Archive for USAC Silver Crown
Kyle Larson Charges from 22nd to Win Hoosier Hundred
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
KYLE LARSON CHARGES FROM 22ND TO WIN HOOSIER HUNDRED
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Indianapolis, Indiana (August 21, 2020).........It's not often that a driver can win the pole and also start from the back, charge to the front and win all in the same race. But, as the 2020 racing season has repeatedly asked us, is there anything Kyle Larson can't do?
In his first USAC Silver Crown appearance in eight seasons, Larson achieved another remarkable feat Sunday night at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the 65th running of the Hoosier Hundred after he and his team opted to change the right rear tire following Fatheadz qualifying on his Sean Michael Motorsports/JVI Group - Heffner Racing Enterprises - Blazer's Body Shop/Maxim/Kistler Chevy, gladly accepting the penalty that came along with it that sent him to the back of the pack for the start of the 100-lap main event on the one-mile dirt oval.
After initially qualifying for the pole position with the fastest single lap turned in the event in a quarter century, the decision sent Larson, along with six others who chose to swap out their right rear rubber, to the tail for the start. Specifically, Larson was re-slotted in the 22nd starting spot, which elevated Hoosier Hundred Rookie Logan Seavey and veteran C.J. Leary to the front row.
"I think we made a good call there to give up our qualifying position to put on a harder compound tire which allowed me to be aggressive all race long," Larson revealed.
That mentality of aggressiveness from Larson was evident early and often from the drop of the green flag which saw Leary shoot out to the lead from his outside front row starting spot to lead early. Meanwhile, two separate hard charges were simultaneously taking place. Defending Hoosier Hundred winner Tyler Courtney had risen from his 14th starting spot to 2nd in just seven laps while Larson went 22nd to 4th by lap nine when the first major melee of the night occurred.
First, Kyle Robbins slowed substantially coming out of turn four to force out the first yellow. Under yellow, as several of the top-ten frontrunners slowed for the caution in turn two, a major jumble up sent four-time Hoosier Hundred winner and seventh running Kody Swanson flipping along with 11th running David Byrne, who landed his car atop the inside guardrail. Austin Nemire, Jimmy Light and Terry Babb were also collected in the incident. All were uninjured, but out of the race for good.
On the attempted resumption, Courtney ripped around Leary for the top spot entering turn one while, simultaneously, Larson did the same to Seavey for third. Just moments later, disaster ensued once again in the very same spot in turn two as Hoosier Hundred Rookie Carmen Perigo flipped wildly down the back straightaway. Behind him, the field checked up on the binders with 2016 HH pole winner, Brady Bacon, getting the worst end of the deal, barrel rolling down the back straight. Both were uninjured.
John Heydenreich was also involved in the incident, coming to a rest up right against the inner guardrail in turn two, and was later transported for further observation, but was awake and alert.
The second lap 10 restart was déjà vu for Courtney as he repeated his outside turn one move for the lead by Leary just following the waving of the green flag. Larson, likewise, moved around Seavey for third in turn three, then took second a half lap later with an outside pass of Leary in turn one on the 10th lap.
Following lap 16 wall contact by Chris Urish between turns three and four that necessitated a yellow, Larson went to work on Courtney for the lead. On the 24th circuit, Larson faked high, then low on the front straight behind Courtney before taking the high side to storm around Courtney for the top of the leaderboard entering turn three a half lap later with a quarter of the race in the books.
Leary took over second from Courtney on the following lap, the 26th, and set forth toward Larson, ultimately reclaiming the lead on the 30th trip around the Indy Mile with an inside turn one pass. Leary, whose father Chuck Leary won the 1997 edition of the Hoosier Hundred, was aiming to become the first son of a former winner to also claim victory in the event.
Action slowed once again on the 34th lap as contact between Matt Westfall and Bryan Gossel in turn four sent Gossel rocketing hard into the outside concrete wall before flipping in his maiden Hoosier Hundred start, marking the fifth and final flip of the feature event. Gossel, who was running 21st at the time, emerged from the wreck unscathed.
From the ensuing restart onward, the front runners settled into a groove with Leary maintaining a one second interval over Larson as the race passed through the middle stages which saw another HH Rookie, Jake Swanson, enter the top-five, then to fourth, with two more accidents occurring for 8th running Chad Kemenah (lap 55) and 14th place Mike Haggenbottom (lap 64), both of whom had a meeting with the turn three outside wall, which ended both drivers' nights.
Although not leading at that stage, Larson, nonetheless, remained on the leader's pace while being mindful of his equipment, readying himself for a surge when the opportunity arose.
"It was a long race, but through the mid-point, I just tried to pace C.J. as much as I could, and also pace Tyler (Courtney) behind me," Larson recalled. "You just never know how your tire is when you see theirs under yellow."
The lap 69 restart was second place-running Larson's finest moment of the race as he immediately darted to the outside of Leary at the drop of the green flag, then cranked his car completely sideways in front of Leary as he blitzed to the top spot for good. Upon entry to turn one, Leary slid up the racetrack, allowing Courtney to dive underneath for second and dropping Leary to 3rd.
"I felt like on all the restarts, I could fire off better than C.J. for a few laps, so I wanted to be aggressive on that final restart," Larson explained. "I was able to get around him and then I wanted to set a fast pace. I felt like we probably all had enough wear in our tires to get by for another 30 laps."
With just a quarter of the race remaining, Courtney slowly but surely reeled Larson in, from five tenths, to four tenths to three tenths, and was right there withing striking distance on the 79th lap when his car slowed dramatically off turn four with an engine issue, forcing his car to a slow crawl to the back straightaway exit and ending his bid for a repeat HH triumph.
Newly-minted second-place driver Leary instantaneously closed the gap on Larson, standing just two car lengths back on the 82nd go-around, but was unable to get much closer than that, as Larson incrementally bumped up his lead to eight-tenths of a second.
One more final bout with lapped traffic was presented to Larson with seven laps remaining as Patrick Lawson and Ronnie Wuerdeman were momentarily two wide entering turn one with Larson rapidly approaching just behind. Larson expertly escaped through the gap in between turns one and two, only losing a single tenth off his lead to Leary in the process from 0.8 to 0.7 sec.
Larson didn't allow Leary to get any closer than that in the final seven laps, reconstructing the interval between the two to a whopping 2.052 sec. at race's end as Larson raced to his first USAC Silver Crown victory since his legendary 4-Crown Nationals USAC sweep at Eldora Speedway of 2011.
Leary finished 2nd with Logan Seavey finishing a career-best 3rd in just his second career series start. Shane Cockrum took home 4th while Chris Windom snagged the 5th spot to round out the top-five.
One-hundred-mile dirt USAC Silver Crown races are taxing both mentally and physically on the driver, but for Larson, the achievement of success that comes from the fruits of his and the team's labor is the ultimate reward.
"I just ran really hard, but it was tough. I had my brakes to the floor and my power steering was really tight. It was a workout for 100 laps but it's all worth it. To add my name to the list, it feels special."
Following Larson's third career USAC Silver Crown win on Sunday night, both winners on the dirt have come from way back in the pack to reach victory lane. Shane Cottle started 23rd and won on Aug. 9 at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway while Larson charged from the 22nd starting position to win at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
With Justin Grant's 8th place run on Sunday, along with Kody Swanson's early race misfortune, Grant has now taken over the USAC Silver Crown point lead by 22 markers over Swanson.
Aaron Pierce's time of 6:36.928 during Sunday's qualifying race set a brand new 12-lap USAC Silver Crown track record at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, eclipsing the former mark of 6:42.010, which had been held by Gene Lee Gibson since Sept. 10, 1988.
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 23, 2020 - Indiana State Fairgrounds - Indianapolis, Indiana - 1-Mile Dirt Oval - 65th Hoosier Hundred
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 19, Michael-31.426; 2. Logan Seavey, 22, Prestige Worldwide-31.850; 3. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-31.887; 4. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-31.915; 5. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-31.930; 6. Jimmy Light, 123, Two-Three-31.933; 7. Shane Cockrum, 53, Five Three-32.116; 8. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-32.150; 9. Chad Kemenah, 15, Hampshire/Kemenah-32.198; 10. Jake Swanson, 10, DMW-32.258; 11. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-32.294; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9, Dyson-32.363; 13. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-32.453; 14. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight-32.471; 15. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-32.527; 16. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-32.560; 17. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-32.608; 18. Kyle Cummins, 69, Pink 69-32.636; 19. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-32.817; 20. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-32.883; 21. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-32.910; 22. Terry Babb, 88, Babb-32.963; 23. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-33.101; 24. Carmen Perigo, 52, Stehman-33.105; 25. Casey Buckman, 74, Buckman-33.117; 26. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-33.179; 27. John Heydenreich, 37, Bohanon/Felker-33.297; 28. Austin Mundie, 47, Butler-33.300; 29. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-33.381; 30. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-33.441; 31. Ronnie Wuerdeman, 33, Wuerdeman-33.457; 32. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-33.554; 33. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-33.620; 34. Bryan Gossel, 06, Gossel-33.890; 35. Danny Long, 44, Long-34.474; 36. Justin Peck, 110, DMW-37.240.
QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Aaron Pierce, 2. Justin Grant, 3. John Heydenreich, 4. Austin Mundie, 5. Matt Goodnight, 6. Ronnie Wuerdeman, 7. Mike Haggenbottom, 8. Travis Welpott, 9. Bryan Gossel, 10. Dallas Hewitt, 11. Danny Long, 12. Justin Peck. 6:36.928 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kyle Larson (22), 2. C.J. Leary (2), 3. Logan Seavey (1), 4. Shane Cockrum (23), 5. Chris Windom (24), 6. Jake Swanson (8), 7. Shane Cottle (4), 8. Justin Grant (20), 9. Kyle Cummins (26), 10. Matt Goodnight (21), 11. Casey Buckman (19), 12. Patrick Lawson (11), 13. Ronnie Wuerdeman (30), 14. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 15. Tyler Courtney (14), 16. Mike Haggenbottom (28), 17. Chad Kemenah (7), 18. Austin Mundie (27), 19. Kyle Robbins (17), 20. Matt Westfall (25), 21. Bryan Gossel (29), 22. Chris Urish (10), 23. Aaron Pierce (31), 24. Russ Gamester (15), 25. Brady Bacon (3), 26. Kody Swanson (6), 27. David Byrne (12), 28. Jimmy Light (5), 29. Terry Babb (16), 30. Austin Nemire (13), 31. Carmen Perigo (18), 32. John Heydenreich (32). NT
**Kody Swanson & David Byrne flipped on lap 10 of the feature. Carmen Perigo & Brady Bacon flipped on the lap 10 restart during the feature. Bryan Gossel flipped on lap 34 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 C.J. Leary, Laps 10-24 Tyler Courtney, Laps 25-29 Kyle Larson, Laps 30-68 C.J. Leary, Laps 69-100 Kyle Larson.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-199, 2-Kody Swanson-177, 3-Kyle Robbins-167, 4-Matt Goodnight-167, 5-Chris Windom-166, 6-Shane Cottle-163, 7-Aaron Pierce-151, 8-Mike Haggenbottom-149, 9-C.J. Leary-143, 10-Bryan Gossel-136.
PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-99, 2-Tanner Thorson-76, 3-Kyle Cummins-65, 4-Justin Grant-64, 5-Kyle Larson-62, 6-Shane Cottle-61, 7-Logan Seavey-57, 8-Cannon McIntosh-57, 9-Daison Pursley-48, 10-Robert Ballou-45.
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson
KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger: Kyle Larson (22nd to 1st)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Ronnie Wuerdeman
Jerry Medlin 16th Place Finisher in Memory of Jerry Nemire: Mike Haggenbottom
Carb Night Triumph Makes Tanner LOR’s Winningest USAC Silver Crown Driver
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
CARB NIGHT TRIUMPH MAKES TANNER LOR'S WINNINGEST USAC SILVER CROWN DRIVER
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Brownsburg, Indiana (August 21, 2020).........After watching his brother, Kody, score the victory in his Indy Pro 2000 Series debut earlier in the evening, Tanner Swanson made Friday an all-Swanson night, leading the final 60 circuits of the 100-lap Dave Steele Carb Night Classic en route to becoming the winningest USAC Silver Crown driver at Brownsburg, Indiana's Lucas Oil Raceway with his sixth career triumph at the .686-mile paved oval.
Tanner's victory broke a three-way tie at the top for most USAC Silver Crown wins at LOR with his older sibling, Kody Swanson, and Mike Bliss. Tanner's second career Dave Steele Carb Night Classic victory, and first since 2016, marked his eighth career Silver Crown victory, tying him with Chris Windom for 14th all-time.
But this particular one was special during the 50th Silver Crown event held at LOR. It was Tanner's first win with the series in over four years aboard his Bowman Racing/Brickers Pub - T.J. Forge/Beast/Kistler Chevy, one that elevated him as the standard bearer at a track that has been the stage for most of his greatest achievements in the sport, and put him atop all the heroes he remembered watching when he was just beginning in the sport, many of whom he watched from afar and aspired to be, at venues such as LOR.
"It's awesome to see that record," Tanner said. "2004 was (Kody and I's) first time in sprint cars and midgets. We were walking through the pits looking at Tracy Hines, A.J. Fike, Bobby Santos and all these guys we watched on TV, and now we get to etch our names next to those types of guys. It's surreal to be able to race at this level with family."
It just so happened to be an all Swanson front row as well with Tanner occupying the outside and Kody the pole after earlier earning his record-extending 31st career Fatheadz Qualifying time with the series, while also earning a $1,000 bonus courtesy of Mac and Carol Steele, parents of the late 12-time LOR USAC winner, Dave Steele.
It was a tad different scenery for Tanner than what he'd become accustomed to over the past couple of years in the event. He took the back row challenge in the last two Carb Night Classics, driving from 22nd to 2nd in 2018 and 17th to 2nd in 2019. This time around, no such challenge was in play, so in essence, Tanner practically had a head start on the competition.
However, Kody shot out to the early advantage, and by lap 17, the top-three of Kody, Tanner and reigning Carb Night Classic winner, Kyle Hamilton, were nose-to-tail. Hamilton made a bid for second between turns one and two when he and Tanner made tire-to-tire contact - Hamilton's right rear to Tanner's left rear - igniting a brief shower of sparks and sending Hamilton into a spin while Tanner became sideways, but saved it and continued on.
"Early on, you can't afford to give anyone any extra space," Tanner explained. "He didn't get enough to clear me, so we ended up running into each other. I hate it for him that he ended up going to the back but, thankfully, all the tires stayed up and we were able to continue on."
Hamilton stopped in turn two but proceeded to drive back up through the field following the restart to finish an impressive third in the final rundown.
From thereon, Tanner took a brief peek under Kody in turn three but was unable to make up any substantial ground as Kody pulled back out to a roughly 10-car length advantage with more than a third of the race in arrears.
"Early on, I was trying to play with him," Tanner recalled of Kody. "I was watching his hands and seeing how much he was having to work for it. I tried to show him a wheel to see if I could get him to hustle a little bit, but his car was on rails."
However, on lap 40, a problem with the rear brake caliper surfaced for Kody, forcing him into an action rarely seen in auto racing, especially one who's your toughest competition, and also just so happens to be your brother.
"I saw he had a rear brake caliper fail and I saw sparks and things going bad," Tanner remembered. "He checked up and he actually waved me by down the back stretch. I appreciate that he gave us the opportunity like that, but that's Kody. He races you the way you want to be raced."
Tanner immediately pulled away from Kody, distancing himself from the competition until lap 56 when John Heydenreich spun exiting turn two and plowed into the inside wall on the back straightaway. Under yellow, Kody relented his second place running position to pit with his Nolen Racing crew instantaneously putting the car on jacks and going to work. Ultimately, Kody did return to the fray one lap down, soldiering on to finish 10th.
Tanner, for all intents and purposes, wrote his own zip code during the second half of the race, cruising on his lonesome up front while a dice up for positions was occurring from second on back. Aaron Pierce slipped by Bobby Santos late for the second position, his best run since a similar runner-up finish on the dirt in the 2015 Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, all while Hamilton slotted into third.
Navigating his way through traffic with ample ease, Tanner carried out his winning ambitions with a victory in his first racing start of any kind in 2020, dominating the final stages to earn the victory over Pierce, Hamilton and Santos with Justin Grant rounding out the top-five.
There are many roads that lead to success. Tanner and Bowman Racing have taken the road most often traveled, a pairing whose yearly schedule consists annually of only one track, one car, one driver and one team. A system which they have demonstrated they have down pat.
"This is the only time I sit in a racecar all year, so I don't develop any bad habits anywhere else," Tanner said with a laugh. "This is the only place I remember, same with the car. This is the only place these guys come run."
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 21, 2020 - Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, Indiana - .686-Mile Paved Oval - Dave Steele Carb Night Classic
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-20.732; 2. Tanner Swanson, 02, Bowman-20.977; 3. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-21.163; 4. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-21.185; 5. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-21.193; 6. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong-21.251; 7. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-21.363; 8. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-21.375; 9. John Heydenreich, 37, Bohanon/Felker-21.386; 10. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight-21.387; 11. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-21.411; 12. Kyle O'Gara, 1, SFHR-21.489; 13. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-21.541; 14. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-21.613; 15. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-21.786; 16. Jim Anderson, 92, Kazmark-21.920; 17. Toni Breidinger, 80, Breidinger-21.959; 18. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-22.218; 19. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-22.731; 20. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-22.764; 21. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-NT; 22. Bryan Gossel, 06, Gossel-NT; 23. Brent Yarnal, 29, Yarnal-NT; 24. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Swanson (2), 2. Aaron Pierce (7), 3. Kyle Hamilton (4), 4. Bobby Santos (5), 5. Justin Grant (3), 6. Eric Gordon (6), 7. Patrick Lawson (21), 8. Russ Gamester (8), 9. Chris Windom (10), 10. Kody Swanson (1), 11. Shane Cottle (13), 12. Austin Nemire (14), 13. Matt Goodnight (15), 14. Travis Welpott (18), 15. Mike Haggenbottom (20), 16. Toni Breidinger (17), 17. Kyle Robbins (19), 18. Derek Bischak (11), 19. Kyle O'Gara (12), 20. John Heydenreich (9), 21. Bryan Gossel (22), 22. Jim Anderson (16), 23. Dave Berkheimer (24), 24. Brent Yarnal (23). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Kody Swanson, Laps 41-100 Tanner Swanson.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-160, 2-Justin Grant-150, 3-Kyle Robbins-142, 4-Aaron Pierce-131, 5-Bobby Santos-131, 6-Matt Goodnight-124, 7-Mike Haggenbottom-118, 8-Bryan Gossel-114, 9-Shane Cottle-111, 10-Travis Welpott-109.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-80, 2-Tanner Thorson-76, 3-Shane Cottle-61, 4-Logan Seavey-57, 5-Cannon McIntosh-57, 6-Justin Grant-52, 7-Kyle Cummins-48, 8-Daison Pursley-48, 9-Robert Ballou-45, 10-Andrew Layser-44.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN RACE: August 23, 2020 - Indiana State Fairgrounds - Indianapolis, Indiana - 1-Mile Dirt Oval - 65th Hoosier Hundred
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Kody Swanson
Mac & Carol Steele $1,000 Fast Qualifying Bonus: Kody Swanson
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Patrick Lawson (21st to 7th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Matt Goodnight
Jerry Medlin 16th Place Finisher in Memory of Jerry Nemire: Toni Breidinger
Swanson Wins Record 5th Straight Joe James-Pat O’Connor Memorial
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
SWANSON WINS RECORD 5TH STRAIGHT JOE JAMES-PAT O'CONNOR MEMORIAL
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Salem, Indiana (August 15, 2020).........Throughout the annals of USAC Silver Crown's 50-year history, no driver's statistical output stacks up to Kody Swanson's. That has been proven time and time again as the Kingsburg, Calif. native has illustrated his very own record book during his illustrious career.
On an evening when he became the first driver in series history to reach 30 poles and 30 wins in a career, Swanson once again reached another record that once seemed unbreakable - that being Pancho Carter's four consecutive Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial victories between 1974-77.
Swanson did just that on Saturday night at Salem Speedway, pressing leader Bobby Santos throughout the first two-thirds of the 75-lap race before taking the lead in traffic with a spectacular three-wide pass on the outside of turn one on the 50th lap, then holding serve on a couple of late-race restarts to capture the win after previous victories in the event in 2016-17-18-19.
"Being second, you have the benefit because you can go where they aren't," Swanson explained. "Tonight, a couple times it got a little hairy and didn't work. I don't know if there's anything more "Pancho" for me than taking the lead three-wide in turn one on the outside at Salem. I don't know if I deserve to be in the company (of Pancho), but I sure do appreciate the honor."
The victory for Swanson aboard the Nolen Racing/KECO Coatings - Goodridge - K & N Filters/Beast/Tranter Chevy was a welcome sight for the team after an uncharacteristic performance just six days prior in the Silver Crown season opener at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway. There, the final result was an 11th place finish after running outside of the top-ten all throughout the 74-lap race.
That result put into motion a meeting of the minds for driver and team as a whole to get back on the same page and right the ship after an auspicious start in rocky waters.
"We had a meeting after Selinsgrove," Swanson recalled. "It was a tough conversation to have with all that led up to it with our results that night. The way we ended (the meeting) was that it already happened, so I want that to be our rock bottom. Everybody's got a rock bottom and I am hoping that would be ours and everyone could pull together, and we could come out here this week and prove that we are better than we were in Pennsylvania."
A similar scenario greeted Swanson on Saturday as it did just one year prior with the team utilizing two different racecars in practice. This time, it was the brakes that were creating havoc with the primary car in practice, forcing the team to roll the second car out of the trailer.
In the second practice session, Swanson took the "backup" to the top of the charts, then proceeded to clock in with the fastest qualifying time in Fatheadz Qualifying, thus earning him the pole position. However, at the start of the main event, it was Santos who got the jump on Swanson from his outside front row starting position while Swanson slotted into second.
"I did not want him to get the lead on the start and he didn't want me to either," Swanson remembered. "We raced hard that first lap and I know I was sideways and trying to keep it down off him."
Third-running David Byrne was right in the thick of the hunt with Santos and Swanson before he slowed dramatically with mechanical trouble just eight laps into the event, the second time in two starts this year that the 2019 third-place Silver Crown points finisher's race has met an early end.
Swanson had hounded Santos throughout, running nose-to-tail with the former NASCAR Modified Champion during the mid-stages, turning up the wick with attempted bids for the lead on the 44th and 47th laps, thwarted by the presence of gridlock style traffic on each occasion, the latter involving a stifling five-car shuffle in which Santos and Swanson had to dance their way through.
"I tried hard to get him early; I didn't want to wait for lapped traffic; I didn't want to wait until the end, but I had no choice," Swanson explained. "I was getting a run on him on the outside of four, and I thought 'that's not very smart.' It gets awful narrow there. Bobby is a very smart racer and he's not going to give you any of the racetrack you need to pass him. What he was giving me there, I was trying to make work, but it couldn't unless I just got lucky one time. Maybe I got lucky a couple times that I didn't wreck trying it."
With the heady Santos, a winner of 10 Silver Crown races in his own right, holding down the fort up front, all Swanson needed was one moment to make his break. Approaching the 10th place car of Joe Liguori, Santos became boxed in behind entering the middle of turn one. Swanson swung high to the outside of both cars to paste his ride in the number one position.
With a clear track ahead, Swanson built his lead to over a second ahead of Santos when one-time Silver Crown winner and 9th place running Kyle Hamilton slowed on the front straightaway with smoke coming from the car, putting him out of the race.
That, plus a Liguori turn two spin with two laps remaining, set up a green-white-checkered finish with yellow flag laps counting for 73 laps of the 75-lap distance.
Santos had multiple shots at his one shot to defeat Swanson on the last couple of restarts, but couldn't quite muster enough to put his car past Swanson, who drove to s 1.013 sec. margin of victory over Santos, with Aaron Pierce, Justin Grant and a career-best series finish for 2019 Silver Crown Rooke of the Year, Derek Bischak, who rounded out the top-five.
Meanwhile, Austin Nemire earned KSE Racing Products Hard Charger honors following his charge from 15th to 6th in his first series start of the season.
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 15, 2020 - Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery - Salem, Indiana - .555-Mile Paved Oval - Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-16.107; 2. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-16.357; 3. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-16.426; 4. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-16.460; 5. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-16.553; 6. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight-16.556; 7. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-16.671; 8. Joe Liguori, 32, Williams/Wright-16.761; 9. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-16.858; 10. Brian Gerster, 94, Myers-16.890; 11. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-16.951; 12. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-17.010; 13. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-17.019; 14. Kyle O'Gara, 1, SFHR-17.049; 15. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-17.067; 16. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-17.328; 17. John Heydenreich, 37, Felker-17.404; 18. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-17.528; 19. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-NT; 20. Bryan Gossel, 06, Gossel-NT.
FEATURE: (75 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (2), 3. Aaron Pierce (9), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Derek Bischak (5), 6. Austin Nemire (15), 7. Kyle O'Gara (14), 8. Kyle Robbins (11), 9. Mike Haggenbottom (18), 10. Joe Liguori (8), 11. Matt Goodnight (13), 12. Travis Welpott (16), 13. Kyle Hamilton (7), 14. Brian Gerster (10), 15. Patrick Lawson (12), 16. Bryan Gossel (19), 17. Chris Windom (6), 18. John Heydenreich (17), 19. David Byrne (4), 20. Dave Berkheimer (20). 29:41.723
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-49 Bobby Santos, Laps 50-75 Kody Swanson.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-114, 2-Kyle Robbins-113, 3-Justin Grant-92, 4-Bryan Gossel-92, 5-Matt Goodnight-87, 6-Mike Haggenbottom-85, 7-Travis Welpott-74, 8-C.J. Leary-73, 9-Shane Cottle-70, 10-Bobby Santos-70.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-79, 2-Tanner Thorson-76, 3-Shane Cottle-59, 4-Logan Seavey-57, 5-Cannon McIntosh-57, 6-Justin Grant-52, 7-Kyle Cummins-48, 8-Daison Pursley-48, 9-Robert Ballou-45, 10-Andrew Layser-44.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: August 21, 2020 - Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, Indiana - .686-Mile Paved Oval - Dave Steele Carb Night Classic
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Kody Swanson
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Austin Nemire (15th to 6th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Kyle Hamilton
Cottle Charges from 23rd to Win Selinsgrove Silver Crown Debut
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
COTTLE CHARGES FROM 23RD TO WIN SELINSGROVE SILVER CROWN DEBUT
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania (August 9, 2020).........A stumbling engine in qualifying, a last row starting spot and an accident with 43 laps remaining that resulted with him backwards against the guardrail with a flat tire - those were just a few of the mountains Shane Cottle overcame to reach victory lane in Sunday night's inaugural Bill Holland Classic at Pennsylvania's Selinsgrove Speedway.
It took Cottle every bit of the 74-lap distance to reach the pinnacle of the night as he worked his way around race-long leader C.J. Leary on the white flag lap to conquer his second career USAC Silver Crown victory, and his first in nearly 13 years, aboard the Curtis Williams/Jack's Auto Body - Duncan Oil - Kercher Engines/Maxim/Kercher Chevy.
By doing so, Cottle became the newest record holder of the longest duration between USAC Silver Crown victories. It had been 12 years, 11 months and 8 days since the Kansas, Ill. driver raced to victory at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds in 2007. The record prior to Sunday night was the nearly 10-year span between Ron Shuman's wins in 1982 and 1992.
Marking the first time the USAC Silver Crown season opener was held in the month of August since 1979, the majority of the first 30 circuits saw pole sitter Leary leading the way with outside front row starter Justin Grant giving constant chase to Leary, who had earlier set fast time during Fatheadz Eyewear Qualifying for the first time in four years at neighboring Pennsylvania track Williams Grove Speedway in 2016.
On the 31st lap, however, major trouble ensued for 11th running Cottle who had a left rear tire go down on the front straightaway. In the ensuing melee, Cottle spun backwards into the inside front straightaway guardrail while the lapped car of Dave Berkheimer flipped upside down before a small fire erupted from the car. The fire was extinguished, and Berkheimer escaped without injury.
At the same time, Cottle exited the car, standing on the front straightaway mulling over the situation which provided him nary a shred of confidence to continue in the race.
"I was really upset," Cottle recalled. "I actually wasn't even going to change the tire. I told the crew, 'you know what, heck with it. We're going to the back and it's kind of hard to pass.' They said 'nope, we're changing it, get back in there.'
Forced to restart from the tail after working halfway up through the field, with the new left rear affixed to his ride, Cottle went back to work on his mission.
"Luckily, we barely got back in there," Cottle said. "It took me a little while to not get so mad and to where I was driving a little smoother. Once I did that, I started picking them off."
While Leary and Grant had controlled the pace throughout, by the 52nd lap, Chris Windom, Brady Bacon and Kevin Thomas Jr. had reeled in the top-two to make it a five-man breakaway. Fourth-running Bacon, who had earlier won the night's preceding USAC Rapid Tire East Coast Sprint Car feature, slipped under Windom for the third spot in turn three.
As Windom slipped up off the bottom, Thomas got his right front wheel beneath Windom's left rear and the two made contact, knocking out the front end on Thomas' car and sending to him a stop in turn four, thus concluding his evening.
Grant took a major run at Leary for the lead with an attempted slider on the lap 52 restart, which didn't quite stick, as the pair continued their dominance at the front of the pack. Leary was able to distance himself to great comfort to a nearly two second lead as the laps wound down.
With seven laps remaining, a succession of yellows involving flat right rear tires wreaked havoc on several top-ten contenders, including Kyle Robbins, Windom, Jake Swanson, Kody Swanson and, ultimately, second running Justin Grant who fell by the wayside on a restart with four laps remaining. However, Cottle was reassured by his eye in the sky that he was good to go.
"I kept asking the crew, are there any cords showing yet," Cottle revealed. "I could see all the guys in front of me and their cords were showing. They said, 'nope, no cords yet. Just keep her going and just try to maintain the tire underneath you.'"
There, with four to go on a restart, the running order was Leary, Bacon and a suddenly surging Cottle, who didn't remain in third for long as he blitzed under Bacon for second on the bottom of turn four with three laps remaining, then rapidly advanced on Leary.
Coming to the white flag, Cottle used a substantial run off the second turn to race around the outside of Leary entering turn three for the lead. Simultaneously, the returning car of Grant stopped on the front straightaway to bring out the yellow, sending Leary back to the front with Cottle second for a green-white-checkered finish. At that point, Cottle had an inkling that, while he was going to give everything he had to get past Leary, he was going to receive the same treatment from Leary to keep him behind.
Cottle, with a right rear tire with which he estimated as maybe having 'just a couple more laps left,' took the show into his own hands, squaring up Leary through turns three and four coming to the white flag, then swinging to the outside to rip around him to lead at the stripe by a car length before making a beeline to the bottom of turn one to take away the bottom from Leary.
"When he got out of the rubber and got in the slick, I just stayed in the rubber and rolled around him," Cottle remembered. "His tire didn't have much left in it. Luckily, we had just enough to carry us on around him."
From there, it was smooth sailing for Cottle, who raced to a 0.774 sec. victory over Leary while career-best series finishes were earned by Kyle Robbins (3rd), and first-time Silver Crown entrants Bryan Gossel (4th), Carmen Perigo (5th) and Kyle Cummins (6th).
Bacon, running 3rd coming off the final corner on the final lap, experienced a flat right rear tire just short of the line, dropping him back to 7th while a similar fate befell 4th running Logan Seavey in his first series start, dropping him to 10th in the final tally.
Cottle's victory from the 23rd spot ranks as the 8th furthest back any driver has started to win a Silver Crown race, the most positions overcome to win since Rich Tobias Jr.'s Du Quoin triumph from 25th in 2003. Kenny Irwin Jr. owns the top-two ultimate hard-charging performances in Silver Crown history, coming from the 28th position to win at both the Illinois State Fairgrounds in 1995 and Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1997.
The win also marked the first for the Curtis Williams-owned team in USAC Silver Crown competition, a regular team on the entire trail since 2014, and for whom Cottle has made his 29 most recent series starts beginning with the 2015 season.
"Curtis, he's a good ol boy and (crew chief) Malcolm (Lovelace), they've been trying for years," Cottle said. "I'm just happier than a lark that I was able to do it for them."
Arizona's Casey Buckman escaped injury after enduring a wild flip on the opening lap of Sunday night's feature that also involved David Byrne. Buckman finished 24th and Byrne 23rd.
Sunday's race was the debut for the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series at Selinsgrove Speedway, which had previously hosted just a single USAC-sanctioned race in its history - a 1971 National Sprint Car event won by Mitch Smith.
USAC Silver Crown has now visited the state of Pennsylvania on 15 occasions with 15 different winners taking the checkered flag since 1971. Three other past PA winners were in Sunday night's starting field, Windom, Swanson and Bacon, all of whom had previously won with the series at Williams Grove.
The 74-lap Bill Holland Classic feature signified the first ever racing event held at Selinsgrove Speedway on July 20, 1946, won by 1949 Indianapolis 500 winner and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee, Bill Holland.
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 9, 2020 - Selinsgrove Speedway - Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania - 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval - Bill Holland Classic
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-21.676 (New Track Record); 2. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-21.867; 3. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-21.897; 4. Jake Swanson, 10, DMW-21.956; 5. Carmen Perigo, 52, Stehman-21.958; 6. Logan Seavey, 22, Prestige Worldwide-21.964; 7. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-22.139; 8. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9, Dyson-22.231; 9. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight-22.266; 10. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-22.274; 11. Shane Cockrum, 53, Five Three-22.325; 12. Chad Kemenah, 15, Hampshire/Kemenah-22.444; 13. Kyle Cummins, 69, Pink 69-22.467; 14. Ronnie Wuerdeman, 33, Wuerdeman-22.539; 15. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-22.567; 16. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-22.571; 17. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-22.891; 18. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-23.014; 19. Bryan Gossel, 06, Gossel-23.041; 20. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-23.309; 21. Casey Buckman, 74, Buckman-23.793; 22. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-23.965; 23. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-24.307; 24. Jake Simmons, 3, Simmons-NT.
FEATURE: (74 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Shane Cottle (23), 2. C.J. Leary (1), 3. Kyle Robbins (17), 4. Bryan Gossel (19), 5. Carmen Perigo (5), 6. Kyle Cummins (13), 7. Brady Bacon (3), 8. Shane Cockrum (11), 9. Matt Goodnight (16), 10. Logan Seavey (6), 11. Kody Swanson (10), 12. Mike Haggenbottom (18), 13. Ronnie Wuerdeman (14), 14. Travis Welpott (20), 15. Chris Windom (9), 16. Justin Grant (2), 17. Jake Swanson (4), 18. Chad Kemenah (12), 19. Kevin Thomas Jr. (8), 20. Matt Westfall (7), 21. Dave Berkheimer (22), 22. Jake Simmons (24), 23. David Byrne (15), 24. Casey Buckman (21). NT
**Casey Buckman flipped on lap 1 of the feature. Dave Berkheimer flipped on lap 31 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-72 C.J. Leary, Laps 73-74 Shane Cottle.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-73, 2-Shane Cottle-70, 3-Kyle Robbins-64, 4-Bryan Gossel-61, 5-Carmen Perigo-58, 6-Kyle Cummins-55, 7-Brady Bacon-52, 8-Shane Cockrum-49, 9-Matt Goodnight-46, 10-Logan Seavey-43.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-79, 2-Tanner Thorson-76, 3-Shane Cottle-59, 4-Logan Seavey-57, 5-Cannon McIntosh-57, 6-Justin Grant-52, 7-Kyle Cummins-48, 8-Daison Pursley-48, 9-Robert Ballou-45, 10-Andrew Layser-44.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN RACE: August 15, 2020 - Salem Speedway - Salem, Indiana - .555-Mile Paved Oval - Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Shane Cottle (23rd to 1st)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Ronnie Wuerdeman
Bacon Bolts to Eldora Silver Crown Triumph
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
BACON BOLTS TO ELDORA SILVER CROWN TRIUMPH
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio (September 28, 2019).........Entering Saturday's USAC Silver Crown season finale at Eldora Speedway, the formula was simple. A 4th place finish or better by Brady Bacon was what he needed to secure Klatt Enterprises' first series owner title.
Bacon defied all notions of running "just good enough." His intentions were fully set on winning and closing the curtain on a banner year for himself and the Klatt team by capturing his second series victory of the season, and his career, leading the final 10 laps to sweep both victories on half-mile dirt tracks (Eldora and Williams Grove) on the Silver Crown schedule in 2019.
"We kind of struggled and everything else, so it was good to get a win here and get an owner's championship for these guys," Bacon said. "They worked hard to make huge improvements over the last year and we won two races this year. We were in the hunt every time. I'm really happy for them, and hopefully, we can keep winning these races the next few years."
The Broken Arrow, Okla. native started 4th in the 27-car field, the largest car count for a Silver Crown race at Eldora since 2008. However, pole winner Kevin Thomas, Jr., making his debut run in Chris Dyson Racing's mount, emerged with the lead on a first lap that saw the top-three of Thomas, Kody Swanson and Bacon battle three-wide off turn four.
Thomas, a 2nd place finisher in the previous year's 4-Crown Silver Crown feature, checked out in the early stages, building up a two second lead over Bacon and Swanson, who locked up an unprecedented fifth series driving title by starting the night's main event.
The first incident of the night occurred in turn one the ninth lap when Steve Buckwalter climbed the outside wall, creating heavy damage to the right front. The trailing John Heydenreich had nowhere to roam and slid sideways into Buckwalter who was at rest up against the outside wall. Both drivers were okay, but their cars were finished for the remainder of the evening.
On the ensuing restart, the game changed as Bacon began working the middle and was able to remain within arm's reach of Thomas. Just moments later, though, on lap 12, 6th running Jason McDougal looped his ride at the entrance of turn one. As McDougal sat helplessly in the middle of the racing surface, Midget and Sprint feature winner Tyler Courtney clobbered McDougal with his right rear wheel, seriously damaging both machines and ending both driver's nights and Courtney's bid for a USAC sweep at the 4-Crown.
With 13 laps remaining, Bacon tested the waters and slid through the middle to show a nose to the high-riding Thomas in turn one and then turn three as well. Bacon tried again two laps later in turn one, making up a bit of ground, but there wasn't enough zip to make the slide stick.
Entering the final 10 laps, Thomas clung to a three-car length lead over Bacon, until scraping his right-side wheels off the outside wall between turns three and four. As Thomas fought to break free from the wall's grasp, Bacon shot under and raced away scot-free with the lead and an eventual 1.931 second triumph over Thomas, Justin Grant, Swanson and Shane Cottle, who started all the way back in 24th.
For Thomas, it was another heartbreak for a driver who's been on the cusp of a first USAC Silver Crown victory for two consecutive seasons now. In fact, his result on Saturday was the fifth 2nd place finish of his Silver Crown career, moving him into the distinction as the driver with the most runner-up finishes without a series win, passing Dave Blaney, Pablo Donoso and Arnie Knepper on the list.
"We had a good chance of winning the sprint car race too, plugged it in the fence and broke a front end," Thomas recalled. "Luckily, we finished 4th there. And then we did it again. I don't ever run the fence, so I'm actually glad that I was at least up there to plug it in the fence. It was a long day, but it was a fun day. I think we got a 5th, a 4th and a 2nd. For somebody who's not very good here, I'll take it."
Contingency award winners Friday and Saturday night at Eldora Speedway were Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Fatheadz Eyewear/ProSource Fast Qualifier), Matt Westfall (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger/Larry Rice High Performance Award & Rosewood Machine & Tool Precision Move of the Race) and Ronnie Wuerdeman (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 28, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 38th 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.tv
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: (Completed on September 27) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9, Dyson-16.054; 2. Jason McDougal, 56, Foxco-16.070; 3. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-16.176; 4. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-16.250; 5. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-16.321; 6. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-16.366; 7. Chad Kemenah, 15, Hampshire/Kemenah-16.445; 8. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-16.483; 9. Ronnie Wuerdeman, 33, Wuerdeman-16.523; 10. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-16.548; 11. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-16.562; 12. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott/Gorman-16.992; 13. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-17.048; 14. Jimmy Light, 123, Two-Three-17.074; 15. Steve Buckwalter, 53, Five Three-17.078; 16. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-17.094; 17. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-17.138; 18. Austin Mundie, 47, Butler-17.143; 19. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-17.192; 20. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-17.272; 21 Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-17.279; 22. Terry Babb, 34, Morford-17.378; 23. John Heydenreich, 43, Felker-17.448; 24. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-17.456; 25. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-17.569; 26. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-18.941; 27. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall/Marshall-NT.
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (4), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (1), 3. Justin Grant (5), 4. Kody Swanson (3), 5. Shane Cottle (24), 6. Chris Windom (6), 7. Matt Westfall (27), 8. C.J. Leary (10), 9. Matt Goodnight (25), 10. Eric Gordon (19), 11. Chad Kemenah (7), 12. Jimmy Light (14), 13. Ronnie Wuerdeman (9), 14. Kyle Robbins (8), 15. David Byrne (13), 16. Bill Rose (16), 17. Mike Haggenbottom (21), 18. Travis Welpott (12), 19. Austin Mundie (18), 20. Terry Babb (22), 21. Austin Nemire (20), 22. Dave Berkheimer (26), 23. Jason McDougal (2), 24. Tyler Courtney (11), 25. Dallas Hewitt (17), 26. Steve Buckwalter (15), 27. John Heydenreich (23). 23:29.46
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Kevin Thomas, Jr., Laps 41-50 Brady Bacon.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/LARRY RICE HIGH PERFORMANCE AWARD HARD CHARGER: Matt Westfall (27th to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Ronnie Wuerdeman
ROSEWOOD MACHINE & TOOL PRECISION MOVE OF THE RACE: Matt Westfall
FINAL USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES DRIVER POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-638, 2-Justin Grant-578, 3-David Byrne-489, 4-Eric Gordon-418, 5-Chris Windom-397, 6-Kyle Hamilton-381, 7-Bobby Santos-378, 8-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-366, 9-Mike Haggenbottom-357, 10-Kyle Robbins-355.
FINAL USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES OWNER POINTS: 1-Klatt Enterprises #6-637, 2-Nolen Racing #20-613, 3-Hemelgarn Racing #91-578, 4-Byrne Racing #40-489, 5-Armstrong/Slinkard Racing #78-418, 6-Goodnight/Byrd Racing #17-378, 7-DJ Racing #22-378, 8-John Haggenbottom #24-357, 9-KR Racing #7-355, 10-Curtis Williams #81-347.
KTJ Wins 4-Crown Pole in Dyson Debut
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
KTJ WINS 4-CROWN POLE IN DYSON DEBUT
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio (September 27, 2019).........So far, so good. Kevin Thomas, Jr.'s debut in the Chris Dyson Racing USAC Silver Crown car went as smoothly as he could have planned for by winning the pole for Saturday night's season finale 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.tv at Eldora Speedway.
Thomas drew the final pill in the draw and, thus, was the final car to make a qualifying attempt in Friday's Fatheadz Eyewear time trial session. After a lengthy rain delay prior to practice, the Cullman, Ala. driver laid down the best lap of the night at 16.054 seconds, the fastest lap by a Silver Crown pole winner at Eldora since Mat Neely in 2006.
Thomas has yet to win a Silver Crown race in his career, finishing 2nd in last year's event at Eldora behind winner C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) who will start 10th on Saturday. Jason McDougal will start from the outside of the front row in the same Foxco Racing car that Thomas drove in last year's race. McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.) finished 4th a year ago in Dyson's car.
Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.) qualified 3rd and will clinch an unprecedented fifth USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series title by presenting at Saturday's main event. Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) qualified 4th and will start alongside Swanson in the second row. Bacon's Klatt Enterprises team and Swanson's Nolen Racing team are involved in a tight series owner title race that is separated by only 15 points. A 4th place finish or better by Bacon in the Klatt car on Saturday will secure the owner's title.
Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.), a 2016 Silver Crown champ and 4-Crown Silver Crown winner, will start 6th. Six-time Ollie's Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions titlist Chad Kemenah (Alvada, Ohio) will lineup 7th. Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.), a 2017 4-Crown Silver Crown winner, is slotted in 11th. Last year's pole winner Shane Cottle (Kansas, Ill.) will start from the 24th spot in the 27-car field.
On Saturday, September 28, Silver Crown teams will again have a practice session leading into their 50-lap main event which will also feature complete shows for the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets, USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars and the Ollie's Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions.
On Saturday, pits open at 11am Eastern, spectator gates open at noon, autograph session from 3-4pm, drivers meeting at 4:30pm and cars on track at 5:30pm. General admission tickets are $34 for ages 13 & up and free for ages 12 & under. Reserved tickets are $39 for ages 13 & up and $9 for ages 12 & under.
The USAC portion of the 4-Crown can be watched LIVE and on-demand on FloRacing, listened to via live audio on the USAC app as well as live timing and scoring on both the USAC app and the Race-Monitor app.
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING RESULTS: September 27, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 38th 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.tv
STARTING LINEUP
ROW 1:
1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9, Dyson-16.054
2. Jason McDougal, 56, Foxco-16.070
ROW 2:
3. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-16.176
4. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-16.250
ROW 3:
5. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-16.321
6. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-16.366
ROW 4:
7. Chad Kemenah, 15, Hampshire/Kemenah-16.445
8. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-16.483
ROW 5:
9. Ronnie Wuerdeman, 33, Wuerdeman-16.523
10. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-16.548
ROW 6:
11. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-16.562
12. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott/Gorman-16.992
ROW 7:
13. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-17.048
14. Jimmy Light, 123, Two-Three-17.074
ROW 8:
15. Steve Buckwalter, 53, Five Three-17.078
16. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-17.094
ROW 9:
17. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-17.138
18. Austin Mundie, 47, Butler-17.143
ROW 10:
19. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-17.192
20. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-17.272
ROW 11:
21. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-17.279
22. Terry Babb, 34, Morford-17.378
ROW 12:
23. John Heydenreich, 43, Felker-17.448
24. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-17.456
ROW 13:
25. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-17.569
26. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-18.941
ROW 14:
27. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall/Marshall-NT
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-577, 2-Justin Grant-514, 3-David Byrne-456, 4-Kyle Hamilton-381, 5-Bobby Santos-378, 6-Eric Gordon-375, 7-Chris Windom-342, 8-Mike Haggenbottom-328, 9-Kyle Robbins-320, 10-Austin Nemire-315.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: September 28, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 38th 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.tv
Kody Swanson a Smooth Operator at Rich Vogler Classic
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
KODY SWANSON A SMOOTH OPERATOR AT RICH VOGLER CLASSIC
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Brownsburg, Indiana (September 7, 2019).........In a championship race that Kody Swanson has led since day one, it seems inconceivable the number of peaks and valleys he and Nolen Racing have endured and overcome throughout the season.
Six days earlier at Du Quoin, the team had not one, but two engines go south on them in practice and qualifying, forcing Swanson into another team's car that he had never set foot in prior to the green flag, riding to a 14th place finish.
Six days later, the story was written in reverse as Swanson and Nolen executed their smoothest night of the year. No backup cars, no engine changes, just back to the basics - racing and winning, which they did again for the fifth time this year in nine races, Saturday night under the lights of Lucas Oil Raceway at the Rich Vogler Classic.
"It's tough, on top of a short week to do it. It would've been a tough week anyway, let alone when you're down and trying to get going," Kody explained. "You can either wait for something good to happen to you or you can put the work in and try to help. I haven't been to my day job since Wednesday morning, gutting it out with the guys in the shop. Everyone who's a part of it has continued to give everything they could."
Swanson's victory, the record-extending 29th of his USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series career, came after circumstances with the engine befell the team at Salem less than a month ago in the most recent pavement race. It was at Salem this week where the team made a decisive choice on the package they were going to bring to Lucas Oil Raceway.
"We had to pull (an engine) out from under the bench and put it in the backup car," Swanson said. "I've been part of a gentleman's agreement this year not to test at the places we're going to. We went to Salem, that's close to the shop and we're already done racing there, just to try to shake it down and make sure this one is still good. Afterward, we felt like our backup car was the better choice of the two. It was really good on starts and that's what we needed to try it."
Kody was knocked off the pole position by the final contestant of the Fatheadz Eyewear qualifying session, his younger brother Tanner Swanson, pitting the Kingsburg, Calif. siblings on the front row at the .686-mile paved oval where the two have had many a battle at the front of the pack for the past decade.
"We grew up together, so he knows all my tricks," Kody said of his younger brother. "He doesn't get rattled and everyone knows, when he comes to town, he's going to be a contender and probably the biggest threat."
Kody didn't allow Tanner to get an advantage in edgewise as he drove around Tanner in turns one and two on the opening lap to secure the lead. Back behind the brothers Swanson, May LOR winner Kyle Hamilton slid up in front of Justin Grant in the first urn to snare the third position.
The first and heaviest incident of the night came on the ninth lap when a rear end issue on the car of Cody Gallogly sent him hard into the turn two wall, resulting in his left rear wheel bouncing down the back straightaway without abandon before coming to a rest more than a half-straightaway in front of his damaged machine.
Through much of the first half of the 100-lapper, Tanner and Hamilton were locked down just a few car lengths behind Kody with the trio breaking away from the fourth-place car of Justin Grant by nearly half a lap as the top-three entered the throes of traffic. Swanson was the first to navigate between, under and around the traffic with precision, but Tanner and Hamilton cut through the chase to remain within a stone's throw of Kody.
On the 43rd lap, Annie Breidinger, making her first series start in over two years, spun exiting turn two. With Breidinger stopped, the trailing car of eighth-running Ryan Newman clipped his left front wheel into the left side of Breidinger's tail tank, heavily damaging Newman's front end and tearing off the rear bumper off Breidinger's machine. Breidinger restarted, but Newman, the 1999 Silver Crown champ, 2008 Daytona 500 winner and 2013 Brickyard 400 victor, was finished for the evening.
The most recent occasion Kody was in this exact position, leading a restart near the halfway point at LOR in May, his engine let go on him, putting him out of the race. This time around, Swanson was like match on a fire, extending his lead lap-after-lap from the lap 48 restart onward. Between laps 58 and 60 alone, Kody upped the interval between he and Tanner a half-second as traffic loomed once again. A Breidinger turn one spin resulted in a lap 69 restart for Kody which bunched up the field and would wind up being the closest the competition would get for the remaining 31 laps of the green flag run to the conclusion.
It seemed as if the longer the race went, the more Kody's car was changing and the more on top of it he became.
"Every stint, I drove the car a little bit different, using the throttle and the brake a little different and using the banking of the racetrack a little different, just trying to help my car be the best it could to try to get and keep the lead," Kody said.
Kody opened up the can to two seconds almost immediately, running away as he extended it to over three seconds by lap 84, then four, then five and, finally, 6.165 seconds when the checkered flag flew to score his second career Rich Vogler Classic victory, and first since 2016, over Tanner Swanson, Kyle Hamilton, Jim Anderson and a career-best fifth-place finish for five-time Indianapolis 500 veteran James Davison in his second career series start.
Kody's fifth career LOR Silver Crown victory moved him into a three-way tie with Mike Bliss and brother Tanner Swanson for the most wins in series history at the track. It also marked Nolen Racing's third career USAC Silver Crown victory at LOR, and first since 1995 with Jim Keeker as the pilot. Nolen also won with Johnny Parsons in 1991.
"What a part of history in the United States Auto Club this track has played, let alone to tie someone like Mike Bliss, who had the ultimate stranglehold on this place for so long and Tanner did too for a number of years," Kody exclaimed. I finally had to get better or (Tanner) was just going to continue to beat me all the time. I'm thankful to pick off a few whenever we could to make it up. To tie them with five is pretty special."
It's the ninth time the Swanson brothers have finished first and second in a USAC Silver Crown event, eight of which have come at LOR. Tanner won the first six of the Swanson one-two sweeps, while Kody has owned the upper hand in the last three.
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Lucas Oil Raceway included Tanner Swanson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Kyle Robbins (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Annie Breidinger (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 7, 2019 - Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, Indiana - Rich Vogler Classic
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Swanson, 02, Bowman-20.574; 2. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-20.633; 3. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-20.668; 4. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-20.805; 5. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-20.818; 6. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-20.860; 7. Ryan Newman, 2v, Bowman/Vance-20.876; 8. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-20.908; 9. James Davison, 11, DHR/Byrd-21.059; 10. Jim Anderson, 92, Kazmark-21.218; 11. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-21.268; 12. Joe Liguori, 32, Williams & Wright-21.323; 13. Brian Gerster, 94, Ram-21.350; 14. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-21.591; 15. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-21.605; 16. Cody Gallogly, 81, Williams-21.621; 17. Cameron Dodson, 25, Pierce-21.722; 18. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-21.781; 19. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-21.852; 20. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-21.926; 21. John Heydenreich, 43, Felker-22.668; 22. Annie Breidinger, 80, Breidinger-22.720; 23. Kyle O'Gara, 1, SFHR-NT; 24. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-NT; 25. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (2), 2. Tanner Swanson (1), 3. Kyle Hamilton (6), 4. Jim Anderson (10), 5. James Davison (9), 6. David Byrne (5), 7. Bobby Santos (3), 8. Justin Grant (4), 9. Chris Windom (11), 10. Kyle Robbins (20), 11. Joe Liguori (12), 12. Patrick Lawson (18), 13. Annie Breidinger (22), 14. Austin Nemire (14), 15. Matt Goodnight (15), 16. Eric Gordon (8), 17. Mike Haggenbottom (19), 18. John Heydenreich (21), 19. Ryan Newman (7), 20. Cameron Dodson (17), 21. Derek Bischak (23), 22. Cody Gallogly (16), 23. Brian Gerster (13), 24. Dave Berkheimer (24). 50:56.46
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Kody Swanson
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Kyle Robbins (20th to 10th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Annie Breidinger
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-577, 2-Justin Grant-514, 3-David Byrne-456, 4-Kyle Hamilton-381, 5-Bobby Santos-378, 6-Eric Gordon-375, 7-Chris Windom-342, 8-Mike Haggenbottom-328, 9-Kyle Robbins-320, 10-Austin Nemire-315.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: September 22, 2019 - Illinois State Fairgrounds - Springfield, Illinois - Bettenhausen 100