acegear
Moderator
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 973
Location: Enumclaw, WA
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 Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 6:23 pm Post subject: USAC Driver: Dave Darland |
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One of only three drivers in USAC history to claim the “Triple Crown” (Silver Crown, Sprint and National Midget titles during a career), Dave’s 2003 USAC season included “top10” point rankings in all three National series. In the Weld Racing Silver Crown Series he was the runner-up behind champion J.J. Yeley, winning the “Ted Horn 100” at Springfield, Ill. and adding three thirds. He did not win a Sprint race and wound up eighth in that series points, but swept all four legs of the “Buckeye Nationals” Midget events in Ohio. He was also eighth in the Midget standings, capping his season with a victory in the prestigious “Hut 100.” At season’s end he was presented the Jimmy Caruthers Award in recognition of his spirit and determination. Dave nailed down his second consecutive National Midget title in 2002 but encountered disappointing success in the Silver Crown and Sprint Car Series. In the Sprint cars, he finished fifth in the standings, but failed to win a race for the first time in six years! In the Weld Racing Silver Crown Series a pair of fourth-place finishes were his best in eight starts. His 2002 Midget Car victories included a second consecutive victory in the prestigious Belleville Midget Nationals, plus wins at Salem and Anderson, Ind. His best Sprint car finish was a second at Lima, Ohio during the “Buckeye Nationals.” Injuries suffered in the “4-Crown Nationals” Sprint car race at Rossburg, OH curtailed Dave’s Silver Crown activity in September, 2001, but he had five “top-10” finishes in 10 starts. He also won the pole at Irwindale, Calif. He won five Midget races in 2001, including USAC’s 2,000th Midget race, at Rossburg, Ohio, and added a victory in the “Robbie Stanley Classic” on his way to the 2001 Pennzoil Indiana Sprint Week title. Well on his way to the Sprint car title before his September accident, Dave finished fourth in the Sprint car points and finished the 2001 campaign with a remarkable comeback in November, breaking the Midget track record at Tucson, Ariz! Dave finished second in the 2000 Silver Crown standings after leading going into the final race at Memphis, Tenn. A disappointing 15th-place finish left him 29 points short. The 1997 series champion and 1999 USAC "Super License" Champion, Dave finished in the "top-10" in Silver Crown six straight seasons prior to 2001, including a runner-up finish in 1995 as well. His victory in the 100-miler at Sacramento, Calif. in 2000 was his seventh in the series to go along with 16 Sprint Car wins and 12 in the Midgets. In 1999 he won more National races than any other USAC driver and also claimed that year's Sprint Car title. Victories in the 1997 “Tony Bettenhausen 100” at Springfield, Ill. and at Cal Expo State Fairgrounds in Sacramento, Calif. helped Dave outdistance Donnie Beechler for that year’s title. After narrowly missing the 1995 Silver Crown title, Dave ended up fourth in the 1996 standings, winning the "Hulman Hundred" at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis for the second straight year. He was a scant two points shy of 1995 series champion Tony Stewart after winning both races at the Indianapolis mile dirt oval and led the 1995 points going into the final race. He was named the 1995 "Most Improved Driver" in USAC Silver Crown competition. He edged Tony Elliott by one point to win the 1998 Pennzoil “Indiana Sprint Week” championship and is a former winner of the "Tony Hulman Classic" at Terre Haute, IN (1993). In 1994 he was named the Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Indiana "Driver of the Year" and in 1997 he shared that honor with Tony Stewart, then won the honors again in 1999! Dave’s versatility is apparent when one realizes that he was the only driver in 1997 to win a USAC Silver Crown, Sprint and National Midget Car feature! He now has seven career Silver Crown wins, plus 16 each in the Sprint Cars and Midgets.
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A win is a win, and second place is never good enough |
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