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July
9, 2007 --- Aaron Pierce holds the ultimate USAC Silver Crown qualifying record of 175.012 mph, set last year at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. Friday, Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. hopes to lay claim to that record Friday as Pierce and the rest of the series regulars aim at Aaron’s 1-lap Chicagoland record of 174.295, also set last year.
Pierce won last year’s “USG Fiberock 100” and hopes to repeat in Friday’s renewal of the 100-mile (67-lap) race. He is third in the current series standings, 12 behind point leader Wayne Reutimann Jr. entering Friday’s events at the 1.5-mile oval.
Pierce won at Darlington, S.C. and was second at Iowa Speedway, both during May, and wants to be the first repeat winner in this year’s series. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tracy Hines, Bobby East and Brian Tyler also own 2007 victories, Tyler winning a week ago at Richmond, Va.
Reutimann, who posted his first series win at Milwaukee, Wisc. last year, has a second, fifth, seventh and eighth in five starts, while A.J. Fike, who trails him by 10 points, has a pair of fourths and a fifth so far.
NASCAR star J.J. Yeley, one of only four USAC “Triple Crown Champions,” returns to the #14 A.J. Foyt entry at Joliet. Yeley won the pole at Darlington and was leading there before a wall-scraping incident forced him to the sidelines.
Pierce averaged 145.934 mph in winning last year’s Joliet race, completed in just over 41 minutes.
Friday’s race entries include cars entered by 4-time Indianapolis 500 Champion A.J. Foyt for Pablo Donoso and Bobby East, a car entered by NASCAR’s Carl Edwards for Cameron Dodson, a car entered by former Indianapolis 500 car owner champion Ron Hemelgarn for Fike, and a Western Speed Racing entry with Roger Penske ties for driver Billy Wease.
Friday’s practice gets under way at 8:30 am and qualifying is scheduled at 10:15. The “USG Fiberock 100” gets the green flag at 6 pm.
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