43RD 4-CROWN NATS AT ELDORA OPENS ON THURSDAY
ROSSBURG, Ohio—The best off all dirt open wheel racing worlds converge at one legendary venue on one major weekend!
Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway is set for the 43rd running of the 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO on Thursday-Friday-Saturday night, September 18-19-20.
The pits inside the 1/2-mile dirt oval will be filled to the brim with open wheel machinery from USAC’s stable of NOS Energy Drink National Midget, AMSOIL National Sprint Car and Silver Crown divisions to the winged variety of the Kubota High Limit Racing Sprint Cars as well as the Great Lakes Super Sprints.
Each USAC division and High Limit will be racing for $15,000-to-win in their respective features during Saturday night’s program in what is undoubtedly the greatest racing smorgasbord of them all at The Big E.
Let’s dig into the storylines for each of the three USAC national divisions this weekend!
PURSLEY RUNNING ALL 4 (OR 5)
Daison Pursley will be chasing history this week as he competes in five divisions throughout 4-Crown weekend. Last year on this weekend, he picked off USAC National Midget wins on back-to-back nights, then scored a USAC National Sprint Car victory and finished the weekend fourth in the USAC Silver Crown finale after starting from the pole and leading the initial 12 laps.
This week, the Locust, Grove, Oklahoma racer will pilot a USAC Midget and USAC Sprint Car for CB Industries, a USAC Silver Crown car for Chris Dyson Racing, plus a High Limit winged sprint car for Buch Motorsports. Furthermore, on Friday night, he’ll run a winged 360 sprint car with the Great Lak0es Super Sprints for the CBI team.
Jack Hewitt remains the only driver to win all four divisions at the 4-Crown in a single night, doing so in 1998 with the USAC National Midgets, USAC National Sprint Cars, UMP Modifieds and USAC Silver Crown.
TRIPLE CROWNS
At least five drivers are expected to pull triple duty across all three USAC national divisions this week at Eldora – Silver Crown, Sprint Car and Midget. That’s Justin Grant, Daison Pursley, Logan Seavey, Chase Stockon and Kevin Thomas Jr.
Seavey has won across all three divisions in his career at Eldora, getting it done all in one night at the 4-Crown back in 2023. Pursley has won all but the Silver Crown portion. Grant has won six Eldora races, all in the sprint car, and twice at the 4-Crown in 2016 and 2022.
While Chase Stockon has never won a USAC race at Eldora, he has won with the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series at the track in 2014. He finished as the runner-up with the USAC Sprints at Eldora that same year.
Kevin Thomas Jr. is in a similar vein, finishing a best of second at Eldora with the USAC Silver Crown series in both 2018 and 2019, and then took a runner-up spot with the USAC Sprints at the 2024 4-Crown after leading four laps.
To date, just three drivers have swept the USAC portion of the 4-Crown in a single night: Jack Hewitt (1998), Kyle Larson (2011) and Logan Seavey (2023).
4-CROWN BACK TO 3 DAYS
The last time the 4-Crown Nationals were spread across three different days was 30 years ago back in 1995!
That year’s format featured qualifying on night one, heat races on night two, then the semi-feature and feature events during the daytime on day three.
This year’s new expanded format will present full programs for both the USAC National Sprint Cars and USAC National Midgets on Thursday. USAC Silver Crown will take the track on Friday for practice, qualifying and the qualifying race only, plus full programs for both the Kubota High Limit Racing Sprint Cars and the Great Lakes Super Sprints.
Saturday’s finale will bring a more concise format with no qualifying for any of the series. In essence, Thursday’s USAC finish and Friday’s High Limit finish will act as the qualifying times for Saturday’s program, and starting lineups will be based on that. Each of Saturday’s four features will pay $15,000-to-win.
THE USAC MIDGET LOWDOWN
Midget racing is simply spectacular at Eldora Speedway and serves as the only 1/2-mile venue on the series schedule. A field expected in the low to mid-20s is anticipated for the event, which will feature 25-lap main events on Thursday and Saturday.
Daison Pursley enters the event having swept both events in 2024. In fact, his CB Industries team has won a midget race on 4-Crown weekend in each of the past four years. This year, CBI will have a three-car lineup featuring Pursley, Justin Grant and Drake Edwards.
Two past Eldora USAC Midget winners are slated to compete, with Pursley being joined by 2023 4-Crown victor Logan Seavey.
Cannon McIntosh enters as the series championship leader with a 39-point edge over Justin Grant. Gavin Miller has been the hottest driver of late, winning each of the past two events and three of the last four overall.
HOME OF THE SPRINT, USAC STYLE
Eldora is USAC Sprint Car racing’s most prevalent track, having hosted 211 previous points-paying series events at the track dating back to 1962.
This week’s 4-Crown USAC Sprint Car field of around 40 entries consists of five past 4-Crown winners in the division: Brady Bacon (2014), Justin Grant (2016 & 2022), C.J. Leary (2017), Logan Seavey (2023) and Daison Pursley (2024), plus one Eldora USAC Sprint Car winner seeking a first 4-Crown win, Matt Westfall.
Bacon won at Eldora this past May during #LetsRaceTwo and will return in his Chris Dyson Racing machine.
Kyle Cummins comes into the event with a hefty 245-point lead over Mitchel Moles. Cummins is seeking his first Eldora victory after finishing a narrow second in 2022. Moles has already added USAC Midget and USAC Silver Crown triumphs at Eldora in his career. He would like to fill the void with a USAC Sprint Car score this week.
Furthermore, the Rookie of the Year race between Hayden Reinbold and Gunnar Setser is at a fever pitch. Reinbold currently holds a two-point lead over Setser with a mere 11 races to go.
THE USAC SILVER CROWN FINALE
It comes down to Eldora to decide the USAC Silver Crown champion for 2025 with Justin Grant holding a 65-point lead as he seeks to close out his second career champ car title (2020).
The objective is clear. Second place occupant C.J. Leary must win the pole position, worth 3 points, during Friday’s qualifying session in order to stay alive in the points race. If Leary does not, Grant would automatically clinch the title.
Mitchel Moles is among the four past 4-Crown Silver Crown winners in this week’s field as he looks to defend his throne from a year ago, which was the first victory of his career in the big cars.
Logan Seavey owns three wins in the event in 2021-2022-2023, while C.J. Leary (2018) and Brady Bacon (2019) have each notched single wins.
RACE DETAILS
Advance tickets are on sale now at https://eldoraspeedway.showare.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=546
4-Crown Nationals weekend begins on Thursday, September 18, with full programs for both the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship. The grandstands open at 2pm. The drivers meeting will take place at 5pm with cars on track at 6pm, followed by qualifying and racing.
On Friday, September 19, the program consists of USAC Silver Crown National Championship practice, qualifying and the qualifying race only, plus full programs for both the Kubota High Limit Racing Sprint Cars and the Great Lake Super Sprints. The grandstands open at 2pm. The drivers meeting will take place at 5pm with cars on track at 6pm, followed by qualifying and racing.
On Saturday, September 20, the lineup card includes programs and feature events for the USAC Silver Crown National Championship, USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and the Kubota High Limit Racing Sprint Cars. The grandstands open at Noon Eastern. The driver autograph session will be held in the Fan Zone from 3-4pm. The drivers meeting will take place at 4:50pm with cars on track at 6pm, followed by racing.
All four divisions at the 4-Crown will be shown LIVE and uninterrupted on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac.
EXPECTED USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT CAR ENTRIES:
O6 RYLAN GRAY/Greenfield, IN (Gray Brothers Racing)
1H KORBYN HAYSLETT/Troy, OH (Kim & Dave Hayslett)
2B KALE DRAKE/Collinsville, OK (2B Racing)
2DI DUSTIN INGLE/Lima, OH (Dustin Ingle Racing)
2E CARSON GARRETT/Littleton, CO (Epperson Racing)
3p KYLE CUMMINS/Princeton, IN (Petty Performance Racing)
3R KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Rock Steady Racing)
4 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (TOPP Motorsports)
4J NATE CARLE/West Harrison, IN (Fischesser-Owen Racing)
4K (R) KAYLA ROELL/Dillsboro, IN (Kayla Roell Racing)
5G (R) GUNNAR SETSER/Columbus, IN (KO Motorsports)
5T JAKE SWANSON/Anaheim, CA (Daming Swanson Motorsports)
6 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Mario Clouser Racing)
10 ARIC GENTRY/Robards, KY (Larry Gentry)
10s JAY STEINEBACH/Hudsonville, MI (Jay Steinebach)
17GP STEVIE SUSSEX/Tempe, AZ (Michael Dutcher Motorsports)
19 (R) HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19AZ MITCHEL MOLES/Raisin City, CA (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
20 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Chris Dyson Racing)
21AZ C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Team AZ-Curb-Agajanian Racing)
21B RYAN BARR/Piqua, OH (Barr Family)
23D BRYCE DUES/Russia, OH (Bryce Dues Racing)
23s MAX ADAMS/Loomis, CA (Simon Racing)
32 DEREK HASTINGS/Forest, OH (Ray Marshall Motorsports)
33m MIKE MILLER/Wapakoneta, OH (Ray Marshall Motorsports)
39 BRIGGS DANNER/Allentown, PA (Hogue Racing Enterprises)
39G MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
49 BRIAN RUHLMAN/Clarklake, MI (Brian Ruhlman)
54 MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (Matt Westfall)
57 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Abacus Racing)
71B BRAXTON CUMMINGS/Bedford, IN (Bub & Amanda Cummings)
71p (R) CHELBY HINTON/Dubberly, LA (Phillips Motorsports)
78 ROB CAHO JR./Rush City, MN (Rob & Darcie Caho)
83c CHANCE CRUM/Snohomish, WA (Crum Racing)
86 DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (CB Industries)
92 CHASE STOCKON/Fort Branch, IN (Tom & Laurie Sertich)
98 SABAN BIBENT/Cincinnati, OH (Wedgewood Motorsports)
98H (R) TODD HOBSON/Clyde, VIC (Wedgewood Motorsports)
(R) = Series Rookie
EXPECTED USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGET ENTRIES:
07 TIM KENT/Bristow, OK (Gariss-Jenkins)
4 (R) STEVEN SNYDER JR./Rising Sun, MD (RMS Racing)
4R RONNIE GARDNER/Corona, CA (RMS Racing)
7x CHASE STOCKON/Fort Branch, IN (Tim Engler)
14 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (4 Kings Racing)
14JB (R) JAKEB BOXELL/Zanesville, IN (4 Kings Racing)
19AZ HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
21K (R) CORD KISTHARDT/Hershey, PA (Cord Kisthardt)
40 (R) MACK LEOPARD/Beavercreek, OH (Chase McDermand Racing)
43 (R) GUNNAR SETSER/Columbus, IN (Kevin Arnold)
57 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Abacus Racing)
63 (R) CALE COONS/Greencastle, IN (Dooling Autosports-Curb-Agajanian)
67 JACOB DENNEY/Galloway, OH (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71B BRAXTON CUMMINGS/Bedford, IN (Robert Cummings)
71K CANNON MCINTOSH/Bixby, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
83 DRAKE EDWARDS/Peoria, AZ (CB Industries)
86 DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (CB Industries)
87 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (CB Industries)
97 GAVIN MILLER/Allentown, PA (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
97K KALE DRAKE/Collinsville, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
97x ZACH WIGAL/Belpre, OH (Pat O'Dell)
(R) = Series Rookie
EXPECTED USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRIES:
09 DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (Chris Dyson)
3 (R) ARIC GENTRY/Robards, KY (Tim & Linda Simmons)
6 JAKE SWANSON/Anaheim, CA (Klatt Enterprises)
7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
8 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Charles, MO (Steffens Motorsports)
9 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Chris Dyson)
10 BRIGGS DANNER/Allentown, PA (DMW Motorsports)
19 MITCHEL MOLES/Raisin City, CA (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
20 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Racing)
21 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Racing)
22 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)
24 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (John Haggenbottom)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Dave Berkheimer Motorsports)
32 GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN (Williams-Cory Racing)
38 (R) TOM SAVAGE/Red Lion, PA (Savage Motorsports)
49 BRIAN RUHLMAN/Clarklake, MI (Ruhlman Racing)
52 CARMEN PERIGO/Stoystown, PA (John Stehman)
54 MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (4 Kings Racing)
65 (R) TRAVIS MAHONEY/Oglesby, IL (SV Motorsports)
69 CHASE STOCKON/Fort Branch, IN (Pink 69 Racing)
71 (R) MIKE ADKINS/Bellevue, WA (Madkins Racing)
78 (R) ROB CAHO JR./Rush City, MN (Rob Caho Jr.)
79 (R) TIM KENT/Bristow, OK (James Hoover)
81 (R) CHELBY HINTON/Dubberly, LA (BCR Group)
86 CHASE DIETZ/York, PA (Bruce Lee)
88 (R) SABAN BIBENT/Cincinnati, OH (Sammy & Mouren Fetter)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Kazmark Motorsports)
97 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL (Hans Lein)
118 JIMMY LIGHT/West Springfield, PA (Mike Thomas)
166 (R) JOE TRENCA/Phoenix, NY (Karlsen Racing)
(R) = Series Rookie
2025 USAC POINT STANDINGS
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-774, 2-C.J. Leary-709, 3-Matt Westfall-582, 4-Kody Swanson-493, 5-Kyle Steffens-482, 6-Mario Clouser-450, 7-Dave Berkheimer-355, 8-Dakoda Armstrong-345, 9-Chase Stockon-310, 10-Taylor Ferns-299.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kyle Cummins-2568, 2-Mitchel Moles-2323, 3-Logan Seavey-2300, 4-Justin Grant-2206, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-2189, 6-Briggs Danner-2138, 7-C.J. Leary-2023, 8-Jake Swanson-1967, 9-Kale Drake-1811, 10-Robert Ballou-1693.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Cannon McIntosh-1055, 2-Justin Grant-1016, 3-Jacob Denney-969, 4-Kale Drake-956, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-945, 6-Gavin Miller-944, 7-Steven Snyder Jr.-848, 8-Drake Edwards-832, 9-Logan Seavey-783, 10-Gunnar Setser-747.
USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Kale Drake-213, 2-Briggs Danner-142, 3-Gunnar Setser-128, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-124, 5-C.J. Leary-113, 6-Justin Grant-109, 7-Logan Seavey-108, 8-Chase Stockon-98, 9-Kyle Cummins-96, 10-Hayden Reinbold-83.
ALL-TIME 4-CROWN NATIONALS FEATURE WINS:
19-Jack Hewitt (8 Silver Crown, 5 Sprint, 3 Midget, 3 Modified)
7-Tyler Courtney (1 Silver Crown, 3 Sprint, 2 Midget, 1 All Star Sprint)
7-Dave Darland (2 Midget, 1 Sprint, 4 Silver Crown)
5-Tracy Hines (2 Midget, 3 Sprint)
5-Logan Seavey (3 Silver Crown, 1 Sprint, 1 Midget)
5-Rich Vogler (4 Midget, 1 Sprint)
5-Chris Windom (2 Silver Crown, 1 Sprint & 2 Midget)
4-Rico Abreu (2 Midget, 1 All Star, 1 High Limit)
4-Steve Butler (2 Sprint, 2 Silver Crown)
4-Jerry Coons Jr. (2 Silver Crown, 1 Midget, 1 Sprint)
4-Kyle Larson (2 Midget, 1 Sprint, 1 Silver Crown)
4-J.J. Yeley (2 Midget, 2 Silver Crown)
3-Brady Bacon (1 Silver Crown, 1 Sprint, 1 All Star)
3-Bryan Clauson (2 Silver Crown, 1 Midget)
3-Steve Kinser (2 Sprint, 1 Silver Crown)
3-Larry Rice (2 Silver Crown, 1 Sprint)
3-Brian Ruhlman (3 Modified)
3-Joey Saldana (3 WoO)
2-Christopher Bell (1 Silver Crown, 1 Midget)
2-Jay Drake (2 Midget)
2-Tony Elliott (2 Sprint)
2-Justin Grant (2 Sprint)
2-Levi Jones (2 Sprint)
2-Bud Kaeding (2 Sprint)
2-C.J. Leary (1 Silver Crown, 1 Sprint)
2-Daison Pursley (1 Sprint, 1 Midget)
2-Donnie Moran (2 Late Model)
2-Billy Moyer (2 Late Model)
2-Johnny Parsons (2 Midget)
2-Aaron Reutzel (2 All Star)
2-Ken Schrader (1 Silver Crown, 1 Midget)
2-Ron Shuman (2 Silver Crown)
2-Jimmy Sills (1 Silver Crown, 1 Sprint)
2-Freddy Smith (2 Late Model)
2-Tony Stewart (1 Sprint, 1 Midget)
2-Brad Sweet (1 Sprint, 1 Midget)
1-Doug Ault (1 Late Model)
1-Robert Ballou (1 Sprint)
1-Spencer Bayston (1 Midget)
1-Jack Boggs (1 Late Model)
1-Randy Boggs (1 Late Model)
1-Jerry Bowersock (1 Modified)
1-Mike Brecht (1 Modified)
1-Kevin Doty (1 Sprint)
1-Robby Flock (1 Midget)
1-Stan Fox (1 Midget)
1-Dickie Gaines (1 Sprint)
1-Jeff Gordon (1 Midget)
1-Jac Haudenschild (1 WoO)
1-Kevin Huntley (1 Silver Crown)
1-Bobby Jacks (1 Stock)
1-Kasey Kahne (1 Midget)
1-Steve Knepper (1 Midget)
1-Joey Kramer (1 Modified)
1-John Lawhorn (1 Late Model)
1-Ian Madsen (1 All Star)
1-Thomas Meseraull (1 Sprint)
1-Mat Neely (1 Silver Crown)
1-C.J. Rayburn (1 Late Model)
1-Dean Roper (1 Stock)
1-Chad Ruhlman (1 Modified)
1-Jim Shereck (1 Modified)
1-Jason Sides (1 WoO)
1-Danny Smith (1 Sprint)
1-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1 Midget)
1-Danny Stratton (1 Midget)
1-Brian Tyler (1 Silver Crown)
1-Joe Wallace (1 Stock)
1-Greg Wilson (1 WoO)
1-Mitchel Moles (1 Silver Crown)
Our Partners
.png)
