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bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING  09/20/2000

Dave Darland on the way to winning the USAC Midget feature at Salem Speedway on August 12, 2000

Bob Jennings   

I like this photo. I went to the USAC Sprint - Midget twin bill at Salem Speedway the night of August 12. For the first time, I carried a flash attachment to a race. My flash is a cheap, not too powerful Nikon Speedlight SB-15. For the midget feature I stood at the end of the backstretch in the infield by one of the floodlights illuminating the Salem half-mile oval during the midget feature. I must've been lucky, because the only photos I got were this one and another of Ed Carpenter's number 3. For the sprint feature I moved deeper into turn three, again directly behind another floodlight, but apparently my luck wasn't as good because none of those photos were worth using.

This photo has personality. It was good work however by a technician at Cord Camera, who put this photo on a CD, that makes it special. What do you think? When I get a photo like this one it gives me pleasure. It's one of the things heightens my passion for taking racing photos.

Dave Darland is one of my favorite drivers. He had a test at Texas Motor Speedway on September 12, driving a 1999 Dallara owned by Ron Hemelgarn. Darland ran a total of 59 laps with a top speed in the 205 mph range. Dave was given the test for winning the USAC Sprint feature at Toledo on July 9.

I want Darland to get a decent shot at the Indy Racing League and the "Indianapolis 500" in the worst way. This guy is a good racing driver. He's been one of the leading players in USAC for five or six seasons. He was the 1997 USAC Silver Crown champion and last season Dave won the USAC Sprint Car title. Darland has a total of six Silver Crown wins, 15 feature wins in the USAC sprinters and eight career feature victories in the USAC National Midgets.

Darland's USAC record this season isn't as impressive as 1999 when he was the leading race winner with 12 feature victories. Darland and Ryan Newman were the only drivers to win in all three USAC divisions last season. He won one Silver Crown race. He also took four feature wins in the sprint cars and seven midget feature victories. This season Darland has three USAC feature wins in the sprinters and the midget feature win at Salem, which I caught in the photo on this page.

Darland is from Kokomo, Indiana and as you can see from his USAC record so far this year, he races whenever he can. In addition to USAC, I believe Dave runs a lot of local sprint and midget shows around Indiana.

In 1985 Guy Nadeau and I met a dancer and her boyfriend at a local topless bar during the week of practice leading up to Pole day for the "Indianapolis 500." We became friendly with the couple. The boyfriend, a nice guy named Kevin, was a "dirt tracker" from Kokomo. Kevin used to drop by my apartment while he was waiting for the dancer (I can't think of her name right now) that summer. He talked a lot about Steve Kinser and the World of Outlaws. I bet Kevin knows Dave Darland. I received an invitation to their wedding (Kevin and the dancer) but I heard later they were divorced.

The car number 9 Darland is driving is probably the most recognizable racer in USAC. It's one of Steve Lewis Beasts that have been so successful in recent years. Tony Stewart, Kenny Irwin, Jason Leffler and Kasey Kahne have all won in the Lewis cars. In the next race I went to following the USAC twin bill at Salem, another Steve Lewis Beast was the winner. Leffler won the rain shortened USAC feature at Indianapolis Raceway Park. I was at Indianapolis Raceway Park this past Saturday night for a USAC Sprint - Midget "doubleheader." The Steve Lewis Beast cars were out in full force. Jason Leffler was the "runaway" winner in the 30-lap feature, driving car 19. Darland finished second in the number 9 car. Kasey Kahne driving car 91 finished fifth. Neither Ryan Newman nor Jay Drake had anything for Steve Lewis' triple threat.   

Dave Darland's 2000 USAC feature finishes through 09/16/2000