GOING FOR THE ONE: SWANSON WILL SPORT #1
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (April 25, 2022)………It’s been 16 years since the defending driving champion sported the number 1 on his car for the following season’s USAC Silver Crown trail.
Sixteen years after Dave Steele last ran the numero uno, Kody Swanson will become the next to drive a Silver Crown car proudly adorned with the number 1, fitting for the humble record-setting driver as he looks to add on to his unprecedented accolades with the series that includes six previous championships and 34 feature wins.
The Kingsburg, Calif. native will drive the entire 2022 schedule for the same two teams he won for in 2021 – Doran Racing and Dyson Racing. However, this year will have a slightly different look on paper as the newly-christened Doran-Dyson Racing team have combined forces to chase after an entrant title while Swanson vies for a seventh driving crown. While each outfit will remain separate entities with separate shops to house Doran’s pavement car and Dyson’s dirt car, the shared team name and the shared number have presented an opportunity for all to compete for the same shared goal, to win a season championship.
“The chance to drive the number one came about as a way to merge Doran and Dyson to compete for an entrant championship,” Swanson explained. “We needed to figure out how to merge the team names and the number and what that might look like. We were weighing our options, and, out of the Doran shop, it was said, ‘why don’t we run the number one?’ That solved it without either team giving up their individual identities to one another. The idea gained momentum and got Kevin Doran and Chris Dyson in touch on it, and they thought that was the best idea yet.”
What’s uniquely interesting about the Doran and Dyson pairing is their shared backgrounds in road racing. In fact, a photo from the 1980s currently hangs in the Doran team shop and features Al Holbert at speed in IMSA Camel GT competition, driving the famed Lowenbrau Porsche 962 that Kevin Doran was the crew chief of. In the background of that photo, as fate would have it, was a Dyson Racing machine.
All these years later, the two are teamed up to turn left, something which they’ve done with a high rate of success as multi-time winners on the USAC Silver Crown circuit last year between Doran and Dyson, twice an American Le Mans Series champion driver himself.
“It’s cool that that was already there,” Swanson stated of the photo. “Kevin and Chris are pretty excited to get the chance to race together. They’ve had a good competitive rivalry and were always on good terms and got along. It’s really cool that these two teams made the trip from road racing to Silver Crown, and both have great programs.”
In yet another twist of fate, Doran’s association with Al Holbert involved both working with Alex Morales Motorsports in Indy Car racing, for whom Johnny Capels was the chief mechanic and team manager at the time. Capels’ Silver Crown champ car, driven by Pancho Carter, captured the 1978 USAC Silver Crown title, and the team promptly utilized the number 1 the following season. Doran restored that very same car just a few years ago, putting it back in its 1979 livery with the number 1 boldly displayed on the nose and tail tank.
In 2022, Swanson and Doran-Dyson Racing will attempt to become the first to win a Silver Crown race utilizing number 1 since Dave Steele in 2006 at Iowa Speedway. Furthermore, they’ll shoot their shot at taking down another long-standing absence of the 1 in the championship column. Number 1 has never once won the USAC Silver Crown entrant title in the series’ 52-year history.
With a driver and multiple teams that are highly-familiar with making history themselves, that is one piece of history they’d like to alter in the favor for the new year. That quest begins this Sunday, May 1, at the Terre Haute Action Track in western Indiana where Swanson captured a victory back in 2014.
Pits open at 1pm Eastern on Sunday at Terre Haute with the front gates opening at 2pm, the drivers meeting at 4pm and practice beginning at 5pm, followed by Fatheadz Qualifying, the last chance qualifying race and the 100-lap Sumar Classic feature event.
Tickets are $30 for the grandstands, $20 for the infield and $35 for the pits. Kids age 10 and under are free!
The 19th running of the Sumar Classic can be watched live and on-demand on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.
Doran Racing Announces Henry Repeating - Primary Sponsor of Swanson’s Non-Wing Asphalt Sprint
LEBANON, Ohio, Feb. 17 — Doran Racing is pleased to announce that Henry Repeating Arms will be the primary sponsor of the non-wing pavement sprint car it will field for Kody Swanson this year in the 10-race 500 Sprint Car Tour presented by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores.
This new series includes the 74th annual Lucas Oil Little 500 presented by UAW May 28 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, a race which Swanson has won three times.
In addition, Henry Repeating Arms will be the primary sponsor of the Doran Racing entry Swanson will drive in the Dave Steele Non-Wing World Sprint Car Championship 125 at Showtime Speedway in Clearwater, Fla., on Feb. 26. Swanson has won that race the last two years in Doran Racing asphalt sprint cars.
Glenn Farms of Woodland, Ga. will continue to support the Lebanon, Ohio-based team as an associate sponsor of its sprint car this season. Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who lives in the Indianapolis area, drives in both asphalt sprint car and asphalt USAC Silver Crown races for the team. He is the winningest driver in USAC Silver Crown history and has earned an unprecedented six USAC Silver Crown championships.
The Doran Racing sprint car will continue to use Dan Binks-prepped Chevrolet engines, but its number will change from 77 to 44 this season.
Henry Repeating Arms is one of the leading rifle and shotgun manufacturers in the United States and a world leader in the lever action category. The company motto is “Made in America, or not made at all,” and its firearms come with a lifetime guarantee backed by award-winning customer service.
"There's no doubt about it, Kody and his crew are winners, and we are proud to be on board with them this season," said Anthony Imperato, chief executive officer and founder of Henry Repeating Arms. "We are racing fanatics at heart and love the mix of guns and gears, so we will have the whole Henry Repeating Arms fan base cheering on Kody and the Doran Racing crew. Let's go racing!"
“We’re pleased to welcome Anthony and Henry Repeating Arms to the Doran Racing family,” said team owner Kevin Doran. “Sprint car tracks are primarily located in rural areas, and our fans’ demographics are a great fit for this company. Sprint car racing was born in America, just like Henry firearms.”
Additional companies that use Doran Racing in their marketing programs include TJ Forged, K&N, RMT, FK Rod Ends, All Star Performance, Eibach Springs, DMI, Tel Tac Oval Track Pro, Saldana Racing Products, Simpson and Fatheadz Eyewear.
The inaugural season of the 500 Sprint Car Tour consists of these dates:
* Saturday, March 26 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Clermont, Ind.
* Saturday, May 28 at Anderson Speedway, Anderson, Ind.
* Friday, June 10 at Plymouth Motor Speedway, Plymouth, Ind.
* Saturday, June 11 at Berlin Raceway, Marne, Mich.
* Thursday, June 30 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Clermont, Ind.
* Saturday, July 9 at Anderson Speedway, Anderson, Ind.
* Saturday, July 30 at Anderson Speedway, Anderson, Ind.
* Saturday, Aug. 13 at Berlin Raceway, Marne, Mich.
* Thursday, Oct. 6 at Anderson Speedway, Anderson, Ind.
* Saturday, Oct. 22 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Clermont, Ind.
The tour’s streaming partner is the MAVTV motorsports network. For more information on the series see 500sprints.com. For more information on Doran Racing see DoranRacing.com and follow the team on Facebook.
About Henry Repeating Arms:
Henry Repeating Arms is one of the leading rifle and shotgun manufacturers in the United States and a world leader in the lever action category. The company motto is “Made in America, or not made at all,” and its firearms come with a lifetime guarantee backed by award-winning customer service. The company is also known for its Guns For Great Causes charitable program, which focuses on assisting the families of sick children, children’s hospitals, military veteran organizations, Second Amendment advocacy groups, and wildlife conservation organizations. The company currently employs over 550 people and has over 330,000 square feet of manufacturing space in its Wisconsin and New Jersey facilities. The company is named in honor of Benjamin Tyler Henry, who invented and patented the Henry lever action rifle in 1860 – the first practical repeating rifle and America’s unique contribution to the international stage of firearms design. Visit Henry Repeating Arms online at henryusa.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/HenryRepeating, and @henry_rifles on Instagram.
About Doran Racing:
Doran Racing has prepared and fielded race cars in a wide variety of series for many years, from Indy cars to NASCAR trucks. It is legendary for the many championships and events it has won in IMSA sports car racing. Team owner Kevin Doran has won the prestigious Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona at Daytona International Speedway overall as a crew chief, a team owner, and even as a car manufacturer. Under his direction the Doran Racing-prepared MOMO Ferrari was the first team in U.S. history to win the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the Watkins Glen Six-Hour race in the same year. In recent years the team has focused on asphalt sprint car racing, the asphalt portion of the USAC Silver Crown series, and historic sports car events, continuing its tradition of excellence on and off the track. For more information see DoranRacing.com and follow the team on Facebook.
SPLIT FIRE: KODY SWANSON TO SPLIT USAC SILVER CROWN DUTIES WITH DORAN & DYSON IN 2022
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Indianapolis, Indiana (December 21, 2021)………Six-time and defending USAC Silver Crown champion Kody Swanson will compete for an unprecedented seventh title in 2022 with a dual team effort for Doran Racing’s No. 77 on pavement and Chris Dyson Racing’s No. 9 on dirt.
Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.) raced to a season-high four victories in 2021 in a triple-threat effort, winning three times for Doran on the pavement of Indiana’s Lucas Oil Raceway twice and the finale at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway, while also scoring on the dirt at the Illinois State Fairgrounds for Dyson. Additionally, Swanson notched a pair of top-fives for the Mark Swanson Encore Team in both races at Eldora.
The owner of 34 career Silver Crown victories and 36 poles, Swanson possesses the lead in practically all major statistical categories with the series. Last year’s championship was most unexpected for the Kingsburg, Calif. native as he began the season without a full-season ride outside of his pavement commitments with Doran.
By midseason of 2021, Swanson found himself in the lead of the point standings and, despite missing a race early in the year, he held strong as the point leader all the way to the dramatic end. Prior to Swanson in 2021, no driver had ever won the championship while competing for three different teams. This coming year appears to be less stressful in that department as the series’ all-time king enters 2022 with two excellent, full-time rides on both surfaces solidified.
“I’m excited for the 2022 USAC Silver Crown season,” Swanson exclaimed. “These are two great teams, and I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
Both the Ohio-based Doran Racing and the New York-based Dyson team – operated out of crew chief Sean Michael’s Pennsylvania shop – won for the first time in Silver Crown competition in 2021. Doran and Swanson teamed together to win the opener at Indiana’s Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, then won twice more at IRP again and at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway.
Dyson’s first victory came with driver Tyler Courtney at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in 2021, then captured victory once more with Swanson at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Eleven points paying events lie ahead for Swanson – six on pavement and five on dirt – on the 2022 USAC Silver Crown National Championship tour along with an additional special dash race.
The season kicks off on May 1 with the 19th running of the Sumar Classic at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. The first of three visits to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) are on tap May 27 for the Carb Night Classic.
Also on tap is the speedy half-mile Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. for the first time ever on June 18. Oregon, Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway brings the series to the Dairyland 100 for the third time on June 24. The first Silver Crown non-points special event since 1996 is headed to IRP for the USAC Silver Crown Shootout on June 30, which will feature a 10-car field fighting for the prize in a 25-lap sprint.
Winchester Speedway’s blazing fast, 37-degree banks in eastern Indiana is back on the docket for the second time ever with the Rich Vogler Classic on July 21.
The Glass City of Toledo, Ohio routinely proves to be a pivotal round for the series, and Toledo Speedway’s ninth appearance on the USAC Silver Crown schedule is set for August 6 with the Rollie Beale Classic. It’s back to the pavement of World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. on August 19, which, at 1.25 miles in length, is the largest track the series will compete on.
The two iconic Illinois mile dirt tracks in Springfield and Du Quoin are an annual staple of fair season during the late summer months. The 59th running of the Bettenhausen 100 is slated for August 20 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds while the 71st edition of the Ted Horn 100 is locked in for Labor Day Weekend, September 3.
Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway welcomes the 40th edition of the 4-Crown Nationals on September 23-24 for the dirt finale while the season concludes with a pavement stop on October 22 for the Open-Wheel Championship Saturday at IRP.
2022 USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE:
May 1: Terre Haute Action Track | Terre Haute, IN | Sumar Classic
May 27: Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, IN | Carb Night Classic
Jun 18: Port Royal Speedway | Port Royal, PA
Jun 24: Madison International Speedway | Oregon, WI | Dairyland 100
Jun 30: Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, IN | USAC Silver Crown Shootout | Non-Points Special Event Jul 21: Winchester Speedway | Winchester, IN | Rich Vogler Classic
Aug 6: Toledo Speedway | Toledo, OH | Rollie Beale Classic
Aug 19: World Wide Technology Raceway | Madison, IL
Aug 20: Illinois State Fairgrounds | Springfield, IL | Bettenhausen 100
Sep 3: Du Quoin State Fairgrounds | Du Quoin, IL | Ted Horn 100
Sep 23-24: Eldora Speedway | Rossburg, OH | 4-Crown Nationals
Oct 22: Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, IN | Open-Wheel Championship Saturday
Dynamic Duo: Swanson, Bertrand to Team Up for 2022 Brown’s Oil Champion Midget Series at Lucas Oil Raceway
Indianapolis, IN
This week, USAC’s all time Silver Crown winner and #2 on Lucas Oil Raceway’s all time win list – Kody Swanson, announced a partnership with Tim Bertrand & Bertrand Motorsports for the 2022 Brown’s Oil Champion Midget Series at Lucas Oil Raceway. The dynamic duo has a massive 186 open wheel wins, and a combined 22 championships across the midget, sprint car and silver crown ranks.
Swanson & Bertrand will team up for the 2022 season at the four Lucas Oil Raceway events in the Brown’s Champion Midget series. Bertrand, a 10 time Northeastern Midget Association Championship owner may be new to the non-wing midget ranks as a car owner, but no stranger to midgets. His accomplishments include ten championships, eight with driver Randy Cabral, 94 national NEMA midget wins, and 98 overall NEMA wins.
“We are very excited about the 2022 season. We’ve always tried to associate ourselves with the best in the business, starting off in midgets with the Cicconi family, Danny Drinan, Dan Esslinger/Esslinger Engineering, etc.” said Bertrand. “I’ve been watching Kody for years, and have been really impressed by his humble nature, family values, and of course – his tremendous talent. He is undoubtedly one of the best open wheel drivers in the world, in my opinion,” he said.
Swanson, the 2021 USAC Silver Crown champion, and all time Silver Crown winner, has a resume of 88 career open wheel wins, 12 USAC sanctioned midget wins, and three wins at the coveted Anderson Speedway “Little 500”. Known as a humble, family man – Swanson, his wife Jordan, and two boys – Trevor and Adam, are devout supporters of open wheel auto racing.
“I'm fortunate to have been surrounded by great people throughout my career in racing, and I'm very excited about the opportunity to work with Tim & the Bertrand Motorsports team. They have been incredibly successful throughout the Northeast & the NEMA series, and have established themselves as one of the top teams in the history of winged midget racing. Over the past few years, Tim has demonstrated his commitment to competing at Lucas Oil Raceway, and the dedication to develop his non-wing program into a championship caliber team as well. I'm thankful for the opportunity to come alongside them, and to join them in their dedication & effort. I’m looking forward to working together more as we prepare for 2022, and can’t wait to get on the track next spring,” said Swanson.
The duo will be sponsored by Bertrand’s company, project44. One of the highest growth companies in the United States, project44 is the world's leading advanced transportation visibility platform – providing real time visibility to global organizations across all transportation modes (ocean, trucking, air, rail and parcel). During the Suez Canal crisis, as an example, project44 provided visibility to over 250 of the Fortune 500 to track their ocean containers, stuck in the Canal. Project44 raised a $200 million round of funding on a $1.2 billion valuation, from Goldman Sachs in May of 2021. Project44 was also recently ranked #1 on the FreightTech Index, beating out Amazon, after ranking #2 for the previous 3 years.
THE KING IS CROWNED: SWANSON TAKES TOLEDO FINALE, USAC SILVER CROWN TITLE
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Toledo, Ohio (October 10, 2021)………Kody Swanson possesses the rare and unique talent to make the extraordinary seem commonplace, and for the high majority of Sunday afternoon’s USAC Silver Crown season finale at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway, he performed just as you’d come to expect from the series’ winningest driver.
The first 83.5 trips around the half-mile paved oval were relatively free of stress for Swanson, but a bit of turn three duress nearly derailed both his bid for the race win and another Silver Crown driving title.
With Swanson alone at the head of the field, the car of 13th running Annie Breidinger slid sideways against the turn three wall, right into the path of Tyler Roahrig, who T-boned Breidinger’s idle machine at the top of the banking. Next in line was Swanson who smashed the left front of his nose and wheel into the rear bumper of Roahrig, testing the maximum limits of metal’s unmalleable flexibility.
A major puncture wound to the nose and a bent axle became the battle scars Swanson carried for the final 13 circuits en route to victory, and despite all the lingering circumstances, Swanson remained untouchable and unmalleable in his own right.
His car seemingly bulletproof, his concentration impervious, Swanson masterfully thwarted a challenge from pavement master Bobby Santos during the final laps to record his fifth career Hemelgarn Racing Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic triumph and his unprecedented sixth career USAC Silver Crown championship.
“I’m so fortunate and so thankful for this entire Doran Racing team, all the effort they put in all year and for this race that I can screw something up and still have a chance for it at the end.
Kody Swanson Selected to Drive for GMS Racing's ARCA Program at Salem Speedway
Statesville, NC – GMS Racing is proud to welcome five-time USAC Silver Crown Series champion Kody Swanson to the No. 21 ARCA Chevrolet for a one-race deal at the series' next event at Salem Speedway this Saturday.
Swanson, an accomplished racer who has a total of 33 USAC Silver Crown wins in his career, has competed in various disciplines of asphalt open-wheel motorsports, including sprint cars and midgets. In 2020, Swanson also competed in two Road to Indy races, winning an Indy Pro 2000 race at Lucas Oil Raceway in his first start.
Always willing to jump in a different style of race car, Kody Swanson became noticed by many during the Camping World SRX Series race at Eldora Speedway in June, where he fought Tony Stewart for the win. Though he came short of the victory with a second place finish, his efforts caught the attention of GMS Racing President Mike Beam, who served as his celebrity crew chief during the event.
"I am really excited and grateful to have an opportunity to race with GMS Racing, and to continue pursuing different avenues with my career. This whole deal started with the opportunity to compete in the SRX Series earlier this year. I was invited to race at Eldora Speedway as the Local All-Star for the event, and that was where I met Mike Beam. We were paired together by the series, and he would be my crew chief for the race. I felt like we got along really well, and worked together with the same intensity, both willing to put in the extra effort and what it takes to win. We ended up just one spot short that night, but it started a conversation and relationship that has led to an opportunity like this," said the driver from Zionsville, IN.
While Swanson is relatively new to stock cars, he does have some solid experience behind the wheel, including one ARCA Menards Series start at Iowa Speedway, where he finished eighth in his debut last season for then team owner, Chad Bryant. After the ARCA race, Bryant, who currently serves as crew chief of the No. 21 GMS Racing ARCA team, fielded Swanson in four late model stock races at Hickory Motor Speedway, in which Swanson finished as high as second. Earlier this year, Swanson made his pro late model debut, winning the 2021 World Series of Asphalt and track championship at New Smyrna Speedway.
