2024 USAC Silver Crown at Salt City Speedway

USAC Silver Crown Results Saturday At Salt City Speedway

USAC Silver Crown results at Salt City Speedway on Saturday, July 20, 2024.

Jul 21, 2024 by Tyler Burnett

USAC Silver Crown Results Saturday At Salt City Speedway

After five career runner-up finishes in USAC Silver Crown competition, Kevin Thomas Jr. had no desire for any more “second” thoughts during Saturday night’s inaugural Murphy Tractor & Equipment Salt City 100 at Hutchinson, Kansas’ Salt City Speedway.

Thomas’ (Cullman, Ala.) quest for his initial series victory didn’t exactly occur in a straightforward manner. First, Thomas was brought to the Chris Dyson Racing/Concord American Flagpole – Macri Concrete – High Performance Lubricants/Maxim/Ott Chevy in a substitute role while the team’s regular driver, Brady Bacon, was competing in the Kings Royal at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.

Secondly, in a late-race battle for the lead between Thomas and C.J. Leary, the two touched wheels, resulting in Leary toppling over while Thomas continued onward to victory, casting a bit of a pall over his long-awaited Silver Crown celebration.

“I’m going to start off by apologizing to C.J. and everybody over there on the Klatt Enterprises team,” Thomas stated. “C.J. and I have been friends for 10-plus years, and we’ve never touched. That was piss poor judgement on my end. He’s one of my better friends and that really sucks.”

Nonetheless, Thomas’ $10,000 victory extended a remarkable streak of first-time USAC Silver Crown winners. A brand-new first-time series victor has emerged in each of the past three events: Daison Pursley (Port Royal), Dakoda Armstrong (Madison) and now Kevin Thomas Jr. (Salt City).

That’s the first time there have been three consecutive first-time Silver Crown winners in as many races since 2010 when Tanner Swanson (Berlin), Kody Swanson (Du Quoin) and Bryan Clauson (Eldora) reeled off first-time series wins in succession.