“JIM HURTUBISE CLASSIC” FRIDAY AT TERRE HAUTE;
SPRINTS CLOSE MIDWEST CAMPAIGN AT LAKE ODESSA SUNDAY
Only 26 points separate the top three drivers in the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car standings going into this weekend’s final Midwest outings before the series ventures West for four races to settle the championship.
Friday night’s “Jim Hurtubise Classic” begins two nights of USAC racing at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, with the “Sumar Classic 100” USAC TRAXXAS Silver Crown finale on Saturday. Sunday’s race at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. signaled the final Midwestern appearance for the AMSOIL Sprint cars.
Dave Darland sits atop the standings, 24 ahead of Bryan Clauson and 26 ahead of Jon Stanbrough entering Friday’s Terre Haute race. The title combatants fared eighth (Darland), 13th (Stanbrough) and 21st (Clauson) in last year’s “Hurtubise,” won by Chris Windom,
In two Terre Haute appearances this year, Darland has failed to score a “top-10,” while Clauson has a ninth and Stanbrough has two seconds.
Darland won USAC’s only 2012 Michigan Sprint appearance, at Hartford, but it’s been 16 years since the last I-96 USAC Sprint race, won by Mark Cassella.
2012 AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR POINTS
1-Dave Darland-1,822; 2-Bryan Clauson-1,798; 3-Jon Stanbrough-1,796; 4-Tracy Hines-1,624; 5-Levi Jones-1,615; 6-Damion Gardner-1,588; 7-Chase Stockon-1,524; 8-Hunter Schuerenberg-1,480; 9-Robert Ballou-1,479; 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1,413.