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SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES LEFFLER, TYLER SQUARE OFF IN "4-CROWN" SILVER CROWN SHOWDOWN

Jason Leffler and Brian Tyler are separated by only 10 points in the USAC Silver Crown Championship standings going into this weekend's 18th Annual "4-Crown Nationals" at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

The 11th event in the 13-race Silver Crown series is part of the two-night event showcasing three USAC racing series and the UMP modifieds, climaxing with feature events Saturday night. A 50-lap Silver Crown race follows Friday night qualifications and a Saturday night "qualifying race."

Both Leffler and Tyler have Silver Crown victories this year. Leffler won the "DuPont 100" at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July and Tyler won the series-opening 50-miler at Walt Disney World Speedway in January. Tyler finished sixth at Eldora last year while Leffler will be making his Eldora Silver Crown debut.

Friday's timetable calls for practice at 6:30 p.m. to be followed by qualifying and preliminary races. Kevin Huntley of Bloomington, Ind. is the defending "4-Crown" Silver Crown champion.

Silver Crown Point Standings: 1-Jason Leffler-442; 2-Brian Tyler-432; 3-Ryan Newman-385; 4-Jimmy Sills-360; 5-Dave Darland-309; 6-Russ Gamester-305; 7-Jack Hewitt-287; 8-J.J. Yeley-280; 9-Robby Flock-279; 10-Dave Steele-259.