jhardin3@verizon.net about this press release.

The 2006 United States Auto Club Silver Crown Series presented by K&N
Filters continues to generate even more interest heading into the
resurrected 54th running of the Hoosier Hundred Friday night May 26 at the
Indiana State Fairgrounds. The prestigious event was postponed earlier in
the year due to concerns over the fencing but thanks to the efforts of a
number of people in the governmental and business community the 100 mile
grind will take place as scheduled.

New Hoosier Hundred promoter Bob Sargent and staff have been working
feverishly to put all the pieces in place for a successful event and have
been helped greatly by Indiana State Fair director Cindy Hoye, Indianapolis
businessman Bob Parker, Matt Steward of the Indiana Governor’s office and
1981 Hoosier Hundred winner Larry Rice as well as former promoter Tom
Johnson to return the event to the 2006 schedule.

With the recent announcement by USAC that the 2006 point fund is at $250,000
and the new generation pavement car having only run two events in 2006, the
100 miles on the Indiana State Fair dirt now play a prominent role in
determining the 2006 USAC Silver Crown Series champion.

Wins on both pavement and dirt would seem to make current point leader Brian
Tyler of Parma, Michigan the favorite for the 2006 USAC Silver Crown title
and one of the favorites heading into the Hoosier Hundred. Tyler, the driver
of the 6R Racing 21 is a two time winner of the Tony Bettenhausen 100 at the
Illinois State Fairgrounds and his ten wins in the series place him in a tie
with Gary Bettenhausen for fourth on the all-time series win list.

If Tyler is to gain his first Hoosier Hundred triumph he will have his work
cut out for him as a stellar field of former winners, veterans and up and
coming drivers stands at the ready to join the elite list of Hoosier Hundred
winners. That list includes Indianapolis’ own Aaron Pierce, currently just
six points behind Tyler in the 2006 standings. In just his third year in the
large machines, Pierce has proven his ability both on the dirt and pavement
and is seeking his first win in the series. Tied with Pierce for third in
the point standings is veteran Dave Steele of Tampa, Florida. The two time
and defending USAC Silver Crown champ had been in the points lead of the
series since the start of the 200 season. Steele has been a 2006 teammate to
Brian Tyler and it is unknown at press time if he will enter the Hoosier
Hundred. Currently fourth in the points, third generation driver Bud Kaeding
of Campbell, California made a big impact in the series in 2000 when he
finished second to Jack Hewitt in the Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield after
leading a good portion of the race. Since that time Kaeding has recovered
from a nasty sprint car crash to post a win in the big cars at Tulsa and
team up for the pavement races with former USAC Silver Crown titlist and
current NASCAR driver Jason Leffler. Floridian Wayne Reutimann Jr., himself
a third generation shoe is currently seventh in points and is also a threat
to win on the clay as well, having several fine runs on the dirt at both
Springfield and DuQuoin and posting a seventh place run in the title chase
last season

However, Tyler’s greatest challenge might not come from the drivers
currently in the top ten in the point chase. Defending winner Teddy Beach of
Donnellsville, Ohio is just 21 years of age and in 2005 became the youngest
winner of the Hoosier Hundred. He quickly acclimated himself to the tricky
one mile oval in 2003, then went on to smash the track record at DuQuoin
later in the year. Last year he bided his time and on lap 86 took the lead
from Josh Wise enroute to his first USAC Silver Crown win. This season Beach
returns with the family operation from Ohio and will be a threat to repeat.
Another one of the heavy favorites for the Hoosier Hundred crown is three
time winner Dave Darland of Lincoln, Indiana. Darland honed his skills as he
terrorized the small dirt tracks in central Indiana in his father’s sprint
car, then made the transition to the big machines winning the 1995 Hulman
100 on the Indiana State fair mile. In fact, Dave took the 1995 Hoosier
Hundred later in the year, then backed that up with a victory in the 1996
Hoosier Hundred as well, giving him three straight on the Track of
Champions. Darland’s third Hoosier Hundred win came in 2004 and he ran up
front for most of last year’s race as well. A win in 2006 could vault the 39
year old Darland into the title chase as he sits 12th in the standings. A
popular former winner comes back with a different car number this year in
the form of Kokomo’s Tony Elliot. Elliot returns to drive this year for
Loucks Racing Team which has changed the car number from 03 to 33. Elliot is
a former USAC sprint car champ who won the Hoosier Hundred in 2000 and 2001.

Popular Speedway, Indiana veteran Johnny Parsons returns in 2006 having
thrilled the Hoosier Hundred crowd with his rim riding ability over the
years. Parsons, who drives for Illinois car owner Ricky Nix, is tied for the
most Hoosier Hundred starts with fellow former Indy 500 driver George Snider
at 28 and seeks to break that tie on the 26th  The sixty one year old
Parsons is currently chasing Jim McElreath as the oldest starter ever in the
Hoosier Hundred.

Other veterans of note could include New Castle’s Tracy Hines, the 2000 USAC
Silver Crown champ and current NASCAR Busch Series driver, second generation
driver Rich Tobias of Anneville, Pennsylvania, Oakland City, Indiana’s Hud
Cone, Phoenix, Arizona’s Jerry Coons Jr., Val Verde, California naitve Jay
Drake  and Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania driver John “Hot Rod” Heydenreich.
Hines appearance in the Hoosier Hundred could be contingent on his NASCAR
Busch committments, while Drake is a former Indy Racing Pro Series driver.

A group of young and talented shoes is eying a place in Hoosier auto racing
history as well, including a number from the state of Indiana. Indianapolis
native Shane Hollmgsworth is a second generation driver who burst on the
scene in 2004, while another second generation driver Ron Gregory of
Noblesville drives for a team combined of his step father and former driver
Gary Irvin and Hoosier Hundred winning car owner Gene Nolen. Third
generation driver Cole Carter of Brownsburg took over the seat vacated by
Hollingsworth last year and qualified the machine in the front part of the
field at Springfield. Carter is the son of 1977 Hoosier Hundred winner and
former Indy 500 driver Pancho Carter. Another Indiana native who has stirred
some interest in the central part of the state is Kokomo’s Shane Cottle.
Nicknamed the “Throttle”, Cottle won the Gas City USAC Sprint event earlier
in the year and has secured the Contos Racing ride vacated by the retired
Jason McCord. Illinois’ Levi Jones is he defending USAC Sprint Car champ and
he teams this season with Californian Josh Wise on the Tony Stewart MoPar
team. Jones took the “Budweiser” challenge at the Hoosier Hundred a couple
of years ago while Wise won the Sumar Classic at Terre Haute last year and
is the current one lap track record holder at Springfield, not to mention
having led a good portion of the 2005 Hoosier Hundred. Another young Indiana
driver gets his first shot at one of the big dirt cars when Flyin' Bryan
Clauson of Noblesville takes the seat of one of the Bill Biddle entries as a
teammate to Jay Drake.  Clauson has caught the eye of one NASCAR owner as he
is part of the Chip Ganassi Racing NASCAR driver development program.

One driver whose status for the Hoosier Hundred is unknown is that of
Chilean Pablo Donoso driving for the Johnny Vance team. A protégé of former
500 driver Eliseo Slazar, Donoso announced earlier in the year his intent to
run the entire portion of the 2006 schedule including the dirt tracks.
Should Donoso make the Hoosier Hundred field he would be the first driver
from South America to start the Hoosier Hundred.

Approximately forty cars and drivers expected for the 54th Hoosier Hundred,
those that make the trip to the Indiana State Fairgrounds will be
participants in a tradition that began in 1953 as the creation of late
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Safety Director Jo Quinn and Indiana businessman
Roger Wolcott. Between them Quinn and Wolcott restored auto racing to the
Indiana State Fairgrounds after the sport was banned as a result of the
fatal crash of Al Putnam in 1946. Quinn and Wolcott sought to make the
Hoosier Hundred a bigger event than the successful 100 mile fair race at
Springfield and quickly succeeded.

The first Hoosier Hundred was set for September 19, 1953 but rain postponed
the event until the next week. When the 18,000 fans returned, they saw Bob
Sweikert in the Dean Van Lines car beat Manny Ayulo, Johnnie Parsons and Don
Freeland to the checker in a photo finish. The white Dean machine kept a
strangle hold on the Hoosier Hundred crown, winning the next three races
with Jimmy Bryan at the helm, while Jud Larson broke Bryan’s streak in 1957.
Eddie Sachs would go on to win the 1958 race, the last race for Roger
Wolcott who perished later in the year.

Quinn named the trophy the Wolcott Cup and had twenty five silver cups made
for future winners. Ironically, former Wolcott Racing Team driver Rodger
Ward won the first one with his 1959 win.

The next year saw the emergence of the Hoosier Hundred grand champion as
A.J. Foyt captured his first win in 1960, with five more to come before the
decade closed. Mario Andretti, Ward and Parnelli Jones managed to squeeze in
wins as well as the Hoosier Hundred crowds swelled to nearly 30,000 people
and the race became the second biggest on the national championship trail,
exceeded only by the Indy 500. The Hoosier Hundred also enjoyed immense
media coverage, with local and national TV coverage and a live race
broadcast by Indy’s flagship station WIBC with “Voice of the 500” Sid
Collins at the helm.

Al Unser won the last Hoosier Hundred to be run as part of the National
Championship in 1970, and the first one as part of the Silver Crown division
in 1971 as he won four straight.  Over the next twenty five years Jack
Hewitt, Gary Bettenhausen, Pancho Carter, Larry Rice and Chcuk Gurney all
parked in the Hoosier Hundred victory lane.

A.J. Foyt took over promotion of the race in 1991, and in 1996 consolidated
both the Hulman 100 and the Hoosier Hundred into one event running on the
traditional May date two nights before the Indianapolis 500.  On Friday
night May 26 the tradition continues with the 54th running of the Hoosier
Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  Practice begins at 4:30 p.m. EDT,
with qualifications at 6, the last chance race at 7 and the run for the
Hoosier Hundred trophy at 8.  Over $42,000 in purse and contingency awards
are posted for the 2006 Hoosier Hundred which offers one man a place among
auto racing’s immortals.  Tickets are now on sale at 217-764-3200 or at the
Indiana State Fair Box Office at 317-927-1482.  Additional information can
be found at www.usacracing.com or www.trackenterprises.com or
www.hoosierhundred.com.