.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

WILSON WHEELS TO FIRST SILVER CROWN WIN IN Du QUOIN

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Du Quoin, Illinois (September 1, 2019).........For the majority of his career, Jacob Wilson has been deemed a "pavement guy."

While that's certainly a testament to his skills on the asphalt where he's earned victories in the Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial once and the Little 500 twice, most notably, it was a label that Wilson was anxious to shed.

Nevermind that he's been consistent on the dirt in recent years and even won the pole in his most recent appearance at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in 2018.

The Crawfordsville, Ind. driver erased the label Sunday night with a dominant victory in the Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, his first career triumph in the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series in his 53rd career series start, leading the final 59 laps to notch the win 11 years following his lone career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory on the Salem, Ind. high banks.

"I'm still a pavement guy, right," Wilson said with a grin. "We still joke about that. It became more apparent the last couple years that, if we did get our first win, it was going to be on the dirt, which is kind of weird. The pavement's still what I love but we just don't have as good of runs anymore."

"Man, this one is special," Wilson continued. "There's so many people that put effort into this thing. To get my brother his first win as a crew chief, to get (Matt) Hummel a win on this thing, my entire family and all the guys, it's special, that's for sure."

Wilson started from the seventh position to begin the 100-miler, which at first, became the race that just couldn't get going. Austin Nemire's car refused to turn on the first turn of the opening lap, sending the Sylvania, Ohio native helplessly into the outside wall. On the lap six restart, Levittown, Pennsylvania's Mike Haggenbottom tagged the turn two wall, sending him into a series of flips. Both drivers walked away from their incidents.

The third try was the charm as the race got into full swing with pole winner Tyler Courtney leading the way and Brady Bacon giving chase, both of whom have won with the series on dirt this year and were both in contention to win last year's Ted Horn 100.

Bacon applied constant pressure to Courtney until sailing around the outside of May Hoosier Hundred winner Tyler Courtney on the outside of turn two on the 19th lap for the race lead as Wilson pulled along to mount a challenge to Courtney for the runner-up spot before falling back into line in third.

Wilson stuck with Courtney for second, and on lap 26, threw his machine past the reigning USAC Sprint champ in turn one for the spot. Bacon's advantage held at five car lengths ahead of Wilson with a quarter of the race in the history books.

Nearing midway, Bacon and Wilson led a two-car breakaway to separate themselves from the pack. On lap 42, Wilson made his move, riding to the outside of Bacon off the fourth turn as the two went wheel to wheel under the flag stand. It became a case of who was going to be the last one to lift, with Wilson gaining the upper hand up top to drive around Bacon and open up a more than two second lead at the crossed flags as he invaded lap traffic.

"This thing was stuck so good, I knew we were going to be able to drive in deeper than Brady," Wilson explained. "It was just one of those deals where if he'd try to drive it in as well, it was a battle of who could get to the cushion and then who could get through the first corner first."

In the second half, Silver Crown races become a questioning of whether enough was saved on your end and whether others have saved fuel and tire-wise to make a run at you down the stretch. Wilson grappled with that as the field endured a long green flag run. In the midst of it, Courtney came alive on the 65th lap, ripping around Bacon in turns one and two for the second spot and cutting the gap to Wilson nearly in half, down to 2.4 seconds.

Despite that, Wilson was cruising with ease, on rails, with his Wilson Brothers Racing/D.D. Eyes - FK Indy/Maxim/Claxton Chevy whoa'd down to 80 percent of its full capability yet was still pulling away from the field. There's good and there's "too good." It's something which actually caused a bit of stress on the mind of Wilson.

"When you have a car this good, you never win with it," Wilson said. "Something always happens. You run out of fuel, you blow a tire, you lose an engine. There's always something that happens."

However, the team felt they had an ace up their sleeve, which worked in their favor.
"(Crew chief and brother) Clint (Wilson) made the call to go with the hard compound, which not a lot people did, I don't think," Wilson explained. "It allowed me to kick it down once we needed to later in the race if I gapped back up. I could kick it down and not have to worry about the tires blowing off of it, just conserve fuel."

But there were several steps along the way to get to that point, namely traffic, where Wilson saw his advantage shrink from nearly three seconds to a second-and-a-half in a two-lap span at the start of the final quarter of the race as he navigated his way by the lapped cars of Chris Urish, Kody Swanson and Austin Mundie.

Wilson was patient, never forcing anything despite the closing deficit and was ultimately able to clear them all as Courtney walked the tightrope on the high line around the traffic, while Wilson gradually reconstructed his lead to three-plus seconds and Courtney became bound up in the throes of gridlock.

Eighth-running Brian Tyler, a 2008 Ted Horn 100 winner, went up in smoke with 14 laps remaining to bring out the yellow, erasing Wilson's gap in a sense, although four lapped cars remained between he and Courtney. With a clear track, Wilson tipped his cap and drove away once again, showing no ill effects from the breaking of his half-race-long stride.

"Once I took back off and (my spotter) had me at 20 car lengths at the end of the first lap, it kind of started to sink in there," Wilson remembered. "Then you start hearing every little noise in it, every little vibration, what's going to let go."

Behind Wilson, Courtney and Bacon swapped second back-and-forth on laps 92 and 93 before regained the upper hand on lap 94. However, Justin Grant was the man on the move on the final restart, willing himself from eighth to fifth between laps 91 and 95, and an amazing fifth to second run in one fell swoop exiting turn two on lap 96.

Up front, Wilson sealed the deal, running seemingly half-throttle in preservation mode during the final laps, just in case. Yet, the gap widened as all his potential challengers were knee-deep in a scintillating battle for second.

Wilson closed it out to win by 6.330 seconds over Grant, Courtney, 1990 Du Quoin winner Jeff Swindell and Bacon. Wilson became the third first-time winner of the 2019 USAC Silver Crown season following Kyle Hamilton and Bacon.

Meanwhile, the point race tightened up following point leader Kody Swanson's mechanical gremlins throughout the night. His Nolen Racing team lost power to two different engines during practice. Patrick Lawson gave up his ride to Swanson for the main event where the four-time series champ charged from 29th to 14th to earn KSE Racing Products Hard Charger honors.

Tanner Thorson, in his first USAC Silver Crown appearance since 2015, walked away from a vicious accident on the back straightway during practice in which his steering broke, sending him into the inside guardrail and practically splitting the car in half from the dash forward. He walked away uninjured.

Contingency award winners Sunday night at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds included Tyler Courtney (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Kody Swanson (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Kyle Steffens (WIlwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

--------------------------------------------

USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 1, 2019 - Du Quoin State Fairgrounds - Du Quoin, Illinois - Ted Horn 100

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-30.627; 2. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-30.797; 3. Shane Cockrum, 71, Hardy-30.845; 4. Jerry Coons, Jr., 55, Bateman-31.100; 5. Chad Kemenah, 15, Hampshire/Kemenah-31.123; 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 56, Foxco-31.182; 7. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-31.454; 8. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-31.496; 9. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-31.617; 10. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-31.677; 11. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-31.715; 12. Jimmy Light, 123, Two-Three-31.857; 13. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-31.886; 14. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-31.923; 15. Jeff Swindell, 21, Swanson-31.932; 16. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-32.058; 17. Casey Buckman, 74, C-Buck-32.074; 18. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-32.333; 19. Austin Mundie, 47, Butler-32.365; 20. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott/Gorman-32.409; 21. Brian Tyler, 12, Galas-32.410; 22. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-32.467; 23. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-32.628; 24. A.J. Fike, 14, McQuinn-32.772; 25. Kyle Steffens, 08, Steffens-32.773; 26. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-32.911; 27. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-32.937; 28. Ronnie Wuerdeman, 33, Wuerdeman-33.125; 29. Terry Babb, 34, Morford-33.442; 30. John Heydenreich, 43, Felker-33.624; 31. Danny Long, 44, Long-34.571; 32. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-35.283; 33. Steve Buckwalter, 53, Five Three-NT; 34. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-NT; 35. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-NT; 36. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-NT; 37. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-NT; 38. Tanner Thorson, 9, Dyson-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Jacob Wilson (6), 2. Justin Grant (8), 3. Tyler Courtney (1), 4. Jeff Swindell (13), 5. Brady Bacon (2), 6. Chris Windom (9), 7. David Byrne (10), 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 9. Chad Kemenah (4), 10. Matt Goodnight (12), 11. Casey Buckman (15), 12. Jimmy Light (11), 13. Kyle Steffens (22), 14. Kody Swanson (#2 Lawson) (29), 15. Austin Mundie (17), 16. Chris Urish (7), 17. John Heydenreich (25), 18. A.J. Fike (21), 19. Travis Welpott (18), 20. Kyle Robbins (23), 21. Brian Tyler (19), 22. Bill Rose (28), 23. Jerry Coons, Jr. (3), 24. Dallas Hewitt (20), 25. Eric Gordon (16), 26. Ronnie Wuerdeman (31), 27. Mike Haggenbottom (14), 28. Terry Babb (24), 29. Dave Berkheimer (26), 30. C.J. Leary (30), 31. Austin Nemire (27). NT
------------------------------

**Tanner Thorson flipped during practice. Mike Haggenbottom flipped on lap 6 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-18 Tyler Courtney, Laps 19-41 Brady Bacon, Laps 42-100 Jacob Wilson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Kody Swanson (29th to 14th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Kyle Steffens

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-504, 2-Justin Grant-465, 3-David Byrne-401, 4-Eric Gordon-344, 5-Bobby Santos-326, 6-Kyle Hamilton-317, 7-Mike Haggenbottom-299, 8-Chris Windom-296, 9-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-293, 10-Austin Nemire-280.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: September 7, 2019 - Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, Indiana - Rich Vogler Classic

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

TED HORN 100 BRINGS MAGIC TO THE Du QUOIN MILE SUNDAY

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Du Quoin, Illinois (August 26, 2019).........The Du Quoin State Fairgrounds have been a staple on the AAA and USAC Championship Car racing trail since 1948. Seven decades later, the spectacular sight of a full field of USAC Silver Crown cars rumbling down the front stretch of the one-mile dirt oval in southern Illinois sends a chill down the spine.

The chill, and the roar, returns this Sunday night, September 1, with the Ted Horn 100, honoring the late, great three-time AAA National Champion, National Sprint Car Hall of Famer and 1947 Indianapolis 500 pole winner who finished in the top-four at the Brickyard in nine consecutive races between 1936 and 1948. He lost his life in the peak of his career in a racing accident at Du Quoin in October of 1948 at the age of 38.

Horn's legacy remains today as the namesake of the grand event where two-time race winner Chris Windom led only six laps in the 2018 edition, preserving his machinery down the stretch to win and complete the sweep of both Illinois dirt miles after winning at Springfield just weeks before. The Canton, Ill. driver won his first at Du Quoin in 2016 en route to the series title.

Local favorite Shane Cockrum of Benton, Ill. finished 3rd in last year's Ted Horn 100 to earn his sixth-straight top-five finish at Magic Mile. The race will mark his final appearance for Hardy Boys Motorsports at Du Quoin where, together, they've earned two victories in 2014 and 2015, plus a 4th (2013), 5th (2016), 2nd (2017) and a 3rd (2018).

Point leader Kody Swanson has won the Ted Horn 100 twice in his unparalleled Silver Crown career. In 2010, he captured the first of his record 28 career series victories at Du Quoin. In 2017, the Kingsburg, Calif. driver netted his second in the event. The four-time series champion enters his 101st start Sunday night following wins in the two most recent races at Salem, Ind. and Madison, Wisc., two of his series-leading four scores this season. The Nolen Racing No. 20 in which he competes with this year led the first six laps of last year's contest with driver Jerry Coons, Jr.

The field is expected to possess five additional one-time Du Quoin winners in Jeff Swindell (1990), Russ Gamester (1997), Shane Cottle (2007), Brian Tyler (2008) and Chris Urish (2013).

Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) finished second in last year's Ted Horn 100 behind Windom and enters Sunday's race with four-straight top-two finishes on the dirt with the series. Williams Grove winner Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) paced the field for 28 laps in the 2018 100-miler before dropping out with a clutch problem while leading. USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car point leader C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) led a race-high 53 laps in 2018, running out of fuel while leading, but soldiering on to a 9th place finish. Hoosier Hundred winner Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.) led seven laps late in the going, but ran out of fuel, settling for a 14th place finish.

No driver owns more Champ Car wins under AAA and USAC sanction at Du Quoin than A.J. Foyt with six. Gary Bettenhausen has been victorious in five while Mario Andretti, Tony Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Chuck Gurney and Jack Hewitt each have three. Those with a pair of Du Quoin wins include Jimmy Bryan, Shane Cockrum, Sam Hanks, Tracy Hines, Johnny Parsons, Kody Swanson, Al Unser and Chris Windom.

1951 Indianapolis 500 winner Lee Wallard won the first appearance of AAA National Championship cars at Du Quoin in 1948. Ted Horn finished third behind Wallard and Myron Fohr.

Nine different Illinois drivers have won at Du Quoin, including Tinley Park's Tony Bettenhausen (1949 & twice in 1951), Rantoul's Don Branson (1965), Danville's Bubby Jones (1976), Tinley Park's Gary Bettenhausen (twice in 1980, 1982, 1983 & 1988), Chicago's Rich Vogler (1981), Kansas' Shane Cottle (2007), Elkhart's Chris Urish (2013), Benton's Shane Cockrum (2014 & 2015) and Canton's Chris Windom (2016 & 2018).

Pits and registration open at 1pm, grandstands open at 4pm, practice at 5pm, qualifying at 6:30 with the Ted Horn 100 scheduled for an 8:15pm start. All times central.

Tickets will be available on raceday or by calling the Du Quoin Fair office at 618-542-1535. Info and tickets can also be obtained by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200.

Advance tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for children 11 and under. On the day of the race, adults are $30 and children 11 and under are $10. Pit passes are $35 apiece for adults and $20 for children 11 and under.

Sunday's Ted Horn 100 will have live, flag-to-flag coverage on FloRacing. You can listen to live audio of the broadcast for free on the USAC app or follow along with live updates on https://www.facebook.com/usacracing/ and https://twitter.com/USACNation/ with live timing and scoring available on both the USAC and Race-Monitor apps.

AAA/USAC CHAMP CAR WINNERS AT Du QUOIN:
1948: Lee Wallard & Johnnie Parsons
1949: Tony Bettenhausen
1951: Tony Bettenhausen & Tony Bettenhausen
1952: Chuck Stevenson
1953: Sam Hanks
1954: Sam Hanks
1955: Jimmy Bryan
1956: Jimmy Bryan
1957: Jud Larson
1958: Johnny Thomson
1959: Rodger Ward
1960: A.J. Foyt
1961: A.J. Foyt
1963: A.J. Foyt
1964: A.J. Foyt
1965: Don Branson
1966: Bud Tingelstad
1967: A.J. Foyt
1968: Mario Andretti
1969: Al Unser
1970: Al Unser
1971: George Snider
1972: Tom Bigelow & A.J. Foyt
1973: Mario Andretti
1974: Mario Andretti
1975: Tom Bigelow
1976: Bubby Jones
1977: Tom Bigelow
1978: Pancho Carter
1979: Bill Vukovich
1980: Gary Bettenhausen & Gary Bettenhausen
1981: Rich Vogler
1982: Gary Bettenhausen
1983: Gary Bettenhausen
1984: Joe Saldana
1985: Rick Hood
1986: Jack Hewitt
1987: Jack Hewitt
1988: Gary Bettenhausen
1989: Chuck Gurney
1990: Jeff Swindell
1991: Stevie Reeves
1992: Johnny Parsons
1993: Jack Hewitt
1994: Chuck Gurney
1995: Johnny Parsons
1996: Chuck Gurney
1997: Russ Gamester
1998: Jimmy Sills
1999: Tony Elliott
2000: Kasey Kahne
2001: Paul White
2002: J.J. Yeley
2003: Rich Tobias, Jr.
2004: Tyler Walker
2005: Tracy Hines
2006: Tracy Hines
2007: Shane Cottle
2008: Brian Tyler
2010: Kody Swanson
2011: Kyle Larson
2013: Chris Urish
2014: Shane Cockrum
2015: Shane Cockrum
2016: Chris Windom
2017: Kody Swanson
2018: Chris Windom

AAA/USAC CHAMP CAR WINS AT Du QUOIN:
1. (6) A.J. Foyt
2. (5) Gary Bettenhausen
3. (3) Mario Andretti, Tony Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Chuck Gurney & Jack Hewitt
8. (2) Jimmy Bryan, Shane Cockrum, Sam Hanks, Tracy Hines, Johnny Parsons, Kody Swanson, Al Unser & Chris Windom
16. (1) Don Branson, Pancho Carter, Shane Cottle, Tony Elliott, Russ Gamester, Rick Hood, Bubby Jones, Kasey Kahne, Jud Larson, Kyle Larson, Johnnie Parsons, Stevie Reeves, Joe Saldana, Jimmy Sills, George Snider, Chuck Stevenson, Jeff Swindell, Johnny Thomson, Bud Tingelstad, Rich Tobias, Jr., Brian Tyler, Chris Urish, Rich Vogler, Bill Vukovich, Tyler Walker, Lee Wallard, Rodger Ward, Paul White & J.J. Yeley

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

KTJ AIMS TO RUN UP FRONT AT SPRINGFIELD AND END RUNNER-UP STREAK

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Springfield, Illinois (August 14, 2019).........No driver has finished as consistently well on the dirt tracks of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series over the past calendar year than has Kevin Thomas, Jr., as he prepares for this Saturday's 58th running of the Bettenhausen 100 presented by BRANDT at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.

There's been a consistent theme in each of the Cullman, Alabama native's last four starts: a 2nd at Springfield, a 2nd at Du Quoin, and a 2nd at Eldora to close out 2018, followed by another 2nd place result in his only start on the dirt this season in May's Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Mile.

Four-straight top-two finishes is an impressive statistic regardless of which aspect you choose to look at it. In a championship race, in most cases, that puts a driver right in the thick of the hunt. But Thomas is in the business of winning races at this point after missing two starts on the Silver Crown schedule, and that's his sole focus heading into Springfield.

Thomas is now among a group of four drivers who've ran second at least four times in their Silver Crown careers without getting a win thus far: Arnie Knepper, 1984 series champion Dave Blaney, Pablo Donoso and himself.

The difference being that Thomas is in the midst of the run and seems more than ready to punch open the door to victory lane at this point. There's been no riding around, no war of attrition that's put him up front and no luck. Thomas has been a force on the dirt and there's no doubt he's game for a winning run once again. Over those past four races, he's led three of them for 138 of the 250 total laps (55.2%) and was in the lead entering the final 10-lap stretch in all three of the races at Springfield, Eldora and the Indy Mile.

With 25 career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins to go along with 5 victories in the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget division, Thomas is more than poised to end that with that elusive W at a place where the famed Gohr/Foxco No. 56 has won three poles with Tom Bigelow in 1981, Steve Chassey in 1983 and Dave Darland in 1999, along with four 100-mile victories by Chuck Gurney in 1994 and Dave Darland in 1997, 1999 and 2003. Thomas very well could be next in line this Saturday to join that prestigious group in both categories.

A win Saturday would also move Thomas into a select group of drivers who've earned their first career Champ Car wins in the Silver Crown era at the Springfield Mile, following Larry Rice (1977), Gary Bettenhausen (1978), Bobby Olivero (1979), Cole Whitt (2009) and Justin Grant (2017).

MOST 2ND PLACE FINISHES WITHOUT A SILVER CROWN WIN:
1. (4) Dave Blaney, Pablo Donoso, Arnie Knepper & Kevin Thomas, Jr.
5. (3) Randy Tolsma
6. (2) Jimmy Caruthers, Jac Haudenschild & Jon Stanbrough
9. (1) Robert Ballou, Tim Barber, Mike Brecht, Barry Camp, Tom Capie, Ed Carpenter, Jim Childers, Bob Cicconi, Carl Edwards, Bob Ewell, Robby Flock, Stan Fox, Damion Gardner, Gene Lee Gibson, Jesse Hockett, Jon Johnson, P.J. Jones, Michael Lewis, Warren Mockler, Bill Puterbaugh, Pete Shepherd III, Bentley Warren, Greg Weld, Kramer Williamson & Jacob Wilson

DRIVERS WHO'VE EARNED FIRST CHAMP CAR WIN AT SPRINGFIELD:
(Silver Crown Era 1971-Present)
1977: Larry Rice
1978: Gary Bettenhausen
1979: Bobby Olivero
2009: Cole Whitt
2017: Justin Grant

The Bettenhausen 100 in Springfield gets underway with pits opening and registration starting at 7am (Central), the ticket office and grandstands opening at 9am, the drivers meeting at 9:30am, Silver Crown practice from 10am to 11:10am, Fatheadz Silver Crown Qualifying at 11:30am, Sportsman hot laps at noon, the Silver Crown Qualifying Race at 12:30pm, Sportsman heats at 1pm, pre-race ceremonies at 1:30pm and the Bettenhausen 100-mile race at 2pm.

Tickets will be available on raceday or by calling the State Fair office at 217-782-1979. Info and tickets can also be obtained by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200. Discount tickets for Sunday also available at Menards. Advance Tickets (Presale) are $25 for adults and $10 for children 11 and under. On race day, tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for children 11 and under. Infield tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for children 11 and under. Pit passes are $35 for adults and $20 for children 11 and under. Infield parking is $5 for those parking in the infield with no infield or pit passes.

This Saturday's Springfield race 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.

2019 BETTENHAUSEN 100 ENTRY LIST (37 Drivers)
# / DRIVER / HOMETOWN / TEAM
07 JACOB WILSON/Crawfordsville, IN (Wilson Brothers Racing)
08 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Louis, MO (Kyle Steffens)
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
6 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Klatt Enterprises)
7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
9 ®CHRIS DYSON/Pleasant Valley, NY (Chris Dyson Racing)
10 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (DMW Motorsports)
12 BRIAN TYLER/Mt. Pleasant, NC (Galas Motorsports)
14 A.J. FIKE/Galesburg, IL (Dennis & Dave McQuinn)
15 CHAD KEMENAH/Arvada, OH (Hampshire/Kemenah Racing)
16 AUSTIN NEMIRE/Sylvania, OH (Nemire-Lesko Racing)
17 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (Goodnight-Byrd Racing)
20 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Gene Nolen Racing)
21 JEFF SWINDELL/Germantown, TN (Mark Swanson Encore Team)
24 MIKE HAGGENBOTTOM/Levittown, PA (John Haggenbottom)
26 AARON PIERCE/Muncie, IN (Sam Pierce)
29 JOEY MOUGHAN/Springfield, IL (Joey Moughan)
31 ®DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
33 ®RONNIE WUERDEMAN/Cincinnati, OH (Ronnie Wuerdeman)
34 TERRY BABB/Decatur, IL (Ken Morford)
39 MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
40 DAVID BYRNE/Shullsburg, WI (Byrne Racing)
43 JOHN HEYDENREICH/Bloomsburg, PA (A.J. Felker)
44 DANNY LONG/Bonne Terre, MO (Danny Long)
47 ®AUSTIN MUNDIE/Dallas, TX (Patty Butler)
51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
53 STEVE BUCKWALTER/Royersford, PA (Five Three Motorsports)
56 KEVIN THOMAS, JR./Cullman, AL (Foxco Racing)
57 ®DALLAS HEWITT/Troy, OH (Dallas Hewitt)
71 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL (Hardy Boys Motorsports)
77 CHRIS URISH/Elkhart, IL (Chris Urish)
78 ERIC GORDON/Fortville, IN (Armstrong/Slinkard Racing)
81 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Curtis Williams)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
97 TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Hans Lein)
99 ®KOREY WEYANT/Springfield, IL (Scott Weyant)
123 ®JIMMY LIGHT/West Springfield, PA (Two-Three Motorsports)

® = USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

SWANSON SCORES 4TH STRAIGHT JOE JAMES/PAT O'CONNOR MEMORIAL

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Salem, Indiana (August 10, 2019).........Time and time again, it seems that whenever Kody Swanson comes face-to-face with adversity, it's a near guarantee that adversity has no fighting chance.

Twas the case Saturday night in round seven of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series season at Salem Speedway where the Kingsburg, Calif. native had to jump into his backup car early after engine issues befell his primary Nolen Racing ride during practice. Swanson jumped into the secondary car, promptly put it on the pole and led wire-to-wire to capture his fourth consecutive Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial victory, equaling a feat previously only accomplished by Pancho Carter in 1974-75-76-77.

In fact, it's the second time this year Swanson was thrust into this scenario. He encountered mechanical trouble with the primary in the opener at Memphis before sitting on the pole and winning the main event.

It's not an easy scenario for any individual to overcome, but Swanson just makes it appear easy. The reality is, without the amount of preparation they put into it, their night could've been toast before it even began. Instead, Swanson and Nolen get to once again enjoy the spoils of victory for the fourth time in seven races in 2019.

"Obviously, it was not part of the plan," Swanson admitted. "We practiced with the primary car, I picked out my best shocks and springs and did all the homework I could on that one and was really happy with where we were for running on used tires."

Right before the second round of practice started, crew member Chris Phillips noticed that water was coming through one of the nozzle filters. Engine builder Bill Tranter noticed it was a big issue as well, and Swanson was forced to hop out of the primary while the team quickly retrieved the backup car. Crew members Rick Laughlin and Dale Latty had worked on the backup car leading up to the event to make sure it was ready just in case it was needed.

In a matter of minutes, the backup car went from having travel tires on it to race tires that could be scuffed for qualifying. The time that was left only allowed for two laps of practice, which proved pivotal for Swanson to diagnose what needed to be done.

"In those two laps, I was able to find the things I didn't like about the racecar and what made me uncomfortable from the cockpit," Swanson explained. "Immediately, we came in and there was no 'hey, we're tired. You figure it out.' They all jumped in and continued to just battle it out to make it better."

Swanson described his qualifying run as an uncomfortable two laps. Yet, it was good enough for the four-time series champ to win the pole by more than three tenths of a second. Despite all that, Swanson had the hunger for more.

"After we qualified, I came in and wanted to change four shocks and four springs," Swanson recalled. "Not once did any of the guys give me any grief, like 'hey, don't be greedy.' They just kept after it."

Swanson edged ahead at the start of the 75-lap race with outside front row starter Bobby Santos delivering a challenge to the right rear hip pocket of Swanson exiting the second turn, which would develop into a five car breakaway led by Swanson, followed by Santos, David Byrne, Aaron Pierce and Kyle Hamilton in the opening five laps.

Austin Nemire slowed to bring out the first yellow flag on lap 8, pouring smoke and then fluid on the surface to force an early conclusion to his night.

On the lap 14 restart, Byrne used a big run on the front straightaway to slip underneath Santos for second, then began to hustle to present a challenge toward Swanson. By lap 20, however, Swanson had broken away from Byrne to nearly a second as Byrne fronted a conga line ahead of Santos, Pierce and Hamilton.

Following a yellow flag for 2016 series champ Chris Windom who slowed before pulling into the pits and climbing out on lap 32, Swanson was stopped by race officials to see if he was leaking fluid. Everything checked out in order and Swanson resumed his race from the head of the pack.

Once racing returned to green, Swanson went into full decimation mode, opening up a half-straightaway lead by lap 40 and then a full-straightaway advantage by lap 50. As Swanson entered the clear, he was cruising as much as one possibly car at a place like Salem with its daunting 33-degree banking.

Behind him, though, a tight scramble for position ensued, allowing Swanson to open up the interval even more as second-running Byrne encountered the lapped car of Mike Haggenbottom. Byrne drifted high in turn two on lap 55, allowing Santos to rip by underneath to return to second. Hamilton slid up in front of Byrne in turn one three laps later for third while Pierce followed suit on the next lap in turn one by Byrne for fourth.

With ten laps remaining and tussling in traffic, Hamilton got hung up behind a lapped car, forcing him high at the exit of turn four, which Pierce took full advantage of, diving to the inside of Hamilton to take third.

With six laps remaining, five-time Indianapolis 500 starter James Davison tagged the turn four wall, slowing briefly to bring out the final caution period of the night. He continued on to finish an impressive ninth in his USAC Silver Crown debut.

The yellow erased a seven-plus second lead for Swanson who now had to endure a two-lap rendezvous to secure the win. Santos took a peek under Swanson as soon as the green flag appeared on lap 74. Swanson answered the challenge, protecting his line into turn one, before stretching his lead to 0.914 of a second by race's end, closing out his record-extending 28th career series victory over Santos, Pierce, Hamilton and Byrne.

The victory arrived on the same night Swanson became the 19th driver to join the 100-start club in the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series, and in the process, equaled a mark set by USAC Hall of Famer Pancho Carter by winning four-straight in the Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial.

"Pancho is legendary in our sport," Swanson admired. "It's just plain cool to share the torch with Pancho at one of the toughest places we tackle. To come out on top, you've got to beat the racetrack and everybody else and there are countless great competitors here."

Swanson's victory in his Nolen Racing/KECO Coatings - Goodridge - K & N Filters/Beast/Tranter Chevy was reminiscent of the arrival of the Silver Crown division to Salem in 1988 where a strikingly similar-appearing yellow No. 20 was victorious with driver Bob Frey.

Swanson dedicated his win to the memory of USAC Media/Public Relations/Vice President Dick Jordan, who passed away the day before, on Friday, August 9.

"I'm thinking of our friend, D.J., Swanson said. "I shared the race with him today from qualifying through all 75 laps. He's been riding along with me since Wednesday. For whatever reason, I had "50s on 5" on the radio. I can't explain why, but it all makes sense. Certainly, I'll miss him, but I'm certainly glad to win this one in his memory."

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Salem Speedway included Kody Swanson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Patrick Lawson (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Joe Liguori (WIlwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

--------------------------------------------

USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 10, 2019 - Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery - Salem, Indiana - Discover Scott County Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial presented by the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-16.001; 2. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-16.322; 3. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-16.392; 4. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-16.450; 5. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-16.451; 6. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-16.488; 7. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-16.617; 8. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-16.681; 9. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-16.856; 10. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-16.904; 11. Joe Liguori, 32, Williams/Wright-17.074; 12. James Davison, 11, DHR/Byrd-17.108; 13. Cody Gallogly, 81, Williams-17.184; 14. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-17.222; 15. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-17.295; 16. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-17.536; 17. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-17.684; 18. Ronnie Gardner, 43, Felker-18.433; 19. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-21.348.

FEATURE: (75 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (2), 3. Aaron Pierce (3), 4. Kyle Hamilton (6), 5. David Byrne (4), 6. Justin Grant (5), 7. Eric Gordon (8), 8. Derek Bischak (9), 9. James Davison (12), 10. Kyle Robbins (10), 11. Cody Gallogly (13), 12. Patrick Lawson (16), 13. Joe Liguori (11), 14. Mike Haggenbottom (17), 15. Matt Goodnight (15), 16. Chris Windom (7), 17. Ronnie Gardner (18), 18. Austin Nemire (14), 19. Dave Berkheimer (19). 28:21.258

------------------------------

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-75 Kody Swanson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Patrick Lawson (16th to 12th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Joe Liguori

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-469, 2-Justin Grant-398, 3-David Byrne-349, 4-Bobby Santos-326, 5-Eric Gordon-326, 6-Kyle Hamilton-317, 7-Mike Haggenbottom-283, 8-Austin Nemire-267, 9-Kyle Robbins-254, 10-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-244.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: August 17, 2019 - Illinois State Fairgrounds - Springfield, Illinois - Bettenhausen 100

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

SWANSON TO MAKE 100TH SILVER CROWN START AT SALEM

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Salem, Indiana (August 6, 2019).........Kody Swanson is just a single start away from reaching a milestone mark in his racing career as the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series heads into the August 10 Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial at Indiana's Salem Speedway this Saturday.

The Kingsburg, Calif. native stands at 99 career USAC Silver Crown starts, and with one more, would join the exclusive 100 start club for the series, a mark achieved by only 18 previous drivers: Dave Darland (201 starts), Russ Gamester & Brian Tyler (197), Jerry Coons, Jr. (175), Tracy Hines (172), Jack Hewitt (163), Johnny Parsons (151), Tony Elliott (147), Eric Gordon (136), George Snider (128), Gary Hieber (125), Chuck Gurney (114), Bud Kaeding & Jimmy Sills (113), Dave Steele (111), John Heydenreich (104), A.J. Fike (102) and Larry Rice (100).

It's safe to say that no driver has accomplished more in those his first 100 than Swanson has. In that span, he's won the pole position a record 28 times, reached victory lane on an all-time best 27 occasions and finished as the runner-up 20 times, giving him a remarkable mark of top-two finishes in 47 of his 99 starts thus far, just a tick under 50 percent!

He's also added four Silver Crown driver titles (2014-15-17-18) and helped his team to five consecutive car owner championships in the past five years, another unprecedented mark that he's added to his resume.

Salem Speedway has been the home of a slew of Swanson milestones since the Silver Crown series began revisiting the .555-mile high banks in the summer of 2016. That year, Swanson broke Rich Vogler's long-standing one-lap track record in a Champ Car at Salem en route to victory. The following year in 2017, his 18th career victory moved him into second all-time on Silver Crown's win list. In 2018, the ante was upped as Swanson became the series' winningest driver following his Salem triumph, the 24th of his career.

We might also mention that Swanson's Salem win a year ago was his fifth-straight at the time, another record for the books, if you're keeping track at home.

This year, Swanson has tacked even more on to his resume with three victories (Memphis, Toledo & Madison), plus a second-place run at Williams Grove, and leads the series points entering Saturday's Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial where he aims to join another exclusive club, as a winner of the prestigious event for the fourth-straight year, something only accomplished once before, by the great Pancho Carter between 1974 and 1977.

It's a far cry from his first credited Silver Crown start at Iowa Speedway in 2008 where he suffered mechanical trouble, finishing last and the box score reading "0 laps competed." Since that time, Swanson has rewritten seemingly every stat in the record books or reached what once seemed like a distant dream that's now become a reality. For Swanson, another of those realities awaits this Saturday.

Silver Crown pits open at 1pm Eastern on Saturday, August 10. Spectator gates open at 3pm, vintage car warm-ups at 3pm, Silver Crown drivers meeting at 3:15pm, stock car practice from 3:30-3:50pm, first Silver Crown practice from 3:55-4:25pm, stock car practice from 4:30pm-4:45pm, final Silver Crown practice from 4:50-5:20pm, Qualifying at 5:45pm, opening ceremonies at 6:55pm followed by stock car and Silver Crown main events.

Advance adult general admission tickets are $23 for adults/teens and $5 for ages 7-12. Advance reserved tickets are $28.

Saturday's prestigious event 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.

--------------------------------------------

ALL-TIME USAC SILVER CROWN STARTS:

1. [201] Dave Darland

2. [197] Russ Gamester & Brian Tyler

4. [175] Jerry Coons, Jr.

5. [172] Tracy Hines

6. [163] Jack Hewitt

7. [151] Johnny Parsons

8. [147] Tony Elliott

9. [136] Eric Gordon

10. [128] George Snider

11. [125] Gary Hieber

12. [114] Chuck Gurney

13. [113] Bud Kaeding & Jimmy Sills

15. [111] Dave Steele

16. [104] John Heydenreich

17. [102] A.J. Fike

18. [100] Larry Rice

19. [99] Kody Swanson

20. [95] Aaron Pierce

21. [94] Jay Drake & Paul White

23. [91] J.J. Yeley

24. [90] Tom Bigelow

25. [88] Mark Alderson

26. [84] Jason McCord

27. [83] Gary Bettenhausen

28. [79] Donnie Beechler & Levi Jones

30. [77] Rich Vogler

31. [76] Larry Dickson

32. [74] Steve Chassey

33. [73] Rich Tobias, Jr.

34. [72] Bobby East & Ryan Newman

36. [71] Robby Flock & Sheldon Kinser

38. [70] Steve Butler

39. [68] Billy Engelhart

40. [67] Joe Saldana

41. [66] Brad Noffsinger

42. [65] Jerry Nemire & Chris Windom

44. [62] Ron Shuman

45. [60] Randy Bateman & Wally Pankratz

47. [58] Rick Hood

48. [57] Bill Rose

49. [55] David Byrne & Gary Irvin

51. [54] Tom Capie & Shane Hollingsworth

53. [53] Chet Fillip, Jason Leffler & Bobby Santos

56. [52] Shane Cottle, Wayne Reutimann, Jr. & Jacob Wilson

59. [49] Tony Stewart

60. [48] Mike Bliss

61. [47] Bob Cicconi & Ken Schrader

63. [46] Jim Keeker & Bentley Warren

65. [45] Derek Davidson & Billy Vukovich

67. [44] Justin Grant & Jeff Swindell

69. [43] Kenny Irwin, Jr. & Tyler Walker

71. [42] Jon Stanbrough

72. [41] Dane Carter & Danny Milburn

74. [40] Aaron Fike, Andy Hillenburg, Warren Mockler & Chip Thomas

78. [39] Tray House, Jim McElreath & Tanner Swanson

81. [38] Shane Cockrum, Austin Nemire & Bobby Olivero

84. [37] Pancho Carter, Duke Cook, Todd Kane, Chuck Leary, Rusty McClure, Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. & Roger Rager

91. [36] Ed Carpenter, Ron Dunstan & Patrick Lawson

94. [35] Chris Urish

95. [34] Ronnie Burke, Davey Hamilton, Kevin Huntley, Greg Staab & Kevin Thomas

100. [33] Cary Faas, Jimmy Kite & Josh Wise

103. [32] Brent Kaeding & C.J. Leary

105. [31] Steve Cannon, Ron Gregory, Arnie Knepper, Jim Mahoney, Mat Neely & Stevie Reeves

111. [30] Tim Barber, Teddy Beach, Jeff Bloom, Zach Daum, Stan Fox, Manny Rockhold & Jerry Russell

118. [29] Rocky Hodges & Michael Lewis

120. [28] Dave Blaney & Bill Puterbaugh

122. [27] Brad Armstrong, Bryan Clauson & Matt Westfall

125. [26] Dan Drinan

126. [25] Steve Buckwalter, Kasey Kahne & Nick Lundgreen

129. [24] Pat Abold, Derek Hagar, Kenny Jacobs & Jerry Miller

133. [23] Brady Bacon & Matt Goodnight

135. [22] Terry Babb, Billy Cassella, Cameron Dodson, Kevin Doty, Bob Frey & Joe Liguori

141. [21] Walt Kennedy & Davey Ray

143. [20] Bill Baue, Dave Feese, John Starks & Randy Tolsma

147. [19] Bruce Field, Gene Lee Gibson, Shane Hmiel, Jimmy McCune & Lealand McSpadden

152. [18] Rollie Beale, Jackie Burke, Mike Murgoitio, Casey Shuman, Al Unser & Jonathan Vennard

158. [17] Jimmy Caruthers, A.J. Foyt, Brian Gerster, Kyle Hamilton, Sammy Sessions & Kramer Williamson

164. [16] Pablo Donoso & Kyle Robbins

166. [15] Paul Clark, P.J. Jones & Bruce Walkup

169. [14] Jarett Andretti, Billy Boat, Carl Edwards, Chris Fetter, Jeff Gordon, Mike Haggenbottom, Bubby Jones, Keith Kauffman, Ralph Liguori, Boston Reid, Danny Smith, Smokey Snellbaker, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. & Jerry Weeks

183. [13] Robert Ballou, Patrick Bruns, Tyce Carlson, Dana Carter, Jim Childers, Tyler Courtney, Jac Haudenschild, Jackie Howerton, Jon Johnson, Greg Leffler, Andy Michner, Brian Paulus, Billy Wease, Bud Wilmot & Rodney Weesner

198. [12] Brad Fox, Mike Gregg, Mike Hess, Billy Pauch, Ricky Shelton & Bill Tyler

204. [11] Mario Andretti, J.C. Bland, Justin Carver, Hud Cone, Craig Dori, Taylor Ferns, Dickie Gaines, David Gough, Steve Kinser, Cory Kruseman, Lee Kunzman, James McElreath, Bobby McMahan, Joey Moughan, Rex Norris III, Mike Peters, Tad Roach, Kevin Thomas, Jr. Greg Weld, Greg Wilson & Travis Welpott

225. [10] Ronnie Day, Gary Gray, Richard Griffin, Coleman Gulick, Bob Harkey, Terry James, Page Jones, Terry Kawell, Jim Moughan, Kenneth Nichols, Terry Pletch, Jack Runyon, Robert Smith, Robbie Stanley,

239. [9] Bobby Adkins, Chuck Amati, Caleb Armstrong, Karl Busson, Bob Evans, Bryn Gohn, Wayne Hammond, Jim Hurtubise, Rebel Jackson, Jr., Chappy Knaack, Kyle Larson, Eddie Leavitt, Larry Martin, Joss Moffatt, Johnny Petrozelle, Paul Pitzer & Johnny Rutherford

256. [8] Joe Axsom, Christopher Bell, Toni Breidinger, Cole Carter, Mel Cornett, Chris Cumberworth, Doug Didero, Paul Durant, Ray Joe Fager, Larry Gates, Ken Hamilton, Darl Harrison, Roy Hicks, Rod Holshouser, Dakota Jackson, Mike Johnson, Frankie Kerr, Danny Long, Thiago Medeiros, Jan Opperman, Lee Osborne, Junior Parkinson, Greg Peterson, Aaron Pollock, Tracy Potter, Steve Siegel, Ryan Smith, Sammy Swindell, Rick Treadway, Lennie Waldo, Carl Williams & Doug Wolfgang

288. [7] John Andretti, Eric Butze, Rob Chaney, Lou Cicconi, Jr., Chris Dyson, Bob East, Perry Ferrell, Nick Fornoro, Jr., Joe Gaerte, Damion Gardner, Cody Gerhardt, Brian Hayden, Jesse Hockett, Blake Hollingsworth, Tony Hunt, Paul Huntington, Paul Koch, Joe McCarthy, Michael Roselli, Jr., Hunter Schuerenberg, Alex Shanks, Pete Shepherd III, Mark Smith, Kyle Steffens, Mike Thomas, Billy Whitaker & Mitch Wissmiller

315. [6] Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, Derek Bischak, Mike Brooks, Bill Burks, Jr., Kellen Conover, Palmer Crowell, Ryan Durst, Bob Ewell, Spike Gehlhausen, Kenny Gentry, Darren Hagen, Tom Hessert III, Larry Hoppes, John Hubbard, Marc Jessup, Doug Kalitta, Kevin Koch, Bill Kojis, Mike Lichty, Jeff Mitrisin, Don Nordhorn, Brian Seidel, Jimmy Stinson, Jerry Stone & Mike Winblad

341. [5] Sport Allen, Todd Beach, Dave Berkheimer, Barry Camp, Larry Cannon, Mark Cassella, Cody Gallogly, Davey Hamilton, Jr., John Hunt, Brad Kuhn, Rich Leavell, Donnie Lehmann, Mario Marietta, Brad Marvel, Mack McClellan, Kevin Olson, Steven Russell, Red Stauffer, Mike Stroehle, Neil Shepherd, Sleepy Tripp, Terry Uehling, Cole Whitt & Rip Williams

365. [4] Jim Anderson, Tony Armstrong, Steve Arpin, John Batts, Jr., Mike Brecht, Jimmy Brewer, David Bridges, Ray Bull, Keith Burch, Keith Butler, Shane Carson, Herb Copeland, Casey Diemert, Lee Dunn, Danny Ebberts, Murray Erickson, Ray Evans, Scott Hansen, Don Hawley, Steve Kent, Dereck King, Steve Knepper, Mike Larrison, Mike Ling, Bobby Marcum, Von McGee, Wes Miller, David Mirk, Austin Mundie, Rodney Ritter, Jr., Billy Shuman, Dean Shirley, Donny Schatz, Jake Simmons, Tim Siner, Billy Vukovich III, Clark Templeman, Kevin Whitesides, Leon Thickstun & Miranda Throckmorton

405. [3] Steve Adams, Johnny Anderson, Ed Angle, Robin Bank, Justin Barger, John Barrick, Kipp Beard, Doug Berryman, Merle Bettenhausen, Art Bisch, Jr., Kevin Bloomstran, Lee Brewer, Jr., Rick Brown, Dave Burns, Gary Cameron II, Keith Campbell, Marv Carman, Roy Caruthers, Wayne Chinn, Bill Compton, Tim Cox, Erin Crocker, Troy DeCaire, Thad Dosher, Tommie Estes, Jr., Dean Franklin, Jeff Gardner, Emmett Hahn, Darryl Haugh, Dallas Hewitt, Kelly Kinser, Lance Kobusch, Red Kunstbeck, Ricky Logan, Steve Long, Jim Malloy, Mike Martin, Zach Martini, Bob Meli, Larry Moore, Ryan Moore, Aaron Mosley, Mike Ordway, Gary Patterson, Gary Ponzini, Rusty Rasmussen, Wayne Reutimann, Robbie Rice, Travis Rilat, A.J. Russell, Zach Schiff, Frankie Schneider, Ryan Scott, Terry Shepherd, Ron Smoker, Chase Stockon, Kevin Studley, Brad Sweet, Buz Tapply, Cale Thomas, Dick Tobias, Rick Ungar, Korey Weyant, Tony Weyant, George White, Jim Whiteside & Greg Wooley

472. [2] Michael Adkins, Mike Andreeta, Tommy Astone, Todd Bammer, Randy Bauer, Dave Baumgartner, Dean Billings, Austin Blair, Dan Boorse, Annie Breidinger, Ken Brewer, Shane Butler, Steve Carithers, Tim Clark, Jason Conn, Stan Constant, Johnny Coogan, Frank D'Alonso, Daryl Daugherty, Tom Davies, Greg DeCaires, Duke DeRosa, Scott Edmiston, Dean Erfurth, Jay Ervine, Mike Fedorcak, Billy Felts, A.J. Foyt IV, Stewart Friesen, Greg Furlong, Leon Gentry, Mike Gigot, Joe Gosek, Rick Goudy, Chuck Gurney, Jr., Randy Hannagan, Scott Hatton, Jon Herb, Jordan Hermansader, Sparky Howard, Bill Hudson, Bruce Jennings, Jerry Karl, Chad Kemenah, Kevin Kierce, Mike Lauterborn, Steve Lotshaw, Ed Lynch, Garry Lee Maier, Troy Matchen, Jay Maupin, Randy Mausteller, Van May, Roger McCluskey, Mike McCreary, Frank McDaniel, Jason McDougal, Lyn McIntosh, Dustin Morgan, Mike Mosley, Jr., Larry Neighbors, John Nervo, Kyle O'Gara, Lynn Paxton, Chris Phillips, Scott Pierovich, Troy Regier, Rick Salem, Joey Schmidt, Howie Sewell, David Shain, Rick Sipes, Jigger Sirois, Mark Sokola, Randy Standridge, Nelson Stewart, Rodney Stone, Rob Summers, Kevin Swindell, Al Thomas, Troy Thompson, Troy Vaccaro, Butch Wilkerson, Charlie Workman, Salt Walther & Jack Ziegler

559. [1] Bobby Allen, Taylor Andrews, Dakoda Armstrong, Jon Backlund, Tom Ball, Steve Barnett, Steve Barth, Jarid Blondel, Chad Boat, Ray Bragg, Jerry Bruce, Bob Brutto, Will Cagle, Daryl Campbell, Don Carr, Kent Christian, Drew Church, Henry Clarke, Troy Cline, Kevin Conway, Donnie Crawford, Wally Dallenbach, Bobby Davis, Jr., Brad Davis, Charles Davis, Jr., Bob Davison, Brian DeFord, Terry Doss, Brad Doty, Rodney Duncan, Jesse Dunham, Sondi Eden, Andrew Felker, Elvin Felty, Dan Ford, Michael Ford, Andy Forsberg, Jeff Forshee, Ronnie Franklin, Pete Frazier, Danny Frye, Jr., Jeff Galas, Rickie Gaunt, Cheryl Glass, Gary Griffith, Brett Hearn, JoJo Helberg, Jim Hettinger, Nathan High, Larry Hillerud, Ted Hines, Jimmy Horton, Brian Hosford, Rick Howerton, Steve Irwin, Jim Jackson, Earnest Jennings, Rickey Jennings, Matt Jewell, Kraig Kinser, Dana Laliberte, Harold Leep, Jeff Leka, Jimmy Light, Ryan Litt, Ed Lynch, Jr., Pepi Marchese, David McCreary, Dave McGough, Paul McMahan, Joe Melnick, Thomas Meseraull, Curt Michael, Jim Mills, Mark Monico, Mike Mosley, Jack Moulton, Jr., Peter Murphy, Rick Muther, Fred Neighbors, Greg Nelson, Kevin Newton, Kyle Nicholas, Don O'Keefe, Jimmy Parsons, Billy Pauch, Jr., Dave Peperak, Stan Ploski, Art Pollard, Jerry Potter, Richard Powell, Patrick Quinn, Ron Rae, Fred Rahmer, Robbie Ray, Byron Reed, David Reutimann, Jim Reynard, Randy Roberts, Joe Roush, John Ryals, Eddie Sachs, Jr., Doug Saunier, Bill Schemonia, Shane Scully, Jon Sciscoe, Ron Semelka, Steve Sheppard, Jr., Danny Shouse, Grant Simpson, Anthony Simone, Carl Smith, Steve Smith, Mike Spencer, Darren Spiers, Greg Stephens, Robert Stout, Charlie Swartz, Fred Tegarden, Jr., Todd Thomas, Tanner Thorson, Bud Tingelstad, Eric Todd, Rick Tomasik, Eric Trousdale, LeRoy Van Conett, Kaylene Verville, Todd Wanless, Curt Waters, Jeff West, Brent Whited, Bryan Whited, Eddie Wirth, Kyle Wissmiller, Kent Wolters, Mike Woodring, Ken Woolley & Tiffany Wyzard

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

SWANSON'S STAGGERING SUCCESS CONTINUES WITH 2ND STRAIGHT DAIRYLAND 100 WIN

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Oregon, Wisconsin (June 28, 2019).........There was a moment captured during practice of Friday's Bytec "Dairyland 100" that perfectly encapsulated the character of Kody Swanson and his will to do what it takes to win.

With his helmet still strapped on, the four-time USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series titlist quickly exited his parked car in the infield and immediately brought out the tape measure to the stagger on his right rear.

A small gesture in the grand scheme of things? Perhaps to some, but not in the mind of Kody Swanson who is focused on going the extra meticulous mile to discover the finer details of what it takes to earn all the accolades he has throughout his Silver Crown career.

Swanson led the first 12 laps from the pole position, and then fell back to third where he'd run for the first half of the 100-lapper as David Byrne, then Kyle Hamilton took turns at the front. Swanson wasn't sure a win on this day was in the cards. However, the Kingsburg, Calif. native kept grinding and working until he put himself in a position to pounce.

"Earlier, I didn't know if I'd have anything for Kyle and David," Swanson admitted. "Not only were they faster than me, they were able to do it with ease. That's a disheartening feeling, but I love that they're 100 laps. The track changes and your car changes. I just stayed with it and kept moving around. I like what dirt teaches you, that you need to move around and follow the racetrack so that you're prepared for a position like that when you're in traffic."

At midway, though, the complexion of the race was altered on a variety of levels. On the 51st lap, fourth-running Justin Grant's car went up in smoke, dumping liquid and turning the surface in turn three into a skating ring, sending sixth-place Derek Bischak and eighth-place Travis Welpott sliding uncontrollably at the entrance of turn three. Welpott took the brunt of the impact, slamming the left side of his ride into the concrete, mangling his chassis. He walked away from the incident.

After the unplanned mid-race break, Swanson knew he had been able to preserve his equipment in the first half. The timing was now right to make a run, he felt.

"One of the biggest factors here is when you're on the brakes," Swanson explained. "No matter how fast you are, if you run out, you're sunk. I felt like once we got in the second half, it was okay to try what I could to keep pace. I felt like the longer it went, the better we got."

On lap 57, the timing was just right to set the first domino into motion. The top-three of Hamilton, Byrne and Swanson ran nearly nose-to-tail. Swanson hustled and forced Byrne into pressuring Hamilton, which opened the door on the bottom at the exit of turn four, where Swanson pulled even with Byrne near the end of the front straightaway before Byrne shut the door, albeit momentarily.

Byrne couldn't quite hold the bottom line, drifted up off turn two, which allowed Swanson to stay the course underneath to drive away with the second spot on the back straight with Hamilton now the only contender left in his sight as the pair began to encounter major lapped traffic.

"When catching lapped cars, you never know what can happen at the end, or anytime," Swanson reiterated. "You never know when you might be in a position to win one or not. With 12 to go at Williams Grove (two weeks ago), I thought I had a shot, but I made a mistake. We were battling issues. We all are. That's what I love about Silver Crown. Nobody gets a perfect game. You've got to figure it out, but I didn't. I missed it."

Like an elephant's memory, Swanson didn't forget. It simply empowered him not to reenact that particular moment. He recalled that, in traffic, sometimes you have to be smart and follow versus risking your race and the competition's race by putting yourself in a bad spot.

On the 77th lap, Swanson was amidst this very situation heading down the back straight, but was sort of in the bystander role, waiting to see what Hamilton does and counter that move. Hamilton chose the high route and got clogged in by a group of three lapped cars at the exit of turn four. Hamilton was stuck, but Swanson had an open space on the bottom to stick his nose in and forge forward with the lead.

"I love when you catch them in a group like that...in second place," Swanson clarified. "It's a huge advantage there. It's your job to take care of it. When you're trying to decide whether to go high or low, you pretty much get to pick the lane he doesn't. I was hoping he'd pick high personally just because the way I felt my car was rolling the bottom really well. I was able to make a move and get alongside and, from there, you have to capitalize on things like that. He's good enough, if he gets back out front, there may not be enough time left to get another opportunity.

Yet, Swanson was more than eager to put this one on ice, where he opened up a near four second lead by the closing laps. That is, until Austin Nemire slipped sideways to a stop in turn four as Swanson was eying the checkered flag, necessitating a green-white-checkered finish.

"Here, we were within coasting distance of making it happen, but they say, 'no dice,'" Swanson recalled. "On the radio, I was just quiet. What a bummer it really was, but I had to get focused and it's like 'hey you got to let it go.' It is what it is. It's our job to do the best two laps we can and finish this thing."

Swanson had no trouble on the final two lap sprint, opening up a 1.678 gap at the finish to score his 27th career series win, which is in a stratosphere all his own just one year following his Madison victory that tied him for the all-time win record. Hamilton hung on for second despite getting clipped in turn three by Byrne in a battle for the runner-up spot. Hamilton maintained the grip and hung on for second over Byrne, Bobby Santos and Eric Gordon.

It was a change of scenery for Swanson and the Nolen Racing team following their last pavement outing at Lucas Oil Raceway in May where they led for 53 laps before an engine let go on them while leading. Swanson credits the turnaround to the countless hours and sacrifices he and his team made to make sure everything was in order to give them a shot at winning, which they've been doing so much of in 2019 with three wins in six races already after the famed, yellow Nolen Racing No. 20 hadn't been victorious in the decade prior to this year.

"We've been putting in a lot of hours," Swanson explained. Not only my family and I, but a lot of guys that are part of this race team. Dale Latty and Rick Laughlin met my wife and I at the shop at 7am Wednesday so we could go to Salem (Ind.) Speedway to shake it down and make sure we had all the bugs worked out, but we weren't sure. We came home, started at 7am and worked until 11 at night, and never gave up."

"Yesterday, we did all our homework to make sure I was ready to deal whatever handling challenges were thrown at us," Swanson continued. "It was a completely different racetrack to me than we had a year ago. We made changes all the way through driver introductions on the front stretch. I wasn't sure if we had done it right, or if I had made the right calls, but the longer it went, we stayed in the hunt. You never know what's going to happen in the end. Luckily for us, persistence kept us in it and gave us a chance."

Contingency award winners Friday night at Madison International Speedway included Kody Swanson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Kyle Robbins (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Mike Haggenbottom (WIlwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

--------------------------------------------

USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 28, 2019 - Madison International Speedway - Oregon, Wisconsin - Bytec "Dairyland 100"

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-16.852 (New Track Record); 2. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-16.961; 3. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-17.055; 4. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-17.156; 5. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-17.174; 6. Derek Bischak, 31, Bischak-17.233; 7. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-17.309; 8. Cody Gallogly, 81, Williams-17.322; 9. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-17.368; 10. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-17.400; 11. Jim Anderson, 92, Kazmark-17.470; 12. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-17.531; 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 11, DHR/Byrd-17.573; 14. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-17.737; 15. Toni Breidinger, 80, Breidinger-17.761; 16. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-17.766; 17. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-18.091; 18. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Gerhardt-18.127; 19. Chris Dyson, 9, Dyson-18.189; 20. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-NT; 21. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-NT; 22. Brian Gerster, 94, Ram-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Kyle Hamilton (3), 3. David Byrne (2), 4. Bobby Santos (5), 5. Eric Gordon (10), 6. Jim Anderson (11), 7. Cody Gallogly (8), 8. Derek Bischak (6), 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (13), 10. Russ Gamester (14), 11. Toni Breidinger (15), 12. Kyle Robbins (20), 13. Mike Haggenbottom (17), 14. Chris Windom (12), 15. Cody Gerhardt (18), 16. Austin Nemire (9), 17. Justin Grant (4), 18. Travis Welpott (7), 19. Patrick Lawson (21), 20. Matt Goodnight (16), 21. Chris Dyson (19). NT
------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Swanson, Laps 13-24 Byrne, Laps 25-76 Hamilton, Laps 77-100 Swanson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Kyle Robbins (20th to 12th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Mike Haggenbottom

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-393, 2-Grant-343, 3-Byrne-291, 4-Gordon-274, 5-Santos-259, 6-Hamilton-256, 7-Haggenbottom-248, 8-Thomas-244, 9-Nemire-240, 10-Robbins-211.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: August 10, 2019 - Salem Speedway - Salem, Indiana - "Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial"