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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Kody Swanson (in black) battles with brother Tanner Swanson on his way to his third-straight USAC Silver Crown victory in Friday night's 'Dave Steele Carb Night Classic' at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. (David Nearpass Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Brownsburg, Indiana....May 25, 2018 - Winning three USAC Silver Crown Champ Car races in a row is an accomplishment of epic proportions. In fact, it's a feat that occurs so rarely, it took 13 seasons for it to happen again.

Perhaps there was something in the air that had Friday night's "Dave Steele Carb Night Classic" at Lucas Oil Raceway pegged as the spot where the monumental task would be accomplished.

After all, the last one to win three consecutive was none other than Dave Steele in 2005, the man who used the .686-mile paved oval as his personal playground and ATM between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s in USAC competition and the man whose life was honored Friday night.

Perhaps no driver marvels at the significance of the event more than Kody Swanson. One night following his fourth-straight "Hoosier Hundred" victory, Swanson was again on a mission to get the coveted trophy and winner's share totaling $17,000. But, this night had an extra emotional incentive factored in, winning the 100-lap event in memory of his late friend and mentor.

"Dave was an incredible competitor and his resume speaks for itself on the racetrack," Swanson praised. "He was a friend and a guy I looked up to. I miss him dearly. It's truly special to be able to compete in a race in his honor, and to win it is something else. Lynn and the Steele family are ones I care about so much. It's great to see them here tonight and to see what they put into this event as well. You could feel the buzz from the crowd. I really hope this is something that everyone enjoyed not only for the Silver Crown series, but in memory of Dave."

On this night, not only was a statistical accomplishment on the line, so were bragging rights among brothers. Tanner Swanson cashed in the fastest time in qualifying for a $1000 bonus, then elected to start the main event from the tail of the 22-car field, which would net him another bonus of $5000 if he could take the checkered flag.

A furious start saw new pole sitter Kody Swanson swap the lead with fellow front row starter Bobby Santos where they exchanged the lead multiple times in the opening laps before Kody cleared the most recent Silver Crown race winner at the track on lap three.

Meanwhile, Tanner was hauling the mail and, by lap 32, had moved into the top-five. Just like clockwork, three laps later, he was fourth. Another four laps clicked by, he was third.

By midway, it had become a three-car race at the front with Kody leading Aaron Pierce and Tanner who were stacking 'em deep and selling 'em cheap in rush traffic, running nose-to-tail one-two-three.

Kody went to the low line often to work around the lappers, keeping his ears tuned in to his wife, Jordan, for direction as she served as his eyes in the sky as a spotter for the DePalma Motorsports/Radio Hospital - Hampshire Racing Engines/Beast/Hampshire Chevy No. 63.

"My wife does an amazing job spotting," Swanson said. "On a night like this where strategy is so important, I could try whatever strategy I had because I knew they were coming. That played a huge role. You hate to say it's a radio race, but it is a strategy race. I feel like the Silver Crown series is open wheel's big-time. You can't ever give up. If you never do, breaks will go your way. And if you're close, maybe you'll come away with one here and there."

'If you even think about making a mistake, Tanner's going by you. I was fortunate that a couple of the spots played out in my favor and I was able to get clear. I had one spot where I knew he got to my outside. My only move left was to try and stay there on the bottom and do some sort of pick and roll and just hope that the lapped car occupied the space because I had been had.' - Kody Swanson (Dallas Breeze Photo)

After relentlessly working on Pierce for nearly one-third of the race, Tanner finally made the move on lap 68, sliding up in front of Pierce for second with an inside move in turn three. However, Tanner drifted up the racetrack, nearly collecting the outside SAFER barrier in the process. Pierce got back by momentarily, but it would be only four more laps before Tanner found a little bit of redemption, passing Pierce again, this time on the outside of turn two to take second.

"My goodness, multiple times I was three-wide in lapped traffic for the lead. Man, I sure hope people enjoyed that. I don't know how it could get any more nail-biting. If I hadn't have had both hands on the wheel, I think I would've been in the same boat. We survived that and were better after the caution. The longer it went, the tighter I got and, all the while, I have to withstand all these charges knowing Tanner's still coming and that maybe we hadn't seen anything yet."

The final sprint to the finish would now be a showdown between Kody and younger brother Tanner, the way it has so many times before. Kody had been the dominant force thus far, but Tanner was the show throughout the race, bringing the fans to their feet with several daring passes on his charge to the front past 20 other competitors in the first 72 laps, something that didn't surprise Kody one bit.

"I knew it wouldn't be long," Swanson admitted. "I've told people Dave (Steele) might've been the greatest of all-time in a pavement open wheel car. Tanner's got to be next. For as little as he races, the fact that he comes out and he's the guy. I'm biased, but I have to be. He's my brother and he's earned it, I think. He's put it on us for how many years out here now? Tonight, he spotted us the field! Not only has he been special in a Silver Crown car at this racetrack, he's been great in everything even as little as he gets to go."

On lap 87, with the laps winding down, Kody took every avenue he could to keep his hard-charging younger brother at bay. It looked like a race from the Thursday/Saturday Night Thunder era of the early 1990s with Kody using the Steve Butler line at the entry of turn one in an effort to get around the lapped car of Chris Windom, nearly clipping the grass with his left side tires. Meanwhile, Tanner was running the old groove that was popular before the repave job in the late 1990s, right up against the outside wall in the corners.

"If you even think about making a mistake, Tanner's going by you," Swanson pointed out. "I was fortunate that a couple of the spots played out in my favor and I was able to get clear. I had one spot where I knew he got to my outside. My only move left was to try and stay there on the bottom and do some sort of pick and roll and just hope that the lapped car occupied the space because I had been had."

Tanner was relentless in his approach, pulling alongside Kody on several occasions and appeared poised to make the winning pass with 10 laps remaining on the outside at the exit of turn two, but was shielded by a lapped car that shackled his momentum, allowing Kody to breakaway.

Simultaneously, Tanner's car began to run low on fuel, causing the engine of his Bowman/Elmore Racing #02 to sputter as Kody began to put a gap on the rest of the field and would finish it out with Silver Crown win number 22, which stands just one behind Jack Hewitt for the all-time series lead.

Tanner just missed an opportunity to become the track's winningest Silver Crown driver. He still stands at five alongside Mike Bliss. Aaron Pierce finished third with Bobby Santos and Chris Windom rounding out the top-five.

Only eight times previously has a driver gone back-to-back-to-back within the same season in Silver Crown competition, Mario Andretti (1974), Tom Bigelow (1975), Rick Hood (1985), Jack Hewitt (1986), J.J. Yeley (2003), Jay Drake (2004), Tyler Walker (2004) and Steele (2005).

Even rarer, though, is the driver who's won two Silver Crown races in two nights: Andretti at the Missouri and Illinois State Fairgrounds in 1974 and J.J. Yeley at Indianapolis Raceway Park and the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 2003.

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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 25, 2018 - Brownsburg, Indiana - Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis - "Dave Steele Carb Night Classic"

QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Swanson, 02, Bowman/Elmore-21.010; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-21.043; 3. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-21.083; 4. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-21.258; 5. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-21.438; 6. Chris Windom, 17, Nolen-21.451; 7. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-21.503; 8. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-21.518; 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 20, Nolen-21.529; 10. Jim Anderson, 92, Kazmark-21.602; 11. Eric Gordon, 21, Armstrong-21.621; 12. Austin Blair, 96, Blair-21.903; 13. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-21.974; 14. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-22.073; 15. Dave Darland, 32, Williams/Wright-22.084; 16. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Gerhardt-22.211; 17. Toni Breidinger, 80, Breidinger-22.262; 18. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-22.366; 19. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-22.385; 20. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-22.461; 21. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-22.481; 22. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-NT; 23. Mike Haggenbottom, 124, Haggenbottom-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Tanner Swanson (22), 3. Aaron Pierce (6), 4. Bobby Santos (2), 5. Chris Windom (4), 6. Justin Grant (5), 7. David Byrne (3), 8. Jim Anderson (8), 9. Eric Gordon (9), 10. Kyle Hamilton (21), 11. Travis Welpott (17), 12. Patrick Lawson (16), 13. Cody Gerhardt (14), 14. Dave Darland (13), 15. Kyle Robbins (11), 16. Toni Breidinger (15), 17. Matt Goodnight (12), 18. Bill Rose (18), 19. Jerry Coons Jr. (7), 20. Derek Bischak (20), 21. Austin Blair (10), 22. Mike Haggenbottom (19).
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Santos, Laps 2-100 K. Swanson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER AWARD: Tanner Swanson (22nd-2nd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Cody Gerhardt

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR POINTS: 1-K. Swanson-359, 2-Grant-260, 3-Byrne-240, 4-Windom-238, 5-Pierce-202, 6-Santos-198, 7-Welpott-188, 8-Goodnight-184, 9-Nemire-178, 10-Coons-170.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR RACE: June 29 - Oregon, Wisconsin - Madison International Speedway - "Bytec Dairyland 100"

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Kody Swanson celebrates his fourth-straight 'Hoosier Hundred' win Thursday night at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. (Dallas Breeze Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Indianapolis, Indiana.....May 24, 2018 -Al Unser and Kody Swanson. Of course, Al Unser's place in the history of the sport has long ago been cemented. Kody Swanson's legacy continues to grow with each race, each year.

Following Thursday night's 63rd running of the "Hoosier Hundred," those two names will forever be linked as drivers who've mastered the 100-mile event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in four consecutive attempts. Unser got the job done in 1970-71-72-73 and now Swanson in 2014-15-16-18 (2017 was rained out).

It's a feat that the Kingsburg, California driver admits he's unsure will ever sink in. But this had a slightly different feel for the three-time Silver Crown champion. Rather than settling in and then pouncing to the lead about two-thirds of the way in as he had during his first three wins, Swanson became the rabbit early on after starting from the pole position, setting the pace.

"Sometimes coming from fourth or sixth is ideal here," Swanson explained. "Winning the pole is important and getting those three bonus points is important. Two years ago, it proved that every point counts. I've won the pole before and still rode in third or fourth for a while. Tonight, the racetrack was different. I know the other three all came about the same way, but believe it or not, it wasn't just by design. You try to run each race independently, try to manage your tires, your situation, your brakes and they happened to work out the same as those ones. I'd say it's coincidence as much as anything."

"Obviously, the later it gets, the more time becomes of the essence," Swanson continued. "The way the racetrack was, I didn't feel like I wanted to be fourth or sixth because there are a lot of good cars and maybe you don't have as many passing opportunities to get them back. I was okay with leading early, for a little while, but the harder they wanted to press, the less I was okay with it. I didn't want to get off my game because of what was going on behind me."

At the start, Swanson set the tone, but two-time Du Quoin "Ted Horn 100" winner Shane Cockrum was an early challenger, peeking the nose of his No. 71 high and low on both ends of the racetrack on lap 12 before falling into line. There wasn't much time for riding around, though, and eight laps later, two-time USAC National Sprint Car champ Brian Tyler stormed to second past Cockrum and quickly closed in on leader Swanson.

A yellow on lap 21 slowed the pace for a moment, but not Tyler's. Tyler checked high, he checked low and, on lap 29, got a run on Swanson down the front straightaway that propelled him into the lead on lap 29. Tyler quickly put a large gap between he and Swanson which grew to four-plus seconds by lap 40 when the yellow flag flew following series Rookie Kyle Robbins' turn three wall contact.

Sometimes plans change mid-stream and, when constant pressure was being applied to from Tyler, Swanson admitted that the game plan changed.

"It's hard," Swanson admits. "I'm trying to win the Depalmas a fifth-straight title, which has never been done. If I had let somebody outthink me, and I blow a tire and give it away, then that's on me. I got to a spot where I couldn't do it anymore. He got a big run and that seemed like the right time to change strategy a little bit and I tried to save as much as I could. If I'm going to be behind, I might as well save everything I can."

Kody Swanson equaled Al Unser's record of four-straight 'Hoosier Hundred' wins set from 1970-73. (Rich Forman Photo)

"The racetrack was different and what it was going to require was different," Swanson continued. "I hated leading early. I mean, I just hated it. Cockrum was good and (Shane) Cottle was good. I knew Tyler would be good too. If Tyler qualifies in the top-18, he's going to be good. I know that from being his teammate. He was pushing hard, and I wasn't going to hold him off for 70 (laps) in a row. He wanted to go faster than I felt I could go at the time."

Following the lap 44 restart, Tyler reestablished a stranglehold at the front, but in racing, things can change in a hurry. On the 56th lap, Tyler made contact with a piece of brake rotor that came off Chris Windom's car, sending Tyler hard into the outside wall and ending dreams of a first "Hoosier Hundred" victory for the veteran driver.

During that 12-lap stint following the restart, Swanson was fully-entrenched in his game plan, hanging a little bit closer to Tyler than before the yellow.

"We caught a caution there and I felt like I tried to stay with him a little bit and felt like I could," Swanson said. "It wasn't as easy to run him down as I was hoping. I felt like we could stay with him, and maybe the longer it went, the more things would come to us. You watch their cars and I could tell he was very good through the corner and good off the corner. I felt like we were running awful hard and I absolutely hated to see that happen to him. Brian's been a teammate, he's a friend of mine and I know he's been after a "Hoosier Hundred" win for a long time. I can't say that I would've gotten him, but I was going to give it everything I had at the end, but so would he, and he's very good."

When racing resumed, the show came down to a two-horse race between Swanson and Cockrum. Swanson established his dominance by never wavering from 10-15 car-length lead as the two orchestrated a cat-and-mouse chase through lapped traffic. However, each time Cockrum seemed to move his chess piece past one obstacle, Swanson picked one off himself and never gave Cockrum an opportunity to shave off any of the interval.

A lap 88 yellow for a turn three crash involving Jerry Coons, Jr. erased the gap, albeit momentarily. Swanson never allowed Cockrum to get close enough to challenge, finishing out an incredible run of success on the Indy Mile, winning by 2.7 seconds over Cockrum, Tyler Courtney, Cottle and a career-best finish for birthday boy Johnny Petrozelle.

The win was the 21st of Swanson's Silver Crown career, moving him to within two of Jack Hewitt's record 23 victories.

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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 24, 2018 - Indianapolis, Indiana - Indiana State Fairgrounds - 63rd "Hoosier Hundred"

QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-33.522; 2. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-33.722; 3. Shane Cockrum, 71, Hardy Boys-33.921; 4. Chris Windom, 17, Nolen-34.496; 5. Brian Tyler, 12, Galas-34.626; 6. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-34.749; 7. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-34.808; 8. Chris Dyson, 9, Dyson-34.843; 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-34.946; 10. A.J. Fike, 711, Hardy-Boys-35.049; 11. Joe Liguori, 4, Liguori-35.053; 12. Jeff Swindell, 21, Swanson-35.089; 13. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR Racing-35.136; 14. Coleman Gulick, 114, Team Scorpion-35.251; 15. Kevin Thomas Jr., 56, Foxco-35.307; 16. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-35.370; 17. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-35.400; 18. Johnny Petrozelle, 8, Cornell/Petrozelle-35.484; 19. Mike Haggenbottom, 124, Haggenbottom-35.563; 20. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-35.651; 21. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-35.723; 22. J.C. Bland, 5, BBE-35.730; 23. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-35.745; 24. Austin Mundie, 47, Butler-35.818; 25. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-35.985; 26. Neil Shepherd, 04, Shepherd-36.021; 27. Dave Darland, 75, Rose-36.244; 28. Casey Shuman, 55, Bateman-36,297; 29. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-36.306; 30. Steve Buckwalter, 53, Five-Three-36.415; 31. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-36.556; 32. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-36.722; 33. Daniel Robinson, 43, Felker/Nix-37.476; 34. Ken Schrader, 14, McQuinn-37.525; 35. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-38.843; 36. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-39.734; 37. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-41.079; 38. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-NT.

QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Shepherd, 2. Shuman, 3. Bacon, 4. Darland, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Weyant, 7. Lawson, 8. Rose, 9. Robinson, 10. Welpott, 11. Schrader, 12. Nemire, 13. Berkheimer.

FEATURE: (100 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Shane Cockrum (3), 3. Tyler Courtney (6), 4. Shane Cottle (2), 5. Johnny Petrozelle (18), 6. Jacob Wilson (21), 7. Joe Liguori (11), 8. David Byrne (15), 9. Dave Darland (28), 10. Austin Mundie (24), 11. Austin Nemire (29), 12. Matt Goodnight (19), 13. Chris Windom (4), 14. Mike Haggenbottom (17), 15. Casey Shuman (26), 16. Chris Dyson (8), 17. Korey Weyant (30), 18. Jerry Coons Jr. (9), 19. Brady Bacon (25), 20. Steve Buckwalter (27), 21. Justin Grant (16), 22. Travis Welpott (32), 23. Brian Tyler (5), 24. C.J. Leary (7), 25. Kyle Robbins (31), 26. Kevin Thomas Jr. (13), 27. J.C. Bland (22), 28. Russ Gamester (20), 29. Jeff Swindell (12), 30. Neil Shepherd (23), 31. Coleman Gulick (14), 32. A.J. Fike (10).
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-28 Swanson, Laps 29-55 Tyler, Laps 56-100 Swanson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER AWARD: Dave Darland (28th to 9th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Chris Windom

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Swanson-286, 2-Grant-205, 3-Byrne-188, 4-Windom-180, 5-Nemire-168, 6-Goodnight-155, 7-Welpott-147, 8-Coons-145, 9-Pierce-138, 10-Bobby Santos-137.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR RACE: May 25 - Brownsburg, IN - Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis - "Dave Steele Carb Night Classic"