The start of the 2023 USAC Silver Crown National Championship event at WWT Raceway near St. Louis. (Joe DeFabis Photo)
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Madison, Illinois (June 25, 2024)………World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. is the newest addition to the 2024 USAC Silver Crown National Championship schedule.
On Friday, August 16, the 1.25-mile paved oval will present USAC Silver Crown practice and qualifying before capping the night with the main event – the 60-lap, 75-mile Ranken Technical College Silver Crown Showdown Presented by Welsch Heating & Cooling.
The USAC Silver Crown portion of the event will be held in conjunction with practice and qualifying sessions for both the NTT INDYCAR Series and the INDY NXT series at the Saint Louis area track.
On Friday race day, the public gates will open at 11am Central with Silver Crown practice set to begin at 1:45pm followed by Silver Crown Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying at 5:30 pm and the main event under the lights at 9pm.
The addition to the schedule presents a rare doubleheader weekend of USAC Silver Crown racing with the pavement of WWT Raceway on Friday, August 16, followed by the one-mile dirt oval of the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the 61st running of the Bettenhausen 100 on Saturday, August 17.
WWT Raceway is the largest and fastest circuit on the USAC Silver Crown schedule. In fact, the fastest lap ever turned by a traditional Silver Crown car occurred at WWT in 2022 when Kody Swanson recorded an average lap speed of 146.699 miles per hour during qualifying.
Ten previous USAC Silver Crown events have been held at WWT Raceway since the oval’s grand opening in 1997. Pat Abold scored the inaugural victory in 1997, followed by J.J. Yeley (1998), Ryan Newman (1999), Tracy Hines (2000), Dave Steele (2001), Bobby Santos (2013-14), Tanner Swanson (2016), Kody Swanson (2022) and Davey Hamilton Jr. (2023).
Among the past WWT Raceway winners, Bobby Santos (Franklin, Mass.) and Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.) are expected to compete in this year’s event in an attempt to repeat their previous triumphs.
Tickets for the event can be purchased now at https://wwtraceway.com/. Click on the “Buy Tickets Now” tab or call at 618-215-8888 EXT 1.
