History
The Silver Crown Pavement car was an experiment by the United States Auto Club, with NASCAR blessing. The intent was to provide a Silver Crown car capable of being raced on asphalt tracks of 1 mile to 1 1/2 miles in length. The idea was to run the traditional Silver Crown cars on dirt tracks and the Pavement cars on asphalt tracks. The dirt type chassis were deemed too unsafe for the larger and faster tracks so the new design was built with the driver's safety a priority.
Bud Keading had a Silver Crown Dirt Car. He partnered with USAC star, the late Jason Leffler, to develop this pavement car so he could run all of the races in an attempt to win the overall Silver Crown National Driving Championship. The new Pavement Cars were immediately very competitive and exciting with straightaway speeds of 185+ mph. (Bud was clocked with a high of 203+ miles per hour!).
Bud proved very competitive in both Dirt and Pavement cars and won the USAC National Championships in 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately, the Pavement car was eliminated from the USAC schedule in 2008 due to a combination of the 2008 recession and club politics. (Bud went on to win an unprecedented third Silver Crown Championship in 2009, driving his traditional Dirt Car.
Although the Silver Crown Pavement Car was a short term (2 year) experiment, the car on display is the one that helped carry Bud to Championships in both of the years that the Pavement Cars were part of the Silver Crown Series.
2005/06 Silver Crown
- Year Built: 2005/06
- Vehicle Type Silver Crown Pavement Car
- Built By: DRC Chassis (Joe Devin)
- Length: 102 inch wheel base minimum
- Width: 1,700 lbs minimum
- Fuel Capacity: 65 Gallons
- Suspension: Solid Axles Front & Rear, Coil Over Shocks Front & Rear
- Engine: 355 cubic inch Chevy V8, Fuel Injected, Alcohol Fuel, Producing 800 HP +/-
- Owner: WOODLAND Auto Display