2019 USAC Silver Crown at Illinois State Fairgrounds

A Historical Look At Du Quoin & Springfield

A Historical Look At Du Quoin & Springfield

To fully grasp the possibilities of rare air that of this weekend, let's take a look back at the history that precedes him.

Sep 19, 2019 by Richie Murray
A Historical Look At Du Quoin & Springfield

This weekend, Jacob Wilson can make some serious history if he takes home the win at Springfield. 

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Should he win the Silver Crown race at Illinois State Fairgrounds, he'd join some elite company of driver who have won at both Du Quoin and Springfield. But to fully grasp the rare air that he could be ascending into, let's take a look back at the history that precedes him.

Tony Bettenhausen was the first to win at both Springfield and Du Quoin back in 1951. He has the unique accolade of winning three times between the two tracks that year. He won once at Springfield in August, then swept the Labor Day Champ Car weekend at Du Quoin when he won both Saturday’s Ted Horn Memorial and Monday’s Du Quoin 100. Tony’s son, Gary, followed in his father’s footsteps to an Illinois mile track sweep in 1983.

Bettenhausen was one of four drivers to achieve the Springfield/Du Quoin sweep in the 1950s, followed by Sam Hanks (1953), Jimmy Bryan (1955-56) and Johnny Thomson (1958).

Supertex A.J. Foyt carried the torch into the decade of the 1960s and, like Bryan, did the deed twice in both 1964 and 1967, the same seasons he earned his second and third Indianapolis 500 victories, respectively.

Al Unser won Indy, Springfield and Du Quoin all within the same year in 1970 aboard Vel’s Parnelli Jones’ striking Johnny Lightning Special.

Mario Andretti went back-to-back as Unser’s Vel’s Parnelli Jones teammate in 1973 and 1974 at Springfield and Du Quoin.  Just three weeks following his champ car victory at Du Quoin, Andretti, the eventual World Driving Champion in 1978, finished 7th in the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport in Formula One Grand Prix competition.

Only two drivers have swept Springfield and Du Quoin in the same season on three different occasions.  Jack Hewitt went back-to-back at both in 1986-87 where he put a stranglehold on the dirt, winning eight of 13 across a two-year span on the dirt portion of the Silver Crown schedule in his two championship seasons.

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Chuck Gurney notched three seasons of one-mile Illinois sweeps, first during his championship year of 1989 in the meticulous Junior Kurtz owned machine, followed by two more years of Illinoisan domination by the Californian in 1994 and 1996.

Paul White and J.J. Yeley swept Springfield and Du Quoin during their Silver Crown championship years as well in 2001 and 2002, respectively.  Tracy Hines, who, like Yeley, went on to become a USAC Triple Crown champion, celebrated in victory lane at both venues in 2006.

Brian Tyler has five combined triumphs at Springfield (4) and Du Quoin (1).  In 2008, his Bettenhausen 100 score at Springfield came in tandem with his lone win at Du Quoin two weeks later.

Prior to that, the feat of doubling up in the Land of Lincoln has been accomplished on 22 occasions by 15 different drivers. Most recently it was done in 2018 by Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.). He won the race and lead a total of just 15 laps combined in his winning efforts.