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USAC: 'Road to Indy' oval crown finale at Pikes Peak

24 August 1999

USAC's first 1999 driving champion will be crowned this Saturday at Pikes Peak International Raceway as the "Road to Indy" Oval Crown Championship concludes with a 50-mile race on the 1-mile paved oval in Fountain, Colo.

Englishman Dan Wheldon appears to have the inside track to the title, leading Steve Rikert of Rhinebeck, N.Y. by 28 points. Rikert needs a victory to have a chance of snatching the title away. Steve won a race at Atlanta, Ga. in July and has finished out of the "top-10" only once all season.

Wheldon owns 1999 victories at Charlotte, N.C., Bowmanville, Ont., Canada and Lexington, Ohio.

Practice and qualifying are scheduled on Friday and the race is slated Saturday afternoon.

Wheldon will also be trying to overcome United States Formula 2000 National Championship point leader Marc-Antoine Camirand in Saturday's 22-lap feature race. A victory could possibly catapult him into the lead in the battle for the National Championship, which concludes with races at the Homestead Motorsports Complex the weekend of September 25-26.

USAC/SCCA FORMULA 2000 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1. Marc Antoine-Camirand 233 6. Mark Dismore, Jr. 139
2. Dan Wheldon 221 7. Daniel Muniz 138
3. Steve Rikert 185 8. Aaron Justus 132
4. Bobby Oergel 161 9. Jonathan Bottoms 128
5. T.J. Bell 143 10. Rolando Quintanilla 110

"ROAD TO INDY" FORMULA 2000 OVAL CROWN STANDINGS

1. Dan Wheldon 108 6. Mark Dismore, Jr. 58
2. Steve Rikert 80 7. Rolando Quintanilla 49
3. Bobby Oergel 61 8. Aaron Justus 45
4. Marc-Antoine Camirand 61 9. Tom Wood 44
5. T.J. Bell 59 10. Jonathan Bottoms 43

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