In what was a surprising and perhaps shocking ending to the 1996 USAC Silver Crown Series, Stanton Racing, Jimmy Sills and Mopar pulled out not only a race win but a season championship on the last lap of the last race of the season.

“I didn’t know I’d won the championship until after I pulled into victory lane,” Jimmy Sills said in reflecting on the 1996 USAC Silver Crown finale held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in California. “When I went by Kenny (Irwin, Jr.), I couldn’t tell who it was, He was up against the outside concrete and it was shaded up there, so I wasn’t sure who it was. I just figured we were second in points.” continued Sills.

Sills’ unexpected Silver Crown title came as the result of an outstanding run of success for him and his Mopar-powered Stanton Racing team. After getting off to a slow start, the team posted two wins and four seconds in the last eight races which allowed him to win the title over Irwin by 42 points.

The season started off on a bad note for Sills as he failed to finish in either of the first two races, first at the Copper World Classic in Phoenix then at Indianapolis Raceway Park before posting a seventh- place finish at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Then came his surprising win at Richmond International Raceway in June. That win produced the first victory for a Chrysler engine in Silver Crown History. Sills then posted four runner-up finishes and the Del Mar victory on his way to the championship.

So, let’s take a look at the 1996 USAC Silver Crown season. The season kicked off at the Copper World Classic in Arizona at the Phoenix International Raceway from February 2/4. Things started off on the right foot for the Stanton team as Sills qualified the Stanton #75 on the pole of a field of 58 entries with a lap of 26.501 seconds.

The 50-lap feature was another matter. After leading the 30-car field to the green and leading the first three laps, Sills surrendered the lead and eventually retired from the event in 25^th place with brake issues.

Next up and still on the pavement was Indianapolis Raceway Park on May 18. Things just did not go well at all for the Stanton Racing Team as first Sills qualified 29^th out of 45 cars. As the top twenty were locked into the feature, this put them in one of two qualifying races. In his 15-lap qualifier, Sills came home 5^th which meant he started 29^th in the feature. In a non-eventual race, he finished 15^th.

The Hoosier Hundred proved some ups & downs, but some hope as well. The race was rained out on May 24, so on the 25^th time trials were eliminated, and 17 drivers were locked in from points with 13 more added from the consolation event.

Things started out great with Sills starting second and grabbing the lead and opening a three- second before the red flag waved on lap 31 for an accident. When racing resumed Sills continued to lead but was pressured by George Snider until the yellow waved on lap 64 when disaster hit as Sills right rear tire went flat. The crew got the tire changed but not before going down a lap and Sills drove hard to finish seventh.

The next Silver Crown race which was at Richmond International Raceway was a pivotal and historic race for the team and for Mopar. Sillis qualified sixth for the event then ran the whole 134-lap race without a pit stop taking the lead on lap 58 and leading the remainder of the race to not only win the race but give Mopar its’s first USAC open wheel win since 1969 when Art Pollard won the Indy Car race at Dover with Plymouth power.

“Gary (Stanton) had the car ready, the Mopar engine ran great, and the right-rear tire stayed with us.” said Sills after the race.

When the series moved back to IRP on July 31 for the DuPont 100, Sills qualified second behind series point’s leader Kenny Irvin, Jr. Irvin, Jr. lead the entire 100 laps with Sills having a good run and finishing second.

At the dirt mile at DuQuoin on September 2 for the DuQuoin 100, Sills qualified sixteenth and had a mediocre showing coming home in 17^th.

On September 14, it was back to a dirt mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield for a race that was rained out in August. Again, the team qualified second. The race turned out to be a battle between Sills and another California ace Chuck Gurney.

The third starting Gurney made a banzai move on lap one and grabbed the lead on the opening lap and led the entire race but not without Sills being there all race long. Sills made a late race charge but to no avail and registered another second-place finish.

Both drivers experience trouble getting through lapped traffic and they also experience some handling problems, partly because the racing was usually run in warmer conditions in August. “We never ran here when the temperatures were this cool.” said Sills after the race. “You usually try to save your tires here (because it’s always hotter in August). We could have pushed a little harder.”

In late September, after the original date was rained out, it was off to the legendary Eldora Speedway in Ohio for the 16^th running of the Four Crown event. Keeping it steady, Sills again qualified second for the feature.

At the drop of the green, Sills took the lead and led the first 26 laps before surrendering the lead to eventual race winner Jack Hewitt. Sills drove a steady race to the checkers, officially being scored second after the second finishing car was disqualified for being too light at the scales. This gave the Stanton team the Silver Crown points lead 911 to 891 with two races to go. As a side note, Sills won the companion 30-lap USAC Sprint Car feature over Hewitt driving a Stanton Mopar powered Sprint car.

Just when things started looking rosy for the team, disaster struck at the Cal Expo State Fairgrounds in Sacramento on October 12. Things started out great with Sills setting fast time with a lap of 32.520 seconds. Then he led the race for 31 laps before sliding into the concrete barrier in turn four. Sills was uninjured but done for the day. Officially they finished in 26^th position.  Worse, going into the final race of the season at Del Mar they were suddenly 138 points behind the leader.

On October 20, a crowd of 15,631 fans were on hand to watch the first auto race at the Del Mar track in 47 years. Actually, it was a boring race, until what happened on the final lap. Jimmy Sills blistered the track in qualifying with a lap of 32.871 far better than the second fasted lap of 33.30.

When the race started, Sills was dominating and drove away to a lead that at times was a half lap on the big mile. His foe was the track, and his machine. The sand was soft, and holes were forming every lap. As for his machine, it didn’t miss a beat.

Then on the final lap with Sills well out front and series points leader Kenny Irwin, Jr. in fourth, Irwin’s tire blew in turn one and he made contact with another driver and ended up in the guardrail. Sills flashed across to take the checkers and Irwin ended up being scored 11^th. Jimmy Sills, Gary Stanton and Mopar had just won the USAC Silver Crown Championship by 42 points.

“It was unbelievable, the whole week was unbelievable.” commented Sills.

“We had written the title off after the DNF at Sacramento,” said Stanton. “Then when I heard Kenny (Irwin) had stopped in turn four at Del Mar. I thought it was on the cool down lap as we had already taken the checkers.”

“It’s been a two-year program,” engine builder, chief mechanic and team manager Gary Stanton said. “We approach every race with the thought of winning and Richmond finally produced the desired results. Our 1995 problems were not engine related, so we really thought we had a good chance at the title this year. But I have to be honest. We were shocked at the Del Mar results, not with winning the race but winning the title. It took three days to really realize we had won the championship.”