Darland Moves into Tie for Second-most USAC Sprint Fast Times
Perris, California………Qualifying is an essential aspect in the sport of auto racing, usually setting the tone for the night and putting a driver in position to claim the checkered flag at the end of the night.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the top-three drivers in terms of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victories are also one-two-three on the all-time list for most fast qualifying times with the series.
Tom Bigelow remains at the top with a staggering 65 fast qualifying times in his career, but with his fast time at Arizona Speedway’s “Western World Championships” last Saturday, Dave Darland moved into a tie for second with Tracy Hines at 60 fast times.
Darland is the series’ winningest driver at 62 feature victories and owns the most starts in series history at 731, but soon could be closing in another record in the 2019 season. Three races remain this week, November 8-9-10 in conjunction with the USAC/CRA Sprints in the 23rd annual Budweiser “Oval Nationals” presented by All Coast Construction at California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
On Thursday and Friday, the pits open at noon, front gates open at 4 pm, drivers meeting at 4:30 pm and cars on track at 5:30 pm. On Saturday, the pits open at noon, front gates open at 3 pm, autograph session from 3-4pm, drivers meeting at 4:30 pm and cars on track at 5:15 pm.
All three nights will be live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ with live audio also available on the USAC app. You can also catch all the action a day later, on-demand, at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FAST QUALIFYING TIMES
(1961-Present)
1. (65) Tom Bigelow
2. (60) Dave Darland & Tracy Hines
4. (39) Levi Jones
5. (37) Larry Dickson
6. (36) Bryan Clauson
7. (35) Rich Vogler
8. (32) Brady Bacon
9. (31) Sheldon Kinser
10. (30) Pancho Carter
11. (27) Dave Steele
12. (26) Jay Drake & Kevin Thomas, Jr.
14. (24) Gary Bettenhausen, Chase Stockon & J.J. Yeley
17. (23) Jon Stanbrough
18. (22) Steve Butler
19. (20) Jerry Coons, Jr. Tony Elliott & Roger McCluskey
22. (19) Justin Grant & Greg Weld
24. (17) Don Branson & A.J. Foyt
26. (16) Rollie Beale, Jack Hewitt & Doug Kalitta
29. (15) Kenny Irwin, Jr., Sam Sessions & Brian Tyler
32. (14) Billy Cassella & Parnelli Jones
34. (13) Bobby East & Bruce Walkup
36. (12) Steve Chassey, Damion Gardner, Rick Hood, C.J. Leary, Bill Puterbaugh & Joe Saldana
42. (11) George Snider
43. (10) Sonny Ates
44. (9) Jim Hurtubise, Jud Larson, Eddie Leavitt, Johnny Rutherford & Josh Wise
49. (8) Robert Ballou, Bubby Jones, Kelly Kinser & Chris Windom
53. (7) Marvin Carman, Mark Cassella, Cary Faas, Bud Kaeding, Jim Keeker, Cory Kruseman, Larry Rice, Hunter Schuerenberg, Mike Spencer, Bud Tingelstad & Bobby Unser
64. (6) Mike Bliss, Daron Clayton, Shane Cottle, Derek Davidson, Eric Gordon, Richard Griffin, Jac Haudenschild, Tray House, James McElreath, Thomas Meseraull, Johnny Parsons & Ken Schrader
76. (5) Chad Boespflug, Tyler Courtney, Cy Fairchild, Blake Fitzpatrick, Bob Frey, Andy Michner, Jan Opperman, Boston Reid, Tom Sneva, Robbie Stanley, Brad Sweet & Kevin Thomas
88. (4) Jeff Bloom, Kevin Briscoe, Kyle Cummins, Billy Engelhart, Chet Fillip, Darren Hagen, Chuck Hulse, Kenny Jacobs, Lee Kunzman, Jim McElreath, Don Nordhorn, Dave Peperak, Billy Puterbaugh, Jr., Joey Saldana, Terry Shepherd, Carson Short, Ron Shuman, Mitch Smith & Bob Wente
107. (3) Tommy Astone, Dave Blaney, Karl Busson, Kevin Doty, Brian Gerster, Todd Gibson, Jeff Gordon, Gary Gray, John Heydenreich, Gordon Johncock, Greg Leffler, Ralph Liguori, Steve Long, Larry Martin, Justin Marvel, Jason McCord, Larry Moore, Mat Neely, Ryan Newman, Lee Osborne, Brandon Petty, Jerry Poland, Bob Pratt, Brady Short, Danny Smith, Tony Stewart, Dean Thompson, Dick Tobias, Scotty Weir, Cole Whitt and John Wolfe
139. (2) Jarett Andretti, Mario Andretti, Keith Bloom, Chuck Booth, Don Brown, Duke Cook, Allen Crowe, Nic Faas, Larry Gates, Gene Lee Gibson, Coleman Gulick, Dave Hanna, Darl Harrison, Shane Hmiel, Josh Hodges, Marc Jessup, Brad Marvel, Max McGhee, Kevin Miller, Dustin Morgan, Brad Noffsinger, Gary Patterson, Byron Reed, Jerry Richert, Dave Roahrig, Jimmy Sills, Al Smith, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Greg Stephens, Stevie Sussex, Kody Swanson, Tyler Thomas, Jerry Weeks, Johnny White, Carl Williams & Jacob Wilson
184. (1) Pat Abold, Donnie Adams, Bobby Adamson, Mark Alderson, Chuck Amati, Dick Atkins, Terry Babb, Brent Beauchamp, Ryan Bernal, Lee Brewer, Jr., Dale Burton, Gary Cameron, Larry Cannon, Billy Cantrell, Dana Carter, Rob Chaney, Bob Cicconi, Leon Clum, Peter Cozzolino, Don Davis, Doc Dawson, Brad Doty, Cotton Farmer, Dave Feese, Braylon Fitzpatrick, Brad Fox, Jared Fox, Joe Gaerte, Harry Garrett, Rickie Gaunt, Elmer George, Bobby Grim, Chuck Gurney, Norm Hall, Jerry Hansen, Brian Hayden, Jonathan Hendrick, Hank Henry, Tyler Hewitt, Ted Hines, Jesse Hockett, Bob Hogle, Danny Holtsclaw, Kevin Huntley, Gary Irvin, Mike Johnson, Dee Jones, Page Jones, Todd Kane, Ray Kenens, Joey Kerr, Rich Leavell, Jason Leffler, Michael Lewis, John Logan, Ed Lynch, Jr., Critter Malone, Louie Mann, Mike Mann, Charlie Masters, Rusty McClure, Wes McIntyre, Blake Miller, Jerry Miller, Jr., Ron Milton, Hal Minyard, Matt Mitchell, Warren Mockler, Mike Mosley, Mike Murgoitio, Paul Pitzer, Gary Ponzini, Ande Possman, Roger Rager, Davey Ray, Jerry Richert, Jr., Red Riegel, Travis Rilat, Manny Rockhold, Bill Rose, Joe Roush, Jerry Russell, Bobby Santos, Don Schilling, John Sernett, Neil Shepherd, Jeremy Sherman, Dean Shirley, Eric Shively, Randy Smith, Wib Spalding, Ned Spath, Greg Staab, Steve Stapp, Richard Summers, Jake Swanson, Jeff Swindell, Kevin Swindell, Sammy Swindell, Tom Tepe, Leon Thickstun, Richard Vander Weerd, Jonathan Vennard, Billy Vukovich, Billy Vukovich III, Lennie Waldo, Gus Wasson, Shawn Westerfeld, Tony Weyant, Austin Williams, Rip Williams, Eddie Wirth & Mitch Wissmiller
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Sources: Richie Murray – USAC Media
David Nearpass Photo