#11w - Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN)

9th Chili Bowl Appearance

Chili Bowl Main Event Starts: 7

Best Chili Bowl Finish: 3rd (2005)

2005 Chili Bowl Results:

Friday: 1st in Heat 4; 3rd in A Feature

Saturday: 3rd in A Feature

The former USAC Triple Crown winner enjoyed yet another strong season of wingless racing action in 2005, racking up 15 wins, 47 top-fives and 70 top-tens in 95 total feature starts in Sprints, Midgets and Silver Crown.

Darland drove Jeff Walker's entry to a ranking of 2nd in USAC National Sprint Car points, also finishing fourth in the O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT swing.  Darland also earned a ranking of sixth in USAC Midget points despite missing some events along the way.

Darland closed out the '05 season in strong fashion, banking a $30,000 payday by topping Perris Auto Speedway's Oval Nationals on November 5, then scoring another $15,000 win a week later in Manzanita's Western World Classic.  The two lucrative triumphs ran his sprint car win total to eleven on the year.

Darland also picked up three Midget feature wins in '05, including a triumph in the Belleville Midget Nationals prelim on July 29.  Darland was also a winner in the USAC Silver Crown portion of Eldora Speedway's Four Crown Nationals on September 24.

Darland has made it to the Chili Bowl championship finale in seven of eight attempts and finished a close third in '05.  Other top runs include a fifth in 2002 and a tenth in 2004.  Will try to give the Wilke-Pak team two wins in a row after teammate Tracy Hines took the '05 edition.

Car Owner:  Wilke-PAK Motorsports

Chassis:  Spike

Engine:  Stanton Mopar

Sponsors:  Kwik Change, Gary Stanton Mopar, Hoosier Tire, Kenny's Components, Spike, Speedway Motors, Schoenfeld Headers

Photo:  Dave Darland in victory lane with Sprint Car owner Jeff Walker at Kokomo Speedway.