ANDERSON TO MAKE SILVER CROWN DEBUT AT CARB NIGHT CLASSIC
JIM ANDERSON TO MAKE SILVER CROWN DEBUT AT CARB NIGHT CLASSIC
Story By: Richie Murray/USAC Racing
Brownsburg, Indiana………Three-time STARS Midget Champion and 2012 USAC D1 Regional Midget Champion Jim Anderson is set to make his USAC Silver Crown Champ Car debut when the series hits Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana for the “Dave Steele Carb Night Classic” on Friday night, May 25.
Anderson, who hails from Joliet, Illinois, will be behind the wheel of the Kazmark Motorsports No. 92, Response Management Services-sponsored Beast/Toyota for the 100-lap event. The race will mark the season debut for the Gene Kazmark-owned team after competing for the series championship with Chris Windom in 2017.
Anderson has always been a fan of the Lucas Oil Raceway, having competed several times in the prestigious “Night Before the 500” midget race at the .686-mile paved oval located west of Indianapolis. To compete in a Silver Crown car, though, fulfills a lifelong dream for the 42-year-old racing veteran.
“I have always wanted to drive one of these cars,” Anderson said. “I have worked on them before when Gene was teamed up with Terry Jacobs and Bob Hoerner in the 1990s and early 2000s. To get the opportunity to be on the inside of the roll cage is incredible. I’m very thankful for Gene and the entire Kazmark team for giving me the opportunity to drive this race car. Chris (Windom) was always up near the front in this machine and I’m hoping to do the same.”
Over the course of 20-plus years of midget racing, Anderson has created quite the resume. Four times he was crowned the champion at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Illinois. (2008, 2011, 2012, & 2013) and claimed the 2012 USAC Regional D1 Midget Championship.
In 2010, he claimed his first career “Rumble in Fort Wayne” victory. In 2011, he won four times in the STARS Midget series, including the ‘Illinois State Championship’ and the ‘Bob Tattersall Memorial.’ In 2015, Anderson claimed what may be the biggest win of his career, the ‘Bob Lockard Memorial.’
The race honors the life of Dave Steele, a driver who won a dozen USAC races at Lucas Oil Raceway (then known as Indianapolis Raceway Park) between 1997 and 2006. Steele’s lone Silver Crown win at the track came back in 1999 in car No. 92, the same that Anderson will drive on May 25, with key players on the team on that day still going strong today in the same capacity.
“A lot of the recent success in my career has been due to Dave Steele,” Anderson noted. “He worked with our team for many years on our shocks and springs program. While I would rather be racing with Dave on Carb Night like many of us would, it’s an honor to make my debut on the same night we honor what he did for the sport and USAC.”
The “Dave Steele Carb Night Classic” gets underway on Friday, May 25 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Ind. The pits open at noon while the grandstands open at 2:45pm. Practice begins at 3pm, with qualifying set for 5pm. Main events for the Pro Mazda and USF2000 series begin at 6pm. The Silver Crown main event is slated for an 8:15pm start.
Tickets can be obtained by calling Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200 or at the gate on raceday. A three-day special Superticket for the full week of Indy including the “Tony Hulman Classic” at the Terre Haute Action Track on Wednesday, May 23, the “Hoosier Hundred” at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Thursday, May 24 and the “Carb Night Classic” at Lucas Oil Raceway on Friday, May 25 is also available at https://usacracing.ticketspice.com/2018-week-of-indy.
The “Dave Steele Carb Night Classic” will be streamed LIVE on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/. A day later, you can watch it again, on-demand, at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
