News & Advice
Tony Stewart USAC Silver Crown Champions
Levi Jones and the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team won the 2011 USAC Silver Crown Series Championship to bring the season to a close over the weekend. Jones, who started 12th and finished seventh in the Rollie Beale 150 event, earned the title over runner-up, Jerry Coons. The final point standings saw Jones (408) defeat Coons, Jr., (405) by three points.
The championship marked Jones’ second consecutive and career USAC Silver Crown triumph, making him the fifth person in series history to win back-to-back titles. The Olney, Ill. native joins Jack Hewitt (1986-1987), J.J. Yeley (2002-2003), Dave Steele (2004-2005) and Bud Kaeding (2006-2007) as repeat champions in the Silver Crown division, and he earned this year’s title by driving the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 10 Chevrolet/GM Performance Parts/Curb Records/Beast to top-10 finishes in all eight Silver Crown races.
It is the sixth Silver Crown title for car-owner Tony Stewart and his second with partner Curb-Agajanian. In addition to Jones’ 2010 and 2011 titles, Stewart captured four consecutive Silver Crown titles from 2002 to 2005 as a co-owner with Bob East. This year’s championship is Stewart’s 11th as a USAC car owner and his 14th overall, as TSR has three championships in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series (2001, 2008 and 2009).
Bryan Clauson also finished out the season on a strong note as he drove to a second place finish in Saturday’s feature event after starting sixth. The solid outing saw Clauson gain more points in the USAC National Drivers Championship as he now leads second-place ranked, Kyle Larson, by 10 points. Clauson currently has 1,026 points to Larson’s 1,016. Clauson finished the 2011 USAC Silver Crown Series season ranked ninth in the standings with 269 points.
