At least 15 drivers doing "Copper World" double duty

No less than 15 drivers are scheduled to compete in both USAC portions of this weekend's 23rd "Copper World Classic" at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.

Over 110 USAC entries have already been received for the three-day program of events at the 1-mile paved oval. Practice starts Friday, with qualifications and "qualifying races" on Saturday and feature events on Sunday. A 25-mile MCI WorldCom National/Western Midget Car and 50-mile Coors Light Silver Bullet race are two of the four legs of Sunday's timetable.

Nine of the 15 hail from Indiana, while three are from California and Arizona, Pennsylvania and Ohio boast one each.

Defending Midget Car Champion Jason Leffler leads the California contingent, which also includes Jay Drake and Wally Pankratz. Jerry Coons, Jr. is the sole Arizona "double," while John Heydenreich represents Pennsylvania and Jimmy McCune represents Ohio. The Indiana "double duty" drivers include Ed Carpenter, Dan Drinan, Dane Carter, Brian Gerster, Tracy Hines, Ryan Newman, Chuck Leary, Jon Herb and Dave Darland.

The "Copper World Classic" serves as the 2000 opener for the MCI WorldCom Midget Cars, while the Coors Light Silver Bullet machines opened their 2000 slate this past Saturday at Walt Disney World Speedway in Florida, with Brian Tyler, last year's "Copper World Classic" winner, the victor.

The Midget Cars kick off Sunday's "Copper World Classic" features, with a 25-miler at noon, and Leffler is the defending champion. He also holds the 1-lap track qualifying record of 132.856 mph set last year.

Dave Steele holds the 1-lap Silver Bullet track record of 138.451 mph, set in 1998.

--USAC--