Every time we attend a race, we hope to see something special – an amazing move to take the lead, a memorable duel, someone overcoming the odds stacked against them, or pretty much something you don’t see on a regular basis. These are those eight moments from the 2020 USAC National season that drew us out of our seats and made us say “wow!”
4. Selinsgrove Silver Crown Spectacular Belongs To Cottle
Oct 28, 2020
With four to go on a restart, the running order was C.J. Leary, Bacon and a suddenly surging Cottle, who started in 23rd and was involved in two separate stoppages during the first half, didn’t remain in third for long as he blitzed under Brady Bacon for second on the bottom of turn four with three laps remaining, then rapidly advanced on Leary.
Coming to the white flag, Cottle used a substantial run off the second turn to race around the outside of Leary entering turn three for the lead. Simultaneously, the returning car of Grant stopped on the front straightaway to bring out the yellow, sending Leary back to the front with Cottle second for a green-white-checkered finish. At that point, Cottle had an inkling that, while he was going to give everything he had to get past Leary, he was going to receive the same treatment from Leary to keep him behind.
Cottle, with a right rear tire with which he estimated as maybe having ‘just a couple more laps left,’ took the show into his own hands, squaring up Leary through turns three and four coming to the white flag, then swinging to the outside to rip around him to lead at the stripe by a car length before making a beeline to the bottom of turn one to take away the low line away from Leary.
