Entering seven consecutive nights of competition at two of Florida’s most notable facilities, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing opened its 2020 sprint car calendar with a big agenda and padded it with big results, eventually capping its seven-day run with four top-10 finishes and highlighting all starts with back-to-back top-five performances against the All Star Circuit of Champions at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida.
Tim Shaffer, a former multi-time All Star Circuit of Champions champion and Knoxville Nationals champion, helped jump-start Tony Stewart Racing’s 2020 season, officially, by subbing-in for the three- time NASCAR Cup Series champion while he was under the weather. Shaffer filled Stewart’s shoes well and earned a pair of top-10 finishes during action at Volusia Speedway Park: sixth and ninth against the All Stars and Outlaws, respectively. Although Shaffer’s sixth-place outcome during All Star action was a result of Row 2, the Aliquippa, Pennsylvania-native was impressive against the World of Outlaws and earned his ninth-place outcome from the outside of Row 9.
After Shaffer’s five-day substitution at Volusia Speedway Park, Stewart was back in charge at East Bay Raceway Park, joining the All Star Circuit of Champions during the inaugural Jean Lynch Classic/All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Winn-Dixie. Two starts ended with back-to-back top-five finishes for the recent NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, winning each of his respective heat races in the process, as well as winning his respective dash on Monday.
“It definitely feels good to be back in the seat. I was under the weather a little bit during the events at Volusia, but I feel a lot better now and I’m ready to get after it,” Stewart expressed. “It will take a little bit of time for our team to become acclimated, but we have a lot of experience on our side, and I have a great crew that knows exactly what it takes to stay competitive and motivated during a busy stretch like this.”
Schatz grabs Outlaws opener
In traditional fashion, Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing opened their 2020 campaign with DIRTcar Nationals competition at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida, participating in five straight nights of action against the All Star Circuit of Champions and World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Feb. 5 through Sunday.
Despite his five-day stretch activating with a 20th-place performance on Feb. 5, forced to qualify for the evening’s All Star main event by way of a B-Main victory, the 10-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion rebounded in a big way and rattled off four consecutive top-10 finishes, including a victory against the Greatest Show On Dirt during its 2020 season opener on Feb. 7.
The victory, the first of Schatz’ season in the United States, was accomplished from the front row, forced to outduel fellow World of Outlaws full-timer and eventual Sunday night DIRTcar Nationals feature winner, Logan Schuchart. A power move at the exit of Turn 4 on Lap 27 sealed the deal, as Schatz utilized the thin cushion at the top of the speedway to drive around Schuchart and beat him in a drag race back to the flagstand.
Not only did Schatz win on Feb. 7 and secure a $10,000 payday, the 2019 World of Outlaws championship runner-up won his respective heat race and dash to kick off the evening program.
“I’m here. I’m happy. These (Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing) guys are motivated. They’re doing everything right. We’re going to have a lot of fun. We may not win as many races as we like, but we’re going to have fun along the way. And that’s the name of the game,” Schatz explained. “It’s always good to win the first one. That means you’re going to have a good year, but it’s that two-through-84 race that count more than the first and the last one.”
Sprint Car Hall announces inductees
A total of eight inductees were recently announced as the class of 2020 for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. A number of the individuals in this year’s class have an established connection relating to USAC.
Paul Leffler served in the capacity as both a car owner and builder, turning the wrenches as crew chief on three USAC National Sprint Car championship teams: Greg Weld (1967), Tom Bigelow (1978) and for his son Greg Leffler in 1979.
A builder of over 60 open wheel race cars, Leffler scored 29 USAC National Sprint Car victories as a car owner between 1966 and 1976, 14 of which came teamed up with Dr. Ward Dunseth and eight with Ralph Hulsman as a fellow entrant. Drivers who wheeled Leffler-owned cars to Victory Lane with the series include Jud Larson, Al Smith, Weld, Bob Wente, Bruce Walkup, Sammy Sessions, Larry Dickson, Tom Bigelow and Gary Bettenhausen.
Thirty-four additional USAC National Sprint car victories came for Leffler as a crew chief between 1977-80 with car owner Sherman Armstrong, Tom Bigelow, Johnny Parsons, Bubby Jones, Chuck Gurney, Greg Leffler, Sheldon Kinser and Bettenhausen. Bigelow’s 14-win season in 1977 still stands as the most victories by a driver in a single season with the series.
Jeff Swindell, who remains a successfully active wheelman in the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series, owns four career wins with the series, including the 1987 Hulman Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the 1990 Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Illinois) State Fairgrounds and the 1991 and 1993 Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The Germantown, Tennessee, racer picked up his, to date, only USAC National Sprint Car win in 1982 at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri
Greg Hodnett made four career USAC National Sprint Car starts, the first three of which came during USAC’s wing era in the late 1980s, early 1990s. His first start came in 1989, followed a by a pair in 1990 where he notched a career-best eighth at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois. His final USAC Sprint start came sans the wing during the Mopar Thunder at Eldora Speedway in 2004, where he finished 11th.
Walt Dyer’s famed “Brickmobile” made a rare appearance without a wing during the USAC National Sprint Car visit to Williams Grove Speedway in 1996, where the No. 461 finished runner-up with driver Lance Dewease in the seat for his only career start with the series.
Don Lamberti, co-founder of Casey’s General Stores has had the Casey’s signage on numerous cars and events with USAC over the years. Racing writer and historian L. Spencer Riggs has chronicled racing’s history from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the dirt tracks such as his book on Langhorne Speedway.
Although his racing exploits pre-date the formation of USAC, Bill Cummings was a standout on the AAA circuit, winning six times on the National Championship trail between 1930 and 1934 at Langhorne, Syracuse twice, Oakland, Detroit and culminating with a victory at the 1934 Indianapolis 500 en route to the AAA National title that very same year.
Those individuals, along with wing sprint car standout Tim Shaffer, will be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on May 30, during the 31st annual ceremonies in Knoxville, Iowa.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected]
