Prior to the 2003 racing season, Mopar and Tony Stewart Motorsports went into partnership in quest of championships in United State Auto Club (USAC) competition. “Mopar is very excited to partner with Tony to help power his goal of capturing three USAC racing division titles as an owner,” said Kevin Miller, Senior Manager of Mopar Brand Excitement. “We pride ourselves on providing the right tools and programs to help our dealers improve their competitive edge, so it is only natural to support our race teams in this same fashion.”

According to Jim Szilagi, who worked for Mopar from 1989 to 2009, Mopar and engine builder Gary Stanton had been involved USAC and World of Outlaw competition going back to Stanton’s being the team owner and engine builder as Jimmy Sills won the 1996 USAC Silver Crown Championship.

An impressive team of drivers were lined up for the USAC driving duties for Stewart Motorsports, including Jay Drake in the Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget Series, and JJ Yeley in the Sprint car series. Drake, of Val Verde, California had posted 19 USAC feature wins in 2000, tying a record held by AJ Foyt. Yeley, of Phoenix, Arizona won the Silver Crown Championship in 2002.

Gary Stanton and his engines.

Keith Kunz and George Snider also partnered in the Tony Stewart Motorsports venture, helping prepare the cars for Drake and Yeley. Jay Drake’s car was actually listed as owned by Keith Kunz and would prove to be the toughest competition for Yeley. A second Stewart entry was campaigned by Ventura, California’s Cory Kruseman. So, let’s take a look at how Yeley and Stewart Motorsports dominated the 2003 USAC Sprint Car Series.

When the season started, JJ Yeley and Tony Stewart Motorsports came out firing, and for all practical purposes Yeley took command of the USAC Sprint Car season early on with a win at Terre Haute in May. In the stretch of the next nine races, he won five features and finished second three times with his worst finish being fifth.

After a rainout at the scheduled season opener at Eldora on April 5, the season opened on the pavement the next day at Anderson (Indiana) Speedway with Yeley finishing second in the 50-lap main event. Yeley followed that up with quick time and a sixth on the dirt at Eldora, then a 5^th back on payment at Anderson and a fourth at Hawkeye Downs in Iowa which left him just one point behind Tracy Hines in the Championship battle.

Then came the Annual Tony Hulman Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track on May 17 and that’s when Yeley caught fire. First, he set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 19.329 seconds. Then in the feature, he started third row outside, but streaked into the lead before the field completed the first lap and drove away to a dominating win.

“We’re just getting in full swing here now.” said Yeley after the race. “The season has been great so far and we’re just going to keep working and doing what we’re doing. Hopefully, the wins will just keep on coming.”

After a second back on the pavement at Anderson, Yeley took the win at Eldora on May 25 then the following week took the lead from Levi Jones on lap 25 to win at Gas City. The following night luck played in Yeley’s favor as Jay Drake seemed to be in control of the feature at Lawrenceburg before his right rear tire went away, handing Yeley the lead and the win. A quick time and fifth place finish the following night back at Lawrenceburg and Yeley lead the points over Tracy Hines 633 to 552.

Jay Drake 2004 USAC Champion

The series was off until the four day Second Annual Mopar Buckeye Nationals in Ohio. At Attica, Yeley set fast time and won the feature. The next night at the New Fremont Speedway he settled for a runner-up finish. Then he won round three of the Mopar Buckeye Nationals at Limaland before finishing the Buckeye swing with a fourth at Eldora.

At the Rocky Mountain Classic at Pike’s Pike Speedway, Yeley led the first 12 laps before registering a DNF. Then at Toledo he finished second. Finally, on July 12 at Indianapolis Raceway Park he set fast time and then led the last 18 laps to win his first USAC Sprint Car pavement win of the season.

On July 17, it was the start of Indiana Sprint Weeks at the Twin Cities Speedway in North Vernon with Yeley leading all 30 laps in the feature. The next night at Gas City Yeley again led all 30 laps to increase his points lead. At Lincoln Park after setting fast time, he settled for second behind Jay Drake. Then at Tri-State Speedway he took the lead with five laps to go and won again.

JJ Yeley at Terre Haute by Jan Dunlap

Indiana Sprint Weeks continued for Yeley with a third at Kokomo, a fast time and a second-place finish at Lawrenceburg. Then a quick time and a win after leading the last 20 laps at Bloomington to score his 19^th overall USAC win of the season (11^th sprint car win) to tie the legendary AJ Foyt.

The Salem High Banks produced a 7^th place finish on payment after Yeley led for the first 35 of 50 laps. Then it was back to Terre Haute where he led the last 11 laps to score another win. Two non- points USAC/SCRA races saw a fourth at Farmers City and a second at Granite City. Then it was to the historic Nazareth Speedway where he led for 21 laps before giving way to Dave Steele and finishing second.

September came and Yeley scored his 13^th USAC Sprint Car win at the Route 66 Speedway in Joliet, Illinois by leading flag-to-flag. On September 19/20 they ran the historic Mopar Million at Eldora with 138 cars signing in. Yeley timed in third and finished fourth in the feature. As the season wound down it was back to Terre Haute for another win that went wire-to-wire. The season ended on October 8 at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte with Yeley posting a third-place finish.

When the 2003 USAC Sprint Car season ended JJ Yeley and Tony Stewart Motorsports had won 13 USAC Sprint Car features (plus one USAC/SCRA non-points race) and had run away with the USAC Sprint Car Championship with 1,935 points way ahead of second place Jay Drake with 1,583 points.

But Yeley’s domination of the USAC Sprint Series was only part of the USAC story 2003. He also won the USAC Silver Crown Championship and the USAC Midget Championship to become only the second driver to accomplish that feat. The other, his car owner Tony Stewart who did it in 1995.

So, what were the reasons for such a dominate season for Yeley and Tony Stewart Motorsports. Mopar Connection Magazine asked Richie Murray of USAC his thoughts on why the domination.

“2003 was when Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) officially entered USAC, and that helped Yeley benefit with way more resources, money and top-line mechanics,” recalls Murray.

“They had a massive shop and were professional in every aspect. Tony Stewart had factory backing from Mopar and TSR utilized a twister chassis that Yeley had dialed in perfectly, and practically no one else ran that chassis. It was a perfect match at the perfect time for Yeley and TSR.”

I feel like other USAC teams had to step up their game in the years that followed after being beaten so soundly,” continued Murray. “The other teams responded well but TSR was till the most successful team for much of the next decade.”

It certainly was total domination and Mopar and Gary Stanton horsepower added to the dominance.