BROWNSBURG, Ind. – After a two-year hiatus from USAC Silver Crown racing, Ryan Newman will return to the driver’s seat for Saturday’s inaugural Hoosier Classic on August 14 at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Newman will drive in the 100-lap, $12,000-to-win event for Johnny Vance Racing in a car being constructed by 2005 Night Before the 500 winner Michael Lewis.
During his full-time USAC career in the late 1990s, Newman was a force at Lucas Oil Raceway, then known as Indianapolis Raceway Park. There, the South Bend, Indiana native won a total of six USAC features, five of which came behind the wheel of a midget and once in a USAC Silver Crown car during his championship season in 1999.
In fact, both of Newman’s first career USAC National Midget victory in 1997 as well as his initial Silver Crown triumph in 1999 came at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Following his USAC Silver Crown championship, Newman moved to the south where he’s been a regular in the NASCAR Cup Series for the past two decades. His NASCAR Cup resume consists of 51 poles and 18 victories and includes wins in the 2008 Daytona 500 and the 2013 Brickyard 400.
Newman’s ride for Saturday night is in tribute to Vance, who passed away in 2017. Vance was a USAC official, promoter and one of the winningest car owners in USAC history, earning three National car owner titles and 52 National wins. Newman raced in the USAC National Sprint Car and Silver Crown Series for Vance during the late 1990s-early 2000s.
Saturday’s inaugural Hoosier Classic will feature all three open wheel divisions back-to-back-to-back under the Saturday night lights, concluding with a $10,000-to-win 50-lap Championship Sprint Car feature, followed by a $10,000-to-win 50-lap Browns Oil Champion Midget feature and the grand finale, a 100-lap USAC Silver Crown race paying $12,000-to-win.