Hysteria! Kody Swanson Becomes 4-Time Bettenhausen 100 Winner at Springfield
August 16, 2025 - Richie Murray
Kody Swanson joined the exclusive four-time Bettenhausen 100 winners club on Saturday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
The Kingsburg, California native took the lead early, then lost it only to regain it again past the halfway mark, then led the final 42 laps en route to victory aboard his John Haggenbottom/Radio Hospital – Belmont’s Garage – Kreider Manufacturing/Maxim/Hampshire Chevy.
Only five drivers have accrued at least four Bettenhausen 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza wins in their career, led by Chuck Gurney’s seven, while A.J. Foyt, Jack Hewitt, Brian Tyler and now Swanson have all tallied four apiece.
Swanson, who had previously won 100-mile USAC Silver Crown race victories at the Springfield Mile in 2014, 2015 and 2021, earned his fourth win in the event in much similar fashion as the first three. Well, kind of.
In all three of his previous Springfield triumphs, Swanson was also the fastest qualifier. However, in 2015, he was forced to start 16th on the grid due to missing his spot in the qualifying line. In 2021, he was relegated to the 23rd starting spot due to a pre-race right rear tire change. In all instances, he still found the path to the checkered and the victory lane photograph.
This time around, Swanson set the tone by earning quick time once again, but no grid penalties were in the equation on this occasion as he qualified for and started from the pole, providing Pennsylvania car owner John Haggenbottom his first career USAC Silver Crown pole position and victory on the same day.
For Swanson, it was just his second time in the seat of the Haggenbottom ride, and first since a nondescript 16th place result at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track four months earlier in April. The moment wasn’t lost on Swanson, who earned his first dirt win with the series since Springfield in 2021, while also bringing a dream come true to the Haggenbottom team, which had only captured one top-five finish in 52 series starts, just nine top-tens, and had never led a single lap. Until Saturday. No foolin’.
“They’re all extremely special and this one certainly is,” Swanson exclaimed. “To be the first winner in the Haggenbottom 24 is really something. These guys are a great group and have been a part of this series for a while, doing all they can to support it all the way from Philadelphia. They make the tow and I’m so happy to get them the win here today.”
Despite Swanson’s optimal starting position from the pole, it was outside front row occupant Matt Westfall who initially gained the upper hand, holding the lead for the first eight laps of the 100 miler. However, as soon as Swanson fell back, he began to reel Westfall in. On the ninth lap, Swanson used a run down the back straightaway to glide right past Westfall and into the lead.
Meanwhile, Carmen Perigo was an animal on the dirt mile. Akin to a rocket, starting eighth, Perigo climbed into the top-five under Jimmy Light in turn one on lap 12. On the 14th lap, Perigo flew past Stockon for fourth, then soared to third past Clouser on lap 14. A lap later, he zoomed by Westfall entering turn one on the 15th circuit!
That said, that last pass was negated after Will Armitage (13th) got high and dry in turn three, tagging the wall and flipping over to bring out what turned out to be the only stoppage of the race. Armitage, who was making his USAC Silver Crown debut, walked away under his own power.
Slotted back in third for the lap 16 restart, Perigo wasn’t about to let it go. He went to work again, chasing down Westfall and completing the turn three pass around the outside on lap 25. Another nine laps later, Perigo made the same move in the third turn to overtake Swanson for the race lead on the 34th trip.
“It was excruciating to know that could’ve been for the win and it’s going away,” Swanson recalled. “I felt terrible. My wife is doing a great job spotting and all I’m hollering is ‘what lap is it’ because I’m trying to figure out my strategy and if I could make it back to him in time.”
For the first time in his USAC career, Perigo held the lead, and wound up leading 25 of them. By lap 58, Perigo’s three second lead over Swanson had been slashed to no more than a second. Off turn four on lap 59, Swanson went to the outside and streamed past Perigo to lead at the stripe by a wheel with 42 laps remaining.
Swanson ultimately poured the sugar on to construct a lead of more than four seconds over Perigo with merely a quarter of the race remaining. But by lap 76, Perigo’s magnificent run began to fade as Westfall and Mario Clouser freight trained Perigo on the front straightaway to slot into second and third, respectively.
Chase Stockon and Justin Grant followed suit the following lap, on 77, to make their way into fourth and fifth while Perigo fell to sixth. By lap 80, Perigo had dropped to eighth, bringin’ on the heartbreak for the veteran racer and taking him out of contention.
Westfall wasn’t quite finished yet as he carved into Swanson’s lead with all his might, flashing across the start/finish line with only a one second deficit after just moments before trailing by four full seconds with less than 10 laps remaining.
“The track got slick and I was sure my tire was bald,” Swanson explained. “But the tire actually looks great, so I’m glad I didn’t give it away by just not doing it right.”
Although lapped traffic loomed for the front runners, Westfall was unable to budge any closer as Swanson navigated past both Taylor Ferns and A.J. Fike, putting them a lap down in the process, while providing himself with an enviable buffer that allowed him to fan out the flames of Westfall’s pressure. For Westfall, it was too late. For Swanson, it was euphoria.
Swanson finished the deal off with a 1.374 second margin of victory over Matt Westfall, who came up just short of his first career USAC Silver Crown win, but instead grabbed his fifth career runner-up finish with the series. Mario Clouser took third with point leader Justin Grant scoring fourth while nursing a broken left foot. C.J. Leary rounded out the top-five.
No driver has passed more cars in USAC Silver Crown history than Brian Tyler with 825 positions advanced dating back to his 1990 debut. On this day, no driver in the field passed more cars than Brian Tyler. Starting 26th on the grid, he went +20 to finish sixth and earn Rod End Supply Hard Charger honors.
Carmen Perigo didn't win today, but he sure won the hearts of the fans here at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Starting eighth, the Pennsylvanian raced his way into the lead by lap 34 and led the first 25 laps of his USAC career before finishing eighth. That earned him the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
Mission Statement! It’s 6-in-a-Row for Swanson at Salem
August 9, 2025 - Richie Murray
After a five-year absence for USAC Silver Crown National Championship competition at Indiana’s Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery, Kody Swanson didn’t miss a single beat on Saturday night.
The Kingsburg, California driver picked up right where he left off by leading all 100 laps from the pole position to capture his sixth consecutive USAC Silver Crown victory at the .555-mile paved oval following previous scores in 2016-2017-2018-2019-2020.
That tied the record for the most consecutive USAC Silver Crown victories by a single driver at one particular track, equaling Swanson’s very own streak of six straight triumphs at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway between 2018-2024, a run which ended back in April of this season.
However, Swanson wasn’t about to let his Salem dominance end any time soon in his Doran Binks Racing/Mission Foods – Wilke Orthodontics – Glenn Farms/Beast/Lanci Ford as he raced to his third USAC Silver Crown victory of the year and the 48th of his career.
That said, Swanson’s latest success at Salem came in a different manner than each of his past five scores, all of which were 75 laps in length. Saturday’s race marked the first 100-lap USAC event at Salem in nearly 57, dating back to Rollie Beale’s Sprint Car win on the 33 degree high banks in October 1968.
That fact alone added another 33 percent to the fuel load, thus changing the dynamics and feeling of the racecar for all drivers at the start of the race.
“This is the most fuel we’ve run here, and I wanted to try and be aware of that early,” Swanson explained. “This place is so cool, but it’s got a lot of character to it. In three and four, if you time it wrong with your pedals, it can upset your car. So I tried to be aware of that all throughout the race as the fuel load burned off.”
To start off the day, Swanson set a brand new USAC Silver Crown one-lap track record at Salem during Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying. His lap of 15.809 seconds, with an average lap speed of 126.384 mph, surpassed his very own eight-year-old former track record of 15.923 seconds set back in 2017. That placed Swanson on the pole position for the sixth consecutive time at Salem.
Prior to the start of the feature, the driver slotted to line up directly behind Swanson in the third spot, C.J. Leary, was forced to pull into the pits due to an issue on the right front shock. After time spent in the Indy Metal Finishing Work Area, Leary returned to the field but was forced to start 13th. By lap 39, he had picked his way up through the field to fourth and remained there for the remainder of the event to stay solidly in the hunt for the series championship.
Now slotted on the inside of row two, Justin Grant took advantage and charged by outside front row starter Mario Clouser off the bottom of turn four on the opening lap to slot into second. Grant was back in action to race for the first time since breaking his left foot in a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car crash at Lawrenceburg Speedway just 13 days earlier.
On the 39th lap, Clouser made a bid to take second from Grant. Entering turn one, Clouser dove low, but got his front wheels on the flat part of the racetrack, which bottomed out his racecar and sent him into a 90 degree spin straight up the racetrack and directly into the path of Grant. In a moment’s notice, Grant’s left brake foot was put to the test as he narrowly avoided escaping the spinning Clouser. Clouser miraculously avoided contact of any sort as well. Clouser restarted and finished eighth.
Throughout the remainder of the race, Swanson remained in total control of the race as he continuously upped his lead over his challengers. Despite feeling in total control, Swanson still felt the pressure. Salem Speedway is one of the most notoriously fast and unforgiving ovals on the planet, and one misstep could spell disaster.
“You race each other but you also race the racetrack,” Swanson explained. “Even there to the end, you can’t take any corners off because it’s too easy to make a mistake here. We had a long run to the end there and there’s a lot different about the end of the race that you wish your car was doing but that’s the whole job, to hang on. I had a great car, but there are a lot of great cars in the series, and to be able to win one anytime, is special.
Swanson turned the fastest lap of the race just before the midway point on the 46th circuit of 16.783 seconds while establishing a race pace in the 118-119 mph range. With 10 laps to go, Swanson had run his lead out to five seconds. Meanwhile, the battle for second raged on behind Swanson.
At the exit of turn four on lap 94, Grant dove his way under the sixth place car of Kyle Steffens to put him a lap down while simultaneously escaping the challenge posed by Dakoda Armstrong who had been with one to three car lengths off the back bumper of Grant for practically the entire second half of the race.
Up front, Swanson had everything handled as he crossed under the checkered flag 10.522 seconds ahead as Grant beat Armstrong to the line for second by a single car length. Leary came home fourth while Nathan Byrd raced to his second consecutive top-five result with the series to finish fifth.
Justin Grant earned the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night following his “tougher than nails” performance with a bum left foot loaded with screws. During the week, crew chief Dennis LaCava spent three days at the team’s shop rigging up a brake pedal that Grant could run off his shin to ease the tension on his foot. Admittedly, Grant’s last 30 laps at Salem gave his pain tolerance the ultimate test. Not only did Grant finish all 100 laps, he gritted it out to finish one of the remarkable second place results you’ll ever witness.
Dakoda Armstrong started off his day without brakes, and throughout the feature, fought that issue as well as another problem that allowed him only to go half-throttle at times. In the end, he was unable to garner enough momentum to get by Grant but still collected a third place result for his for his fifth podium finish in six Silver Crown starts in 2025.
Swanson Completes Weekend Sweep With First Winchester Sprint Car Win
Jun 29, 2025 - 500 Sprint Car Tour
Two-time and defending 500 Sprint Car Tour champion Kody Swanson visited victorylane for the first time in 2025 at the series’ inaugural stop at Winchester Speedway for the Tom Bigelow Showdown presented by Neal Metal Recycling & Processing, completing a weekend sweep that also included a win with the USAC Silver Crown Series Friday night.
The California driver dominated the second half of the race after taking the lead from Taylor Ferns on lap 21, who had just inherited the lead after fast qualifier Davey Hamilton Jr. had to retire from the event due to an oil leak. He pulled away late for his first Sprint Car win at Winchester.
His sixth career 500 Tour win also marked his first win with car owner Nick Bohanon, who also owns Salem Speedway – the next stop on the 500 Sprint Car Tour schedule.
“I’m excited to win for the first time for Nick. We’ve been on the podium a lot but we haven’t been able to finish one.” Swanson said on the DirtVision broadcast. “I hate that Davey Jr. have the oil leak, I hate to see misfortune go his way but I try to have two different feelings of feeling bad for him but at the same time being so excited for these guys who put in all the effort all the time. Sometimes you’ve got to have luck go your way and I’m thankful to get one in any way.”
Swanson adds Bohanon to the long list of teams and car owners that he has visited victory lane with in his career, a list that includes the likes of DePalma Motorsports, Nolen Racing, Tom Brewer and Dick Myers.
He won his fourth-straight Winchester USAC Silver Crown race two nights previous, but the Tom Bigelow Showdown was his first win at the World’s Fastest Half Mile, a track he has other previous starts at in a Winged Sprint Car and a Modified.
“This place is a challenge just to make it to the end. I’ve been surrounded by great people no matter which car I’m driving, whether it’s in Silver Crown or with the 500 Sprint Car Tour with Nick Bohanon, it’s an awesome opportunity to run this No.33 car. People make the difference and I’ve been fortunate throughout my career to drive for great people along the way.”
Taylor Ferns earned a season-best second place run, followed by Dakoda Armstrong, Tyler Roahrig and Nathan Byrd.
The 500 Sprint Car Tour returns to Salem Speedway on Saturday, July 12 for the JoeJames/Pat O’Connor Memorial.
4-Score! Swanson Strikes Again, Wins Winchester’s Rich Vogler Classic
June 27, 2025 - Richie Murray
Winchester, Indiana (June 27, 2025)………It had been more than a quarter century since a driver had won four consecutive races within a single USAC division at Indiana’s Winchester Speedway.
Throughout Friday night’s 34th running of the Rich Vogler Classic, Kody Swanson made certain it was going to be him as he swept the entire night of events at the 37 degree high-banked 1/2-mile paved oval.
Swanson (Kingsburg, California) started off the evening fastest in Dirt Draft Practice, then followed up by setting fast time in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying before leading all 100 laps from the pole position aboard his Doran Binks Racing/Mission Foods – Wilke Orthodontics – Glenn Farms/Beast/Lanci Ford.
For Swanson, he partied like it was 1999 as only three previous drivers had won four-straight USAC main events at Winchester, the last two of which occurred 26 seasons ago.
Steve Chassey remains the all-time record holder with five consecutive USAC National Sprint Car victories at Winchester in 1979. Dave Steele collected four-in-a-row with the USAC National Sprint Cars in 1998-1999. Most recently, Ryan Newman corralled four straight USAC National Midget triumphs spanning 1998-1999.
Swanson has now authored four USAC Silver Crown wins at Winchester in succession, taking top honors in 2022-2023-2024-2025. Furthermore, Swanson also added another Rich Vogler Classic victory to his resume after also making winner’s circle visits in 2016 and 2019 when the event was held at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
He’s already the winningest USAC Silver Crown driver in the history of IRP, and over the past four years, Swanson has made a nice home for himself on the Winchester high banks.
“You come in here and respect the place because of how fast it is,” Swanson explained. “I used to struggle coming to the high banks and I remember them saying when I first moved here that, ‘well, if you want to go to Indy someday, you’ve got to get good at the high banks. I may never get to do the Indy part but I sure appreciate the chance to race here and some of the historic places we get to race at with the Silver Crown series.”
As coincidence would have it, the last individual to win four USAC races in a row at Winchester, Ryan Newman, was in the field on Friday night, making his first USAC appearance at Winchester since the 2000 season. In the years to come, the 1999 USAC Silver Crown titlist headed south to forge a two-decade-plus career in NASCAR, where he collected 18 career Cup Series wins, including the 2008 Daytona 500.
After earning his record-extending 57th career USAC Silver Crown Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifying award, Swanson immediately wrestled control of the field on lap one over the trailing C.J. Leary and Justin Grant. That said, the early race story belonged to veteran Brian Tyler. Over the course of the first six laps, the 11th place starting Tyler picked off one car per lap to race his way into the top-five.
The ever spectacular Tyler experienced several close encounters of the outside wall kind, making full contact with his right rear tire on lap 11, which white walled the sidewall as white paint dust speckled the air. By lap 23, he had scooted by Bobby Santos for fourth and was still rolling. On lap 43, Tyler pulled off what may have been the save of the year as he dirt tracked his ride through turns three and four, barely scraping by while completely sideways. However, Tyler seemingly never lifted and continued on without much hindrance. One lap later, however, Dakoda Armstrong pounced under Tyler for the fourth spot.
Tyler’s run proved to be short lived as, soon thereafter, he began to freefall through the field and was running 11th by the time he dropped off the pace on lap 69. Nonetheless, due to his “if you can’t win, be spectacular” style, Tyler was the recipient of the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
Up at the front of the field, Swanson remained in total control and began to stretch out his lead on second running Leary. For much of the first half of the race, Leary never strayed more than a few car lengths off Swanson’s rear bumper. But as the race wore on, Swanson wore the field down, increasing his lead to nearly two seconds with roughly 30 laps to go, but this was certainly no time to let up.
“C.J. kept pressure on me the whole time,” Swanson recalled. “Him, Justin (Grant) and the whole field here are really good and they’ll make you pay if you mess up.”
On lap 95 of 100, a mess did find its way into what had been a fairly clean race from the start. After hitting what the team believed to be a slick spot in turn one, 10th running Matt Westfall’s car skidded left and darted right, straight into the outside wall, causing major damage to the right front of the car. Just behind was hard luck, second place running C.J. Leary who attempted to avoid the accident, but as he skidded to miss Westfall, his right rear tire went completely flat, darting him to the bottom of turns one and two and to a stop. Both cars were towed away and unable to restart.
After what had been a relatively stress free environment for Swanson throughout the first 98 laps, the race had suddenly turned into a two-lap dash.
“I was just hoping I could outlast them and I’m out of breath because I feel like I was working hard every lap, especially the last two,” Swanson said. “I’m thankful I didn’t spin out on that last restart and I’m thankful that we had such a good car. Everyone kept trying all day, and even into qualifying, we were making changes and trying to make this number 77 better.
After the restart, Swanson’s quest stayed true to form, as he dashed to the finish line for his 47th career USAC Silver Crown win over Justin Grant, Dakoda Armstrong and Bobby Santos with Ryan Newman rounding out the top-five.
Nathan Byrd flew to his best career Winchester Speedway result. Starting 17th, Byrd edged his way through the field, passing 10 cars to finish a solid seventh to earn Rod End Supply Hard Charger honors.
SWANSON & RAM ENGINEERING WIN THE CHILDREN'S DREAM FUND 50
Thankful for a huge effort from Dick & Dave to have the 50m ready to make the trip down from Michigan, and for Rick & Brian and all of their help this weekend at the track. "Seabiscuit" is definitely a special car, but working with the RAM Engineering team just makes it that much better each time out!
2024 NIGHT OF CHAMPIONSHIPS - SWANSON WINS 8TH TITLE
SILVER CROWN 1ST PLACE DRIVER: Kody Swanson
SILVER CROWN 1ST PLACE ENTRANT: Doran Binks Racing
Kody Swanson is accustomed to winning USAC Silver Crown championships. But 2024 may very well have been both his most challenging and most rewarding. An offseason accident resulted in a broken left foot and left his season in doubt. But the Kingsburg, Calif. native defied the odds to make his way back into the cockpit in time for the season opener.
Despite a slight limp in his gait, Swanson showed all the signs of the same ol’ Kody as he won five times in all at Toledo, Winchester, the Hoosier Hundred at IRP, the series debut at Jennerstown and he capped off the year with a victory and a championship in one fell swoop at IRP. Swanson also set a new single season series mark with seven pole position en route to becoming an eight-time USAC Silver Crown titlist, the most championships earned by any one driver in a USAC national series ever while also providing Doran Binks Racing the entrant title.
He’s the GOAT of all USAC Silver Crown drivers, and once again in 2024, he proved that even in the most challenging of circumstances, he can still overcome.
KODY SWANSON EARNS $50,000 PRIZE IN 100-LAP OPEN WHEEL SHOWDOWN LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS — California native Kody Swanson added another marquee victory to his incredible career, winning the $50,000 BITNILE.com Open Wheel Showdown for Winged Sprint Cars at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Bobby Santos scored a $20,000 second place while 2023 winner Aaron Willison rounded out the podium worth $10,000. Photo by Garrett Kunzman
Swanson used the choose cone to position himself for a lap 73 restart alongside Willison, swooping around the outside for the lead. When the caution flew again on lap 82, Swanson chose the outside once more and maintained his stranglehold on the top spot.
Santos worked his way past Willison for second and had his sights on Swanson when a caution flag set up a green-white-checkered finish. Swanson would not be denied as he charged to a .881-second victory. Idaho’s Bryan Warf and California’s Eric Humphries rounded out the top-five.
“I got schooled on the high side (in the first half) so I figured I better wisen up,” Swanson said. “It gave me a chance to keep up my momentum and do what wing things require. The big thing was I was driving the best car.
I knew we had a chance. I’ve run some 100 lappers before. I knew I had to take care of my (tires) and be aware of that. I’m really fortunate it worked out that way and we never quit. This is special. I’ve seen so many friends and family I don’t get to see in the Midwest all year that made the trip out for this. I appreciate what everyone has done to bring this event back to Las Vegas.”
Willison won Friday’s Pole Shuffle and led the 26-car starting grid to the green but was immediately challenged by fourth-starting Santos. Santos soared on the outside past both Swanson and fast-time qualifier JoJo Helberg of Rohnert Park, Calif. on the opening salvo, then scooted underneath Willison to lead lap three.
Santos led Willison, Idaho’s Bryan Warf, Swanson, and Idaho’s Casey Tillman at the lap 50 break for fuel, a fresh right rear tire, and adjustments.
Willison ran alongside Santos on the restart, crossing underneath him in turn four for a thrilling pass to lead lap 51. The move looked to be a potentially decisive one before a caution on lap 73 gave Swanson his opportunity to pounce on the top.
Doran Binks’ Swanson Wins Season Finale And USAC Silver Crown Championship
BROWNSBURG, Ind., Oct. 21 — Mission accomplished!
Driving the Mission Foods No. 77, Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson won the 100-lap USAC Silver Crown season finale Saturday night at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) to extend his record as the winningest driver in series history with an unprecedented 45 career victories and his eighth series championship.
By adding one more championship to the titles he won in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, he also set a new record in terms of total championships earned by any one driver in a USAC national series. Who did he surpass? None other than A.J. Foyt with seven Indy car championships under USAC sanction and Mel Kenyon, who earned seven USAC national midget titles.
Swanson beat Justin Grant in the final point standings for 2024 with the Lebanon, Ohio-based team’s car, which also carries the colors of Glenn Farms and Wilke Orthodontics. Defending champion Logan Seavey finished third in the point standings followed by C.J. Leary and Kyle Steffens.
Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, led the point standings all season except for six days in May, but he went into Saturday’s race only six points ahead of Grant, 785 to 779.
Swanson earned three bonus points for being the fastest qualifier and 70 more for winning the race, while Grant finished fifth in the race and collected 58 points. At the end Swanson and Doran Binks Racing had a 21-point advantage over Grant and Hemelgarn Racing, 858 to 837, in the 14-race championship that started in April and was contested on both dirt and pavement tracks. Swanson and Doran Binks Racing won five of those races, finished second three times, and had two other top-five finishes enroute to the title in USAC’s top division.
For the pavement events such as Championship Saturday at IRP, the team used a Beast chassis powered by a Lanci Ford engine.
It was the second USAC Silver Crown championship for Kevin Doran’s Doran Racing, as the team won the title with Swanson in 2022 in conjunction with Chris Dyson Racing and this year in conjunction with Binks Motorsports under the Doran Binks Racing banner.
Swanson extended his record as the driver with the most career poles in this series when he topped qualifying Saturday afternoon with a lap in 20.892 seconds around IRP’s 0.686-mile asphalt oval for an average speed of 118.208 miles per hour. It was series career pole #54 for the 36-year-old driver.
His fastest qualifying lap was 0.228 seconds faster than the second-fastest qualifier, Bobby Santos III. Tyler Roahrig, Grant, and Seavey rounded out the top five in qualifying for the 18-car field. It was Swanson’s 11th USAC Silver Crown pole at this particular track and his seventh of the season, which broke his own series record of six in both 2015 and 2023.
Although Swanson started on the pole, Santos led the first lap before Swanson passed him to the inside in Turns 3 and 4 on lap two. He went on to lead through lap 12. The first yellow came out on lap eight for Nathan Moore, who stopped on the backstretch just off Turn 2 with a mechanical issue. Cody Gerhart stopped at that point too and retired to the pits.
The green waved again on lap 12, and Santos was able to get by Swanson in Turns 3 and 4 to regain the lead on lap 13. Santos, Swanson, and Roahrig were hooked up in a freight train at that point, with only about a tenth of a second separating them from each other.
Roahrig got under Swanson on lap 19 in Turns 1 and 2 to take second and they continued their high-speed chess match. On lap 30 Santos was 0.028 seconds ahead of Roahrig; Roahrig was 0.208 seconds ahead of Swanson, and Swanson was 0.472 seconds ahead of the fourth-place driver, Leary.
Seconds later the second yellow waved when the fifth-place driver, Dakoda Armstrong, stopped in Turn 3 with a mechanic issue. While the field was still under yellow the driver who was second, Roahrig, stopped on the frontstretch also due to a mechanical issue, reportedly something concerning his car’s magneto. Their excellent runs were over prematurely, and Swanson was back in second behind only Santos.
The battle resumed when the green flew on lap 38, and on lap 40 Santos was just 0.328 seconds ahead of Swanson, who in turn was just 0.369 seconds ahead of the driver in third, Leary. Grant was fourth and Nathan Byrd was fifth, although Seavey passed Byrd on the following lap for that position.
Swanson tried every line possible to get by Santos, who remained in the lead with Swanson right on his tail. The halfway point, lap 50, was indicative of the battle, as Swanson ducked under Santos in Turn 1 to edge ahead only to have Santos get the advantage again via the outside line in Turn 2, with only 0.101 seconds separating them as they crossed the timing beacon.
Ten laps later Swanson was still just 0.164 behind Santos, while Leary ran third, 0.406 behind Swanson. Grant was fourth, 0.758 behind Leary, while Seavey rounded out the top five.
Swanson made the winning move on lap 63 when he took the lead from Santos as they sped through Turn 2. Swanson led the rest of the race, and once back in front he was able to build up more of an advantage than Santos had. Two laps after he was back in front he was 1.128 seconds ahead of Santos on lap 65.
Seavey passed Grant for fourth on lap 67. By lap 70 Swanson had a 2.163-second lead over Santos, with Leary, Seavey, and Grant next in line.
Seavey passed Leary for third on lap 72, and three laps later Seavey also passed Santos to move into second place. Swanson still had a 2.794-second lead at the three-quarters mark, and he was able to extend that to over 3 seconds with 10 laps remaining. His advantage reverted back to about 2 seconds later as he dealt with lapped traffic, but he had a 2.362-second margin of victory over Seavey. Santos finished third, Leary placed fourth, and Grant rounded out the top five. The series’ Rookie of the Year, Trey Osborne, finished sixth and got the hard charger distinction, as he started 12th. He was the last driver to finish on the lead lap. Byrd, Russ Gamester, Kyle Robbins, and Kaylee Bryson rounded out the top 10.
Swanson set the fastest lap of anyone in the race when he was timed in 21.425 seconds on lap three. Seavey was second in that category with a 21.739 on lap 41.
Santos got the three bonus points for leading the most laps, but not by much. Santos led 51 laps and Swanson led 49.
In victory lane Swanson paid tribute to “the army of people I have behind me,” and singled out many of them, including the three men who fielded his car together — Kevin Doran, Dan Binks, and Ken Keilholz. “God is good!” Swanson declared. “There are so many special people in my life, and I’m so grateful.
“This was a 14-race Silver Crown schedule, and it was a grueling year with a lot of really strong competitors who all had great runs,” he added. “We had some unfortunate things happen on our end too, but we just kept digging. It was a close title fight, and I want to congratulate Justin Grant and Helmegarn Racing on a great year too. We had a little bit of luck go our way.
“I tried really hard to get the lead, and we all raced hard,” he said. “I hated that Tyler had misfortune, and I have great respect for Bobby Santos too. Luckily on the longer runs the No. 77 was really good. But I had to be really careful with the lapped traffic at the end.”
With his victory Swanson broke the tie he held with his now-retired brother, Tanner, as the driver with the most USAC Silver Crown wins at IRP with nine.
He also now leads the category of the driver with the most USAC Silver Crown wins at any one track, as Tanner Swanson had eight at IRP and Jack Hewitt had eight at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Kody Swanson is also now tied with Tracy Hines and Santos for the most USAC-sanctioned wins at IRP among all divisions with 15.
“I don’t know what it is about this place, but I love racing here,” Swanson said. “I kept moving around the racetrack to try to find something that worked, sort of like you do on a dirt track, and finally in the second half I found something that suited my car.”
There were four features at IRP on Saturday, and Swanson competed in three of them. By finishing third in the 40-lap 500 Sprint Car Tour race driving for Nick Bohanon earlier in the night, Swanson also wrapped up his second championship in that series. He won the 500 Sprint Car Tour series’ inaugural title in 2022 driving for Doran Racing.
Doran Binks Racing didn’t compete in all the races in that series this year, but it was part of this title too because Swanson drove cars fielded by Bohanon, Nolen Racing, and Doran Binks Racing this season enroute to the 500 Sprint Car Tour title. That series consisted of nine races this year, and Doran Binks Racing fielded cars for Swanson in two of them: the Glen Niebel Classic at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway in April (finished first), and the Little 500 at the same track in May (finished third). The Little 500 wasn’t a points-paying race, however.
It was a very busy day for Swanson, as he also finished fourth in the 30-lap Lucas Oil Raceway national pavement midget feature Saturday at IRP driving for Bertrand Motorsports. Although no announcement was made by the track Saturday night, other reports on social media indicated that with that accomplishment he also secured that midget championship as well as the A.J. Foyt Championship.
The latter is a season-long points battle consisting of the USAC Silver Crown, sprint car, and champion midget races held at IRP. Foyt won the first oval event at IRP in May of 1961. Swanson won this title four times previously: 2012, 2016, 2018, and 2021.
Doran Binks’ Swanson Finishes Second at Eldora
ROSSBURG, Ohio, Sept. 22 — Thanks to a solid second-place finish in the USAC Silver Crown race at Eldora Speedway Saturday night, Doran Binks Racing and driver Kody Swanson bolstered their lead in the series’ championship and now have 742 points to their closest rivals’ 715 with only two races remaining in 2024.
Swanson, the winningest driver in series history, is going for an unprecedented eighth championship in USAC’s top division.
Going into the event their lead was 12 points in the driver and entrant standings, but they more than doubled that to 27 when Swanson took the checkered flag 0.489 seconds after Mitchel Moles did in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
The 50-lap race was part of the 42nd running of the 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKTELCO. The program featured the NOS Energy Drink midget national championship, USAC AMSOIL sprint car national championship, Kubota High Limit Racing sprint cars, and the USAC Silver Crown national championship.
Swanson was third in USAC Silver Crown qualifying on Friday night. His No. 77, which is sponsored by Mission Foods, Glenn Farms, and Wilke Orthodontics, was just 0.077 seconds off Daison Pursley’s fast time of 17.605 seconds for the half-mile dirt track. A total of 27 drivers took time.
Moles, who would go on to win his first USAC Silver Crown race ever, started fourth and passed Swanson for third on the second lap. After a yellow with five laps down for Dave Berkheimer’s spin in Turn 2, defending champion Logan Seavey went to the work area with a brake issue after running in tenth place.
Moles passed Brady Bacon for second on that restart, and then the fifth-place driver, Chase Dietz, stopped on the backstretch after hitting the wall to bring out the second yellow with six laps down. Dietz went to the work area but was unable to restart.
Bacon was penalized for jumping that restart, which allowed Swanson to regain third and moved Brian Ruhlman into fourth. Pursley still led, while Moles was trying to figure out a way by him.
Lap 13 was lucky for both Moles and Swanson, as they both passed Pursley on that lap to take over first and second, respectively. Swanson made his move on the outside.
Moles had a 2.591-second lead over Swanson, who was 1.139 seconds ahead of Pursley, when Moles had a very close call working lap 21. He got up over a car he was lapping driven by Tom Savage in Turns 3 and 4. Savage’s car caught on fire and he bailed out before it even fully stopped. Although the incident brought out the third yellow with 20 laps down, Moles never stopped so he was able to retain his lead and his car seemed no worse for the experience.
At the halfway point five laps later Swanson was 1.675 seconds behind Moles and 1.428 seconds ahead of Pursley.
Briggs Danner passed Pursley for third on lap 27 and hounded Swanson for most of the rest of the race. On lap 30 Moles had extended his lead to 2.986 seconds while Swanson was 1.753 seconds ahead of Danner, but Swanson and Danner were both able to cut those figures later.
Mark Smith, who was 14th, stopped in Turn 1 with 34 laps down to bring out the fourth yellow. Under that caution Zach Daum, who was 16th, pitted with a flat right-rear tire, and he also had lost his brakes.
After that restart Swanson was able to run about a half-second behind Moles. Swanson, whose car is powered by a Hampshire-prepped Chevy engine, set his fastest lap of the race on lap 40. He was 0.612 seconds behind Moles at the time, while Danner had closed to just 0.276 seconds behind him with just 10 laps remaining.
But the flagman had to wave the caution four more times, and all those yellows were for drivers who suffered flat right-rear tires. Kaylee Bryson lost hers while running 10th with 41 laps down. Matt Goodnight, who was 16th, had his disintegrate with eight laps to go. The eighth-place driver, Chase Stockon, suffered the same fate with 45 laps down. Bacon was running sixth when his Hoosier let go with two laps remaining.
Danner kept the pressure on Swanson during all those restarts, but Swanson was 0.430 seconds ahead of the young driver when the checkered waved at 1:47 a.m. Sunday morning.
Following Moles, Swanson and Danner at the end were Pursley and Ruhlman. Matt Westfall, Justin Grant, Carmen Perigo, C.J. Leary and Seavey rounded out the top 10.
The next USAC Silver Crown event is Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. The season finale is Saturday, Oct. 19 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind. That’s not far from Swanson’s base in Indianapolis. He’s a native of Kingsburg, Calif.
All of the series’ races are streamed live on Flo Racing.
“We had a really good car, and I am glad to have been getting closer,” Swanson said afterwards. “I think this is our third second-place finish in a row, but I'd love to get everyone on this team a win on the dirt. Ultimately I just wasn't quite fast enough tonight. Mitchel and his team did a great job, so congrats to them on the win. We still had a really good day, and I'm thankful for the effort from everyone that is part of this Doran Binks Racing team, and this dirt program too. We've got so many people pulling for us to do well, whether here at the track, back at the shop, or calling in over the phone, and I'm grateful for each of them. Thanks again to Mission Foods, Wilke Orthodontics, Glenn Farms, and everyone who keeps us on the track, and gives us the chance to go out and compete for it.”
SURGICAL SWANSON DISSECTS USAC SILVER CROWN FIELD AT JENNERSTOWN
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Jennerstown, Pennsylvania (August 10, 2024)………Kody Swanson’s one and only previous visit to Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway came in a late model back in 2021 and concluded with an unsavory encounter with the outside wall and a torn up racecar to boot.
From famine to feast, the Kingsburg, California racer’s next trip to Jennerstown on Saturday night was about as polar opposite as it comes in the high stakes world of motorsports during the USAC Silver Crown debut at the .522-mile paved oval.
Swanson started from the pole position and led all 100 laps in succession after recently having surgery to remove two screws from his left foot following an offseason accident away from the racetrack. It was Swanson’s record-extending 44th career USAC Silver Crown win and his fourth series triumph of the season. In fact, 17 of his 44 career series victories have come after capturing the pole position and leading every lap.
On pavement tracks alone in his Silver Crown career, Swanson has now won 29 times at eight different venues in his USAC Silver Crown career. Swanson’s mark of eight different pavement tracks won at are now tied for the most all-time alongside Dave Steele and Brian Tyler.
In adding another victory to his tally, Swanson also padded his current championship point lead to the tune of a 55-point margin. Swanson’s first open wheel appearance at Jennerstown also resulted in the 15th different track he’s won at in his career with the series, dirt and pavement combined, which is already an all-time record.
“The beauty of Silver Crown racing is you’ve got to adapt, and I think that’s the part that’s most fun about it,” Swanson noted. “We run dirt races, we run pavement, we run big tracks, we run little ones and tricky ones in between. That’s the part I love.”
Interestingly enough, USAC’s most recent event held at Jennerstown came 55 years earlier in a 1969 midget race won by Bob Tattersall when the track surface was dirt. Swanson’s path to victory on Saturday night was paved with $10,000 in rewards after starting from the pole position for the record-extending 52nd time of his career.
Swanson’s qualifying run provided him with a one-lap Silver Crown track record at eight different tracks: Kansas’ Belleville High Banks, Iowa Speedway, Illinois’ World Wide Technology Raceway, Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway, Indiana’s Salem Speedway and Winchester Speedway, Ohio’s Toledo Speedway and now Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway.
For Swanson and his Doran-Binks Racing/Mission Foods – Wilke Orthodontics – Glenn Farms/Beast/Lanci Ford, it was a masterful turnaround from the practice session 24 hours earlier. Swanson’s best lap of Friday’s test was a mere 18.314 seconds, which would’ve put him mid-pack in Saturday’s field. Needless to say, there was nothing mid-pack about Swanson on when all was said and done.
“It was a mess yesterday and even today,” Swanson explained. “We borrowed the series’ scales to check the thing on the lift and tried to just keep working on it. These guys stuck with me and I’m really thankful it worked out. You never know if it will be good or not. When I was getting into the car to start the feature, I said, ‘I guess we’ll find out.’ I didn’t know if we were making the right decisions or not, but the effort was there and that’s all you can ask. As a driver, it’s your job to put your helmet on and go out and try to get it with whatever kind of car you’ve got. I’m really thankful tonight that this one was as good as it was.”
When the green flag dropped, Swanson established the early lead as Logan Seavey slotted into second and Dakoda Armstrong held strong in third. However, early race troubles befell eighth running Kaylee Bryson on lap seven as she suddenly slowed with a clutch issue, ultimately coasting to a stop on the back straightaway on lap nine and finishing her night abruptly with a 15th place result.
The most major incident of the race occurred on lap 29 as the frontrunners began to bear down on the tail end of the field. Entering turn one, sixth running Tyler Roahrig and 14th place Nathan Moore hooked bumpers, sending Moore spinning into the outside turn one wall, ending his evening with a 14th place result.
On the ensuing lap 33 restart, Armstrong edged ahead of Seavey on the outside for the second position in turns one and two. However, Seavey was able to shake off the pressure for the time being to recollect the spot. Armstrong continued to press Seavey for the next nine circuits until lap 42 when he charged under Seavey on the back straight to elevate into the runner-up spot.
At the moment, Swanson remained 1.2 seconds ahead as the race hit the halfway point. However, further back, 10th starting Taylor Ferns began to surge. Running seventh on lap 50 of 100, she blitzed past Roahrig for sixth on lap 52, past C.J. Leary for fifth on lap 65 and by Justin Grant for fourth in turn two on lap 68.
With 30 to go, Swanson’s primary challenger was Armstrong, the only driver to deny Swanson a Silver Crown pavement victory through the first five events thus far in 2024. Armstrong whittled Swanson’s lead down to three tenths while the pair navigated their way through traffic. However, Swanson got the word from above that he had company, and thus, he took matters into his own hands.
“As Dakoda was coming, I’ve got a great spotter who said, ‘hey, he’s closing and he’s doing this different,’” Swanson recalled of his spotter/wife Jordan Swanson announcing into his two-way radio communication. “Immediately, I knew what I had and what I was struggling with, so I started moving around. That’s the fun part about tracks like this. There are so many characteristics to them that you just move around and find something else you like. I ran a line I hadn’t run in two days, but it seemed to work and it kind of stabilized for a little while. It gave me a chance to figure out what I needed to do next and try to take advantage of lapped traffic to get away a little bit.”
In the aftermath, Swanson had broken open his lead to 1.27 seconds as he ably put fellow championship contenders Grant and Leary a lap down during the waning moments. All the while, Swanson's lead ballooned to 2.149 seconds and never wavered from that moment onward.
At the finish line, Swanson crossed the line 3.907 seconds ahead of Dakoda Armstrong, Logan Seavey, Taylor Ferns and Bobby Santos who rounded out the top-five.
Swanson Tops Qualifying at Madison Int’l Speedway
OREGON, Wis., June 23 — Doran Binks Racing and driver Kody Swanson still lead the entrant and driver point standings in the USAC Silver Crown division following Friday night’s Bytec Dairyland 100 at Madison International Speedway, but their top rivals have drawn closer after a mechanical problem resulted in an 11th-place finish for the No. 77, which is sponsored by Mission Foods, Glenn Farms, and Wilke Orthodontics.
Earlier in the evening Swanson won the pole for the 100-lap race with a time of 17.062 seconds, extending his record as the driver with the most USAC Silver Crown poles in history to 51. C.J. Leary, Bobby Santos III, Dakoda Armstrong and Taylor Ferns rounded out the top five in qualifying.
Swanson led all 300 laps of the three previous pavement USAC Silver Crown races this year and he’s won this race three times (2018, 2019 and 2023).
But on Friday Leary was able to get around him on the outside going into Turn 1 of the half-mile paved oval on the first lap, and then Santos edged under him in the same spot on lap two to relegate him to third.
That set up one of the best battle of the evening, as Swanson hounded Santos for second while Ferns tried to get third away from Swanson as the trio played a high-speed game of cat and mouse.
Swanson eventually dropped to fourth but his drive came to an end when he suddenly slowed in Turn 3 to bring out the first of two cautions on lap 61 due to a mechanical issue that caused the No. 77 to lose fuel. He was pushed to the pits by a four-wheeler and the Doran Binks crew made quick repairs. Swanson was able to return to the rear of the field and run for about 10 more laps, and his official finishing position was 11th.
He wasn’t the only one who had their night come to an end prematurely. Ferns brought out the event’s only other yellow while running third working lap 75 when she stopped at about the same place Swanson had. Her car’s issue was a broken U-joint, and she ended up right behind Swanson in the final rundown, in 12th place.
And after leading from the start, Leary also ran into calamity in the same spot on lap 89, as he got a flat tire and had contact with Armstrong. He pitted for a new tire but he ended up ninth.
That gave the point to Armstrong, who went on to post his first USAC Silver Crown victory. Santos, Grant, rookie Trey Osborne and defending series champion Seavey rounded out the top five.
FINISHES FOURTH SATURDAY NIGHT AT LORAIN RACEWAY PARK
We had a little fun on a Thursday night at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Thanks to the entire Bertrand team for the fast car, David Sink for the photo, and Jo for cooking up some celebratory tacos!
Kody was quickest in qualifying and finished second in the heat race. The invert was an eight for the feature, and he was able to pull off the win!
SWANSON MAKES HIS WINGED RETURN AFTER NINE YEAR HIATUS
June 25, 2024 – Holly, Michigan – Must See Racing Sprint Series Presented by Perfit-Parts officials confirmed today that pavement sprint car guru Kody Swanson is one of the first entries for the July 5 event at Birch Run Speedway in Birch Run, Michigan. The single day event will also feature the Maxima Racing Oils Midwest Lights Series.
It will be the first time Swanson has competed in a winged asphalt sprint car since 2015.It is no surprise Swanson is set to return to winged asphalt sprint car competition as it is quickly becoming very popular, and big paydays are becoming regular occurrences for this sector of the sport.
Swanson is no stranger to MSR competition. In fact, he has one career victory with the series, but it wasn’t in winged competition. Swanson was victorious in the lone MSR non-winged event held at Indianapolis Raceway Park during the 2020 Indy Summer Nationals. Swanson’s last appearance in MSR winged competition occurred on May 23, 2012, at Anderson (IN) Speedway where he was runner-up to winner Jason Blonde.
HIGH-FIVE! SWANSON POCKETS $26,000 PAYDAY WITH FIFTH HOOSIER HUNDRED WIN
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Brownsburg, Indiana (May 25, 2024)………One year after dominating the first 116 laps of the Hoosier Hundred, Kody Swanson only had to focus on a mere 100 circuits around Brownsburg, Indiana’s Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Saturday morning.
In fact, he seemingly didn’t have to worry about a thing throughout the entire distance as he led from start to finish to score his fifth career Hoosier Hundred victory aboard his Doran-Binks Racing/Mission Foods – Wilke Orthodontics – Glenn Farms/Beast/Lanci Ford.
Swanson’s four previous Hoosier Hundred wins in 2014-15-16-18 all came on the dirt at the now-shuttered Indiana State Fairgrounds mile, but this time around, the win came on the pavement of IRP where it has been held in each of the past two seasons.
“It’s great to have the Hoosier Hundred continue,” Swanson said in praise of the race that has been held regularly since 1953. “I loved it at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, but it’s so great that (IRP promoter) Kasey Coler and his team put it on, and it pays more now for us than it ever did before. That means a lot to the racers, and I appreciate him sticking his neck out on that.”
PERSEVERANCE! SWANSON RETURNS FROM INJURY TO DOMINATE TOLEDO USAC SILVER CROWN OPENER
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Toledo, Ohio (April 20, 2024)………Four months ago, Kody Swanson saw his season and the future of his racing career hang in the balance.
A Christmas morning accident at his parents’ home resulted in a severely broken left foot. Multiple surgeries later, the Kingsburg, Calif. native was affixed with a walking boot and a pair of crutches. Throughout the arduous rehabilitation process, Swanson longed for the day that he could return to the USAC Silver Crown National Championship.
On Saturday afternoon at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway, that long awaited day had finally arrived.
SWANSON IS FASTEST QUALIFIER AND FINISHES SECOND AT GLEN NIEBEL CLASSIC 500 SPRINT CAR TOUR OPENER
By: Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
ANDERSON, Ind., April 15 —Doran Binks Racing and driver Kody Swanson got the 2024 season off to a great start Sunday afternoon when Swanson was the fastest qualifier in the Mission Foods/Glenn Farms No. 77, led a third of the 100-lap Glen Niebel Classic, and finished a solid second in the 500 Sprint Car Tour season opener at Anderson Speedway.
After earning the pole when the inversion was a one, Swanson led the first 34 laps as the 21-car field sped around the quarter-mile paved oval. Dakoda Armstrong used lapped traffic to help him vault from third to first in Turn 2 on lap 35, and he went on to win the race with Swanson in hot pursuit. The winner’s cousin, Caleb Armstrong, placed third followed by the defending race winner, Kyle O’Gara, and Taylor Ferns.
THE LONG ROAD BACK: KODY SWANSON RETURNS FROM INJURY TO RACE AGAIN
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (April 12, 2024)………For any racer with the level of accomplishments Kody Swanson has accrued throughout his career, there are always obstacles to overcome and hills to climb en route to a successful season.
Swanson knows this all too well, and to prove it, he’s racked up seven driving titles and 40 victories on his illustrious USAC Silver Crown resume. However, the 2024 season has presented him with an unanticipated obstacle unlike any other he’s ever faced.
On Christmas morning roughly three-and-a-half months ago, Swanson’s season and the future of his racing career instantly came into question in a split second. An accident at his parents’ house in Kingsburg, Calif. resulted in a severely broken left foot. Swanson was ultimately rushed into surgery that same day.
