SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Selinsgrove Speedway and the United States Auto Club will present the Bill Holland Classic for the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series on Aug. 9, 2020.
The first-ever visit by the Silver Crown division to the Selinsgrove half-mile oval will feature the wingless warriors in a 74-lap race that will not only honor the memory of late Hall-of-Fame driver Bill Holland, but also commemorate the speedway’s 74th anniversary.
Holland, of Reading, Pa., won the first race at Selinsgrove Speedway on July 20, 1946, and went on to win the 1949 Indianapolis 500. Although Holland never won a USAC race, his career was legendary in AAA competition, the predecessor to USAC’s formation in 1955.
Holland died in 1984 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, and was inducted posthumously into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Silver Crown Champ Car Series drivers will race for $8,000 to win and the inaugural Holland Classic trophy out of a $33,000 purse.
“A Silver Crown Champ Car race at Selinsgrove will be the perfect homage to one of auto racing’s most accomplished drivers,” said speedway general manager Steve Inch. “Several Silver Crown drivers visited the speedway last summer and noted the track’s size and sweeping turns will make it an ideal venue for a Champ Car event.”
Similarly, USAC series director Levi Jones, a two-time USAC Silver Crown champion driver himself, is honored to have the series makes its debut at the central Pennsylvania track.
“Pennsylvania is a hotbed of dirt track auto racing and it’s a thrill to bring USAC’s brand of racing to Selinsgrove Speedway,” Jones said. “The Silver Crown series has a legendary legacy with many of the greatest names in the sport winning races and championships that continues to this day. It will be exciting for all of us to see the kind of show that the Silver Crown cars and the drivers will put on at Selinsgrove for the first time.”
With the pit area moved outside of the track in 2018, fans will have an unobstructed view of the wingless open wheelers on Aug. 2.
In its storied history, USAC has sanctioned only one previous event at Selinsgrove, a wingless sprint car race won by Hall-of-Famer Mitch Smith of Linglestown, Pa., in 1971.
Additional details on the event, including support divisions, will be released as they become finalized.