Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah blah blah, I know, Silver Crown was an extension of the Old Indy Uprights or Champ Cars that lost their place at Indy and in the champioship car circuit. That "club" which started in the early '70's and was a USAC deal is all but exticnt because the racing is frankly boring.  ESPN and Speed used to air Silver Crown races where they were hurting for camera angles because there were no spectators. Then came the change in the asphalt format where they put pods on the sides of the cars and were used to help move Nascar drivers along in their career.  Some of the Champ car owners made an effort to keep the deal alive on the dirt.  Some of the Wednesday and Thursday night televised programs had no one in the stands. Then they dropped that format and made an effort to bring back the champ cars.

How often do you hear about a good Silver Crown race any more linbob? I don't know anything about Silver Crown racing, I just know 2 owners and one chassis builder, that is all.

It was used to make a point, sorry that you were too dense to get that. Don't get your undies in a bunch.

(Is this more satisfactory for you Bigfish?)  It still rings true, even if you change the name! 

I just changed my undies.  I know you do not want to hear this but they have raced Silvercrown(dirt champ cars or big cars) every year at the Springfield mile since  1934, except for WW2 years.  The stands were clear full the year I went.  The club was AAA(now usac) it goes back to about 1915 not 1970.  If fast enough the cars could run at Indy, but last one was about 1952.  The Silver Crown car s are not Indy roadsters, and they both evolved by themselves.  A Silver Crown car and a sprint car are both about the same, the Silver Crown car is just bigger by rules.  Rules have kept both sprint cars and silver crown cars the same with very little  change in 50 years, and this is good.  I now await you to lambast me again.  As I remember it the thursday night stands were never full with sprints, midgets or silver crown.

It is not about lambasting you, it is about splitting hairs for no reason. If the cars were basically the same and competed across from one another at Indy and then the Silver Crown became an officially sanctioned club through USAC in 1971 what difference does it make? 

Usac has not filled the stands in quite a while, so why then are people talking about going in the same direction in an effort to pick up a fan base? Again, sorry that you don't understand my point. 

Here is the History as it is recognized by Circle Track Magazine, and it coinsides with every other publication that I have ever read as well as what Chucky F. (don't now if he wants me to publicize his name saying as he is no longer in the business) of Rock Run Racing has told me. He is a chassis builder who constructed one of the cars that Jimmy Kite drove for a while in Silver Crown. 

www.circletrack.com/featuredvehicles/ctrp 0702 usac racing/

(I would put that in as a link but Google Chrome will not allow it on these boards for some reason. copy and paste it into your browser and it should take you there.) 

I never said that I don't want to hear what you have to say about the racing Linbob, I love the history of the sport and if you are knowledgable I am willing to listen, but it is not cool when you come at someone with "You don't know what you are talking about", when you obviously did not pay attention to my post. I NEVER said that Silver Crown was a fly by night small organization.  I used it as a reference to ask why anyone would follow in that format. It is obvioulsy unsuccessful. From what I have gathered by talking to people who own and field Crown cars they are descnedants of Indy Champ Cars as a means for people who loved that style of car to continue to race them once they were no longer sustainable on the champioship stage. If you can find a reference to Silver Crown prior to 1971 I would love to see it. Not saying that you are wrong there, just saying that it flies in the face of every statement that I have ever heard and any writings that I have ever read on the sport. 

According to the history of USAC Silver Crown racing the first race was won by George Snider from Frezno CA in the Wilke #4 in 1971.

Is that better Bigfish? Still true, just with a different name. Champ Car instead of Roadster.  They ran the same series together, so they belong in the same league anyway. You people are as bad as politicians, nit picking the nuggets that you think will dwindle a point. One that frankly had very little to do with the topic that you guys chose to go after by the way. Again, my point is, and was, that form of racing is dying faster than what we have today with the Sprint Cars. Why would we head back toward the earlier format? 

I give up, Silver Crown was a name they gave the cars as you say about 1971 , but the cars existed way before that.  They decided  to call Indy cars Gold Crown and Champ Dirt Cars Silver crown.  They no longer call Indy Cars gold crown but the Silver Crown name stuck.  It is just a name.  Please some of you oldtimers help me out.

 knew you were in trouble when he thought the Siver Crown (big Car, Dirt Champ car, Champ car) car morphed from a Roadster and I'm very surprised that a Sprint car owner would be so ignorant of such a important part of our history. Bunch em if ya got em..LOL

The Tony Bettenhausen 100 USAC Championship Car race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2bD95hJ5ZE Yes, these are Silver Crown Cars.

1970 USAC CHAMP CARS AT SPRINGFIELD.

Nice video by the way. This is what I said. These cars became the Silver Crown series. You can not bicker the logistics of different clubs when I made the point that some of the cars that ran at Indy went on to become the Silver Crown series. 

I will give you this Bigfish, I should have called them uprights instead of roadsters.

I will only say this one more time and if you guys don't get it then there is nothing more that I can do with this. I used it to make a point. That point was (being on topic) that the longer races do not necessarily bring in the spectators so why would we turn to a failing format to "fix" the one that we currently have? You are nit picking portions of my post rather than seeing what the original point was, which would have been on topic. 

Well... here goes. I went to the silver crown race at Springfield Il. this summer. It was my first S.C. race.  I enjoyed it very much for the atmosphere and all that . Hey Im at a race ;Im happy.  But seemed like a race of attrition to me , no real go gettem racing till 25 laps left. I still plan on going back again and again.... . Different kind of race but a race none the less.  Bleachers were pretty desolate . A 50 lap feature isnt that big a deal . Personally i want to see everything ya got in 25 or30  laps ,its a sprint. I also like the idea of a 50 lapper with a fuel stop. I always thought this would be great cause somebody is gonna hit that magic setup they missed in the first 25. But so far i havent seen it , its like everybody gets faster (but nobody can catch schatz dammitt).  Im a hardcore fan and im open to any format .