Illinois State Fair: Race report

Springfield, Ill.. - Results Saturday afternoon (August 17) from the running of the "Tony Bettenhausen 100" USAC/Weld Racing Silver Crown Series race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, with starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, laps completed, reason out if any and money won:

J.J. Yeley of Phoenix, Ariz. sliced into Dave Steele's USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown point lead with his victory in Saturday's "Tony Bettenhausen 100" at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. He now trails Steele by only 11 points going into the September 1 "Ted Horn 100" at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds. Steele failed to finish Saturday's race and was listed 17th in the official finish after suffering tire problems.

"My Ford engine made my job easy," said Yeley in victory lane. "My hat's off the my crew. The race track stayed good all day and tires were never an issue. I just needed to stay out of trouble with lapped cars. This makes up for the loss at DuQuoin (Ill.) last year when I had a big lead late but didn't finish."

Jerry Coons, Jr. gave Arizona a 1-2 finish with his runner-up placing ahead of Tracy Hines, Dave Darland and Matt Westfall.

The race was red-flagged on the opening lap when John Heydenreich of Bloomsburg, Pa., winner of the 15-mile "qualifying race," flipped in turn two. He was transported to a local hospital for a precautionary check. A second red flag flew on lap 20 after a tangle between Dane Carter and Tom Capie. Both drivers escaped injury.

Yeley won the pole and led all 100 miles to earn a $9,250 paycheck.

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