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

HAMILTON HUSTLES TO BIG PAYDAY AT DAVE STEELE CARB NIGHT CLASSIC

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Brownsburg, Indiana (May 24, 2019).........One year ago, it was a May to forget for Kyle Hamilton. It seemed as if everywhere he turned, bad luck was staring back at him square in the eyes.

One year later, the May tide has turned in his favor. After putting his car on the front row for the "Little 500" the day before, Hamilton followed up on Friday night with his first career USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series victory in the Dave Steele "Carb Night Classic" at Lucas Oil Raceway, pocketing a cool $14,750 for his efforts.

"Last year, it didn't seem like anything could go right mechanically," Hamilton recalled. "Our 'Little 500' car broke, my teammate Brady (Bacon)'s dirt car broke, we broke right out the box here at (LOR) and had to start the race from the tail with no practice laps. This year, we're on the front row of the 'Little 500' and we qualified third tonight at LOR. I thought, 'well, this is going a lot better.' But, honestly, tonight was the night I was a little bit more worried about being slow. We've always struggled here, and I didn't want to disappoint my team, but I was a little nervous inside.

"I grew up about 15 minutes from here and I'd always tell my buddies that we're racing at LOR," Hamilton continued. "But I kind of hesitated because I was always so bad here. To say we pulled one off in a Silver Crown car on a big night is pretty cool to me."
Truth is, the tide had turned for Hamilton before the month of May, overcoming circumstances that could've thwarted quality runs to finish fourth at Memphis and sixth at Toledo. On Friday, the Danville, Ind. driver put his Klatt Enterprises/Beast Chassis - Wilwood Disc Brakes/Beast/Ford on the outside of the front row for the 100-lapper at the .686-mile paved oval.

Meanwhile, up front was Kody Swanson who started from the pole after taking the Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier Award and $1,000 bonus from Mac and Carol Steele. Kody dominated the first half as he attempted to go three-for-three in pavement races on the season and extend his series-record of consecutive pavement Silver Crown wins to seven.

Four-time LOR Silver Crown winner Bobby Santos charged past Hamilton on the ninth lap with an inside turn one pass to move to second. From there, Santos began to reel in Kody and applied pressure for the lead as those two separated from Hamilton in third.

One of the major storylines developing throughout the race was Tanner Swanson's decision to accept the "Come from the Back Challenge" during driver introductions. By doing so, he forfeited his outside front row spot to start from the tail and go for a $10,000 bonus by way of Legacy Motorsports and Gatekeeper Services. By lap 13, Tanner was already in the top-ten, and by lap 30, had entered the top-five, reminiscent of his 22nd to 2nd charge through the field one year prior.

On the 33rd lap, Hamilton caught up to Santos, driving to the inside of Santos in turn one and going wheel-to-wheel, toe-to-toe before prevailing off turn two with the second spot, but trailing Kody in the lead by over a second.

Kody and Hamilton weaved their way through lapped traffic, Hamilton mimicking every Swanson move and not allowing the four-time Silver Crown champ to slip away just as Matt Goodnight stopped on the back straight away to bring out the caution just one lap short of halfway. Under yellow, fifth-running Tanner Swanson pitted to let air out of his left rear tire, to which he later admitted to using up too much of his tires early on.

With the yellow, that cleared the traffic situation for the time-being, although, for Hamilton in second, he couldn't have imagined what occurred next when Kody failed to take off on the lap 54 restart, handing over the lead to Hamilton with a clear track ahead of him. Kody coasted around to the pit area with an apparent engine issue that put an end to the four-time LOR Silver Crown winner's bid for five.

Hamilton continued to build his lead up through lap 63 when the caution came out for Chris Windom, who's nightmarish 24 hours came to an end crumpled against the turn one wall after smoke poured from the back of the car entering one. Derek Bischak was also caught up in the incident, riding over Windom's front end, putting an end to the evening for both drivers.

Windom rode out a hellacious flip during the "Hoosier Hundred" at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Thursday night, and rode out a frightening Indy Lights wreck on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Friday afternoon before smacking the turn one wall at LOR. He walked away once again uninjured.

On the lap 73 restart, Santos used a run on the inside of Hamilton, sliding up in front of Hamilton in turn one to secure the position as the pair exited turn two. One lap later, the roles were reversed, and Hamilton drove it hard into turn one underneath Santos to slot into the top spot.

Hamilton chalks up momentarily losing the lead to inexperience in this situation, making it doubly-tough with a driver like Santos making you pay. But Hamilton knew he had something and drove back by to reclaim the position.

"Honestly, I don't have a ton of experience leading Silver Crown races," Hamilton admitted. "I didn't know how aggressive to be on the restart. I'd say Santos is one of the more aggressive guys and one of the best who does it. He sent it on down there and it stuck. Immediately, once I got behind him, I could tell I was really digging better than him coming off the corners. I had to throw another haymaker at him going into one and it stuck again."

Incredibly, Hamilton proceeded to reel off his best four laps of the race on laps 74-75-76-77. But on the move was Tanner who ripped around the outside of Santos in turn two on the 76th lap. Tanner began to chip into Hamilton's lead, cutting the interval down to less than a second as the two began to work lapped traffic with less than 20 laps remaining.

Hamilton's spotter was brother and fellow racer Nick Hamilton who played it coy when speaking to Kyle over the radio, only giving him the basics and keeping Kyle focused on running his own race.

"I think he was trying to play it conservatively on the radio because I was running some good times," Hamilton said. "He just kept telling me how many laps were left, but he didn't say if there was any pressure from behind. So, I kept the hammer down. When we got to lapped traffic, I kind of figured when I looked up at the board that Tanner was going to be trying to make a run of some sort. He's one of the best here. Nick never said how many car lengths back he was. But I think if he would've told me, I would've started to miss my marks."

Hamilton dipped under the lappers down the stretch as Tanner tried everything he could to keep up the pace, but Hamilton's car seemed to get better and better in the final laps, stretching out to a comfortable advantage that proved to be a tall and impossible task for his closest competition.

"As the laps went on, the car kept getting better and better," Hamilton explained. "I have to give hats off to Bob East. He sure knows how to set up a car to get around here. We just kept working at it and working at it. It really wasn't as much the setup as it was Bob's coaching. He just kept telling me to keep my momentum up and explained to me how LOR is such a momentum track. We were able to roll the center a lot better than we'd ever have here."

Hamilton closed out his winning performance with a victory margin of 4.186 over Tanner Swanson, Santos, Justin Grant and Eric Gordon, who picked up an extra $1,000 from Carl Edwards for his hard-charging performance from 16th to 5th.

With the win, Hamilton became the first "first-time" winner of a pavement USAC Silver Crown race since David Byrne at LOR in 2014. This win was special in a number of ways, though, for Hamilton, a local kid who grew up watching and idolizing Dave Steele perform his racing heroics at LOR, and now joins him as a Silver Crown winner at the very same track.

"I watched Dave Steele run here a lot growing up," Hamilton remembered. "I raced over at the (Indiana State) Fairgrounds at Mini Indy when I was a kid and every night that the midgets, sprint cars or silver crown cars were at (LOR), we'd come out and watch. It seemed like Steele was either going for the win, challenging for the win or winning several of the races. He was one of my heroes I looked up to as a 'pavement only' driver."

Contingency award winners Friday night at Lucas Oil Raceway included Kody Swanson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier & $1,000 Mac & Carol Steele Fast Qualifier Bonus), Tanner Swanson (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Eric Gordon (Carl Edwards $1,000 Hard Charger Bonus) and Mike Haggenbottom (WIlwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 24, 2019 - Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, Indiana - "Dave Steele Carb Night Classic"

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-20.562; 2. Tanner Swanson, 02, Bowman/Elmore-20.678; 3. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-20.812; 4. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-20.983; 5. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-21.105; 6. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-21.272; 7. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-21.288; 8. Derek Bischak, 31, Bischak-21.670; 9. Cody Gallogly, 81, Williams-21.688; 10. Brian Gerster, 94, Ram-21.821; 11. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 11, DHR/Byrd-21.830; 12. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-21.841; 13. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-21.930; 14. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-22.033; 15. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-22.164; 16. John Heydenreich, 43, Felker-22.263; 17. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kyle Hamilton (2), 2. Tanner Swanson (17), 3. Bobby Santos (4), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Eric Gordon (16), 6. David Byrne (6), 7. Brian Gerster (9), 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (10), 9. Austin Nemire (12), 10. Cody Gallogly (8), 11. Kyle Robbins (11), 12. John Heydenreich (15), 13. Mike Haggenbottom (14), 14. Chris Windom (5), 15. Derek Bischak (7), 16. Kody Swanson (1), 17. Matt Goodnight (13). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-53 K. Swanson, Laps 54-72 Hamilton, Lap 73 Santos, Laps 74-100 Hamilton.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Tanner Swanson (17th to 2nd)

CARL EDWARDS HARD CHARGER: Eric Gordon (16th to 5th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Mike Haggenbottom

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-253, 2-Grant-247, 3-Santos-198, 4-Thomas-198, 5-Hamilton-186, 6-Byrne-175, 7-Gordon-158, 8-Nemire-154, 9-Haggenbottom-150, 10-Robbins-139.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: June 14, 2019 - Williams Grove Speedway - Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

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

HOOSIER HUNDRED'S SUNSET BELONGS TO SUNSHINE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Indianapolis, Indiana (May 23, 2019).........Bravery, machismo, bravado, call it what you will. On a late restart with seven laps remaining, Tyler Courtney used every ounce of it in his figurative tank to rip around near-race-long leader Kevin Thomas, Jr. to win a bittersweet "Hoosier Hundred" Thursday night, in the final running of the event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Courtney, the Indianapolis, Ind. native whose parents were part of the promotion team for the 2005 Hoosier Hundred, kept pace with Thomas, following him for 92 straight laps until making the winning move on a restart that made all the difference, one that came with a bit of advice courtesy of a voice from above.

"(Tyler Ransbottom), who's my crew chief on the sprint car and midget, and my spotter tonight, told me on the open red that Jason McDougal had been making up time on restarts doing that same move. KT was lifting on restarts into one. So, I knew that if I could just outbrave him a little bit getting in and make sure I didn't blow past it, it would work. Luckily, it did. You get the open track, no lapped cars, nothing, I got to run as hard as I wanted to for the last eight laps and that's what I did. If it was going to blow, it was going to blow with me trying."

The Hoosier Hundred's illustrious history runs the gamut in terms of the names that have won since its debut in 1953. Courtney is fully aware of the history, and Thursday night's win was something he doesn't take for granted.

"My name is now alongside a lot of great names," Courtney realized. "Including Kody Swanson, one of the best Silver Crown drivers in our lifetime. Foyt, Andretti, Pancho Carter, all those names. It's incredible."

Courtney started third on the grid as Chris Windom got the jump on the field on the initial start from his outside front row starting position. Windom led the first five trips around the one-mile dirt oval, but Thomas and Courtney were able to make up ground and close the gap. Thomas ducked to the inside of Windom coming off turn four with Courtney a car length behind in third when all broke loose.

Seemingly without warning, Windom's right rear tire shredded, sending the 2016 Silver Crown champ into one of the most harrowing crashes witnessed in the century-plus history of the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Windom's car immediately veered his car right, hitting nose first into the outside wall, which sent him barrel-rolling seven times and lasting nearly a half-straightaway.

Brian Tyler and Brady Bacon took evasive action, swerving to miss the helpless Windom machine as it bounced aimlessly toward the middle of the racetrack.

Miraculously, Windom climbed from the mangled wreckage unscathed and plans to move on with his weekend, which includes his Indy Lights debut Friday afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a Friday night Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis and a 500-lap Sprint Car race in Anderson, Ind.

Following the lengthy red flag, Thomas dominated up front, driving for four-time "Hoosier Hundred" winning team Foxco Racing to lead a race-high 87 laps. By lap 16, Thomas had already infiltrated lapped traffic and the interval between he and Courtney rarely fluctuated as Thomas built a half-straightaway lead over Courtney with a quarter of the laps in the books.

Just after halfway, four-time "Hoosier Hundred" winner Kody Swanson put the heat on Courtney for second while Thomas managed to stretch his lead from 1.5 sec. to 2.5 sec. over the following ten laps. Six-time All Star Circuit of Champions titlist Chad Kemenah then found t the turn two wall in his maiden Silver Crown start.

Though Swanson applied pressure, Courtney wasn't going to allow him to make any sort of run at him as he bid his time in anticipation of making his own move.

"I knew if I kept KT within sight and Kody behind me, I was going to be at a good pace," Courtney realized. "We tried not to let KT get too far. If he got too far, then I'd pick up the pace a bit. Luckily, we got that last red there and made a few adjustments, timed the restart right and made a bold move. I wanted it really bad."

On the lap 69 restart, Swanson turned up the wick, getting to second briefly by going underneath Courtney between turns one and two. Courtney fought back on the outside and regained second by the exit of turn two as Swanson slipped back to third. Jason McDougal, meanwhile, making his second career Silver Crown start was mega-impressive using the cushion long thought to be extinct to travel from his 25th starting spot and into the top-five with 25 laps remaining.

Meanwhile, following an early-race pit stop that sent him to 28th, Brady Bacon had been shot out of a cannon and drove into the top tier nearing the race's end and into the top-five.

Thomas worked through lapped traffic once again, getting hung up ever so slightly, allowing Courtney to close the gap briefly while Thomas nudged ahead, yet Courtney remained within striking distance, chopping down Thomas' lead to a half-second with nine to go.

With Thomas and Courtney's battle set to rage on down the stretch, just in front of them in turn two was two-time ALMS champion Chris Dyson who banged the turn two wall and endured his own upside-down thrill ride from which he escaped injury.

During the open red flag, Joe Devin, chassis builder for Courtney's Hans Lein-owned entry, came over and talked to my crew chief Greg Nelson and I told him I was lacking sidebite in the middle of the corner. So, we made a couple of adjustments that helped me a ton."

It appeared the changes helped immensely when the green flag dropped on the lap 93 restart. Without lapped traffic on the horizon now, Courtney showed no hesitation whatsoever, aiming for the top and driving it into turn one harder than he had all night up to that point. Thomas showed no vital signs of reestablishing the top spot down the stretch as Courtney grew his lead by leaps and bounds to win his second career Silver Crown race, but first on one of the historic one-mile dirt ovals where he became the first driver won in all three USAC National divisions in 2019.

Thomas finished his fourth-straight USAC Silver Crown race on dirt in the runner-up spot. Swanson's bid for a fifth-straight "Hoosier Hundred" victory to break a tie with Al Unser (1970-73) came up short, finishing third ahead of Justin Grant and Bacon.

Contingency award winners Thursday night at the Indiana State Fairgrounds included Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Jason McDougal and Mike Haggenbottom (WIlwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 23, 2019 - Indiana State Fairgrounds - Indianapolis, Indiana - 64th "Hoosier Hundred"

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: (Top-24 locked into feature) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 56, Foxco-32.929; 2. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-33.011; 3. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-33.600; 4. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-33.671; 5. Brian Tyler, 12, Galas-33.810; 6. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-33.831; 7. Johnny Petrozelle, 8, Cornell/Petrozelle-33.884; 8. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-33.894; 9. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-33.973; 10. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-34.067; 11. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-34.099; 12. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-34.140; 13. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-34.235; 14. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr., 22, Rice/PBR-34.298; 15. Jeff Swindell, 21, Swanson-34.434; 16. Jimmy Light, 123, Two-Three-34.519; 17. Steve Buckwalter, 53, Five Three-34.523; 18. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-34.680; 19. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-34.682; 20. John Heydenreich, 43, Felker-34.757; 21. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-34.931; 22. Chris Dyson, 9, Dyson-34.953; 23. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-35.061; 24. Chris Phillips, 4, Phillips/Nolen-35.075; 25. Jason McDougal, 27, Phillips-35.106; 26. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-35.188; 27. Kyle Steffens, 08, Steffens-35.249; 28. Chad Kemenah, 15, Hampshire-35.267; 29. Chuck Leary, 30, Leary-35.294; 30. Dave Darland, 14, McQuinn-35.361; 31. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-35.665; 32. Austin Mundie, 47, Butler-36.034; 33. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-36.045; 34. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-38.013; 35. Casey Buckman, 74, C-Buck-NT; 36. Joey Schmidt, 25, Pierce-NT; 37. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-NT; 38. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-NT; 39. Shane Cockrum, 71, Hardy-NT.

QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. McDougal, 2. Gordon, 3. Steffens, 4. Kemenah, 5. Darland, 6. Mundie, 7. C. Leary, 8. Weyant, 9. Rose, 10. Buckman, 11. Robbins, 12. Berkheimer. 7:16.97

FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (3), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (1), 3. Kody Swanson (4), 4. Justin Grant (13), 5. Brady Bacon (8), 6. Jason McDougal (25), 7. David Byrne (6), 8. Steve Buckwalter (17), 9. Brian Tyler (5), 10. Jacob Wilson (11), 11. C.J. Leary (23), 12. Russ Gamester (10), 13. Mike Haggenbottom (18), 14. Jimmy Light (16), 15. Kyle Steffens (27), 16. Matt Goodnight (21), 17. Chris Phillips (24), 18. Dave Darland (29), 19. Chris Dyson (22), 20. Austin Nemire (9), 21. Kyle Robbins (31), 22. Eric Gordon (26), 23. Shane Cottle (19), 24. Chad Kemenah (28), 25. Jeff Swindell (15), 26. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (14), 27. Johnny Petrozelle (7), 28. Austin Mundie (30), 29. John Heydenreich (20), 30. Bill Rose (32), 31. Chris Windom (2), 32. Dallas Hewitt (12). NT
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**Windom flipped on lap 6 of the feature. Dyson flipped on lap 92 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Windom, Laps 6-92 Thomas, Laps 93-100 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Jason McDougal (25th to 6th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Mike Haggenbottom

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-216, 2-Grant-125, 3-Thomas-149, 4-Bobby Santos-134, 5-Byrne-120, 6-Kyle Hamilton-116, 7-Schmidt-114, 8-Haggenbottom-113, 9-Nemire-108, 10-Dyson-102.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: May 24, 2019 - Lucas Oil Raceway - Brownsburg, Indiana - "Dave Steele Carb Night Classic"

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

FINAL HOOSIER HUNDRED AT THE INDY MILE TO BE HELD MAY 23

Indianapolis, Indiana (April 2, 2019).........The Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center has announced that the Indiana State Fairgrounds one-mile dirt track will be converted from a dirt surface to an all-weather track made of crushed limestone to be utilized for year-round harness training and parking for the Indiana State Fair.

The ultimate impact is that the conversion of the surface means that auto racing events will no longer be held on the famed one-mile track following the 2019 Hoosier Hundred. The 64th running of the 100-mile, 100-lap race, scheduled for Thursday, May 23, will be the last running of this grand racing event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

"USAC, Track Enterprises, Bob Sargent and I have been in meetings with the Fairgrounds staff and in discussion for the last two years about any way to keep auto racing at the historic one-mile oval," USAC Series Coordinator Levi Jones explained. "To no avail, the economics of the horse industry and their desire to use the one-mile track year-round instead of the half-mile currently in the infield won out in the end."

USAC and Track Enterprises are currently exploring possible venues that could host the Hoosier Hundred for the 2020 season and beyond.

The history of the Track of Champions dates back well over a century. On June 20, 1903, Barney Oldfield drove a Henry Ford-designed "999" to the first sub-one-minute lap ever on a one-mile racetrack at 59.6 seconds. In 1917, Oldfield, the 1905 AAA National Champion, prevailed in a match race versus 1915 Indianapolis 500 winner Ralph DePalma.

In 1946, under the AAA National Championship banner, the one and only "Indianapolis 100" was held, with Rex Mays taking the victory. Seven years later, in 1953, a new, long-lasting tradition began with the inaugural running of the "Hoosier Hundred" won by Bob Sweikert.

The Hoosier Hundred has been held annually since 1953, with only a handful of interruptions due to inclement weather. Today, it remains one of the oldest, most tradition-rich racing events on the planet. Many of its winners have gone to achieve legendary status in auto racing with a list that includes A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti who are among the seven drivers to have won both the Hoosier Hundred and the Indianapolis 500 in their careers along with Bob Sweikert, Jimmy Bryan, Rodger Ward, Parnelli Jones and Al Unser.

This year, Kingsburg, California's Kody Swanson has an opportunity to make even more history as he aims for an unprecedented fifth-straight "Hoosier Hundred" victory. The four-time USAC Silver Crown titlist has won the previous four events to tie Unser's streak of four-straight "Hoosier Hundred" wins between 1970-73.

Over the years, the Indy Mile has been home to a myriad of USAC racing events, including Sprint Car, Midget and Stock Car races. In the early-1980s, the "Hulman Hundred" for Silver Crown cars was created, which was added to the schedule as a second annual race for the series at the track each year from 1981-1995.

The "Hulman Hundred" was annually held in May while the Hoosier Hundred was scheduled for September in that era, until 1996 when the Hulman Hundred was discontinued. The Hoosier Hundred then moved to May where it remains today, except for a couple rainouts in the early 2000s that were rescheduled for later that same year.

On Thursday, May 23, be a part of history and witness this great race. "Hoosier Hundred" pit gates will open at noon Eastern, with the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand opening at 3pm and practice at 5. Racing begins for the Modifieds at 6 with Silver Crown Qualifying races to follow and the "Hoosier 100" scheduled for an 8 o'clock green flag.

Reserved seating is available for the Hoosier Hundred by calling the Track Enterprises office at (217) 764-3200, the Indiana State Fairgrounds Box Office, or through Ticketmaster. Reserved seats for adults are being sold for $25 pre-sale or $30 at the gate. Infield tickets will be available for $15 for adults and $5 for kids 11 and under.

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

SWANSON PERSEVERES IN MEMPHIS 100 WIN

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Millington, Tennessee (March 23, 2019).........It takes a master of a craft for an individual to adapt to anything thrown at them.

Kody Swanson has encountered countless tests throughout the offseason - in the weeks leading up to the first race and on both days of race weekend - yet he managed to ace them all, culminating in Saturday's "Memphis 100" USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series victory at Memphis International Raceway.

At the conclusion of 2018, Swanson migrated to Nolen Racing after the closure of DePalma Motorsports with whom he won four of the previous five Silver Crown championships. The team thrashed through the offseason to get their machines ready for the opener and had the foresight and the want-to to have two cars ready to go for Memphis. As it turned out, they would need their full arsenal.

During Friday's practice, Swanson practiced both of Nolen's cars. They had their primary car pulled apart on pit lane during the session after a brand-new driveshaft dealt them trouble. Meanwhile, the team pulled out their backup and Swanson put some laps on it to make sure it was ready to run. Swanson jumped back into the primary with a new driveshaft and proceeded to set the fastest lap of the afternoon.

Fast forward to raceday on Saturday, Swanson took to practice back in the primary before encountering what he described as a fluke engine part issue. Nolen once again had to roll the backup car out where they tweaked on the chassis to get it to where Kody felt it was at its best. Enter qualifying and Swanson put it on the pole position.

Easy as clockwork, right? Of course not, but with Swanson as part of the operation, he almost makes it seem that way on the regular.

"I'm exhausted; I'm elated; I don't even know what to feel," Swanson exclaimed. "I'm very grateful. I haven't been to my day job since Tuesday. I could see the writing on the wall that we were already in a corner then. We had guys that were there into the wee hours of the morning with me almost every night this week, then back at it the next day, just digging for all we were worth to be ready. We got one ready and dug deep enough to get the other one ready just in case," Swanson explained. You hate to think you'd ever have a failure and need it, but we did, and it was ready to come in off the bench and do a great job for us."

Swanson led the first five circuits from the pole position of the 100-lapper before David Byrne corralled Swanson and used an outside turn one pass to clear him for the point. Eric Gordon capitalized and was able to grab second from Swanson just moments later on the back straightaway. By lap eight, Swanson was fourth as hard-charging Aaron Pierce slipped by as well.

Matt Goodnight was the lone wall contact of the weekend, pounding the SAFER barrier between turns three and four on lap 10 to bring out a lengthy yellow, that ultimately resulted in a red flag for the cleanup. He climbed from the car and walked away under his own power. Fifth-running Kyle Hamilton also stopped during the incident and was relegated to the tail.

When racing resumed, Pierce was a man on a mission, sweeping by Gordon for second on the 25th lap and, one lap later, ripping by Byrne on the inside of turn three to snare the top spot.

Pierce had constructed a one-and-a-half second lead until lap 36 when he fell to the wayside with a driveline issue, putting him on the sidelines for the remainder of the afternoon. That put two familiar foes, Swanson and Bobby Santos, at the front running one-two.

One lap following a restart, Santos made his move on Swanson, swiping the lead with an inside turn one pass just before the halfway mark, ultimately building a one-and-a-half second lead. Coming into Memphis, Santos had won the series' pavement opener in two-straight years and Swanson admitted tracking down Santos in a pavement Silver Crown car was no easy feat, but his faith and confidence never wavered.

"I did my homework enough to know that Memphis eats tires and that you need to be there at the end," Swanson explained. "I was glad to be in a good spot early and get the lead, but Bobby was coming strong through the middle. I didn't know if once he got the lead, we'd see him again. I felt like we kind of stabilized there and got a couple restarts and got a chance to just start over."

That chance seemingly arrived on the lap 71 restart when Swanson tracked Santos' path and shot to the lead on the inside off turn two. However, back in the pack, the machines of Travis Welpott (backstretch) and Austin Nemire (turn two) came to a stop to bring out the yellow, thus negating Swanson's race-leading move.

With oil dry on the low line between turns one and two, Swanson had to alter his line entering and exiting the second turn as he went to work on Santos on the lap 79 restart. It didn't take long for the fruits of Swanson's labor to pay dividends as Swanson was able to occupy the low line into turn three to overtake Santos for good.

Swanson still had to work his way through traffic down the stretch, weaving his way through as Santos kept a close watch. Coming to the white flag, the cars of Chris Dyson and Byrne ran side-by-side into turn one. Swanson looked for an escape and had to whoa up his ride, getting him a tad squirrely on entry, but recovered to drive around the outside of Dyson midway down the back straight and enter clear waters to win his 25th career USAC Silver Crown event.

Behind Swanson were a series of fascinating perseverance stories of their own. Santos finished second after starting 21st on the grid due to having a push start on the initial start. Grant was third after charging from 20th following a right rear tire change prior to the start. Hamilton earned a career-best fourth after restarting from the tail following Goodnight's early-race incident. Rookie Joey Schmidt took fifth in his very first Silver Crown start.

Yet, at the front, it was Swanson once again, who admitted he hadn't even been able to go to the gym lately because he had been at the shop so much. After burning the midnight (and beyond) oil night-after-night, and through the trials and tribulations, the Kingsburg, Calif. native once again prevailed, and takes off in 2019 right from where he left off with a group as dedicated as he is to the craft.

"If I've learned anything over the last five years, it's that the effort put in by the people you work with can make all the difference. This Nolen bunch, so many people have stepped up and really tried to put their best foot forward and give it all we had."

Contingency award winners Saturday at Memphis International Raceway were Kody Swanson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Bobby Santos (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Mike Haggenbottom (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: March 23, 2019 - Memphis International Raceway - Millington, Tennessee - "Memphis 100"

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-20.830; 2. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-21.083; 3. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-21.096; 4. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-21.120; 5. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-21.209; 6. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-21.314; 7. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-21.340; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 11, DHR/Byrd-21.405; 9. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-21.489; 10. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-21.559; 11. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-21.604; 12. Derek Bischak, 31, Bischak-21.715; 13. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-21.829; 14. Chris Dyson, 9, Dyson-21.837; 15. Joey Schmidt, 25, Pierce-21.900; 16. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott/EGR-21.927; 17. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-21.927; 18. Jason Conn, 88, DHR-21.983; 19. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-22.202; 20. Cody Gallogly, 81, Williams-22.245; 21. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Gerhardt-22.904; 22. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-22.992; 23. Jim Anderson, 92, Kazmark-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (21), 3. Justin Grant (20), 4. Kyle Hamilton (2), 5. Joey Schmidt (14), 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (7), 7. Eric Gordon (6), 8. Derek Bischak (9), 9. Chris Dyson (11), 10. David Byrne (3), 11. Kyle Robbins (18), 12. Cody Gerhardt (19), 13. Mike Haggenbottom (22), 14. Cody Gallogly (17), 15. Austin Nemire (8), 16. Travis Welpott (13), 17. C.J. Leary (5), 18. Aaron Pierce (10), 19. Bill Rose (12), 20. Chris Windom (4), 21. Jason Conn (15), 22. Matt Goodnight (16), 23. Jim Anderson (23). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Swanson, Laps 6-25 Byrne, Laps 26-35 Pierce, Laps 36-49 Swanson, Laps 50-79 Santos, Laps 80-100 Swanson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Bobby Santos (21st to 2nd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Mike Haggenbottom

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-76, 2-Santos-67, 3-Grant-64, 4-Hamilton-61, 5-Schmidt-58, 6-Thomas-55, 7-Gordon-52, 8-Bischak-49, 9-Dyson-46, 10-Byrne-43.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: April 14, 2019 - Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, Indiana - Fatheadz Eyewear "Sumar Classic"

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KT, DAVEY JR. AND CONN JOIN HAMILTON RACING 2019 SILVER CROWN ROSTER

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

Speedway, Indiana (January 9, 2019).........Davey Hamilton Racing will field a talented roster of drivers with Kevin Thomas, Jr., Davey Hamilton, Jr. and Jason Conn all set to take the wheel for the new Silver Crown team which hits the track for the first time in 2019.

Thomas, of Cullman, Ala., has teamed up with team owners Hamilton and David Byrd to compete in all six pavement races on the Silver Crown schedule this season aboard the No. 11. Thomas has just a handful of Silver Crown starts in his career, but the 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car runner-up made the most of his experiences last year, finishing second in each of the last three races to conclude the season behind the wheel of the Foxco Racing No. 56, a ride in which he returns to on the dirt for 2019.

Each of Thomas' previous Silver Crown starts have come on the dirt and, aside from a pair of starts in an ARCA Stock Car in 2016 and his debut in the "Little 500" Sprint Car race a year ago, this marks new territory for the talented driver who captured nine USAC National victories in 2018 (7 Sprint and 2 Midget).

"I had a short stint there at the Little 500 of some pavement action and I really enjoyed it," Thomas said. "I think going out and running the big cars on the pavement is going to be quite different than what I'm used to. Getting into a racecar and having a new challenge is always a lot of fun. I'm going to take it as it comes. I'm going to have to gain a lot of experience, basically on the fly, on raceday. We race dirt 80-90 times a year and you kind of know what to expect, so it's going to be fun being able to more or less react to things instead of knowing what to expect every time you hit the racetrack."

Davey Hamilton, Jr. of Idaho returns to the series as a teammate to KT and will compete on both the dirt and the pavement in car No. 14 while pavement wing sprint car standout Jason Conn of Prince George, British Columbia makes his series debut in the No. 88 and will compete solely on the asphalt.

"It's exciting," team owner Davey Hamilton exclaimed. "I haven't been a Silver Crown owner in the past. I've driven them and have always had interest in them and I've wanted to put a program together for a while. I just feel it's growing momentum and I feel like there's growth there. I really wanted to focus on one car, then we had interest with Jason (Conn) and ended up making a deal, then an opportunity came along with KT and Byrd and we ended up making it a three car deal, which coming into the first year, is a challenge, but I feel very optimistic with the quality of the cars and the people we have."

Meanwhile, the Byrd name is synonymous with Rich Vogler's success in USAC Midgets in the 1980s. Now, David Byrd returns the family name to competition in conjunction with KT's Silver Crown plans for 2019.

"It's been a long time coming for us to come back to USAC as an entry," Byrd said. KT has been so successful in sprint cars the last several years and has really shown what he can do in the midgets and the Silver Crown cars. I wanted to make sure we were involved with all of KT's programs top to bottom. Davey Hamilton has a fantastic record in big track pavement racing, knows how to put the car together and will be a great mentor for KT to really learn pavement racing. I think he'll be challenging for wins right off the bat."

2019 USAC SILVER CROWN SCHEDULE
Mar 22-23: (P#) Memphis International Raceway (Millington, TN)
Apr 14: (D) Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)
Apr 27: (P) Toledo Speedway (Toledo, OH)
May 23: (D) Indiana State Fairgrounds (Indianapolis, IN)
May 24: (P) Lucas Oil Raceway (Brownsburg, IN)
Jun 14: (D) Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA)
Jun 28: (P) Madison International Speedway (Oregon, WI)
Aug 10: (P) Salem Speedway (Salem, IN)
Aug 17: (D#) Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, IL)
Sep 1: (D) Du Quoin State Fairgrounds (Du Quoin, IL)
Sep 7: (P) Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis (Brownsburg, IN)
Sep 27-28: (D) Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)
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(P) = Pavement Race
(D) = Dirt Race
# = Daytime Race

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

DEPALMA MOTORSPORTS LEAVES ON TOP AFTER 5 STRAIGHT SILVER CROWN TITLES

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Lima, Ohio (October 9, 2018)......... DePalma Motorsports, one of the most iconic and successful teams in the history of the USAC Silver Crown series, is riding into the sunset on top of their game, announcing that their 2018 championship season was the last for the Lima, Ohio-based team.

It concludes a magical five-year run with Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. DePalma Motorsports itself won the Silver Crown owner title each year they had Swanson as their full-time driver between 2014 and 2018. Swanson himself won Silver Crown driving titles in the DePalma No. 63 in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.

The accomplishment of five consecutive series titles set by the team had never been seen before in the series, snapping the series record for streaking (four) set by Bob East/Tony Stewart Racing between 2002 and 2005 as well as Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, which grabbed four in a row from 2010 to 2013.

Along the way, Swanson and the DePalmas rewrote the record book, one of which Silver Crown participants will be chasing for years and years. Regardless of dirt or pavement, the combo was always up front.

This past year, Swanson and the DePalmas won five-straight races, breaking Jack Hewitt's long-standing, 32-year-old record of four-straight Silver Crown wins set in 1986. The last of Swanson's five wins, at Indiana's Salem Speedway, was the ultimate. Kody drove to his 24th career victory in the Silver Crown Champ Car Series, overtaking the top spot on the all-time win list.

With all that said, the accolades and the broken records have put the DePalmas at the pinnacle of the sport, but it's the people of racing that car owner Tony DePalma is going to miss the most.

"I've met a lot of good people in this sport and built a lot of great relationships," DePalma said. "It's been a pleasure to know a lot of people in this sport and it's really one of the most rewarding things besides, obviously, winning races. It's been really neat to get to know Kody's family and friends over the last several years. It's also fun to get to know our competitors. Yeah, they're the people we competed against, but most of them I view as friends. That's the most rewarding thing."

DePalma returned to Silver Crown racing in 2002, inheriting his uncle Ralph's stable of race cars after his passing. DePalma owned cars had notable runs with driver Mike Brecht in the "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Speedway, turning in a 3rd in 2004 and a 2nd in 2006.

Following his father Jim's passing, the cars were mothballed so to speak before the family team returned in 2010, then hit the circuit full steam when they put Swanson full-time in the seat for the 2014 season and quickly found the magic touch that Tony's father and uncle used to claim the 1984 Silver Crown owner title with driver Dave Blaney.

The familiar sight of the No. 63 up front has been commonplace, and it will certainly be a change to see for those in the stands and those on the track, but also to the DePalma team.

"No doubt about it, we're going to miss it," DePalma admitted. "'We're going to miss the camaraderie, the anticipation and the anxiety of competing. We were always pretty stoked and focused, and it was a standing joke of 'hey, pass the bottle of antacid.' We were really uptight about each and every race, but that's part of the reason we did well is because we put so much into it."

The team put all they had into it and then some as they raised their game to exemplary heights. However, DePalma felt now was the right time to make the exit for a myriad of reasons.

"I saw my kids starting to miss things with their kids; that was one piece of it," DePalma began. "There are other things I want to pursue and have started to put into motion a little bit. I'm missing some of the things I shouldn't be missing. Long story short, what took me over the edge was, what a better exit point than this? We were going to have to exit at some point in time anyway. Maybe it's premature, but I've always believed, when I've looked at athletes in various sports, I've always scratched my head thinking 'why didn't you get out when you were on top?'"

As crazy as it seems now, Kody was still seen as primarily a "pavement specialist" at the time and was tabbed as the driver for the blacktop while he searched for rides on the dirt to prove himself as a capable shoe. He recorded a 2nd, 5th and another 2nd in the first three pavement outings for DePalma during that initial season together in 2013. For 2014, Kody was handed the keys to both the pavement and dirt rides and he hasn't missed a beat since, reeling off 21 wins together with the DePalmas, more than any other driver/team combination in the history of the series.

"These last five years and the relationships that my family and I have had with the DePalma family and this team have been career and life changing," Swanson said. "When we met, I may have been more at a breaking point than a crossroads in my career, and along with a few other key people, this family and race team gave me a chance to continue and an incredible opportunity to be part of something special. Over the years we were blessed to gel as a team, but developed further than that, and into a family of our own. Everyone that has been involved has gotten along together so well. We have developed relationships personally that treat each other like family, maybe even better in some cases, and has become a team that almost any and every other would pale in comparison to."

"I am extremely grateful to have raced and become friends with each and every member of this team, and for the sacrifices that each of them, and their families, have made as part of this team," Swanson continued. "It has been such a unique situation, and something not easily found in an entire team across any sport. Everyone involved gave it their all, without hesitation, and wanted to compete together for all the right reasons. We all wanted to do our best, and everyone put in all the effort they could to try to win races together. You simply can't ask for anything more than that in a team, and what we've been able to accomplish together has been incredible and something I am so thankful for my family and I to have been a part of."