Swanson Finishes Fourth at Springfield
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Aug. 20 — Although Logan Seavey gained 15 points on Kody Swanson for winning the 60th annual Bettenhausen 100 USAC Silver Crown race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Swanson and the Doran Binks Racing team still lead the overall point standings due to their solid fourth-place finish in the 100-lapper on the 1-mile dirt oval Saturday afternoon.
Driving the Mission Foods No. 77 powered by a Lanci Ford engine, Swanson started tenth in the 31-car field, but he certainly didn’t stay there long once the green flag dropped.
He passed Davey Ray, Wayne Johnson and Mario Clouser on the first lap to rise to seventh place, and he got sixth by passing Jacob Wilson on lap two. The native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis remained in sixth place through lap 10, and advanced to fifth on lap 11 by passing Justin Grant.
The first of four cautions waved with 16 laps down when Shane Cockrum slowed on the frontstretch. Two laps following the restart, Grant got Swanson back to relegate him back to sixth, but Swanson was only 0.179 of a second behind Grant on lap 25.
Grant passed Chase Dietz for fourth on lap 36, but Swanson was able to stay right behind Dietz too. On lap 40 Swanson was just 0.361 behind Dietz and nearly 3 seconds ahead of the seventh-place runner, Wilson.
Following the second yellow, which was needed from laps 45-48 after Korey Weyant slowed, Swanson passed Dietz on the restart to regain fifth on lap 49. On the very next lap he passed Emerson Axsom for fourth place, and he remained in fourth for the second half of the race to finish in that position.
Travis Welpott spun between Turns 3 and 4 to set up a green-white-checkered finish, but the top five positions didn’t change at the end. Seavey took the checkered over Cottle with a 1.094-second margin of victory. Grant was third. Swanson was 0.636 behind Grant at the line and 0.497 ahead of Axsom.
C.J. Leary set the fastest lap of the race on lap 11 with a time of 34.144 before he had mechanical issues and brought out the third caution on lap 82. Swanson had the second-fastest lap of the race on lap nine with a time of 34.146.
Swanson’s qualifying time was a 31.797, just 0.480 off Seavey’s pole-winning time of 31.317.
“The way the racetrack was, it was really tricky and technical in spots,” Swanson said after the race. “It made it very hard to pass, and ultimately we just weren’t quite good enough to get farther forward. Sometimes that’s just how it goes, and we did what we could.
“We didn’t qualify real well, so we made some changes before the feature,” he added. “I have to thank the Doran Binks crew for all of their hard work, and Mission Foods and Glenn Farms for their support. We’ll keep after it and be ready to give it another shot next time.”
Swanson now leads the point standings with 445 points to Seavey’s 429. Clouser, who finished eighth on Saturday, is third with 307.
Prior to this event, Swanson had won the last three USAC Silver Crown races.
He has won the Bettenhausen 100 three times — 2014, 2015 and 2021. In 2021 he came from 23rd to first.
Saturday’s race, like all the USAC Silver Crown events, was livestreamed by Flo Racing.
The next USAC Silver Crown race is coming right up on Sunday, Aug. 27 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., as part of its IndyCar weekend. Swanson is that race’s defending winner. He set a new world record in qualifying for that race last year with a 30.675 for an average speed of 146.699 miles per hour.
He is also the series’ winningest driver ever, with 40 victories and seven championships to date.
FIRST TO 40 AT TOLEDO! SWANSON WINS 40TH CAREER USAC SILVER CROWN RACE
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Toledo, Ohio (August 5, 2023)………During his first six USAC Silver Crown victories at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway in 2012-15-18-19-21-22, Kody Swanson had led 611 out of a possible 650 laps (94%) in an absolutely dominant stretch at the half-mile paved oval.
Saturday’s running of the Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic Fueled By Marco’s Pizza was a quite different story, and was, undoubtedly, the most challenging he’d faced yet.
Nonetheless, when seemingly backed against the wall for the majority of the distance, the Kingsburg, Calif. native still managed to pull through and prevail in the 100-lapper, leading a total of 23 laps to score an astounding seventh career Rollie Beale Classic victory, and his fifth-in-a-row at Toledo with the champ cars dating back to 2018.
Toledo Speedway’s all-time winningest USAC driver also equaled a series record set by another series dominator, the late, great Dave Steele. Swanson’s performance marked just the third time in which a driver captured five consecutive USAC Silver Crown race wins at one track. Steele grabbed five-straight at Phoenix International Raceway between 2002-06 while Kody himself scored five-in-a-row at Indiana’s Salem Speedway between 2016-20.
Swanson’s third win of the season on Saturday was Swanson’s third series victory in a row, making it the fourth occasion in which he won at least three consecutive main events with the series. No other driver has more than one such streak.
Furthermore, Swanson’s 40th career USAC Silver Crown triumph came after gaining his 45th career pole award with the series during Honest Abe Qualifying where he joined Tanner Swanson as just the second driver to win seven career USAC Silver Crown poles at a single track, which his younger brother has achieved at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Aboard the Doran-Binks Racing/Mission Foods – Glenn Farms/Beast/Lanci Ford, Swanson endured a hellacious side-by-side battle for the lead with outside front row starter C.J. Leary during the first three laps.
Swanson edged Leary by a car length at the stripe to lead lap one before the duo swapped lanes when Leary wedged underneath Swanson exiting turn two on lap two then surged into the lead as they crossed the line separated by a half car length. Leary escaped the throes of Swanson on the third lap to gain a little bit of breathing room, which he’d enjoy for quite a while.
However, on lap four, the race’s only caution flag was displayed when fourth running Davey Hamilton Jr., making his debut for the Legacy Autosport team, saw his ride go up in smoke on the back straight. The Idahoan quickly stopped and hopped out, ending his day prematurely.
Leary continued to be a force up front throughout the first third of the event while, further back, 2017 Rollie Beale Classic USAC Silver Crown winner Bobby Santos had gained eight spots by lap 28 to advance from his 20th starting position to 12th. Santos was relegated to the tail for the start due to a driveline issue suffered during practice, and later, raced his way into the top-10 on lap 57, but dropped to 11th in the final running order during the waning laps.
Simultaneously, Leary began to work lapped traffic, but managed to extend his lead to more than four seconds over Swanson as the race neared the midway point. Mired in traffic on lap 48, 2020 series champion Justin Grant found himself lodged in-between the lapped machines of Nathan Byrd and Matt Westfall. Spotting a lane all to his own, Derek Bischak moved up a groove and drove around the outside of all three to move into second but remained a full five seconds out of the lead.
By lap 56, Leary had his hands full with a huge throng of cars in his path, including Santos, Billy Wease, Kyle O'Gara, Trey Burke, Mike McVetta and Taylor Ferns who earned hard charger honors by advancing from 17th to 8th. All the traffic managed to slash Leary’s lead from four seconds down to a mere 1.8 with just 40 circuits to go, all to the benefit of Swanson.
“Lapped traffic is always tough because all the cars are pretty fast, and they’re racing other cars,” Swanson explained. “At one point when C.J. had a big lead, I thought we would have to be happy with second. But I think lapped traffic helped us to race our way back into contention, and we were lucky to get away with one there in the end. We ran hard laps, and the chance to sort it out on the track was fun for me. I had to work hard for this one, but it worked out, so no complaints.”
On lap 75, the gap was zilch as Leary and Swanson raced around the joint nose-to-tail. By that point, Leary was hanging on by a thread after a bleeder failure caused his right rear tire to gain undesired air pressure and stagger, which made the car very loose in the corners. All Leary could do to keep Swanson at bay was to just make it as hard as possible for him to get by.
However, off the fourth turn on lap 77, Swanson was able to get a nose under Leary, yet Leary managed to maintain his lead for a full lap longer. However, at the exits of turns two and four, the rearend kicked out just a bit on Leary, pushing him off the bottom and allowing Swanson to get a nose in edgewise.
Ultimately, lap 79 told the tale as Swanson pulled even with Leary on entry into turn one for the first time. Swanson hugged the bottom and cleared Leary by turn two to take over the lead, a position he’d never surrender. Swanson immediately opened up his lead to a full second in the ensuing laps, but soon found himself amidst a gaggle of nine lapped cars running high, low and middle in front of him with just a handful laps to go.
“C.J. did a great job. His car was really strong early, and then the pace changed and maybe the race kind of came to us,” Swanson stated in a team press release. “About six laps from the end, we were just in the main line with everyone. We had a decent lead, and I didn’t want to take any additional risks. I was just trying to make sure we finished this one.”
Swanson stayed true to his word and played it smart as those in front of him kept it clean while also racing for position inside the top-10. Swanson completed the 100-lap distance in a blistering time of 28:35.61, which was slowed by just one caution with the final 91 laps going clean and green.
At the checkered, Swanson had lapped all but the top-10 and was 1.158 seconds ahead of runner-up C.J. Leary with Derek Bischak in third and Justin Grant in fourth while Logan Seavey rounded out the top-five in a completely rebuilt racecar which had been crashed 16 days earlier at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway and had just a handful of pieces that didn’t need replacing before the Toledo round.
For the second consecutive race, C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) earned his best finish of the USAC Silver Crown season. He scored a fourth at Winchester and followed it up with a second on Saturday at Toledo after leading a race-high 77 laps in his Klatt Enterprises/Wilwood Disc Brakes – Lucas Oil Center– Brown & Miller Racing Solutions/Beast/Ford.
The story was much the same for Derek Bischak (Angola, Ind.) who collected his best career USAC Silver Crown finish of third in the most recent round at Winchester, then equaled it again on Saturday at Toledo in his Derek Bischak/Allstar Performance – Klotz Synthetic Lubricants – Complete Collision/Beast/J & D Chevy.
Swanson REtakes Point Lead After Podium Finish IN Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 1 — Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson qualified third, started fourth in the 40-lap feature, ran as high as second, and finished third
last Saturday night at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in the Pro Door Manufacturing 40. The 40-lap race was part of the 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores, and unofficially with the podium finish with his Mission Foods/Glenn Farms No. 77 Swanson retook the lead in the series’ championship.
The top six qualifiers were inverted for the start, which put Billy Wease on the pole. He led the whole race, which ran non-stop, for his first series victory.
In a car powered by a Binks Chevy engine, Swanson was able to soar from fourth to second on the first lap. He passed fellow row-two starter Dakoda Armstrong to the outside on the backstretch, and dipped under Bobby Santos III, who started second, on the frontstretch before the start-finish line.
Swanson then did his best to pass Wease too, but he was elusive. Instead, Santos regained second from Swanson with a move to the inside in Turn 1 working lap nine. Swanson remained third the rest of the way, and the podium finishers took the checkered flag nose to tail. Wease’s margin of victory over Santos was just 0.149 of a second, while Swanson was only 0.242 behind Santos. The driver who finished fourth, Kyle O’Gara, was further back, some 1.994 seconds behind Swanson at the end. Armstrong rounded out the top five and the driver who led the point standings going into this race, Tyler Roahrig, finished sixth.
The practice sessions on Friday and Saturday as well as Saturday’s qualifying session were held during the day while the race was at night. That, plus the fact this was the series’ first event at this 0.596-mile asphalt oval, made finding a good set-up challenging for the crews of the 19 feature starters.
The Doran Binks crew and Swanson carved 1.154 seconds off their fastest lap run during the first practice session on Friday and the 18.011-second lap Swanson ran in qualifying on Saturday. Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, was only 0.143 off the fastest lap set in qualifying. That was an automatic new track record of 17.868 for Jake Trainor.
The feature didn’t start until 9:25 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday night after a slight delay for rain. Swanson set the fastest lap of the race on lap two with a time of 18.182.
The race was streamed live by MAVTV for Flo Racing.
The 500 Sprint Car Tour doesn’t have any races in August, but it has events at Lorain Raceway Park in Amherst, Ohio on Sept. 9; Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Ind., on Oct. 7, and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind., on Oct. 14.
Doran Binks Racing also fields cars for Swanson in the USAC Silver Crown series, where the team and Swanson lead the current entrant and driver point standings. That series has three races in August: Toledo (Ohio) Speedway this Saturday, Aug. 5; Illinois State Fairgrounds Aug. 19, and World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis on Aug. 27.
Swanson REtakes Point Lead After Podium Finish IN Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 1 — Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson qualified third, started fourth in the 40-lap feature, ran as high as second, and finished third
last Saturday night at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in the Pro Door Manufacturing 40. The 40-lap race was part of the 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores, and unofficially with the podium finish with his Mission Foods/Glenn Farms No. 77 Swanson retook the lead in the series’ championship.
The top six qualifiers were inverted for the start, which put Billy Wease on the pole. He led the whole race, which ran non-stop, for his first series victory.
In a car powered by a Binks Chevy engine, Swanson was able to soar from fourth to second on the first lap. He passed fellow row-two starter Dakoda Armstrong to the outside on the backstretch, and dipped under Bobby Santos III, who started second, on the frontstretch before the start-finish line.
Swanson then did his best to pass Wease too, but he was elusive. Instead, Santos regained second from Swanson with a move to the inside in Turn 1 working lap nine. Swanson remained third the rest of the way, and the podium finishers took the checkered flag nose to tail. Wease’s margin of victory over Santos was just 0.149 of a second, while Swanson was only 0.242 behind Santos. The driver who finished fourth, Kyle O’Gara, was further back, some 1.994 seconds behind Swanson at the end. Armstrong rounded out the top five and the driver who led the point standings going into this race, Tyler Roahrig, finished sixth.
The practice sessions on Friday and Saturday as well as Saturday’s qualifying session were held during the day while the race was at night. That, plus the fact this was the series’ first event at this 0.596-mile asphalt oval, made finding a good set-up challenging for the crews of the 19 feature starters.
The Doran Binks crew and Swanson carved 1.154 seconds off their fastest lap run during the first practice session on Friday and the 18.011-second lap Swanson ran in qualifying on Saturday. Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, was only 0.143 off the fastest lap set in qualifying. That was an automatic new track record of 17.868 for Jake Trainor.
The feature didn’t start until 9:25 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday night after a slight delay for rain. Swanson set the fastest lap of the race on lap two with a time of 18.182.
The race was streamed live by MAVTV for Flo Racing.
The 500 Sprint Car Tour doesn’t have any races in August, but it has events at Lorain Raceway Park in Amherst, Ohio on Sept. 9; Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Ind., on Oct. 7, and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind., on Oct. 14.
Doran Binks Racing also fields cars for Swanson in the USAC Silver Crown series, where the team and Swanson lead the current entrant and driver point standings. That series has three races in August: Toledo (Ohio) Speedway this Saturday, Aug. 5; Illinois State Fairgrounds Aug. 19, and World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis on Aug. 27.
Swanson Comes from Sixth to Third at Berlin
MARNE, Mich., July 24 — Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson qualified third, started sixth due to the invert, and charged back up to finish third Saturday night at Berlin Raceway in a 40-lap feature sanctioned by the 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores.
Driving the Mission Foods/Glenn Farms No. 77 asphalt sprint car which is powered by a Binks Chevy engine, Swanson got right to work at the drop of the green flag. The Kingsburg, Calif., native who now lives in Indianapolis passed fellow row three starter Bobby Santos III for fifth on the first lap. He got around Jackson Macenko for fourth on lap two. In just one more lap Swanson, the defending series champion, passed Taylor Ferns for third on lap three.
Polesitter Derek Bischak led the first three laps, but his fellow front-row starter, Kyle O’Gara, got the lead from Bischak working lap four. Swanson passed Bischak for second place on lap six right before the event’s only caution flag waved with seven laps down, reportedly for debris on the track.
Swanson did his best to pass O’Gara on the restart, but O’Gara wouldn’t budge. Swanson was still only 0.322 of a second behind him on lap 10, but Tyler Roahrig, who was the fastest qualifier and started eighth, had made his way through the field too and was right on Swanson’s rear bumper.
Roahrig dipped under Swanson on the backstretch working lap 11 to relegate Swanson to third, and that’s where Swanson finished. Roahrig passed O’Gara for the lead on the following lap and then marched away from the field, taking the checkered flag 7.424 seconds ahead of O’Gara before a big crowd.
Swanson was 1.042 seconds behind O’Gara at the finish, and 0.436 ahead of the fourth-place finisher, Ferns. Dakoda Armstrong rounded out the top five.
Roahrig set the fastest lap of the race on lap 12 with a time of 15.894 seconds for the nearly circular and very challenging 0.4375-mile asphalt oval, which has 13-degree turns and 9-degree straightaways. Swanson set the second-fastest lap of the race on lap seven with a 16.022, while O’Gara was third-fastest with a 16.031 on lap five.
Roahrig topped the charts in qualifying with a lap in 15.507 followed by Armstrong with a 15.735 and Swanson with a 15.738. The top five qualifiers were within 0.340 of each other.
“Berlin is such a nice racetrack, but it is really quite unique and tricky too,” Swanson said. “Congrats to Tyler; he’s got a great handle on this place, and I just haven’t been able to get it figured out yet. I’m so thankful for this Doran Binks team; they’ve been working really hard to try to help us find what we need to make us better when we come here, so we’ll have to take the podium as a solid finish and get ready for Nashville this week. As always, I’m thankful for Mission Foods, Glenn Farms, and everyone who continues to support this team.”
The race was streamed live by MAVTV for Flo Racing.
Swanson led Roahrig by 11 points in the series’ standings going into Saturday’s race. Roahrig now leads Swanson by 13 points with four events remaining. O’Gara is currently third in points followed by Dakoda Armstrong and Santos.
The next 500 Sprint Car Tour race is in just a few days, as the series visits Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tenn., this Saturday, July 29. The series doesn’t have any races in August, but it has events at Lorain Raceway Park in Amherst, Ohio on Sept. 9; Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Ind., on Oct. 7, and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind., on Oct. 14.
Doran Binks Racing also fields cars for Swanson in the USAC Silver Crown series, where the team and Swanson lead the current entrant and driver point standings. That series has three races in August: Toledo (Ohio) Speedway Aug. 5; Illinois State Fairgrounds Aug. 19, and World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis on Aug. 27.
SWANSON STORMS TO WINCHESTER VICTORY
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Winchester, Indiana (July 20, 2023)………For Kody Swanson, on Thursday night, Winchester (Ind.) Speedway served as a place to go back-to-back in a myriad of manners.
The victory was his second consecutive in USAC Silver Crown competition after winning the most recent round at Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway in June, marking the 13th occasion in which he’s won two-straight series main events in his career with the series.
Furthermore, the triumph was the second occasion in a row in which he performed a complete sweep by recording the fastest time in both Dirt Draft Practice and Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying before going on to lead all 100 laps en route to victory.
Finally, and perhaps most impressively, it was Swanson’s second straight win at the 31st running of the Rich Vogler Classic Presented by The Pallet Builder, backing up a similar dominant run from the pole position in 2022 in which he also completely swept the night.
Swanson’s performance culminated with the Kingsburg, Calif. native’s fourth career Rich Vogler Classic victory following previous triumphs in 2016, 2019 and 2022, which ranks second only to the six achieved by Tracy Hines.
On a night when both rain and stray cats interrupted the proceedings at one point or another, Swanson was a steady force in his Doran-Binks Racing/Mission Foods – Glenn Farms/Beast/Lanci Ford, strutting back into the series point lead in his pursuit for an eighth career USAC Silver Crown National Championship.
After earning his record-extending 44th career USAC Silver Crown pole position earlier in the evening, Swanson went forth and set the pace that all others would be chasing for the rest of the evening as point leader Logan Seavey slotted into second from his outside front row starting position.
Initially, C.J. Leary was the man on the move, taking Aaron Pierce for fourth on lap four and gunning underneath Caleb Armstrong for the third spot on lap 12 entering turn three. Armstrong was making his first series start since his Rookie of the Year season in 2014. On lap 19, Leary continued the charge as he dove low past Seavey in turn four for second place.
Problems plagued Seavey just prior to the halfway point as he began to drop dramatically through the field. In fact, during a span of three laps between 41-44, he dropped from seventh to 17th in the running order. The diagnosis was that the brake pads were knocked off on his ride about 40 laps into the race, requiring a stop for a new set during an unexpected red flag for rain just after the midpoint.
A brief shower doused the speedway under green flag conditions on the 55th lap, necessitating a half-hour red flag period until the rain stopped and the track drying process commenced. Nonetheless, that didn’t hinder Swanson a bit when action resumed as he opened his lead to a half-straight over Leary with another half-straight gap back to third running Armstrong.
Santos ran fourth on the restart, but quickly jumped to third on lap 55 when Armstrong experienced a Maalox moment in turn two after his ride got completely sideways, nearly spinning, but was able to save it and regain control. As a result, however, Armstrong dropped two spots to fifth while Santos and Davey Hamilton Jr. stormed on by for third and fourth, respectively.
Just a mere eight laps later, Santos thundered to second, cruising underneath Leary entering the third turn to take over the position on lap 63. Yet, Santos remained a full second behind Swanson with 37 to go.
Fourth running Hamilton Jr. became the next to find himself crossed up sideways and narrowly avoid disaster in turn two on lap 71 as Bischak took advantage and drove past to take over the fourth spot and quickly closed right to the tail of third running Leary.
The most major incident of the race came on lap 79 when series point leader Seavey’s right front wheel center broke, sending him straight into the outside turn two wall with the right front of the car before sliding to a stop on the inside of the racing surface while his right front wheel rolled all the way around to turn four. Seavey climbed out and walked away, but his 12th place result was his first outside the top-five all season long.
Starting with lap 88, Santos reeled off his five fastest laps of the race in rapid-fire succession, helping him to close within three car lengths of Swanson for the race lead. With that said, on lap 92, Swanson answered with his third fastest lap of the race and, thusly, kept Santos at bay and began to suddenly inch away to put the race on ice during the ensuing laps.
The race for third remained hotly contested on lap 93 as Bischak finally was able to muster the move to third after 20-plus laps of constantly working on Leary to take over the position. Bischak, a former college cross country star at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, dove low at the exit of turn four with seven laps to go to move into the final “podium” position.
Further up ahead, Swanson couldn’t be corralled or contained as he earned his 39th career USAC Silver Crown victory by a 2.858 second margin over Santos with Bischak third, Leary fourth and Hamilton Jr. fifth.
Late in the race, Swanson felt he was staggering a bit to the finish line while Santos was surging, which kept Swanson on needles, pins and toes until the music stopped.
“On those long runs, maybe they let us go a little bit,” Swanson said of the field’s pace. “Bobby was so strong at the end, I think he kind of proved to me anyway that he was still capable, and I got lucky to fend him off there at the end. You never know if he’s going to reload and make another charge on the restart. He’s just that good of a racer. I felt like I was floundering a little bit on that last restart, and I was glad to be able to hang on. I felt like we had a really good car early, and I hated to think that I could mess it up under one of those cautions.”
Swanson Wins Second Consecutive Gene Nolen Classic
ANDERSON, Ind., July 10 — Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson spent a big portion of the CB Fabricating Gene Nolen Classic at Anderson Speedway Saturday night trying to find a way around Bobby Santos III. As it turned out he didn’t have to, as Santos dropped out of the race with seven laps remaining and Swanson went on to post his second consecutive victory in the event named in memory of one of his former car owners.
With his triumph in the Mission Foods/Glenn Farms No. 77 powered by a Binks Chevy V8 engine, Swanson took the lead in the point standings as he guns for his second consecutive championship in the 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores.
After Santos dropped out reportedly due to a mechanical issue that caused his car to run out of fuel, Swanson beat Kyle O’Gara by 0.502 seconds at the checkered flag after 100 laps around the quarter-mile, high-banked oval. Fastest qualifier Tyler Roahrig finished third followed by Dakoda Armstrong and Jackson Macenko in the field of 22 asphalt sprint cars.
Swanson was the second-fastest qualifier, just 0.023 off Roahrig’s time of 11.097 seconds. The inversion was a six, so Swanson started fifth and the front row was shared by polesitter Santos and Chris Neuenschwander. Neuenschwander led initially until Santos took the point on lap 18.
Swanson dove under Dakoda Armstrong for fourth on the first lap. He passed Neuenschwander for third on lap 30, and he moved into second behind Santos on lap 54 by passing Caleb Armstrong.
Santos had over a 1-second lead on lap 56, but Swanson was able to cut that in half by lap 61. Two caution flags with 66 and 67 laps down moved the No. 77 right on the tail tank of Santos’s No. 22, and Swanson kept the pressure intense until Santos pulled away to a 0.5-second advantage with 10 laps to go.
Shawn Bonar hit the wall in Turn 4 with 92 laps down to bring out the final caution flag. He climbed out unhurt, but fluids leaked out of his car which caused the officials to throw a red flag and stop the field on the backstretch until the track crews could clean up the accident scene.
Santos led on the restart but then slowed and pulled into the infield, and Swanson inherited the lead. O’Gara, who had been third since lap 61, tried his best to get around Swanson at the end, but the Mission Foods No. 77 took the checkered in first place.
"This place has been tough lately, and with the inverts it's been difficult to pass good race cars and make your way back toward the front,” Swanson said. “So tonight I was really pretty happy that we were able to make passes when the right opportunities presented themselves, and make our way from fifth to second. There toward the end, maybe we just weren't quite fast enough. Santos was really strong tonight, and I was going to try my best to keep up and hope to find a way around. I hated to see his race end like that, but I'm still thankful for the chance to be in contention at the finish and the opportunity to come away with a win.
“The Doran Binks team has been working really hard to advance our sprint car program, and it’s great to see their hard work has helped us continue to improve,” he added. “I also want to thank our sponsors, Mission Foods, Glenn Farms, and everyone who makes this possible for us.”
After one false start there were a total of eight caution flags in the 100-lapper.
Roahrig set the fastest lap of the race followed by O’Gara and Swanson.
The race was streamed live by MAVTV on Flo Racing.
The next 500 Sprint Car Tour race is July 22 at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. Prior to that the Doran Binks team will compete in a USAC Silver Crown race July 20 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway.
BRINGIN’ HOME THE CHEDDAR: SWANSON SWEEPS TO VICTORY AT MADISON
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Oregon, Wisconsin (June 23, 2023)………Throughout the first three events of the 2023 USAC Silver Crown National Championship season, Kody Swanson had dominated the stat book in terms of total laps led.
The Kingsburg, Calif. native led all three races for a total of 163 out of a possible 246 laps – more than two-thirds of all the laps that had been run thus far this season.
Despite that fact, he had zero wins to show for his efforts.
Throughout Friday night’s Bytec Dairyland 100 at Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway, the seven-time series champion put that odd little anomaly to bed with a dominant wire-to-wire performance, leading all 100 laps in his Doran-Binks Racing/Mission Foods – Glenn Farms/Beast/Lanci Ford.
The victory was Swanson’s first of the year in Silver Crown competition, and his record-extending 38th overall, as he captured his third career triumph with the series at Madison in four tries, having made the drive to winner’s circle in 2018-19-23.
In 2022, Swanson’s early season swoon left him winless throughout the first handful of rounds before finally finding his mojo in late June. In 2023, the timeline matches up once again with Swanson winning the first race held following the summer solstice.
For Swanson, this win came not a moment too soon.
“We’ve been trying all year,” Swanson related. “It just hasn’t quite fallen our way. We’ve been running well on the dirt too, but we just haven’t been strong enough to finish at the end. Logan (Seavey) was the class of the field last week at Port Royal. Bobby (Santos) was really good at IRP. Justin (Grant) and Brady (Bacon) were both great at Belleville. So, there’s a lot of top-caliber guys you’re trying to win against. That’s why each one of these races that you do win means a lot.”
Swanson’s perfect evening began by turning the fastest lap in Dirt Draft Practice, followed by his 43rd career Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifying time, which earned him the pole position where he proceeded to lead all 100 laps en route to victory.
As a matter of fact, Swanson is the second consecutive driver to achieve that exact same feat at Madison after C.J. Leary did just the same in 2022. However, on this particular night, Leary would not even have a chance to repeat his Dairyland 100 triumph, with his engine down two cylinders during practice and qualifying, which forced him and his Klatt Enterprises team to the sideline as a scratch for the main event.
With that said, the race went on, and from the word “go,” Swanson had a chokehold on the entirety of the 21-car starting field. Swanson stepped out in front of the line at the initial start ahead first-time Silver Crown front row starter Derek Bischak and began his 100-lap patrol of the field.
On lap seven, things went awry for eighth place running Taylor Ferns who came to a stop and turned around backwards in the middle of turn two. She’d rejoin the field at the tail, and ultimately, soldiered on to finish in the 13th position.
Thirteenth starting Bobby Santos shuffled the deck at the forefront of the field as he made a charge around the outside of Bischak on the back straightaway on lap 20. Tyler Roahrig followed suit as he too zipped past Bischak with an outside pass on the back straight to take over the third position a lap later on the 21st circuit.
Bischak, aiming to top his best career finish of fourth achieved in his most recent series start at IRP in May, came to an end on lap 33 when a shower of sparks emanated from the rear of his car, sending the fourth-place driver and car into a spin in turns three and four. The incident put a premature conclusion to the 2019 USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year’s night, stifling him to a 20th place result.
Swanson continued to hold serve up front as the race rifled through the middle stages, maintaining a near two second lead throughout, keeping Santos and Roahrig in check as they received a constant view of the No. 77 adorned tail tank of Swanson’s ride lap-after-lap around the half-mile paved oval.
However, the race once again was brought to a half on lap 61 for the 13th place car of Bryan Gossel who came to a stop sideways atop the banking in between turns one and two, ending the evening for the 2020 series Rookie of the Year.
When racing resumed, Mario Clouser made a forward surge, powering into the fourth position at the entrance of turn three underneath series point leader Logan Seavey on the 71st lap.
The yellow flag flew once more for the final time on lap 81 when 2020 series champion Justin Grant (7th) slowed with a flat right rear tire, while simultaneously, Billy Wease (10th) also stopped in turn one, ending his race with a 17th place result while Grant motored on to finish 16th, one lap down in the running order.
Kody Swanson's 1.1 second lead was erased due to the caution. However, the song remained the same for Swanson as the race resumed with the lap 86 restart, and remained the same for everyone who chased him on this night. Swanson was in total control throughout, and in the end, finished 2.392 seconds ahead of runner-up Bobby Santos while Tyler Roahrig collected a third with Mario Clouser fourth and Logan Seavey fifth.
Guided by the voice of spotter and wife Jordan Swanson in his ear, Swanson was seemingly at ease, but considering the aspect of how the first three events of the season shook out following superb performances, Swanson wasn’t going to allow himself to feel completely comfortable until he pulled into victory lane.
“My wife does a great job, and it makes a huge difference for me just having that peace of mind,” Swanson iterated. “But there’s no peace of mind to be had when you’ve got Bobby Santos and Tyler Roahrig coming, and you know whatever gap you have, most of the time, it’s by their choice. They always make me wonder if I’m going too hard, and maybe I was. I knew Bobby was there, especially with about 15 to go. Maybe he was preserving (his equipment) for a green-white-checkered there; he’s so good at that and he’s stolen them from others that way too. So, you never breathe a sigh of relief until the checkered flag falls.”
Bobby Santos brought home a second-place finish in his DJ Racing/Classic Corvettes – Brown & Miller Racing Solutions – Simpson/Beast/Speedway Chevy. In four career USAC Silver Crown starts at Madison, he's now finished as the runner-up three times. The Franklin, Mass. native has been a second-place finisher in 2018-22-23, and was fourth in the 2019 event, but feels his day is coming soon for a first Silver Crown victory in the state of Wisconsin.
“Silver Crown racing has really changed,” Santos revealed. “It’s a 100-lap sprint car race, honestly. We’re pushing as hard as we could. I’m getting sick of running second, but we’ve got to keep working to be better. This track is fun, but it’s a difficult racetrack. I’ve been second two years in a row here, but that’s the way it goes. We’ll get one.”
It certainly wasn’t a bad introduction to Madison International Speedway for first-time visitor Tyler Roahrig and his Legacy Autosport/Metalloid – Penske Shocks/Legacy/Stanton Chevy. The Plymouth, Ind. racer finished third in his first Dairyland 100 run. It’s a familiar spot for Roahrig who has finished 3rd, 3rd and 3rd in his past three pavement USAC Silver Crown starts. In fact, in four of his five career series starts, he came away with a podium result. Not too shabby for a first impression.
“Just getting your car to handle here is tough,” Roahrig acknowledged. “It’s got really tight corners and you’ve got to drag race down the straightaways. It’s not bad for my first time here, but we’ll take some notes and come back again.”
Swanson Sets the Fastest Time and Wins 500 Sprint Car Tour Race Sunday at Toledo Speedway
TOLEDO, Ohio, June 19 — Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson won the 40-lap feature sanctioned by the 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores Sunday at Toledo Speedway. The asphalt sprint car action was part of the Father’s Day Special Presented by Monroe Asphalt.
Although he was the fastest qualifier in the Mission Foods No. 77 also sponsored by Glenn Farms, Swanson had to start seventh in the 16-car field due to the inversion and Tyler Roahrig starting at the rear because his team changed a tire before the race.
Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, got straight to work. With Chevrolet power prepped by Dan Binks, the series’ defending champion passed Kyle O’Gara, Bobby Santos III and Taylor Ferns to rise from seventh to fourth by the end of the first lap of the half-mile asphalt oval.
He passed Jackson Macenko for third on lap two to trail only Dakoda Armstrong and Justin Harper when the first of three yellows waved. The caution was for Tommy Nichols, who stopped on the track due to a mechanical issue.
Swanson used the outside groove to pass Harper at the end of the frontstretch on lap three to move into second place, but then another yellow that extended to a red flag waved with three laps down when Nichols crashed into the Turn 1 wall. He emerged unhurt.
Swanson took the lead on the restart by passing Armstrong off Turn 2, and he led the rest of the way.
Santos passed Armstrong for second on lap seven, but Swanson already had over a 2-second lead. He stretched his advantage to over 3 seconds by lap 11. O’Gara passed Armstrong for third on lap 16, but four laps later the third and final yellow waved for Ferns, who stopped on the frontstretch while running in fifth place. Roahrig had been steadily marching through the field during the first half, and with Ferns’ departure he moved into fifth.
Roahrig passed Armstrong for fourth on lap 22 while Swanson worked on padding his lead over Santos. O’Gara dropped out of the top five on lap 27. With 10 laps to go Swanson had a 2.144-second lead over Santos, with Roahrig third, Armstrong fourth and Tony Main fifth. Roahrig passed Santos for second on lap 33, but Swanson was 2.976 seconds ahead. With no other cautions to close the gap, Swanson enjoyed a 1.839-second lead over Roahrig at the checkered. Santos finished third followed by Armstrong and Kaylee Bryson.
Swanson set the fastest lap of the race on lap seven with a time of 14.893 seconds. Santos ran the second-fastest lap of the race with a 15.156 on lap eight.
Swanson was the fastest qualifier with a 14.716, although the top six qualifiers were within 0.5 of a second of his time.
Swanson’s victory came during a grueling Father’s Day weekend. He placed fifth in the USAC Silver Crown race at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway Saturday night, but that race ended at 12:26 a.m. The team had to load up, make the six-hour drive to Toledo, get set up at Toledo, and be on the track for Sunday’s first practice session at 11:30 a.m.
The 500 Sprint Car Tour does not permit spotters, and Swanson said afterward that it sounded like his rivals were right behind him the whole time despite his big lead. “I was definitely nervous through lapped traffic there at the end,” he said. "They were all racing each other hard to the finish, and I knew we were giving up time, but I was trying to not get ourselves in a bad position for anything to go wrong.
“Toledo is a neat place to race,” he added. “When Tyler had to start from the rear, maybe that played in our favor today, because I knew that he and Bobby would run well; they always do. I’m just thankful for the opportunity, and the hard work that the Doran Binks crew put in to make it happen. I’m also thankful for our sponsors, which include Mission Foods and Glenn Farms.”
Celebrating in victory lane was definitely a nice way to spend Father’s Day. Swanson was joined there by his wife, Jordan; their sons, Trevor and Adam; and the rest of the Doran Binks Racing crew.
The series’ races are streamed live by MAVTV for Flo Racing.
The next 500 Sprint Car Tour race is the Gene Nolen Classic on Saturday, July 8 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway.
Swanson Finishes a Solid Fifth In USAC Silver Crown Race at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, Pa., June 19 — Top-five finishes are crucial when trying to defend a championship, and Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson recorded another one in pursuit of his unprecedented eighth USAC Silver Crown title when he finished fifth in the 50-lap USAC Silver Crown race Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.
His Mission Foods No. 77, a Maxim chassis powered by a Hampshire Chevy engine that is also sponsored by Glenn Farms, started second in the 26-car field on the half-mile clay oval, but Swanson beat polesitter Mitchel Moles into the first turn and led the first 21 laps. Brady Bacon passed Moles for second on lap two and tried to get around Swanson both on the low side and the high side to no avail. By lap 10 Swanson had a 1.567-second lead over Bacon, who was followed by Moles, Chase Dietz and Logan Seavey.
The fight for second was intense, which allowed Swanson to increase his lead to over 2 seconds by lap 13. Seavey got around Bacon for second three laps later, and he was able to cut Swanson’s lead to 0.796 of a second by lap 20 when the second of three cautions waved.
Swanson fought Seavey off on the restart but Seavey took the lead in Turn 3 on lap 22, relegating Swanson to second. On lap 24 Swanson, Bacon and Dietz were three abreast flying down the frontstretch as they battled for second. That battle allowed Seavey to build up a 3-second lead over Swanson by lap 31.
Swanson held second until lap 37, when Dietz got by. Bacon passed him on the following lap to relegate him to fourth.
The third and final yellow flew with 46 laps down for an incident involving Trey Burke and Mario Clouser. Carmen Perigo slipped under Swanson for fourth on the restart, but Swanson was able to finish fifth by holding off Justin Grant until the checkered.
Seavey, who also won this race last year, took the checkered over Dietz, who had a stellar series debut. Bacon was third followed by Perigo and Swanson.
"It's tough to lead laps and not come away with a win, but it is nice to be disappointed with a top-five finish for me at a place like Port Royal," Swanson said afterwards.
"I'm thankful for the hard work from everyone involved with our dirt Silver Crown effort. We had a good run in qualifying and have been strong at different parts of the night, but just need to find something to keep our Mission Foods/Glenn Farms No. 77 a little better at the end of the feature. All considered, I think they're good problems for us to have this early in the [dirt] season, and I am grateful for all of us working together to keep our dirt program improving."
Swanson set the fastest lap of the race on lap 3 with a time of 22.273 seconds. He qualified second with a 20.918 to Moles’ new track record of 20.899.
The next USAC Silver Crown race is the Bytec Dairyland 100 this coming Friday, June 23, at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wis.
All of the USAC Silver Crown races are streamed live by Flo Racing.
SWANSON COMES FROM THE REAR TO FINISH FOURTH AT BERLIN RACEWAY
SWANSON LEADS THE MOST LAPS BUT DNFS IN HOOSIER HUNDRED FRIDAY NIGHT AT IRP
SWANSON COMES FROM THE REAR TO FINISH FOURTH AT BERLIN RACEWAY
By: Restart Communications
MARNE, Mich., June 11 — Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson qualified third, started at the rear due to a tire change, and flew through the field to finish fourth Saturday night at Berlin Raceway in a 40-lap feature sanctioned by the 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores.
Driving the Mission Foods/Glenn Farms No. 77 asphalt sprint car, Swanson was always among the top drivers in practice and qualifying, setting the fastest time in the second practice session and qualifying third, just 0.390 off fastest qualifier Tyler Roahrig’s 15.493.
But Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, had to start at the rear of the 18-car field for the feature per the rules after the Doran Binks crew changed a tire prior to the start of the race. It was the right decision, as the handling of the car was immediately better after the switch.
His start was spectacular. Powered by a Binks Chevy engine, Swanson’s No. 77 was already in the top 10 by lap two. The defending series champ took ninth on lap four, eighth on lap eight, seventh on lap nine and sixth on lap 11 as the cars blazed around the nearly circular and very challenging 0.4375-mile asphalt oval, which has 13-degree turns and 9-degree straightaways.
He stayed in sixth place from lap 11 through lap 16, running between Dakoda Armstrong and Jake McElfresh. He moved into the top five on lap 17 when he got around Armstrong, and then he set his sights on the driver in fourth, Billy Wease.
STELLAR RUN ENDS IN PODIUM FINISH FOR SWANSON IN LITTLE 500
SWANSON LEADS THE MOST LAPS BUT DNFS IN HOOSIER HUNDRED FRIDAY NIGHT AT IRP
SWANSON COMES FROM THE REAR TO FINISH FOURTH AT BERLIN RACEWAY
ANDERSON, Ind., May 29 — Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson led more than half of the 75th running of the Lucas Oil Little 500 Presented by UAW Saturday night at Anderson Speedway, and he finished on the podium in third place in the team’s Mission Foods No. 77 in the most prestigious asphalt sprint car race in the world.
Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, was never lower than fourth place during the 500-lap contest on Anderson’s quarter-mile, high-banked oval, which is famous for starting 33 sprint cars three abreast and being long enough to require two mandatory pit stops in each half of the race.
Swanson started on the pole after being the fastest qualifier in first-round qualifying last Thursday. He immediately took command, and led the first 194 laps with the No. 77, which is powered by a Binks Chevrolet V8.
He made his first pit stop working lap 195 under a caution flag, but didn’t lose a lap and only dropped to fourth place.
He moved from fourth to third on lap 280 when his brother, Tanner, dropped out while leading with an apparent motor issue.
He was running in third place behind defending winner Tyler Roahrig and Caleb Armstrong when he made his second pit stop under caution on lap 359, which dropped him back to fourth from laps 360 through 379.
SWANSON LEADS THE MOST LAPS BUT DNFS IN HOOSIER HUNDRED FRIDAY NIGHT AT IRP
SWANSON LEADS THE MOST LAPS BUT DNFS IN HOOSIER HUNDRED FRIDAY NIGHT AT IRP
SWANSON LEADS THE MOST LAPS BUT DNFS IN HOOSIER HUNDRED FRIDAY NIGHT AT IRP
BROWNSBURG, Ind., May 26 — Kody Swanson’s quest for a fifth victory in the Hoosier Hundred will have to wait until 2024, but he led 115 laps of the 146-lap USAC Silver Crown race Friday night at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Doran Binks Racing’s Mission Foods No. 77.
After qualifying second, just 0.269 of a second off Bobby Santos III’s pole-winning effort, Swanson took the lead from Santos in Turn 2 on the initial lap and then led the first 115 laps of the race. At one point he had built up over a 3-second margin over Santos with the No. 77, which is also sponsored by Glenn Farms and is powered by a Lanci Ford V8.
However, working lap 116 the car rolled to a stop with mechanical difficulties, which later proved to be a broken cam drive that turns the fuel pump.
Swanson ended up 19th in the unofficial rundown for the race, which attracted the largest car count for a pavement USAC Silver Crown race in 18 years with 35 entries.
Swanson posted a two-lap qualifying time of 41.995 seconds on the 0.686-mile oval to Santos’s 41.726. Swanson set the fastest lap of anyone in the race when he took only 21.772 seconds to circle the track on lap 50.
He was able to march away from Santos not only at the start but also during four restarts, and he picked his way carefully through lapped traffic.
OPENING PRACTICE KICKS OFF LITTLE 500 WEEK - SWANSON ON TOP
REUNITED: KODY SWANSON & CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING USAC DIRT CAR TOGETHER AGAIN IN ‘23
SWANSON LEADS THE MOST LAPS BUT DNFS IN HOOSIER HUNDRED FRIDAY NIGHT AT IRP
By: Anderson Speedway
The 75th Annual Lucas Oil Little 500 presented by UAW kicked off Wednesday afternoon in front of an eager crowd. With 39 non-wing sprint cars taking the track and setting an official time, Anderson Speedway’s ¼ mile oval was kept busy for the full practice session. Fans saw familiar faces and new news atop today’s scoring chart on what turned out to be a fast day for the field.
Speed was the name of the game on Wednesday with Kody Swanson clocking in a lap time of 11.016, only 0.217 off the official track record set by Tyler Roahrig in last year’s pole day qualifying. Swanson was not the only driver to show consistent speed as Jake Trainor, Tyler Roahrig, Kyle O’Gara, and Emerson Axsom were all within two-tenths of Swanson’s fast time. Times were tight across the board as the top 34 drivers in today’s practice session all clocked in within 1 second of each other. Some may argue that with the consistent speeds shown in today’s practice session that this may be the tightest field in Little 500 history.
SWANSON FINISHES A SOLID SECOND AT BELLEVILLE
REUNITED: KODY SWANSON & CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING USAC DIRT CAR TOGETHER AGAIN IN ‘23
REUNITED: KODY SWANSON & CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING USAC DIRT CAR TOGETHER AGAIN IN ‘23
By: Restart Communications
BELLEVILLE, Kan., May 21 — Kody Swanson and Doran Binks Racing got the 2023 USAC Silver Crown season off to a great start Saturday at the Belleville High Banks by setting a new track record to win the pole, setting the fastest lap of the race, leading the most laps, and finishing second in the 50-lap main event with the No. 77 sponsored by Mission Foods and Glenn Farms.
It was an impressive performance on the unique, high-banked half-mile dirt track as Swanson began the pursuit of his eighth series title. He is the winningest driver in the history of USAC’s top series and the defending champion. After Saturday’s season opener he leads the point standings over Brady Bacon, 73 to 70.
The Lebanon, Ohio-based team brought a Maxim chassis that Swanson used to drive for DePalma Motorsports out of retirement, and the Indianapolis-based driver led the first 27 laps of the race with his old car, fitted with a Bob Hampshire Chevy engine. By lap 13 he had a whopping 4.018-second lead over the second-place runner at the time, Justin Grant.
REUNITED: KODY SWANSON & CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING USAC DIRT CAR TOGETHER AGAIN IN ‘23
REUNITED: KODY SWANSON & CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING USAC DIRT CAR TOGETHER AGAIN IN ‘23
REUNITED: KODY SWANSON & CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING USAC DIRT CAR TOGETHER AGAIN IN ‘23
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Belleville, Kansas (May 15, 2023)………Kody Swanson’s run with DePalma Motorsports between 2014-18 made them the most successful USAC Silver Crown pairing in the history of the sport.
In fact, Swanson and DePalma’s 21 wins and four championships together in a five-year span are second to none.
Five years ago, it seemed as if the days of the iconic white and red-lettered No. 63 were gone forever. The team had retired from the sport at the top of their game, and with that, USAC made an unprecedented decision in permanently retiring the No. 63 from use in Silver Crown competition.
While the number 63 itself won’t be returning anytime soon to the racetrack, as it turns out, a major part of the 63 team will play a starring role in the upcoming Silver Crown season for Swanson and the Doran-Binks Racing team he drives for.
Over the last two seasons in 2021-22, Swanson and Doran have teamed up to run solely on the pavement. This year, however, the team initiated plans to add a dirt car to the stable. But one major factor remained unresolved. They needed a dirt car.
That’s where the 63 comes in.
MISSION FOODS TO SPONSOR SWANSON
MISSION FOODS TO SPONSOR SWANSON
In Doran Binks Racing No. 77 in 2023
For USAC Silver Crown and 500 Sprint Car Tour Series
LEBANON, Ohio, March 29 — Mission Foods, the leading producer of tortillas in the United States and the manufacturer of a variety of authentic Mexican products, will be the primary sponsor of Kody Swanson this year in both the USAC Silver Crown and the 500 Sprint Car Tour series.
Swanson is the defending champion of both series.
Swanson’s cars will be fielded by Kevin Doran and Dan Binks working together as Doran Binks Racing, and they will be based at Doran Racing’s headquarters in Lebanon, Ohio. Glenn Farms will be the team’s associate sponsor. The race cars will all be No. 77.
Doran Racing fielded Swanson’s asphalt USAC Silver Crown car last year. This year Doran Binks Racing will field both the asphalt and dirt USAC Silver Crown cars for Swanson.
Doran Binks Racing plans to compete in all 14 USAC Silver Crown races in 2023. As a seven-time champion, Swanson’s 37 victories make him the winningest driver in the history of this series, the top class of USAC.
Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, won three races enroute to last year’s USAC Silver Crown title. In August he beat his own world speed record for a traditional USAC Silver Crown car with a speed of 146.699 miles per hour during qualifying at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill.
The 500 Sprint Car Tour consists of 10 races this year. It includes the most prestigious asphalt sprint car race in the world, the 75th annual Lucas Oil Little 500 presented by UAW on May 27 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway. Swanson is a three-time winner of the Little 500.
Last year Doran Racing and Swanson posted two victories, six podium finishes and won the inaugural 500 Sprint Car Tour championship using engines prepared by Binks.
"I'm excited about this year and the season ahead,” said Swanson. “This is a tremendous opportunity to work together with some great friends and talented racers, and do it all out of the same building. I'm thankful for the chance to partner with the Mission brand, and hope to represent an iconic company well while competing for wins and championships."
While Swanson is a legend in USAC, Doran and Binks are both legends in endurance sports car racing.
Doran has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway as a crew chief, a team member, a team manager, a car owner, and even as a car manufacturer. Prior to fielding cars under Doran Racing, he had many victories with the late Al Holbert, a five-time IMSA Camel GT champion; the MOMO Ferrari team, and Doran Lista Racing.
Binks, of Brighton, Mich., was the crew chief for Corvette Racing’s factory sports car team for nearly 20 years. Under his direction that team won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times and numerous IMSA championships.
Prior to becoming one of the most recognizable faces of Corvette Racing, Binks won IMSA GTU races with a Mazda RX-7 with various drivers; enjoyed great success in Trans Am, and even was a crew chief for Roush Fenway Racing in NASCAR.
The 500 Sprint Car Tour season opens Saturday, April 8 at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Ind.
The USAC Silver Crown series opens the following weekend with the 20th running of the Sumar Classic on Sunday, April 16 at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track.
About Mission Foods:
The Gruma Corporation began in 1949 and is today the leading tortilla manufacturer worldwide. Mission Foods is a proud subsidiary of Gruma, and as the #1 tortilla company in the United States, manufactures a wide variety of authentic Mexican products. Five years ago it opened a state-of-the-art plant in Dallas, Texas, with the capacity to produce 30 million tortillas daily. Today Mission Foods is a global company, with special emphasis not only on the United States but also Mexico, Central America, Europe, China, Malaysia, and Australia. Its products include flour and corn tortillas; tostadas; low-carb, whole wheat, organic and gluten-free items; wraps; flatbreads such as naan, pita and roti; tortilla chips and organic chips; chicharrones; salsa, and dips. For more information see missionfoods.com.
