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USAC: Sills Eyes 100th Start and Another Silver Bullet Record Saturday

5 October 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

SATURDAY'S RACE AT SACRAMENTO'S CALEXPO

Jimmy Sills of Placerville, Calif. will be trying to pass his car owner this Saturday when the USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet machines compete at CalExpo State Fairgrounds in Sacramento, Calif! The race would mark Sills' 100th career start in the series, making him only the seventh driver in series history to reach that plateau.

Sills is second on the list of 85 drivers who have competed at the 1-mile dirt oval since 1989 in terms of laps completed, only 76 behind George Snider, who with A.J. Foyt co-owns the #111 True Value/Terre Haute First National Bank Special Sills will drive Saturday night. Sills, who won the Sacramento race in 1990, 1993 and 1994 (there was no race in 1991 or 1992), has 615 laps in his eight starts, compared to Snider's 701. Saturday night's feature race is a 100-lapper.

Sills and Snider are two of only four drivers who have competed in all eight USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet events at CalExpo. The others are Johnny Parsons and Chuck Gurney. Gurney is expected to compete Saturday but Parsons is not yet confirmed.

Sills comes to Sacramento fresh from his 11th career triumph and second on the 1999 season, in the September 25 "4-Crown Nationals" at Rossburg, Ohio. He led every lap to extend his career-leading total of laps led to 1,470 and races led to 32. He previously won A.J. Foyt's "Hulman-Hoosier Hundred" on the Indianapolis mile dirt in May.

Two drivers who will be out to keep Sills from victory lane Saturday are Ryan Newman of South Bend, Ind. and Russ Gamester of Peru, Ind. Separated by just 35 points, they are battling for the Coors Light Silver Bullet title and with 66 points up for grabs Saturday both are intent on winning. Gamester has finished fifth the past two years at Sacramento, while Newman was fourth last year, eighth in 1996 and a non-finisher in 1997.

In addition to Sills, the west coast has great representation Saturday, with California drivers Gurney (Livermore), Mark Monico (San Jose), Scott Hansen (Simi Valley), Ricky Shelton (Huntington Beach), Ronnie Day (Salinas) and Todd Bammer (Pleasanton), plus Rick brown of Springfield, Ore., Rebel Jackson of Buckley, Wash. and defending race winner J.J. Yeley of Phoenix, Ariz.

Practice at CalExpo Saturday starts at 3:30 pm and qualifying gets under way at 5:15. The first race is set for 7 pm and invitational sprint car racing accompanies the Coors Light Silver Bullet activity.

1999 USAC COORS LIGHT SILVER BULLET SERIES STANDINGS

1.	Ryan Newman	540		6.	Dave Darland	378
2.	Russ Gamester	505		7.	Jimmy Sills	369
3.	Jack Hewitt	450		8.	J.J. Yeley
354
4.	Tracy Hines	412		9.	Tony Elliott	352
5.	Brian Tyler	405		10.	Jason Leffler	264

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