7TH HEAVEN: KODY SWANSON IS USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP, DORAN-DYSON THE ENTRANT KINGS

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (October 24, 2022)………Throughout the first 51 years of the USAC Silver Crown series’ existence, the number 1 had never captured the championship.

But if there’s anybody who was up to the task to alter that half-a-century narrative, it was certainly Kody Swanson.

Swanson’s efforts led him to become just the third driver in USAC history to earn seven national championships within a single division.  A.J. Foyt grabbed seven USAC Championship Car titles between 1960-79. Mel Kenyon performed likewise, scoring seven crowns with the USAC National Midgets between 1964-1985.

Kody has made quick work of his seven USAC Silver Crown championships, which have all been earned in a nine-season span between 2014-2022.

In a unique partnership, Swanson wheeled entries for both Doran Racing and Chris Dyson Racing as completely separate entities throughout his quest to the 2021 series championship. In 2022, the two teams combined forces on paper to earn each team’s first ever entrant title.

The newly christened Doran-Dyson Racing partnership operated from separate shops to house Doran’s pavement car and Dyson’s dirt car for Swanson to drive. The shared team name and number presented an opportunity for all parties to compete under the same umbrella for the same united goal – to win a season championship.

What’s unparallelly interesting about the Doran and Dyson pairing is the two team’s 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 same photo, as fate would have it, was a Dyson Racing machine.

All these years later, the two teamed up for left turns only, and became champions of the oval track variety.

“I’m really fortunate to have the opportunities that I’ve had,” Swanson acknowledged. “I’ve driven for a lot of great race teams and I’m thankful for each one. This year, to have driven for Doran and Dyson in a combination effort, what a special year to do it and have it come down right to the end. We gave it all we had and it’s really special to win the championship any way you can. Winning a USAC title really means a lot and to have it be a seventh is really special.”

While finishes of 7th at Terre Haute, 2nd at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, 8th at Port Royal and 4th at Madison and a third-place position in points may not seem that unsettling to most observers, consider this. The four-race drought was the longest winless stretch Swanson has endured to start a Silver Crown season since 2013, nearly a full decade ago.

Oddly enough, it was a non-points, special event that kickstarted Swanson’s summertime turnaround which put the Kingsburg, Calif. native in the driver’s seat of the championship run following the first non-championship Silver Crown event of its kind since 1996.

Swanson led the 25-lap, 10-car shootout wire-to-wire in June at IRP. It’s a roll he matriculated into Winchester Speedway where he avenged the previous year’s half-car-length defeat with a triumph in which he was 10 seconds ahead of the field at the finish line, putting all but second place finisher Logan Seavey a lap down.

Since 1976, there had been one individual who stood head and shoulders above all others in terms of USAC national feature victories at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway. That was Rollie Beale. In August, Swanson topped the 1973 USAC National Sprint Car champion’s long-standing win record in the race named after the legend he passed. Swanson once again led all 100 laps in succession for his sixth career Toledo victory.

Onto mid-August, it was relatively the same story at Illinois’ World Wide Technology Raceway. Earlier in the day, Swanson became the first to reach 40 career USAC Silver Crown pole positions during a qualifying run which set a new world speed record for a traditional USAC Silver Crown with a time of 30.675 seconds, which translates to 146.699 mph, eclipsing the former speed record for a traditional Silver Crown car set by himself at Iowa Speedway with a 146.212 mph in 2012.

The term “traditional” is used in this matter due to the utilization of a “New Generation” “Super Speedway” car that was used in competition solely during the years of 2006-07. Aaron Pierce turned a qualifying lap of 175.012 mph during the brief era in USAC history at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006.

At WWTR, Swanson saw the lead slip away early, but made his way back to the front to lead the final 48 laps of the 80-lap affair at the 1.25-mile paved oval located in the shadow of the St. Louis arch.

Now 63 points ahead, the championship seemed well within hand for Swanson as the series moved into a stretch of dirt races. However, that part of the equation suited second place points runner Seavey quite well down the stretch.

Seavey made up ground with a victory in an attrition-filled race at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, which saw just seven of the 30 starters still running at the checkered of the 100-lap distance. In doing so, Seavey became the third driver to win both a stock car and champ car race at the Du Quoin Mile along with Jimmy Bryan and A.J. Foyt.

Swanson still maintained full control of the point standings by late September after a somewhat sluggish beginning, but one bit of misfortune can spell near doom and gloom, and that’s what eventually came to be.

“We struggled at the beginning of the year; it was just kind of the way it went,” Swanson recalled. “We didn’t have the dirt race finishes that we wanted, and it was the same with the pavement. We struggled at Madison, but we got hot there in that stretch of summer to resurrect it, but I hate that I made an error at Eldora and almost gave it all away.”

The 4-Crown Nationals at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in September proved to be exhilarating for Seavey and crushing for Swanson. While Seavey was punishing the field en route to his third consecutive dirt Silver Crown victory of the season, Swanson experienced the complete other end of the spectrum in the first turn on the first lap.

That’s when fifth-starting Swanson and fellow third row starter Carmen Perigo collided, sending Swanson backwards into the outside retaining wall where he was then clipped by the right rear tire of the oncoming Matt Westfall, resulting in a bent axle for Swanson which knocked him out of the race and into a 27th place result, the worst finishing position of his entire USAC Silver Crown career.

The melee accrued disastrous consequences for Swanson as his commanding 57-point lead entering the race dwindled to zero by the end of the night and emerged knotted up alongside Seavey atop the standings with two races remaining.

Seavey and Swanson stayed pretty much in lock step following October’s run at the Illinois State Fairgrounds dirt mile. There, Seavey took third and Swanson fourth, giving Seavey a three-point edge entering the finale right in Swanson’s wheelhouse a week later on the pavement at IRP.

Swanson performed as expected, winning the pole to grab three bonus points which drew him even with Seavey going into the final 100 laps of the year. Swanson took off with the lead while Seavey stayed in the hunt, running a solid third on lap 12 when the proverbial carpet was pulled from beneath him. The culprit for Seavey was a broken oil pump belt, ending his shot at a title run.

Meanwhile, when Swanson crossed the line in front on lap 51, he clinched three more bonus points for leading the most laps which elevated him ahead of Seavey once and for all. With Seavey on the sidelines, Swanson finished 4th once more and ultimately took the title by a 41-point margin. He also became the 14th driver overall, and the first since 2016, to overtake the point leader for the championship in the final race.

Seven driver tallied victories during the 2022 Silver Crown season with Seavey and Swanson both putting one on the board on three occasions. All three for Seavey came on dirt and all three came on pavement for Swanson.

Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) won the season opener in May at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track via a pass of Jerry Coons Jr. with four laps remaining and extended his consecutive start streak with the series to 71, which ranks as the fourth most all-time behind Brian Tyler’s 97, Kody Swanson’s 88 and Dave Darland’s 79.

Bobby Santos (Franklin, Mass.) earned his first USAC Silver Crown score in more than four years after regaining the lead back from Kody Swanson late in the going during a late-May go at IRP.

So-called “dirt guy” C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) displayed his pavement prowess with a dominant performance in June at Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway, his first win on pavement since he was behind the wheel of TQ Midgets and karts during the early stages of his racing career.

Shane Cockrum (Benton, Ill.) became the 26th driver to win a AAA/USAC Champ Car race at both Illinois dirt miles in his career. He found redemption in October at the Illinois State Fairgrounds with popular victory after previously winning at Du Quoin in 2014-15.

Tanner Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.) made it an all-Swanson evening in October’s finale at IRP, passing brother Kody for the lead with 35 laps to go on his way to his first series win in two years while his older sibling celebrated a series championship.

Swanson led or was tied in nearly every single statistical category. His 322 laps led were the most as were his top-tens (10) and pole positions (5). He and Seavey each pegged eight top-fives throughout the run.

Gregg Cory (Shelbyville, Ind.) made his first foray into USAC Silver Crown racing a successful one in 2022 after previously finding success in TQ Midgets and Sprint Cars, bagging a Paragon (Ind.) Speedway track championship in 2006. He made starts in 10 of the 11 main events and finished a best of 10th at IRP in May.

Third place was the best finish by a series Rookie in 2022 with two drivers reaching the mark. Mario Clouser (Auburn, Ill.) snared a third in August at World Wide Technology Raceway while Tyler Roahrig (Plymouth, Ind.) rode the high line to pick up third in the last show of the year at IRP.

Casey Buckman (Chandler, Ariz.) recorded his best career USAC Silver Crown finish at the Du Quoin 100-miler where he also made the biggest move of the season. Buckman, the track and facility manager at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park by day, charged from his 23rd starting position to finish 5th.

Six drivers made feature starts in all 11 events during the 2022 campaign: Grant, Leary, Seavey, Swanson, Brian Tyler (Parma, Mich.) and Travis Welpott (Pendleton, Ind.).

Women made a huge impact on the USAC Silver Crown scene with historical performances from two different drivers. Taylor Ferns (Shelby Township, Mich.) became the first woman to finish on the podium of a USAC Silver Crown event at IRP in May, then repeated her feat with another third place result in July at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway.

Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.) captivated the audience with a rim-riding effort on seven cylinders at the Illinois State Fairgrounds while becoming the first woman to lead a single lap in the history of the Silver Crown series. In fact, she led 72 out of the 100 laps before finishing in the 5th spot.

The series was saddened to learn of the death of Terre Babb (Decatur, Ill.), who passed away from a heart attack while leading a winged sprint car feature in a non-USAC sanctioned event at Missouri’s Saint Francois County Raceway in July at the age of 55. Babb had competed with the USAC Silver Crown series since 1989, and in May of 2022, made his 31st and final USAC Silver Crown start at Terre Haute, finishing 9th. His career best finish with the series came at the same track in 2010 where he earned a 4th.

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Madison, Illinois (August 19, 2022)………Entering Friday night, a rare blank had yet to be filled on Kody Swanson’s USAC Silver Crown resume that seemed almost as remarkable for its absence as does his record number of series wins and championships.  Almost.

In three past series starts at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., the Kingsburg, Calif. native had never won at the 1.25-mile paved oval.  Not only that, he’d also never even led a single lap at the joint.

His fourth start, however, found a much more satisfying result for the six-time series titlist and, in the process, he broke a long-standing USAC Silver Crown record at the OutFront 100 in his Doran-Dyson Racing/Glenn Farms – Henry U.S.A. – Duncan Oil/Beast/Lanci Ford.

Swanson’s newest milestone came by virtue of him winning a USAC Silver Crown main event at a 14th different racetrack, surpassing the 13 distinct venues that 2002-03 series champ J.J. Yeley had won at in his USAC Triple Crown career.

The 37th USAC Silver Crown win for Swanson was his third consecutive after going winless throughout the first four races of the 2022 season as he increased his point lead to a season-high 63 markers when trouble befell his two closest title contenders in Logan Seavey and C.J. Leary.

After capturing his 40th career pole position earlier in the afternoon, Swanson led the opening lap under green, and the following seven, which were all under yellow following a turn one tangle between series Rookies Gregg Cory (17th) and Tom Paterson (18th), which sent Cory careening into the outside turn one wall.  Paterson’s car limped away from the scene, putting a premature end to both drivers’ races just two laps in.

On the ensuing lap nine restart, 2013-14 WWT Raceway winner Bobby Santos dove under Swanson to take command of the lead in turn three.  Santos' hold up front was short lived as Justin Grant powered under Santos at the exit of turn two to take the reins all for himself on lap 10.

Davey Hamilton Jr. was the man of the moment shortly thereafter as the seventh-starting driver charged from 10th to first in a span of seven laps, shooting to the bottom by Grant for the lead on lap 18 all while sliding his left side wheels over the rumble strips getting into turn one.

Meanwhile, Swanson went full-Tom Petty, free fallin’ through the field back to the sixth position by lap 12 and remained mired on the outside of the top-five looking in with a quarter of the 100-mile, 80-lap distance complete.

On the 21st lap, second-running C.J. Leary entered turn three and suddenly veered right into the outside wall, an incident triggered by a flat right front tire.  Leary glanced off the SAFER barrier but continued rolling to pit lane where his crew went to work.  After a few ins and outs through pit lane, which forced him to go multiple laps down, Leary soldiered on to the finish line nine laps behind the leader in the 10th position in the final running order.

At that point in time, Swanson needed some redirection as he prepared to restart in the fifth position coming to the lap 25 restart.

“On that restart, I was fifth and might have been a little pouty and maybe I played some things wrong,” Swanson recalled.  “I got in trouble and got a little further back than I wanted, but there were a bunch of drivers doing such a good job by drafting each other better than I was, so I got shuffled back.  It took a good restart to get myself going.”

That certainly got the ball rolling for Swanson as he marched to fourth, to third and then to second with an outside pass of Grant in turn two on lap 29, then tracked down Hamilton, slipping under on the front straightaway, then clearing him with gusto at the entry to turn one on lap 33.

“I got by Justin and Davey, and I knew they were running awful hard, and it looked like they could do it all night, so I figured I was going to need to press hard and try to get the lead as soon as I could,” Swanson explained.  “Luckily, I got a big draft on Davey to make the pass and we had great speed out front.”

For the final 25 laps, Hamilton pushed Swanson to the brink.  After 10th running Travis Welpott came to a rest against the outside wall in turn one on lap 49, Hamilton used the lap 57 restart to motor his way into the lead briefly on the bottom of turn one.  However, Swanson went undaunted and powered back around Hamilton at the exit of turn two to preserve his lead.

Santos, who had stopped during the preceding yellow flag with a tire issue, brought out the next yellow on the 59th lap when he stopped on the pit road exit in turn one, setting up another restart in which Hamilton used to edge into the lead by a full car length underneath Swanson in turn one on lap 61.  Once again, Swanson hammered down to drive back by Hamilton around the outside to retain the lead off the second turn.

As Swanson stretched his lead to two seconds, the yellow flag was displayed for third-running Taylor Ferns who came to a halt on the front straightaway on lap 74, setting up one final chase with three laps to go as the field bunched up for the lap 78 resumption.

“Some of those restarts were awfully tough,” Swanson admitted.  “(Davey) would get such a great draft, and he was really timing it right.”

Hamilton gave it one more timely attempt, and momentarily nosed ahead of Swanson in turns one and two, but couldn’t quite carry enough momentum off the bottom to dispose of Swanson.  Instead, Swanson firmly and calmly drove back around on the high side and meticulously distanced himself from any challengers.

Swanson completed his task with success, 1.158 seconds in front at the finish line ahead of Davey Hamilton Jr., Mario Clouser, Justin Grant and Nathan Byrd.  For Hamilton, Grant and Byrd, the finishes were the best results of their USAC Silver Crown careers.

Earlier in the day, Swanson became the first to reach 40 career USAC Silver Crown pole positions.  As it turned out, his fastest lap was downright historic.  Swanson set a new world speed record for a traditional USAC Silver Crown car during the Fatheadz Eyewear Qualifying session with a time of 30.675 seconds, which translates to 146.699 mph, eclipsing the former speed record for a traditional Silver Crown car set by himself at Iowa Speedway with a 146.212 mph in 2012.

The term “traditional” is used in this matter due to the utilization of a “New Generation” “Super Speedway” car that was used in competition solely during the years of 2006-07.  Aaron Pierce turned a qualifying lap of 175.012 mph during the brief era in USAC history at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006.

Swanson’s time trial run was monumental in a multitude of manners.  It broke Chris Windom’s nine-year-old series track record at WWT of 31.082 seconds and 144.778 mph, set back in 2013.

By: Restart Communications

BROWNSBURG, Ind., Aug. 3 — Doran Racing’s Kody Swanson qualified third and finished third in the 33rd annual Joe James-Pat O’Connor Memorial at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Monday night, but he had to come from eighth to achieve the podium finish after the top 10 qualifiers were inverted for the start of the 30-lapper.

Swanson had to work hard to move up in the extremely competitive field, but it provided good entertainment for the crowd, which enjoyed free general admission courtesy of Bald Spot Sports to the 500 Sprint Car Tour event presented by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores.

He experimented with various lines around the 0.686-mile asphalt oval with the No. 44, which is sponsored by Henry Repeating Arms, Glenn Farms and Duncan Oil and uses a Binks-prepped Chevy engine.

With the great finish Swanson now only trails the point leader, Dakoda Armstrong, by two points. He has 1,149 points to Armstrong’s 1,151 with only three races remaining in the series’ inaugural season.

Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now resides in Indianapolis, dove to the inside in Turn 1 on the first lap to pass C.J. Leary and Kyle O’Gara and immediately rise from eighth to sixth. He passed Bobby Santos III for fifth on the second lap. He overtook Kenny Schrader on lap four to move into fourth.

Swanson remained in fourth place for eight laps, running just inches between Russ Gamester, who was third, and Schrader and then Tyler Roahrig, who passed Schrader on lap six to grab fifth place. Swanson passed Gamester for third on lap 12 as the top drivers jockeyed for position.

At the halfway point on lap 15 he was 1.262 seconds behind the second-place driver, Billy Wease, and 0.081 seconds ahead of the fourth-place driver, Roahrig.  Swanson fought hard to hold off Roahrig for many laps. Lap 21 was a pivotal lap. Wease passed Armstrong for the lead on the backstretch. On the same lap Roahrig passed both Swanson and Armstrong to move from fourth to second, putting Armstrong in third and Swanson in fourth. Seconds later, with 22 laps down, the first and only yellow flew for Davey Hamilton Jr., who had stopped in Turn 2.

Swanson took full advantage of the restart, and dipped under Armstrong in Turn 1 for third on lap 23. Roahrig pressured Wease for the lead incessantly from that point on, while Swanson remained in third, about a second behind.

Roahrig passed Wease for the lead and the victory coming down for the checkered on the last lap, and won by only 0.160 of a second. Swanson was 1.115 behind Wease at the checkered and more than 2 seconds ahead of Santos, who finished fourth. Armstrong rounded out the top five followed by NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson.

Swanson set the third-fastest lap of the race on lap 4 with a time of 21.014 seconds. He qualified third with a lap in 20.608.

“We gave it everything we had, but eventually we just lost the handle on it,” Swanson said. “Tonight we were just third best.

“But we’ve had a great season so far, and I’m grateful for the support of our sponsors — Henry Repeating Arms, Glenn Farms and Duncan Oil. I’m also thankful for the hard work that everyone on this Doran Racing team puts in. I thank the fans for coming out on a Monday night too.”

The race was streamed live by Flo Racing.

The team is back in action this Saturday night, Aug. 6, in a USAC Silver Crown race at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway, where it is the defending winner. Another 500 Sprint Car Tour race follows Saturday, Aug. 13 at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. Also on the schedule for August is a USAC Silver Crown race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis on Aug. 19. All of them will be streamed live on Flo Racing.

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Winchester, Indiana (July 21, 2022)………After experiencing defeat during last year’s USAC Silver Crown debut at Indiana’s Winchester Speedway by a narrow half car length margin, was there any doubt that Kody Swanson would come ready to play in Thursday night’s return?

Couple that with the fact that the Kingsburg, Calif. driver had gone winless with the series throughout the first four points races of this season, the longest such drought he’s endured to start a campaign since 2013.

During Thursday night’s Rich Vogler Classic Presented By The Pallet Builder, those ingredients made for a recipe that called for a whooping of epic proportions on the 37-degree banked, half-mile paved oval.

The six-time series champ led all 100 circuits and lapped all but one driver in the 21-car field en route to a mind-blowing 10.062 second margin of victory in his Doran-Dyson Racing/Glenn Farms – Henry U.S.A. – Duncan Oil/Beast/Lanci Ford, which resulted in his 35th career USAC Silver Crown victory, and the first of his career at Winchester, one that he was bound and determined to find redemption for after how last year transpired.

“I left Tuesday morning for the race shop and still haven’t been home,” Swanson revealed.  “We had a job to do and wanted to put this car in victory lane for this team, and I didn’t do any of it alone.”

To accomplish the deal, he had to defy the initial instincts that he held a year ago.  This time around, it was a complete 100-mile sprint from start to finish that not a single other car or driver in the field could match on this night.

“I had a car good enough last year, I just did it wrong,” Swanson lamented.  “I hate to admit that, but I did.  My team deserved to win and, today, maybe a couple things went our way, and we had a whole different mindset.  Last year, I was conservative because I was nervous about what would happen if I ran out of tire at the end.  This time, I wanted to make sure we all ran out and see how it went because this car was so good.”

The triumph was Swanson’s third in the Rich Vogler Classic, each coming an even three years apart from each other following previous victorious celebrations in 2016 and 2019 and now 2022.

The win carried extra special weight with Swanson greeting Rich’s mother Eleanor in victory lane on a night 32 years to the day that the world lost Vogler, USAC’s winningest driver.  Vogler was a 10-time USAC winner on the banks, while another USAC legend, Tracy Hines, captured eight.  It was these inspirations for Swanson that firmly established his deep-seated acknowledgement of the history of the sport, those who came before him and the revere that they all have for Winchester’s hills.

“I appreciate the history of the sport,” Swanson stated.  “Someone who helped me learn how to race on the banks was Tracy Hines.  Five or six years ago before (a race at) Salem (Speedway), I gave him a call and he helped me out and taught me a lot which still holds true to this day.  Even last fall, I got to sit down with Mack McClellan, Tom Bigelow and Johnny Parsons and they told stories about this place.  There’s a lot of it that I took to heart that made sense; those guys did it, and it was super tough.  There was maybe a trick or two I learned from them.  I am thankful for that, for everybody who’s in my life and the chance to do this.”

Earlier in the evening, Swanson was the fastest overall in Dirt Draft practice, then proceeded to notch the pole position for the 38th time in his USAC Silver Crown career during Fatheadz Eyewear Qualifying, which, in turn, gave him the prime position in order to dart out to the initial lead with Chris Windom running second about three car lengths behind.  That was about as close as anybody got to Swanson for the remainder of the night.

Two prime contenders fell by the wayside relatively early, with fourth-running Bobby Santos having his shock tower break off after just 35 laps into it.  Defending race winner Justin Grant, running fifth at the time, blistered a right rear tire, which cost him five laps during the pit stop.

By the halfway mark, Swanson was leaving no doubt who was in charge as he had already lapped up to fifth with 50 laps still left to go, and no signs of relenting.

The race’s one and only stoppage came on lap 55 when Ferns got loose on the high side of turn two and looped it down to the bottom of the racetrack.  As it turned out, it was not as much of a heartbreak as it seemed at first glance.  After her spin, she was forced to start at the tail of the field.  She was running fourth at the time, but there were only four cars on the lead lap.  By rule, a driver doesn’t lose a lap following a spin unless he or she retreats to the work area, which she did not.  Thus, she restarted at the back of the pack without losing a spot and remained scored fourth in the running order.

Logan Seavey jumped to second on the lap 63 restart as he fenagled his way past Windom.  Ferns subsequently charged to third by Windom amid gridlock-style traffic.  While running fourth with 78 laps completed, Windom was surpassed by Swanson and put a lap down.  Moments later, with a blistered right rear tire, Windom slowed and made the journey back to the pits.

And the beat went on as Swanson put Ferns a lap down on the 95th circuit with a turn one bottom-side pass, leaving only the half-lap leading Swanson and second-running Seavey on the same lap, while all others were at least one lap down. 

In the end, it was complete annihilation and decimation of the field led by Swanson in a performance for the ages as he finished off the job by a 10.062 second margin over Logan Seavey, Taylor Ferns, C.J. Leary and Brian Tyler.

Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) turned in his best career Silver Crown performance on pavement with a runner-up finish in his Rice Motorsports/STIDA.com – Lucas Oil – Legacy Motorsports/Beast/Felker Chevy.  Seavey’s best career pavement finish with the series prior to Thursday night came in May at Indianapolis Raceway Park with a 5th.  And, on this night, he was the only driver other than Kody Swanson to finish on the lead lap.

“Second in a pavement race is like five wins for me,” Seavey exclaimed.  “(Crew chief) Ronnie (Gardner) gave me a great car all day.  I just felt so comfortable today and I don’t know what was different about it, but I just felt so good about the racecar.  I felt calm and I could see everything that was going on around me.  I finally felt like I could feel the racecar and maneuver and I got through lapped traffic really well.  Kody was on a different level all day, obviously.  I got to second there and I could see him for a few laps, but then I backed it down because I knew I wasn’t going to run him down in open traffic, so I kind of slowed down hoping for a late yellow.  Obviously, that didn’t happen.  But I’m physically and mentally drained after that one.”

Taylor Ferns (Shelby Township, Mich.) tied her own record as the best finishing woman in USAC Silver Crown history with a third-place result in her Taylor Ferns Racing/Sam Bernstein Law Firm – Tyme Auto Transportation/Beast/Stanton Mopar.  This all came after a practice crash in which she and Dave Berkheimer collided on the front straightaway before glancing backwards into the turn one wall, followed by a mid-race spin during the feature.

“Today, for me, was just about overcoming adversity,” Ferns admitted.  “After the incident in practice, we were driving the car with a bent Panhard bar and using scraps from people in the pits.  I felt like we had something for Logan, but I was pushing the car really hard, and it bit me.  I passed (Justin) Grant to make it three-wide going into turn one and, luckily, with my dirt experience, I saved it, but it bit me not too long after.  I’m honestly surprised we came home third after that spin.  I know that win is coming soon, but I wanted that second today.  Maybe next time.”

C.J. Leary’s fourth-place run came after starting back in the 19th spot before advancing 15 positions in the main event.  On his qualifying run, the Panhard bar broke at the exit of turn two on the Greenfield, Ind. driver’s second lap.  After narrowly avoiding outside wall contact, Leary slid to the inside of the track and ramped up onto the infield grass mound before driving away back to the pit area.  The flat spot of his right front tire, however, necessitated a right front tire change, which relegated him to the 10th row for the start.

OREGON, Wis., June 27 — Doran-Dyson Racing got the next-best thing to a podium finish in Friday’s USAC Silver Crown race at Madison International Speedway when its driver, Kody Swanson, brought the Henry Repeating Arms/Glenn Farms No. 1 home fourth in a very competitive race.     

Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., now living in Indianapolis, started third and ran in third place for 91 of the 100 laps. During that time he was forced to fend off the challenges of the series’ 2020 champion, Justin Grant.     

Swanson, the winningest driver in series history, was able to keep Grant about a second behind him, but that margin would decrease as the pair approached lapped traffic. Still, Swanson was able to keep his car, which is powered by a Lanci Ford engine, in front of Grant as they all chased the eventual winner, polesitter C.J. Leary, and the runner-up, Bobby Santos III, who started second.     

As is often the case, the situation changed near the end of the 100-lap contest on Madison’s half-mile asphalt oval. In the end it was not Grant who passed Swanson by Brian Tyler.     

Tyler, a two-time USAC national sprint car champion, started ninth. He passed Davey Hamilton Jr. for fifth on lap 76, and Grant for fourth on lap 79. He got around Swanson for third on lap 92 in Turn 1 to relegate the Lebanon, Ohio-based team to fourth place at the checkered. Grant held on for fifth. Only the top four cars finished on the lead lap.     

There were only two yellows. The first flew on laps 20-23 for debris. The second was displayed from laps 96-98 for Eric Gordon, who stopped in Turns 4 with a broken shock. That set up a green-white-checkered finish.     

Swanson was third in Fatheadz Eyewear qualifying with a time of 17.203 seconds, just 0.088 off Leary’s pole-winning 17.115. Swanson still hold the series’ one-lap track record of 16.852 seconds he set in 2019, and the 100-lap record of 36:49.04 he set in 2018.     

Swanson, a six-time series champion with 34 career victories, won both of the previous two Bytec Dairyland 100 USAC Silver Crown races held here in 2019 and 2018.     

He is now third in the 2022 point standings, just 12 points behind Leary, who leads with 244.     

The event was streamed live on Flo Racing.     

“I’m thankful for the hard work everyone put in,” Swanson said. “Obviously we hoped for a better result for the night. It’s a cool track, but it can be tricky. I knew it would be a tough race. We held on for third as long as we could, but fourth was all we could get that night.”     

The team’s next event is a USAC Silver Crown non-points special event and a 500 Sprint Car Tour points race this Thursday, June 30 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind. Billed as “Thursday Night Thunder Homecoming,” it will also feature midgets for a packed program. For more info see raceirp.com.     

“I’m looking forward to Thursday’s races at IRP,” Swanson said. “It’ll be a sprint and midget doubleheader, plus the Silver Crown division will see the top-10 qualifiers run a 25-lap non-points race that is set up by a random pill draw for the starting lineup. The best way I can describe it is it’s kind of like a World of Outlaws dash. It should be an exciting night for the fans. They’re doing a lot to promote it, and I’m excited to be there with all three cars and a unique Silver Crown format. It’s a unique challenge. It's a good opportunity to get back to work, and hopefully we’ll have a good night.”   

MARNE, Mich., June 12 — After winning a 500 Sprint Car Tour race at Plymouth Raceway on Friday night, Kody Swanson and the Doran Racing team finished third less than 24 hours later in the new series’ 40-lap feature at Berlin Raceway Saturday night.     

The race was unusual in that it went nonstop.     

Swanson qualified third with a time of 15.774 seconds for the 7/16-mile asphalt oval, just 0.147 off the time set by the fastest qualifier and eventual race winner, Tyler Roahrig. The inversion was six, so he started fourth behind Bobby Santos III, Dakoda Armstrong and Taylor Ferns, with Billy Wease and Roahrig right behind him.     

Roahrig passed Swanson on lap four to push Swanson’s Henry Repeating Arms No. 44 to fifth place, but Swanson set his fastest lap of the race on lap six. By lap 16 he was back in the position where he had started as both he and Wease passed Santos on that lap.     

Swanson’s No. 44, which is powered by a Binks Chevy engine, remained in fourth place until lap 26, when Swanson passed Ferns to move into third. He chased Roahrig and Armstrong the rest of the way.     

Roahrig had a 2.936-second margin of victory over Armstrong. Swanson, Wease and Ferns rounded out the top five in the 17-car field.     

“We had a good car tonight, but just missed it a little bit, so we’ll take a podium finish,” Swanson said.     

“I felt like we were pretty good early, but I struggled to be able to get a run good enough to battle for position. As we got to the middle of the race the car was working a little better, and we moved from fifth to third, but ultimately couldn’t keep up with the top two tonight.     

“Berlin can be a tough place to get a hold of, and while we were close today, we just never could quite figure out what we needed to make it all the way right. The Doran Racing crew did a great job today, and we had a really good opening weekend with the 500 Sprint Car Tour.     

“I’m thankful for all of our sponsors and supporters, and everyone who puts in effort on this Henry Repeating Arms No. 44. We’ll do our best to learn from tonight’s race, and we look forward to giving it another shot at Berlin on August 13!”     Saturday’s race was covered live on MAVTV Plus.     

The team’s next race is a USAC Silver Crown event at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wis., on June 24. A Silver Crown special event and a 500 Sprint Car Tour race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind., follows on June 30.   

June 2, 2022 - Indianapolis, IN - The Week of Indy is one of my favorites. Multiple cars and different tracks, over a few consecutive days, makes it a fun challenge to look forward to each year.  

Thursday was Pole Day qualifying at Anderson Speedway for the 74th Annual Lucas Oil Little 500.  We didn’t get the Pole, but still qualified the Doran Racing Henry Repeating Arms No. 44 on the outside front row, and put us in a great starting position for the race on Saturday.  

The Carb Night Classic on Friday was the debut of the Bertrand Motorsports project44 No. 44 Midget. This group has put in an incredible amount of effort into progressing this new program over the off season. We qualified third, and seemed to have a good car in the race, but unfortunately our feature ended short with a rear-end & brake issue. We'll be hitting the books some more, and looking forward to another chance at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on June 30th. 

Friday night also included the first pavement race of the 2022 USAC Racing Silver Crown season, and the debut of the No. 1 for Doran Racing, Glenn Farms & Henry Repeating Arms. After a rain-delay shortened the night’s program, practice times lined us up third to start the 100-lap feature.  It was a long race, and we never gave up. As we got closer to the end, I was able to keep up with Bobby (Santos) a little better and even make an attempt for the lead, but he prevailed and we ended up a close second. We had a good car, a good night, and just came up a little bit short. 

Saturday night, we closed out our week back at Anderson. The Little 500 is a fun one each year, with so many different strategies and opportunities at play. We were pacing the race fairly comfortably & carefully in second for the first 200 laps.  At that point, I was working underneath Shane Butler, and we touched tires off of Turn 4. It picked my RF up into the air, and I spun on to the front stretch, and I wasn’t too sure of how all of that had happened at the time. After the race, He (Shane) came down and said his car had a mechanical issue and lost power to start it all; something with his car’s ignition he thought. It was an unfortunate part of our race, but in racing things happen. It was nice of Shane to come down and see us afterward, and I appreciate racing with him.  

After the contact, we were 5 laps down to the leaders and deep in the running order.  When you’re all those laps down, it’s all risk and no reward, so we were careful to get what we could and finish the race.  By the end of it, we had made a lap back to the leaders and climbed up to a 7th place finish. Although it wasn’t the final result we wanted, I am thankful for all of the effort by everyone on the Doran Racing team, and the support of Henry Repeating Arms, Glenn Farms, the McManus Agency, and all of our sponsors. -Kody Swanson

BROWNSBURG, Ind., May 28 —  Doran-Dyson Racing’s Kody Swanson has now finished first or second in the USAC Silver Crown portion of the Carb Night Classic in five of seven years. Friday night it was an extremely close second for Swanson in the Henry Repeating Arms/Glenn Farms No. 1. After starting third, he took second on lap one, fought his way into the lead for one lap on lap 72, and finished just 0.094 of a second behind Bobby Santos III after 100 laps of competition on Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park’s 0.686-mile asphalt oval.  

The finish was extremely close, as Swanson never gave up and made one last valiant effort to pass Santos with a move to the outside in Turn 4 on the last lap. He drew abreast of the middle of Santos’s car for an instant, but had to fall back in line as they came down to take the checkered flag.  

The field was set by practice times after time trials were rained out for the series’ first asphalt-track race of the year. Swanson, of Indianapolis, started third behind polesitter Santos and NASCAR star Ryan Newman in the Doran Racing-prepared No. 1, which is based in Lebanon, Ohio and is powered by a Lanci-prepped Ford engine.  

Swanson charged under Newman in Turn 1 on the first lap to take second. Santos was able to build a half-second lead initially, as Newman did everything he could think of to regain second from Swanson. 

The first of five yellows waved on lap six after Dave Berkheimer hit the wall in Turn 1. Santos’s car seemed to be strongest on the backstretch, and he was able to build his lead after that first yellow until Swanson had cut the advantage to just 0.687 of a second by lap 20. Newman was still a close third, just 0.283 behind Swanson, before the second yellow flew on lap 28 after Austin Nemire hit the Turn 1 wall and rolled to a stop in Turn 2. 

The war at the front resumed on the lap 33 restart. Three laps later the front pair set their fastest laps of the race up to that point on lap 36, which Santos ran in 21.452 seconds and Swanson did in 21.514 seconds. But they and the rest of the field had to slow down again on lap 40 when the third yellow waved for Kyle Robbins, who spun and hit the outside wall in Turn 1, crumpling the left side of his ride. 

Right after that restart Russ Gamester and Nathan Byrd made contact while running 11th and 12th, respectively. Gamester spun from the start/finish line into Turn 1 but kept going, bringing out the fourth yellow. A few seconds later they both went to the pits.  

The race restarted on lap 49, and at the halfway point the running order was still Santos, Swanson and Newman. However, on lap 55 Newman slowed on the backstretch and pitted after a piece of someone’s brake rotor cracked his car’s radiator. Newman’s misfortune advanced C.J. Leary into third place.  

Santos had a 1.225-second lead on lap 60, but 10 laps later Swanson had cut that down to 0.271, or about a car length. Two laps later Swanson passed Santos in Turns 3 and 4 to lead lap 72, but Santos was able to regain the lead in Turn 1. Swanson remained close, and with 25 laps to go he was still just 0.279 behind. 

Lapped cars could have played a role at this point, but the top pair threaded their way through them with Swanson still right behind the leader. Swanson showed Santos the nose of his car a couple times in the late going, but Santos always prevailed. One change that did occur came on lap 81 when Taylor Ferns passed Leary for third.  

Justin Grant brought out the final yellow on lap 94 after he suffered a flat right-rear tire and spun in Turn 3. The green waved the final time on lap 98 and Swanson kept looking for a way by, but Santos prevailed. 

Ferns finished third, 0.576 of a second behind Swanson, for the best finish by a woman in series history. Leary finished fourth and Logan Seavey placed fifth. 

Santos set the fastest lap of the race on lap 52 with a time of 21.323 seconds. Swanson set the second-fastest lap of the race on lap 51 with a lap in 21.511 seconds. Newman set the third-fastest lap of the race on lap 16 with a 21.525. “I never gave up; I thought we had a shot there at the end, but Bobby prevailed tonight,” Swanson said after the race, which ended around midnight. “We had a good car, and I thank everyone on the Doran Racing team for their hard work and to Glenn Farms and Henry Repeating Arms for their support.” 

Swanson leads the updated point standings by three points over Seavey, 122 to 119. 

The Doran Racing team rolled its Silver Crown car into the trailer in one piece and will now concentrate on its asphalt sprint car. Swanson will start third in it in Saturday’s Lucas Oil Little 500 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway.

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.