Bud Kaeding locked up the 2006 USAC Silver Crown Championship at Kansas Speedway last year. He hopes to do the same this year when the K & N Series returns to the 1.5-mile paved oval Saturday for the “Kansasspeedway.com 100.”
Last year’s race went green wire-to-wire as Kaeding finished fourth behind race winner Aaron Pierce to clinch his initial USAC National racing championship. Pierce averaged 159.211 mph for the 67-lap distance, an all-time series race record.
Jerry Coons Jr. of Tucson, Ariz. led all 50 laps to win Saturday night’s “4-Crown Nationals” USAC Silver Crown Championship race at the Eldora Speedway. The win was his first in the series in the Rotondo Weirich Beast Stanton Mopar.
Coons was trailed at the checkered flag by Dave Darland, who kept pressure on in the closing laps, defending race winner Mat Neely, Pierce and Brian Tyler.
Commenting on his seven previous second-place finishes, including one this year at Richmond, Va., Coons said: “Those seconds were getting old. They were exciting but they got pretty frustrating. Staying in front of Darland makes this even more special.”
Series point leader Kaeding was 11th and leads Neely by 60 points going into next Saturday’s race at Kansas Speedway.
Coons’ victory makes him the second driver to win 2007 races in all three USAC National Series, joining Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
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