#11w - Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN)

7th Chili Bowl Appearance

Chili Bowl Main Event Starts: 5

Best Chili Bowl Finish: 5th (2002)

2003 Chili Bowl Results:

Friday: 1st in Heat 7; 3rd in B Feature 1; 6th in A Feature

Saturday: 2nd in B Feature 1; 16th in A Feature

Dave Darland is one of only four drivers to win championships in all three of USAC's major divisions.  Darland won the Silver Crown title in 1997, then won the Sprint Car title two years later in 1999.  Darland completed the Triple Crown with the Midget championship in 2001, then repeated as Midget champion in 2002.

In 2003, Darland finished a strong second in USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown points and eighth in both USAC Sprint Car and Midget points.  Darland scored his eighth career Silver Crown victory by winning at the Sprinfield mile and added a handful of Midget triumphs to the victory slate.

Midget wins included an impressive sweep of the four-night Buckeye Nationals that included stops at Attica, Fremont, Lima and Eldora.  Darland capped the 2003 season with a Terre Haute triumph to claim his second Hut Hundred victory.

After a fifth place Chili Bowl finish in 2002, Darland had charged all the way into second in 2003 before suspension problems sidelined him.  Darland joins forces with the strong Wilke-PAK team for this year's Chili Bowl Nationals.

Car Owner:  Wilke-PAK Motorsports

Chassis:  Stealth

Engine:  Mopar

Sponsors:  Team Mopar, Iron Out, Oxi-Clean, Kwik Change 

Photo:  Dave Darland after completing a sweep of the four-night USAC Midget Buckeye Nationals.  (Photo courtesy of Russ Labounty)