2014 USAC SILVER CROWN SEASON
Kody Swanson had been a mainstay with the USAC Silver Crown series for a good five years entering the 2014 season. In that time span, the Kingsburg, Calif. driver had lost a year to injury and then lost his full-time ride, putting him at a crossroads in his career.
He found a ride for the pavement side of the schedule in 2013 with DePalma Motorsports, the car literally being stored in a barn where it had sat unraced by the team for multiple seasons. On the dirt side, Swanson found rides with team owners Ricky Nix and Eddie Sachs Jr. to piece together a full season campaign.
Enter 2014. Swanson’s impressive 2013 season on pavement for the DePalmas presented him with the opportunity to chase a championship for the team in the seat of the No. 63 on the dirt as well.
The pairing was a match made in heaven with Swanson ripping to shreds his label as a “pavement guy,” closing out the 2014 season with five victories (all on dirt) in 10 starts to beat Tracy Hines by 27 points for the title.
Swanson’s title is his first in USAC National competition after previously winning the 2005 USAC Western Sprint Car crown and, in 2009, was named USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year.
It was also the Lima, Ohio-based DePalma family’s first Silver Crown owner championship since 30 years earlier, in 1984, with driver Dave Blaney.
Swanson took advantage of his first dirt start with the team in the by dominating April’s season opening Sumar Classic at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track.
The Swanson roll continued onto the next race when younger brother, Tanner Swanson, also of Kingsburg, Calif., stunned the Lucas Oil Raceway attendees with a spectacular performance, nearly lapping the entire field in leading all 100 laps of May’s USAC Hall of Fame Classic, although he had to stave off a late-race charge by Kody who finished second.
After three USAC Silver Crown Series events in 2014, the scoreboard read “Swanson Family: 3, Everybody Else: 0” as Kody scored his second victory of the season with a pass for the lead on lap 78 to win the Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Bobby Santos of Franklin, Mass. broke the Swanson stranglehold by winning June’s Gateway 100 at Gateway Motorsports Park. Santos led by a wide margin most of the race but wound up eking out a half-car length advantage over pole winner Tracy Hines at the checkered flag after his car began coughing on the restart with eight laps remaining.
Shullsburg, Wisconsin’s David Byrne etched his name in the books as the 100th different winner in USAC Silver Crown history with July’s J.D. Byrider 100 / Rich Vogler Classic at Lucas Oil Raceway, and he did it in spectacular fashion by making a dive to the inside of race-long leader Tanner Swanson in the final set of corners and came out on top by .184-seconds at the line, his only lap led during the race.
Kody continued his dirt dominance as he took his third win of the season on the first night of August in the Hustle on the High Banks at the Belleville (Kans.) High Banks. He had to rally from as deep as seventh to steal the win late in the race with six laps to go, running strong to the end as other frontrunners experienced problems.
Shane Cockrum of nearby Benton, Illinois closed out the month of August by becoming the first southern Illinois driver to win the Ted Horn 100 as he came out on top of a wild one at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. It was the first USAC win ever for Cockrum, coming in front of an enthusiastic crowd following race leader Chris Windom’s turn one flip with 11 laps remaining.
Kody led wire-to-wire to win September’s rain-postponed Tony Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. He won the pole and never trailed, finishing a half-lap ahead of runner-up Tracy Hines.
Jerry Coons Jr. outlasted all challengers to close the Eldora Speedway 4-Crown Nationals with a win under the sunshine at the half-mile dirt oval after apparent race-winner Caleb Armstrong was docked a lap, and relegated to an 11th place finish, after changing a tire earlier in the race that was not flat.
Kody finished off a magical 2014 Silver Crown Series championship for he and DePalma Motorsports in October’s Salt City 78 season finale at the New York State Fairgrounds mile, the second driver in the past three seasons (Bobby East 2012) to close out a championship Silver Crown season with a feature win in the final race.
Caleb Armstrong of New Castle, Ind. captured Rookie of the Year honors with the series.
---------------------------------------------------
SWANSON STOMPS SUMAR CLASSIC FIELD AT TERRE HAUTE
Terre Haute, Indiana………After racing in pavement races last year for DePalma Motorsports, Kody Swanson took advantage of his first dirt start with the team in the Silver Crown Series presented by TRAXXAS by winning Sunday’s “Sumar Classic” at the Terre Haute Action Track. The Kingsburg, California driver took the lead on lap 38 and was untouchable over a long green-flag run to win in the Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire.
“To be able to run with these guys all year, I don’t know if I can describe how excited I am to run for the championship with this team. I thought, ‘Man, wouldn’t we really surprise some people if we went to Terre Haute, a place that I shouldn’t be any good at, and pull off a win?’ We’ve put together a dirt sprint car and went to Florida and last night at Lawrenceburg, just trying to get me better, so to reward that the first race out is special. This group works so hard and has so much passion for Silver Crown racing, so I’m really proud to win here for them,” Swanson said.
Swanson led from the outset after qualifying second, but a flurry of early cautions posed restart after restart for him to hold of challenges. Chris Windom vaulted to second, as Bobby East also moved forward to shuffle polesitter Tracy Hines back to fourth. That foursome came to a pivotal restart on lap 35, when Swanson continued to lead on the high side.
Windom hit the bottom to take the lead after the green came out, taking the lead as they completed lap 36. Hines was surging back to the front, as he bolted by Windom to claim the point on lap 37. By then, Swanson had regained his momentum on the top to take the lead as the field completed the 38th lap.
Hines was back to Swanson’s inside, about to take the lead as they finished lap forty, but a caution came out, giving Swanson the lead back. On the restart, he jumped to the bottom and pulled away from the field.
Swanson lapped up to fourth while distancing his lead, facing no challenges as the race went green the remainder of the 100-lap distance. For Swanson, it was his fourth career series win.
“I knew the top was getting awful thin, even early on, as I was leading. I thought I’d have to come down at some point, but it was great to race with those guys and battle my way back to the lead. I think changing with the racetrack and being able to move around when you need to, is so important to win on dirt and I’m still learning that. To put together a whole race at Terre Haute and win is exciting for all of us,” Swanson said.
Hines finished second in the Lightfoot Racing #16 Beast/Chevy, and Jerry Coons Jr. moved up to finish third in his first race aboard the Fred Gormly – RPM Auto Enterprise #98 DRC/Mopar.
Bobby East began his quest for a third-straight Silver Crown title by finishing fourth in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing – Chevrolet Performance #10 Maxim/Chevy, while Zach Daum rounded out the top-five in the Daum Crop Insurance – Weld Wheels #5 Beast/Stanton Chevy.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: April 6, 2014 – Terre Haute, IN – Terre Haute Action Track – “Sumar Classic”
QUALIFYING: 1. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-21.112; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-21.159; 3. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-21.422; 4. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-21.455; 5. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-21.467; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-21.534; 7. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-21.869; 8. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-22.045; 9. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-22.063; 10. Zach Daum, 5, Daum-22.144; 11. Christopher Bell, 21, Six-R-22.221; 12. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-22.245; 13. Joe Liguori, 99, RPM/Gormly-22.511; 14. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-22.520; 15. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-22.850; 16. Dakota Jackson, 33, Jackson-22.865; 17. John Hunt, 91, Hunt-23.082; 18. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-23.088; 19. Jarett Andretti, 14, McQuinn-23.231; 20. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-23.335; 21. Jake Simmons, 31, Simmons-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (2), 2. Tracy Hines (1), 3. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 4. Bobby East (3), 5. Zach Daum (10), 6. Shane Cockrum (4), 7. Dave Darland (9), 8. A.J. Fike (12), 9. John Hunt (17), 10. Joe Liguori (13), 11. Jacob Wilson (14), 12. Patrick Lawson (20), 13. Chris Windom (5), 14. Aaron Pierce (7), 15. Caleb Armstrong (8), 16. Christopher Bell (11), 17. Davey Ray (15), 18. Dakota Jackson (16), 19. Taylor Ferns (18), 20. Jake Simmons (21), 21. Jarett Andretti (19). NT
**Jake Simmons flipped during practice. Dakota Jackson flipped on lap 3 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-35 Kody Swanson, Lap 36 Chris Windom, Lap 37 Tracy Hines, Laps 38-100 Kody Swanson.
NEW SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-63, 2-Tracy Hines-60, 3-Jerry Coons Jr.-54, 4-Bobby East-51, 5-Zach Daum-48, 6-Shane Cockrum-45, 7-Dave Darland-42, 8-A.J. Fike-39, 9-John Hunt-36, 10-Joe Liguori-33.
---------------------------------------------------
VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCE NETS TANNER SWANSON HALL OF FAME VICTORY AT LOR
Brownsburg, Indiana………Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. stunned the Lucas Oil Raceway attendees Saturday night with one of the most spectacular USAC Silver Crown performances of all time, leading all 100 laps of the USAC “Hall of Fame Classic” in his Bowman Racing Banjo Corporation Beast/Chevy.
In the closing laps his bid to complete lapping every car in the field was thwarted by a yellow flag, as his brother Kody Swanson, who started dead last after failing to post a qualifying time, held off Tanner to save the night and on the lap 99 restart he actually made an attempt to overhaul Tanner, but to no avail. The win was Tanner’s second straight win at LOR, leading the final 86 laps of last July’s 100-lapper there. It also marked the second time that brothers had finished 1-2 in a USAC Silver Crown race.
The two Swansons turned the trick in 2010 at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. David Byrne, who ran second much of the race, took third at the checkered flag, with Tracy Hines fourth and Bobby Santos fifth. Kody’s finish enabled him to retain the series point lead by nine over Hines going into next Thursday night’s “Hoosier Hundred” at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. Saturday’s race was slowed by only two cautions, the first when Caleb Armstrong lost a wheel in turn three on lap 15 and the last when Jarett Andretti’s car stalled on the front stretch on lap 95.
Saturday’s festivities included the annual USAC “Hall of Fame” inductions, which saluted Rollie Beale, George Bignotti, Don Branson, Larry Dickson, Gus Hoffman, Jud Larson, Norm Nelson, Eddie Sachs, Don Smith, Bob Stroud, Rodger Ward and Bob Wente.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Presented by TRAXXAS) RACE RESULTS: May 17, 2014 – Brownsburg, Indiana – Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis – USAC Hall of Fame Classic
QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Swanson, 11, Bowman-20.822; 2. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-20.934; 3. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-21.155; 4. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-21.211; 5. Bobby Santos, 98, RPM/Gormly-21.284; 6. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-21.306; 7. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-21.363; 8. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-21.409; 9. Kyle O’Gara, 27, RW-21.493; 10. Jarett Andretti, 4, Andretti-21.523; 11. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-21.690; 12. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-21.764; 13. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-22.003; 14. Cale Thomas, 92, Thomas-22.252; 15. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-24.259; 16. John Hunt, 81, Williams-28.494; 18. Christopher Bell, 21, Six-R-NT; 18. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-NT;19. Dave Darland, 15, Logan-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Swanson (1), 2. Kody Swanson (18), 3. David Byrne (3), 4. Tracy Hines (2), 5. Bobby Santos (5), 6. Chris Windom (8), 7. Kyle O’Gara (9), 8. Jacob Wilson (4), 9. Bobby East (12), 10. A.J. Fike (11), 11. Taylor Ferns (6), 12. Cale Thomas (14), 13. Christopher Bell (17), 14. Jarett Andretti (10), 15. John Hunt (16), 16. Caleb Armstrong (7), 17. Shane Cockrum (13), 18. Davey Ray (15), 19. Dave Darland (19). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Tanner Swanson
NEW SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-120, 2-Tracy Hines-111, 3-Bobby East-87, 4-Chris Windom-72, 5-A.J. Fike-72, 6-Jacob Wilson-70, 7-Tanner Swanson-66, 8-Shane Cockrum-64, 9-John Hunt-59, 10-Jerry Coons Jr.-54.
---------------------------------------------------
SWANSONS ARE UNSTOPPABLE; KODY WINS HOOSIER HUNDRED
Indianapolis, Indiana………After three USAC Silver Crown Series events this season, the scoreboard reads “Swanson Family: 3, Everybody Else: 0.”
Point leader Kody Swanson scored his second victory of the season on Thursday night as he came on to take the lead on lap 78 and win the “Hoosier Hundred” at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
“I’m not even sure if I know what to think about all this. This is something special. You come out here and just try to do your job and perform for your team without ever really thinking about this moment. This whole team is quite a story. My deal with them started with a pavement car out in a barn where they could have left it sitting forever. It’s just an amazing group of people from the DePalma family to (crew chief) Bob Hampshire to Clark and everybody else who comes and helps us,” said an elated Swanson on the famous front stretch.
Bobby East led from outside the front row, although the original start ended when Jon Stanbrough got turned around in turn-one and Dakota Jackson ended up as the unlucky recipient of a meeting with the turn-one concrete. His race was over, but Stanbrough restarted.
East led and opened up a comfortable margin as Swanson quickly made his way from eighth into fourth within the first ten laps. Shortly after, Caleb Armstrong got into the turn-four wall just after Swanson had passed him for third. His night was done.
The race hit a longer green run as East led Hines, Swanson, Shane Cockrum, and Chris Windom. A red flag stopped the action on lap 30, however, as John Hunt turned over in turn-three. He walked away.
Two-time race winner Jerry Coons Jr. joined the top-five as they broke away from the field during a 34-lap green run that saw East open up a commanding lead. Swanson moved in on Hines for second using a lapped car, but he made contact which forced a caution on lap 63.
The race restarted with 34 laps to go, and Coons made a big move into turn-one to take a top-five spot. Then, Swanson jumped to the higher groove and went to work on Hines, taking the second spot on lap 73. With clear track between him and East, the gap was shrinking rapidly, and Swanson went to the outside of East entering turn-one on lap 78 to take the lead.
From there, Swanson was untouchable, winning by 4.148 seconds aboard the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire.
“I felt like I messed up qualifying and told my guys I owed them some spots early. It was important to get those spots early. I was good for a while and stayed with Tracy, and then I’d have trouble keeping up. I knew if I was going to get anything done, I’d have to get creative. Luckily, they pinched down more, and I was using the outside, especially in turntwo,” Swanson said, further explaining his assault on the lead, “After working so hard to get Tracy. The closer we got to Bobby, the more he protected the bottom, and that probably helped a little. I got a good run to catch up to him, and I kind of thought I’d try the top and use my momentum to go after him quickly. I got a run to the outside and it stuck.”
East easily held on for second in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports – Chevy Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler, while Hines rounded out the podium in the Lightfoot Racing – Hughs Brothers#16 Beast/Chevy. Coons ended his strong run by climbing from 14th to fourth in the Fred Gormly – RPM Auto Enterprise #98 DRC/Mopar, and Windom rounded out the top-five in the RW/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports – Driven Racing Oil #17 Beast/Wallace Toyota.
USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: May 22, 2014 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana State Fairgrounds – Hoosier Hundred
QUALIFYING: 1. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-36.266; 2. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-36.759; 3. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-37.028; 4. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-37.048; 5. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-37.112; 6. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-37.181; 7. Jon Stanbrough, 56, Foxco-37.233; 8. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-37.316; 9. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-37.471; 10. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-37.689; 11. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-37.693; 12. Zach Daum, 5, Daum-37.705; 13. Christopher Bell, 21, Six-R-37.817; 14. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-37.909; 15. Jarett Andretti, 14, McQuinn-38.070; 16. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-38.092; 17. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-38.114; 18. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-38.352; 19. Dakota Jackson, 33, Jackson-38.582; 20. John Hunt, 91, Hunt-38.721; 21. Andrew Felker, 30, King-38.757; 22. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-38.863; 23. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-39.141; 24. Joe Liguori, 99, RPM/Gormly-39.338; 25. Jake Simmons, 31, Simmons-40.238; 26. Taylor Ferns, 35, Ferns-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (8), 2. Bobby East (2), 3. Tracy Hines (1), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (14), 5. Chris Windom (6), 6. Zach Daum (12), 7. Aaron Pierce (16), 8. Chris Urish (10), 9. A.J. Fike (9), 10. Christopher Bell (13), 11. Joe Liguori (24), 12. Shane Cockrum (3), 13. Davey Ray (18), 14. Jon Stanbrough (7), 15. Dave Darland (22), 16. Jarett Andretti (15), 17. Randy Bateman (23), 18. Jacob Wilson (5), 19. Patrick Lawson (17), 20. Jake Simmons (25), 21. Russ Gamester (11), 22. John Hunt (20), 23. Caleb Armstrong (4), 24. Andrew Felker (21), 25. Dakota Jackson (19). NT
**John Hunt flipped on lap 30 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-77 Bobby East, Laps 78-100 Kody Swanson.
NEW SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-180, 2-Tracy Hines-168, 3-Bobby East-147, 4-Chris Windom-120, 5-A.J. Fike-108, 6-Jerry Coons Jr.-105, 7-Zach Daum-93, 8-Shane Cockrum-93, 9-Jacob Wilson-87, 10-Christopher Bell-81.
---------------------------------------------------
SANTOS BY A HALF-CAR LENGTH IN GATEWAY 100
Madison, Illinois………Bobby Santos of Franklin, Mass. won Saturday’s Gateway 100 USAC Silver Crown Championship race at Gateway Motorsports Park, but the margin of victory in the RPM Auto Enterprise Beast/Mopar wasn’t what he hoped it would be. Leading by a wide margin most of the race, he eked out a half-car length advantage over pole winner Tracy Hines at the checkered flag.
Santos admitted that “the car was coughing on the lap 93 restart and I’m not sure if we could have led another lap. Admittedly, the yellow for John Andretti’s fuel issue helped us save just enough.”
Attrition left numerous competitors on the sidelines as five cars finished the race, with Bobby East third, Caleb Armstrong fourth and Kody Swanson fifth. Early leader Tanner Swanson fell victim to transmission troubles after 20 laps, yielding the lead to Santos, who led the final 60 laps. East led the first four.
Hines was the ProSource fast qualifier, a $200 bonus, while Kody Swanson, from 12th to 5th, earned the $200 hard charger award posted by Dr. Jim Logan. Hines and Kody Swanson exited the race tied for the series points lead!
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Presented by TRAXXAS) RACE RESULTS: June 14, 2014 – Madison, Illinois – Gateway Motorsports Park – Gateway 100
QUALIFYING: 1. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-31.173; 2. Tanner Swanson, 11, Bowman-31.274; 3. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-31.417; 4. Jarett Andretti, 4, Andretti-31.705; 5. Bobby Santos, 98, RPM/Gormly-31.713; 6. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-31.837; 7. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-31.881; 8. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-32.774; 9. Cale Thomas, 92, Thomas-33.137; 10. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-33.560; 11. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-34.555; 12. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-42.835; 13. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-NT; 14. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-NT.
FEATURE: (80 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bobby Santos (5), 2. Tracy Hines (1), 3. Bobby East (3), 4. Caleb Armstrong (7), 5. Kody Swanson (12), 6. Jarett Andretti (4), 7. Cale Thomas (9), 8. Chris Windom (13), 9. Tanner Swanson (2), 10. David Byrne (6), 11. Randy Bateman (10), 12. Patrick Lawson (11), 13. Jacob Wilson (8). 49:46.00
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Bobby East, Laps 5-20 Tanner Swanson, Laps 21-80 Bobby Santos.
NEW SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Tracy Hines-228, 2-Kody Swanson-228, 3-Bobby East-201, 4-Chris Windom-158, 5-Jacob Wilson-114, 6-Bobby Santos-111, 7-A.J. Fike-109, 8-Jerry Coons Jr.-105, 9-Caleb Armstrong-105, 10-Jarett Andretti-103.
---------------------------------------------------
BYRNE BECOMES 100TH DIFFERENT SILVER CROWN WINNER IN LAST-LAP LOR THRILLER
Brownsburg, Indiana………David Byrne etched his name in the books as the 100th different winner in USAC Silver Crown Series history on Thursday night in the “J.D. Byrider 100 Rich Vogler Classic” at Lucas Oil Raceway, and he did it in spectacular fashion.
The Shullsburg, Wisconsin driver made a dive to the inside of race-long leader Tanner Swanson in the final set of corners and came out on top by .184-seconds at the line in the Truck Country Shullsburg – Bytec, Inc. #40 Beast/Chevy.
“It means so much that I can’t even put it into words. This is the best moment of my racing career, by far. There’s so much history in this series, so many teams out here doing it for so long, and so many big teams who make it tough to win these races. It’s the coolest feeling ever to join them as winners,” Byrne said.
Tanner Swanson, the May winner at LOR, took the pole for the 100-lapper and again looked like the one to beat, opening up an advantage before a red flag came out after a turn-one fracas on lap six led to extensive clean-up.
Tanner led his teammate Ryan Newman after that, as Tanner’s brother Kody slid from third to fifth as he, Bobby Santos and Byrne battled inside the top-five. Another yellow on lap 17 involved Tracy Hines and Jarett Andretti, and that led to a long green-flag run through the race’s middle stages.
As T. Swanson ran off to a huge lead, Newman held down second, and the trio continued to race behind him for third through fifth. Byrne and K. Swanson cleared Santos at the halfway mark, and they continued to fight as they worked through traffic. Swanson finally pinned Byrne behind a slower car to take third with 25 to go.
The top four were all turning about the same lap times under green with 20 to go, but the biggest shake-up came on lap 82 as Caleb Armstrong stopped in turn-two, erasing T. Swanson’s huge lead.
On the restart, Byrne was the man on the move, as he went from fourth to second in two laps and started to reel in T. Swanson. Kody Swanson finally cleared Newman for third was making gains on the top-two, but time was running out.
Byrne finally got enough of a run down the backstretch on lap 99 to look to Tanner’s inside, but he couldn’t make it stick. Tanner moved a bit lower through turns one and two on the final lap, and Byrne came down the backstretch with a full head of steam and a big run into turn-three. He charged under Tanner and cleared him into turn-four, coming to the checkers with the crowd on their feet.
“I didn’t know what we had for the 11 at the end, but I thought we were better than the two in front of us on that last restart. After I got to second, he was struggling to drive off the corner, and then he’d pull me a couple times and I didn’t think I had enough. I dive-bombed him the lap before and he bobbled a little, just not having much drive. I knew we had a great shot at him going into three on the last lap, though, and I had to go for it,” Byrne continued.
Tanner Swanson just missed his third win at LOR in the last two seasons, finishing in the runner-up spot aboard the Bowman Racing – Banjo Corporation #11 Beast/Chevy.
“Sometimes, you just have the bad luck of catching a yellow with a few laps to go while you have a big lead. We just weren’t quite good enough at the end,” Tanner said.
His brother Kody rounded out the podium, increasing his point lead to 39 markers in the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Beast/Hampshire.
“When your team works as hard as mine does, you want to win every race. We just came up a little bit short tonight. David ran a great race, though, and it’s good to see him get his first one,” Kody said.
Newman wound up fourth in the Bowman Racing – Banjo Corporation #2 Beast/Chevy, and Santos rounded out the topfive in the Fred Gormly – RPM Auto Enterprise #98 Beast/Mopar.
USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: July 24, 2014 – Brownsburg, Indiana – Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis – J.D. Byrider 100 / Rich Vogler Classic
QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Swanson, 11, Bowman-21.088; 2. Ryan Newman, 2, Bowman-21.142; 3. Bobby Santos, 98, RPM/Gormly-21.161; 4. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-21.165; 5. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-21.188; 6. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-21.214; 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-21.396; 8. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-21.399; 9. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-21.453; 10. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-21.470; 11. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-21.504; 12. Ken Schrader, 10K, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-21.540; 13. Kyle O’Gara, 27, RW-21.587; 14. Jarett Andretti, 4, Andretti-21.592; 15. C.J. Leary, 35, Ferns-21.785; 16. Cale Thomas, 92, Thomas-21.789; 17. Ryan Litt, 21, Six-R-22.021; 18. Davey Hamilton Jr., 60, Hamilton-22.083; 19. John Heydenreich, 90, Bank-22.096; 20. Chris Phillips, 99, RPM/Gormly-22.163; 21. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-22.186; 22. Davey Ray, 125, Sachs-22.480; 23. Jarid Blondel, 981, Blondel-23.769; 24. Patrick Lawson, 102, Lawson-24.054; 25. John Hunt, 81, Williams-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. David Byrne (4), 2. Tanner Swanson (1), 3. Kody Swanson (5), 4. Ryan Newman (2), 5. Bobby Santos (3), 6. Chris Windom (8), 7. Jacob Wilson (9), 8. Bobby East (10), 9. Jarett Andretti (14), 10. Ken Schrader (12), 11. Davey Hamilton Jr. (18), 12. Chris Phillips (20), 13. Jerry Coons Jr. (7), 14. Davey Ray (22), 15. Patrick Lawson (24), 16. Kyle O’Gara (13), 17. Caleb Armstrong (11), 18. Cale Thomas (16), 19. Tracy Hines (6), 20. C.J. Leary (15), 21. Ryan Litt (17), 22. John Heydenreich (19), 23. A.J. Fike (21), 24. Jarid Blondel (23). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-99 Tanner Swanson, Lap 100 David Byrne.
NEW SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-282, 2-Tracy Hines-243, 3-Bobby East-240, 4-Chris Windom-204, 5-Tanner Swanson-165, 6-Bobby Santos-159, 7-Jacob Wilson-156, 8-David Byrne-147, 9-Jarett Andretti-139, 10-Jerry Coons Jr.-132.
---------------------------------------------------
KODY SWANSON SURVIVES FOR BELLEVILLE SILVER CROWN VICTORY
Belleville, Kansas………USAC Silver Crown Series point leader Kody Swanson continued his dirt dominance of this season as he took his third win of the season on Friday night in the “Hustle on the High Banks” of Belleville, Kansas.
The Kingsburg, California driver rallied from as deep as seventh to steal the win late in the race, running strong to the end as other frontrunners experienced problems.
Chris Windom took the lead from outside the front row as Swanson stumbled on the start after taking the pole for the 50lapper. He dropped to fourth as Windom and Christopher Bell took off running the high side, and Tracy Hines moved from the third row to third in the opening laps.
The first caution came on lap seven for Caleb Armstrong, who had an encounter with the turn-two cushion and had major rear-end damage. Windom still led Bell up front, as they opened up a gap over Hines, Jerry Coons Jr., and Swanson.
The second and final caution came on lap 15 for Jacob Wilson, and this time on the restart, Swanson lost two more spots before regaining his momentum. With Swanson now in 7th, Windom and Bell displayed their strength on an extremely treacherous cushion around the vaunted half-mile, stretching it out to over half a track over third.
Bell fell off Windom’s pace after catching the turn-one guardrail just past halfway, and Windom’s lead appeared to be insurmountable. He toyed with the Belleville guardrail, running a wicked pace on the cushion and opening up his lead even more. With about 15 laps to go, Windom suddenly dropped down on the track for a lap, and after going back to the top a lap later it was apparent that he was slowing. Meanwhile, Swanson was moving back through the field as he stayed up top while others experienced tire problems or damage from banging the guardrail and had to move down.
Windom eventually moved to the bottom with ten to go as the RW Motorsports #17 was running out of fuel, but he held the lead through lap 44 before dropping to the bottom of the backstretch and exiting the race track just as Swanson sprinted by with the lead. He led with five to go and was virtually unchallenged over the final laps, winning by 5.361 seconds in the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire.
“Sometimes, it’s just your night. When they told me we were in the lead, I honestly didn’t believe it. You just never say die in Silver Crown racing, and especially with this team. We had an engine issue and switched to this one for tonight just to be sure we could finish the race, and we gave up a lot of ground on the restarts. It was hard to believe I was running them down late. I got into the wall pretty hard myself and it wasn’t the same from there. Luckily, the car was good enough to get us there. To win tonight, they said we’d have to run up there, and it feels great to deliver for my team on a track like tonight. I started racing for these guys and promised them I could win pavement races, and two years later I haven’t won a pavement race, but we’ve got three dirt wins!” Swanson exclaimed.
Hines found his way by Bell for second but came up short in defending his Belleville Silver Crown victory from last year with the Lightfoot Racing – Hughs Brothers #16 Beast/Chevy.
“Belleville is always a little gnarly anyway, but when run a heavy champ car, it gets your attention. When it was four feet from the wall, it wasn’t a big deal, but when it stopped moving and we were banging the guardrail, that was tough. We paced well early and knew we were catching Bell, but I got into the wall hard and felt like I almost flipped it. I backed off at that point and the 63 went by us – I had nothing for him at that point,” Hines said.
Bell held on for third despite a violently shaking car due to a blistered right-rear tire and heavily packed right-rear wheel on the Fred Gormly – RPM Auto Enterprise #99 JEI/Chevy.
“I followed Darland into one and tagged the guardrail too hard, and it was instant. Going down the back straightaway, I knew we were in trouble. My insides hurt it was shaking so bad. I honestly almost pulled in, but Rico was spotting for me and told me I had a half-lap behind us. I’m glad he was spotting for me and thankful to get a chance to run this race car. I ran it pretty soft there on the opening lap and Chris drove away from us, so I knew that’s how it was going to be and drove thirty laps or whatever without lifting up there,” Bell said.
Bobby East recovered from changing an engine early in the day to move from 13th to finish fourth in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #10 Maxim/Kistler, and Dave Darland rounded out the top-five in the MTR Martco – Longworth Equipment #19 Beast/Toyota.
USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 1, 2014 – Belleville, Kansas – Belleville High Banks – Hustle on the High Banks
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-17.221; 2. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-17.227; 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-17.283; 4. Christopher Bell, 99, RPM/Gormly-17.324; 5. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-17.370; 6. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-17.414; 7. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-17.772; 8. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-17.846; 9. C.J. Leary, 21, Six-R-18.149; 10. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-18.809; 11. Jake Simmons, 31, Simmons-19.277; 12. Grant Simpson, 96, Simpson-21.119; 13. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-NT; 14. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-NT; 15. Tim Barber, 28, Pierson-NT.
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Bobby East, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 7. Chris Urish, 8. Jacob Wilson, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Jake Simmons, 11. Caleb Armstrong, 12. C.J. Leary, 13. Grant Simpson, 14. Davey Ray. 24:35.13
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-44 Chris Windom, Lap 45-50 Kody Swanson.
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-345, 2-Tracy Hines-300, 3-Bobby East-291, 4-Chris Windom-243, 5-Jacob Wilson-195, 6-Jerry Coons Jr.-177, 7-Tanner Swanson-165, 8-Bobby Santos-159, 9-Caleb Armtsrong-155, 10-David Byrne-147.
---------------------------------------------------
TONY BETTENHAUSEN 100 RAINED OUT; RESCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 7
Springfield, Illinois………Saturday afternoon’s USAC Silver Crown event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill. was washed out by rain just prior to the start of the Tony Bettenhausen 100 on the one-mile dirt oval.
Tracy Hines set the fastest qualifying time and was scheduled to start on the pole for the 100-mile event.
The entirety of the event will start over beginning with qualifying and the feature on Sunday afternoon, September 7.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 16, 2014 – Springfield, Illinois – Illinois State Fairgrounds – Tony Bettenhausen 100
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-30.646; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-30.835; 3. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-30.965; 4. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-31.236; 5. Bryan Clauson, 20, Nolen-31.406; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-31.510; 7. Jon Stanbrough, 56, Fox-31.713; 8. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-31.756; 9. Brady Bacon, 14, McQuinn-31.955; 10. Zach Daum, 5, Daum-32.213; 11. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-32.489; 12. Jacob Wilson, 07, Wilson-32.583; 13. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-32.925; 14. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-33.562; 15. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-33.796; 16. Steven Russell, 41, McQuinn-33.847; 17. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-33.891; 18. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-34.044; 19. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-34.434; 20. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-34.550; 21. Terry James, 23, Satterthwaite-34.619; 22. Jackie Burke, 86, Burke-35.628; 23. Chris Fetter, 88, Fetter-40.761; 24. Tiffany Wyzard, 30, King-NT; 25. Christopher Bell, 99, RPM/Gormly-NT.
FEATURE: (100 Laps) RACE RAINED OUT
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Kody Swanson-390, 2-Tracy Hines-348, 3-Bobby East-336, 4-Chris Windom-288, 5-Jacob Wilson-240, 6-Jerry Coons Jr.-222, 7-Caleb Armstrong-200, 8-Dave Darland-173, 9-Tanner Swanson-165, 10-Christopher Bell-165.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN RACE: August 31 – Du Quoin, IL – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – “Ted Horn 100”
---------------------------------------------------
COCKRUM CAPTURES FIRST SILVER CROWN WIN IN HISTORICAL TED HORN 100
Du Quoin, Illinois………Shane Cockrum of nearby Benton, Illinois became the first southern Illinois driver to win the “Ted Horn 100” as he came out on top of a wild one on Sunday night at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. It was the first USAC win ever for Cockrum, who has been active in all three National divisions, who made it the Silver Crown Series in which he has been most active to chart his first victory.
“I don’t even think it’s sunk in yet that I’m a USAC winner. It’s great to represent southern Illinois and be able to put it on the front stretch at the end of the Ted Horn 100. It just couldn’t be any better feeling than right now,” Cockrum said.
The win for Cockrum came after a wild race. Bobby East took the lead at the start after securing the pole earlier in the day. Point-leader Kody Swanson stayed with East early on, using a pick of a slower car down the front-stretch on lap nine to grab the lead. Swanson, East, and Dave Darland formed a three-car breakaway early in the race as they opened up a huge advantage over the rest of the field.
A caution on lap 16 for C.J. Leary brought the field back to them, and East took advantage. He stayed glued to Swanson’s bumper as they again encountered slower traffic. East slid past for the lead on lap 32 and brought Darland along with him, dropping Swanson to third.
Just after, Caleb Armstrong stopped to bring out a caution on lap 34. Under the yellow, fourth-running Zach Daum first visited the pits to change a flat tire, and then leader East pitted with suspension issues. Both cars returned, although Daum lost a lap in the process.
Darland led as Cockrum moved past Swanson for the second spot just as they hit the halfway mark, with Jerry Coons Jr. and a hard-charging Chris Windom, up from his 22nd starting spot, completing the top-five.
East brought out a yellow just a couple laps later, as Swanson also had issues after an encounter up in the rough stuff above the cushion. East returned a lap down, while Swanson came back out in attempt to salvage some points, six laps down to the leaders.
Darland led on the restart with 44 laps to go, but Cockrum immediately jumped on the opportunity and grabbed the point on lap 57. Coons followed him to take the second spot away from Darland, leading to a spirited battle between those two for the runner-up spot that culminated with a crash on lap 65 which put Darland upside-down and involved Coons and Levi Jones. Coons and Jones both were able to make repairs under red flag and resume the race. Darland was uninjured but done for the event.
Cockrum led Windom as they went green with 36 laps to go, and Windom kept up the pressure to Cockrum’s outside. With under 20 laps remaining, those two pulled away and Windom was ramping up the pressure, nearly pulling even with Cockrum off turn-two on lap 84. Just three laps later, Windom was back with a vengeance and hit the top side in turn-two to grab the lead.
Windom quickly pulled away and appeared to be well on his way to his second-career series victory, but heartbreak struck him again as he crashed while running the cushion through turns one and two on lap 91. He walked away.
Cockrum led the field back to green with 11 laps to go, and he pulled away from second-running Tracy Hines until Coons shredded a left-rear tire with just two laps to go while running third.
That set up a final two-lap dash to the checkers, but the only battling was going on behind Cockrum, who escaped the pack to race off to his first victory aboard the Hardy Boys Racing – Marion Underground Construction #66 Beast/Foxco.
“We had a few challenges throughout, but we know it’s a 100-mile race. Our car was good regardless of how much we pushed it. Windom came after us late, and I really hated to see him go by us. I saw he had a sketchy line up there, especially on entry, and his bad luck ended up benefitting us. I was trying to pace myself, but my car was definitely better when we could go hard,” Cockrum said.
In a wild race to the checkers, Hines slowed over the final lap, allowing Levi Jones to slip past for the runner-up spot in an improbable return from his earlier issues being caught up in the lap-65 red that saw him spin up against the outside concrete. His team made repairs and soldiered home with a bent-up tail tank on the Foxco Racing – Great Clips #56 Beast/Foxco. It was Jones’ first dirt Silver Crown start since winning the “Hoosier Hundred” in May of 2013.
“I just made a mistake trying to avoid the crash, clipped the inside guardrail and spun it around into the fence. I figured we were done, but it’s a testament to the Fox family – they build a car that stands up to that and can go 100 miles. I’m excited for Shane Cockrum and all his guys to be able to win this race. I got to help those guys a little bit last year, and I know they’ve got to enjoy that,” Jones said.
Brady Bacon, who had raced into the top-five before running short of fuel over the final few laps, pitted on the yellow with two laps to go and came back in a furious charge to nab the final podium spot off the final corner in the McQuinn Motorsports – Cashless Racing #14 Eagle/Chevy.
“We were having some issues with fuel, but it had gotten pretty bad before the last yellow. We were really good those last two laps, though. We struggled early in the race, but after the fuel burned off some, our car got quite a bit better. The top got pretty treacherous, so I was making sure I did everything to be able to finish,” Bacon said.
Hines held on to finish fourth in the Lightfoot Racing – Hughs Brothers #16 Beast/Chevy, closing Swanson’s point lead to nineteen markers entering next Sunday’s “Tony Bettenhausen 100” at Springfield. A.J. Fike wound up fifth in the RFMS Racing – H.E. Mitchell Construction #3 Beast/Foxco.
USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 31, 2014 – Du Quoin, Illinois – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – Ted Horn 100
QUALIFYING: 1. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-30.571; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-30.729; 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-31.199; 4. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-31.273; 5. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-31.474; 6. Zach Daum, 5, Daum-31.766; 7. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-31.838; 8. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-32.266; 9. C.J. Leary, 35, Ferns-32.349; 10. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-32.388; 11. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-32.430; 12. Brady Bacon, 14, McQuinn-32.458; 13. Levi Jones, 56, Foxco-32.491; 14. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-32.915; 15. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-33.038; 16. Steven Russell, 41, McQuinn-33.521; 17. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-34.109; 18. Jake Simmons, 31, Simmons-34.171; 19. Chris Fetter, 88, Fetter-34.326; 20. Jackie Burke, 86, Burke-34.511; 21. Robbie Ray, 53, SET-39.720; 22. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-NT; 23. Terry James, 23, Satterthwaite-NT; 24. Jerry Bruce, 50, Bruce-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Shane Cockrum (5), 2. Levi Jones (13), 3. Brady Bacon (12), 4. Tracy Hines (10), 5. A.J. Fike (8), 6. Russ Gamester (11), 7. Chris Urish (14), 8. Jerry Coons Jr. (3), 9. Bobby East (1), 10. Steven Russell (16), 11. Randy Bateman (15), 12. Patrick Lawson (17), 13. Kody Swanson (2), 14. Chris Windom (22), 15. Zach Daum (6), 16. Dave Darland (4), 17. Chris Fetter (19), 18. Jake Simmons (18), 19. Caleb Armstrong (7), 20. C.J. Leary (9), 21. Robbie Ray (21), 22. Jackie Burke (20), 23. Terry James (23). NT
**Dave Darland flipped on lap 65. Chris Windom flipped on lap 90.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Bobby East, Laps 9-31 Kody Swanson, Laps 32-41 Bobby East, Laps 42-56 Dave Darland, Laps 57-86 Shane Cockrum, Laps 87-89 Chris Windom, Laps 90-100 Shane Cockrum.
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-417, 2-Tracy Hines-398, 3-Bobby East-375, 4-Chris Windom-313, 5-Jerry Coons Jr.-261, 6-Jacob Wilson-240, 7-Caleb Armstrong-215, 8-A.J. Fike-212, 9-Shane Cockrum-201, 10-Dave Darland-194.
---------------------------------------------------
KODY SWANSON TAKES TONY BETTENHAUSEN 100 AT SPRINGFIELD
Springfield, Illinois………Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. led wire-to-wire to win Sunday’s “Tony Bettenhausen 100” USAC Silver Crown race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. He won the pole in the DePalma Motorsports - Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire and never trailed, finishing a half-lap ahead of runner-up Tracy Hines.
"I was pretty motivated today after I felt like I gave away a great opportunity to win at Du Quoin. I made an error in lapped traffic that ended up making us overheat and costing us the race. They gave me a car that could win there, too, and I needed to come back and win one for them. It's my job to find a way to win, with as good as my cars have been all season, and today gets us back on the track. This is a tough series to win races, so I'm thankful to be racing for this team," Swanson said.
Just two cautions in the race's first half kept the field close to Swanson, and he used the 54-lap green flag stretch to end the race as a way to show his dominance, leaving Hines quickly and eventually putting pressure on eighth-place Dave Darland to go a lap down in the final circuits. Swanson backed off with his huge lead, leaving eight cars on the lead lap.
The win was the fourth of Swanson's incredible season, which tallies him up to seven for his career. That puts him tied for 12th on the all-time USAC Silver Crown win list with Rick Hood and George Snider. Only all-time series win king Jack Hewitt (1986), Gary Bettenhausen (1980), J.J. Yeley (2003), and Dave Steele (2005) have matched four wins in a single Silver Crown season.
"Bob Hampshire (crew chief and engine builder) was a legend before I ever met him. To be teamed up with that, I've had a lot to live up to. I knew I had to get better on dirt and learn how to run as well as his cars can go. Now, we go to their home track and they always run well there. They've done everything they can to make me comfortable at a place like Eldora, so I hope we can keep building on what we've done. Our goal all along has been the championship, and we saw how easily it can get away from you a little bit in this deal, so we have to end strong to get it," Swanson said.
The point battle was affected only minimally, with second-place Hines and third-place Bobby East unable to close in on Swanson going into the September 20 “4-Crown Nationals” at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Hines finished second in the Lightfoot Racing - Hughs Brothers #16 Beast/Chevy and East third at the checkered flag in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing - Chevy Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler, with A.J. Fike fourth in the RFMS Racing - H.E. Mitchell Construction #3 Beast/Foxco and Chris Windom fifth in the Rotondo Weirich - Curb Records #17 Beast/Toyota. Sixteen of the 24 starters were still running at the finish of the 100 miles.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 7, 2014 – Springfield, Illinois – Illinois State Fairgrounds – Tony Bettenhausen 100
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-31.999; 2. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-32.140; 3. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot32.314; 4. Brady Bacon, 14, McQuinn-32.415; 5. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-32.610; 6. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-32.923; 7. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-33.046; 8. Bryan Clauson, 20, Nolen-33.101; 9. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-33.235; 10. Steven Russell, 41, McQuinn-33.335; 11. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-33.436; 12. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-33.580; 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-33.606; 14. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-33.705; 15. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-33.877; 16. Levi Jones, 56, Foxco-33.927; 17. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-34.347; 18. Chris Fetter, 88, Fetter-34.369; 19. Jackie Burke, 86, Burke-34.596; 20. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-34.656; 21. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-34.913; 22. John Hunt, 91, Hunt-35.558; 23. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-NT; 24. Kenny Gentry, 18, Gentry-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Tracy Hines (2), 3. Bobby East (4), 4. A.J. Fike (5), 5. Chris Windom (11), 6. Bryan Clauson (7), 7. Jerry Coons Jr. (12), 8. Dave Darland (8), 9. Levi Jones (16), 10. Brady Bacon (3), 11. Russ Gamester (17), 12. Jacob Wilson (13), 13. Davey Ray (15), 14. Steven Russell (9), 15. Chris Fetter (18), 16. David Byrne (14), 17. Randy Bateman (20), 18. Jackie Burke (19), 19. Patrick Lawson (21), 20. Caleb Armstrong (10), 21. Shane Cockrum (6), 22. John Hunt (22), 23. Kenny Gentry (24), 24. Chris Urish (23). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Kody Swanson.
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-483, 2-Tracy Hines-456, 3-Bobby East-429, 4-Chris Windom-363, 5-Jerry Coons Jr.-303, 6-Jacob Wilson-269, 7-A.J. Fike-263, 8-Dave Darland-233, 9-Caleb Armstrong-228, 10-Shane Cockrum-213.
---------------------------------------------------
COONS CLOSES SEASON WITH 4-CROWN SCORE AFTER ARMSTRONG PENALIZED
Rossburg, Ohio………Jerry Coons Jr. outlasted all challengers to close the Eldora Speedway 4-Crown Nationals with a win in Sunday afternoon's Silver Crown race at the half-mile.
The seventh series win of Coons' career came aboard the Fred Gormly - RPM Enterprise #98 DRC/Speedway Mopar after apparent race-winner Caleb Armstrong was docked a lap after changing a tire earlier in the race that was not flat.
Coons began from the pole after setting ProSource Fast Time, but he had his hands full holding off point-leader Kody Swanson. Swanson snuck under Coons to lead lap 13 but his turn-one slide up in front of Coons was countered, putting Swanson back to the second spot. He wouldn't go away, though, and wrestled the lead away on lap 20.
The track was abrasive and tire wear became a serious issue, and several cautions towards the end of the race came due to flattened right-rear tires. The final restart with five laps to go saw Armstrong advancing on the high side to pass Swanson on lap 47 as the leader was obviously having tire issues of his own. Coons also moved by Swanson on lap 48 before Chris Windom, who had changed a right-rear tire, passed Swanson coming to the white flag.
Swanson's tire went completely flat on the final lap and he nursed his car home ninth to take a slim 12-point lead into the season finale in three weeks at Syracuse.
Armstrong, who had earlier gotten into the backstretch wall and flattened his right-rear tire, was found to have also changed his left-rear tire, necessitating the one-lap penalty per series rules.
Coons was awarded the win upon that change, with Windom coming home second in the Rotondo Weirich - Curb Records #17 Beast/Triad Toyota, and Tracy Hines completed the podium in the Lightfoot Racing - Hughs Brothers #16 Beast/Chevy.
Shane Cockrum completed his busy day with a fourth-place finish in the Hardy Boys Racing - Marion Underground Construction #66 Beast/Foxco, and Bobby East rounded out the top-five in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing - Chevy Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 20-21, 2014 - Rossburg, Ohio - Eldora Speedway - 33rd 4-Crown Nationals
QUALIFYING: 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-16.513; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-16.607; 3. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-16.637; 4. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-16.658; 5. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-16.883; 6. Bryan Clauson, 20, Nolen-16.898; 7. C.J. Leary, 35, Ferns-17.081; 8. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-17.215; 9. Caleb Armstrong, 9, Armstrong-17.340; 10. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-17.342; 11. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-17.421; 12. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-17.615; 13. Robert Ballou, 53, SET-18.336; 14. Jack Hewitt, 21, Six-R-18.391; 15. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-24.150; 16. Christopher Bell, 99, RPM/Gormly-NT; 17. Brady Bacon, 14, McQuinn-NT; 18. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-NT; 19. Jake Simmons, 31, Simmons-NT; 20. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-NT.
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jerry Coons Jr. (1), 2. Chris Windom (5), 3. Tracy Hines (4), 4. Shane Cockrum (10), 5. Bobby East (3), 6. Bryan Clauson (6), 7. Aaron Pierce (8), 8. Jacob Wilson (12), 9. Kody Swanson (2), 10. Russ Gamester (17), 11. Caleb Armstrong (9), 12. C.J. Leary (7), 13. Patrick Lawson (15), 14. Christopher Bell (16), 15. Davey Ray (11), 16. Jack Hewitt (14), 17. Robert Ballou (13). NT
**Russ Gamester flipped during practice. Dave Darland flipped during practice. Patrick Lawson flipped on lap 45 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Jerry Coons Jr., Lap 13 Kody Swanson, Laps 14-19 Jerry Coons Jr., Laps 20-46 Kody Swanson, Laps 47-49 Caleb Armstrong, Lap 50 Jerry Coons Jr.
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-522, 2-Tracy Hines-510, 3-Bobby East-477, 4-Chris Windom-418, 5-Jerry Coons Jr.-366, 6-Jacob Wilson-308, 7-Shane Cockrum-264, 8-A.J. Fike-263, 9-Caleb Armstrong-259, 10-Dave Darland-234.
---------------------------------------------------
KODY SWANSON PUTS EXCLAMATION ON CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON WITH SYRACUSE WIN
Syracuse, New York……...Kody Swanson finished off a magical 2014 Silver Crown Series championship for he and DePalma Motorsports on Saturday in the “Salt City 78” on the New York State Fairgrounds mile. The Kingsburg, California driver was dominant all year, notching five wins in ten races to claim his first USAC National title.
“I can’t really believe this is how it’s all worked out. That’s what this is all about. To be able to go five-for-ten in Silver Crown and winning the championship is so special. They (DePalma Motorsports) hadn’t won a race in the series before this year, and they knew we had to find a way to make me better on dirt. They did everything they could do to make us better to compete for the championship, and it’s amazing to see a group that is such an epitome of “team.” These are great people, and we have a lot of fun racing together,” Swanson said of his team led by owner Tony DePalma and crew chief Bob Hampshire.
Swanson, who has been a series mainstay since 2009, put into words his pursuit of the series crown over the past six season, saying, “I’ve been trying for this for so long – I was a rookie in 2009 and had a shot at it a few different times. I lost a year to injury and then lost my full-time ride, so last year I got to drive for Ricky Nix and Eddie Sachs on dirt, and the DePalmas on pavement. I’m so grateful to all of them for keeping me on track last year, having a lot of fun, and putting me in position to have a year like this one. This is years and many people in the making, and I’m so happy to do it with the DePalmas, my family, our friends, and all the people who are involved and helped us accomplish what we have this year. It’s an incredible feeling to win the race and see all of them so happy and excited at what we’ve been able to do.”
Swanson immediately showed himself as a strong contender for the race win, as he jumped to the lead from outside the front row on the opening lap before a caution for Shane Cockrum. After a quick yellow, Swanson was off with the lead as two-time series champion Bobby East pressured him. East got a run down the front stretch as they completed lap twelve to take the lead going into turn-one.
East pulled away as Swanson kept a conservative pace that stacked up the pack behind him racing for second through eighth. A.J. Fike stayed glued to Swanson through the first half of the race, as Rich Tobias, Stewart Friesen, Jerry Coons Jr., and Steve Buckwalter raced just outside the top-five.
Swanson began to gain ground on East around lap 50, slowly reeling him in as Fike came along with him. He went to work quickly after catching him, using the difficult groove through turns one and two to slip underneath with the lead on lap 67.
Fike was the pursuer over the final ten laps, moving past East for second and coming after Swanson for the top spot. He had a shot at the win in the final two laps, but a move to the outside while negotiating a slower car sent him out of the groove through turns one and two, allowing Swanson to slip away.
The dream season for Swanson and the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire ended parked on the front stretch of the “Moody Mile” with the win.
“I didn’t want to be too greedy and risk losing the championship by going too hard to win the race. We were almost in position to come here with a little safety net, but in the last two laps at Eldora, we blew a tire and put ourselves in jeopardy with the championship today. So that was on my mind throughout the race. We finally reeled Bobby (East) back in and the opportunity presented himself with that hole down there that could make you tight. Right when I got there, his car hit it and the hole opened up. I wanted to go harder at the end to fend off A.J. for the win, but I wanted to be sure I didn’t cost myself all of it by running the tire off,” Swanson said.
Fike finished his strong day in second aboard the RFMS Racing – H.E. Mitchell Construction #3 Beast/Foxco.
East rounded out the podium in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing – Chevy Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler.
Chris Windom lost touch with Swanson & Fike just as they made their charge to go after East but came home fourth in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #17 Beast/Triad. Stewart Friesen finished fifth in his first Silver Crown Series appearance aboard the RPM Auto Enterprise – City of Syracuse Special #99 JEI/Mopar.
USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 11, 2014 – Syracuse, New York – New York State Fairgrounds – Salt City 78
QUALIFYING: 1. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-32.436; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-32.535; 3. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-32.627; 4. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-32.640; 5. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-32.702; 6. Rich Tobias Jr., 117, Tobias-32.762; 7. Stewart Friesen, 99, RPM/Gormly-32.856; 8. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-33.113; 9. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-33.160; 10. Steve Buckwalter, 53, SET-33.273; 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-33.315; 12. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-34.005; 13. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-35.105; 14. Kenny Gentry, 18, Gentry-37.972; 15. Wes Miller, 36, Miller-NT.
FEATURE: (78 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (2), 2. A.J. Fike (3), 3. Bobby East (1), 4. Chris Windom (5), 5. Stewart Friesen (7), 6. Tracy Hines (4), 7. Jerry Coons Jr. (11), 8. Rich Tobias Jr. (6), 9. Davey Ray (9), 10. Patrick Lawson (13), 11. Randy Bateman (12), 12. Steve Buckwalter (10), 13. Kenny Gentry (14), 14. Shane Cockrum (8), 15. Wes Miller (15). 45:23.12
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Kody Swanson, Laps 13-66 Bobby East, Laps 67-78 Kody Swanson.
---------------------------------------------------
2014 USAC SILVER CROWN DRIVER POINTS
1. (582) Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.
2. (555) Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind.
3. (537) Bobby East, Brownsburg, Ind.
4. (469) Chris Windom, Canton, Ill.
5. (408) Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, Ariz.
6. (320) A.J. Fike, Galesburg, Ill.
7. (308) Jacob Wilson, Crawfordsville, Ind.
8. (286) Shane Cockrum, Benton, Ill.
9. (259) Caleb Armstrong, New Castle, Ind.
10. (245) Patrick Lawson, Edwardsville, Ill.
11. (244) Davey Ray, Davenport, Iowa
12. (234) Dave Darland, Lincoln, Ind.
13. (190) Christopher Bell, Norman, Okla.
14. (177) Chris Urish, Elkhart, Ill.
15. (176) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill.
16. (168) David Byrne, Shullsburg, Wisc.
17. (166) Russ Gamester, Peru, Ind.
18. (165) Tanner Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.
19. (161) Zach Daum, Pocahontas, Ill.
20. (159) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass.
21. (139) Jarett Andretti, Mooresville, N.C.
22. (135) Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, Ind.
23. (133) Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Okla.
24. (109) Aaron Pierce, Muncie, Ind.
25. (103) Steven Russell, Springfield, Ill.
26. (93) Levi Jones, Olney, Ill.
27. (88) Cale Thomas, Fairland, Ind.
28. (87) Chris Fetter, Troy, Mo.
29. (84) C.J. Leary, Greenfield, Ind.
30. (82) John Hunt, Tulsa, Okla.
31. (77) Jake Simmons, Terre Haute, Ind.
32. (73) Jackie Burke, Houston, Texas
33. (70) Jon Stanbrough, Avon, Ind.
34. (64) Joe Liguori, Tampa, Fla.
35. (63) Kyle O’Gara, Beech Grove, Ind.
36. (55) Terry James, St. Louis, Mo.
37. (51) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind.
40. (48) Stewart Friesen, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont.
39. (47) Taylor Ferns, Shelby Township, Mich.
40. (45) Tiffany Wyzard, Williamsville, Ill.
41. (39) Rich Tobias Jr., Lebanon, Pa.
42. (37) Kenny Gentry, Henderson, Ky.
43. (33) Ken Schrader, Concord, N.C.
44. (31) Davey Hamilton Jr., Jamestown, Ind.
45. (29) Chris Phillips, Plainfield, Ind.
46. (29) Steve Buckwalter, Royersford, Pa.
47. (27) Grant Simpson, Avoca, Ind.
48. (25) Dakota Jackson, Elizabethtown, Ind.
49. (23) Wes Miller, Seabrook, Texas
50. (21) Jack Hewitt, Troy, Ohio
51. (19) Robert Ballou, Rocklin, Calif.
52. (12) Ryan Litt, Lyons, Ont.
53. (12) Robbie Ray, Davenport, Iowa
54. (11) John Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, Pa.
55. (9) Jarid Blondel, Orange, Calif.
56. (9) Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, Mo.
57. (1) Jerry Bruce, Benton, Ill.
58. (1) Tim Barber, San Francisco, Calif.
2014 USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRANT POINTS
1. (615) DePalma Motorsports, Lima, Ohio (#63)
2. (584) Mark Lightfoot, Springfield, Mo. (#16)
3. (570) RPM/Fred Gormly, Brownsburg, Ind. (#98)
4. (570) Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Brownsburg, Ind. (#10)
5. (502) RW/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, Lederach, Pa. (#17)
6. (347) RFMS Racing, Galesburg, Ill. (#3)
7. (335) Wilson Brothers Racing, Crawfordsville, Ind. (#07)
8. (304) Hardy Boys Motorsports, Benton, Ill. (#66)
9. (291) Neil Armstrong, New Castle, Ind. (#9)
10. (272) RPM/Fred Gormly, Brownsburg, Ind. (#99)
11. (272) Patrick Lawson, Edwardsville, Ill. (#102)
12. (271) Eddie Sachs Jr. Racing, Mt. Clemens, Mich. (#125)
13. (240) Marc Longworth, Trenton, Ohio (#19)
14. (194) Randy Bateman, Murphysboro, Ill. (#55)
15. (189) Chris Urish, Elkhart, Ill. (#77)
16. (184) Dennis & Dave McQuinn, Springfield, Ill. (#14)
17. (181) Gamester Racing, Peru, Ind. (#51)
18. (180) Byrne Racing, Shullsburg, Wisc. (#40)
19. (175) Foxco Engineering, Avon, Ind. (#56)
20. (174) Bowman Racing, Brownsburg, Ind. (#11)
21. (174) Gene Nolen, Greenwood, Ind. (#20)
22. (170) Daum Motorsports, Pocahontas, Ill. (#5)
23. (161) Team Six-R, Westfield, Ind. (#21)
24. (120) Taylor Ferns Racing, Shelby Twp., Mich. (#35)
25. (118) Sam Pierce, Daleville, Ind. (#26)
26. (115) Andretti Autosport Short Track, Mooresville, N.C. (#4)
27. (112) Dennis & Dave McQuinn, Springfield, Ill. (#41)
28. (97) Jason Thomas, Fairland, Ind. (#92)
29. (96) Fetter Tile, Troy, Mo. (#88)
30. (92) Tim Simmons, Terre Haute, Ind. (#31)
31. (82) Jackie Burke, Houston, Texas (#86)
32. (69) RW Motorsports, Lederach, Pa. (#27)
33. (69) SET Racing, Joliet, Ill. (#53)
34. (67) Hunt Brothers, Tulsa, Okla. (#91)
35. (61) Todd Satterthwaite, St. Louis, Mo. (#23)
36. (60) Rick King, Maroa, Ill. (#30)
37. (54) Bowman Racing, Brownsburg, Ind. (#2)
38. (43) Valerie Gentry, Henderson, Ky. (#18)
39. (42) Dick Tobias Racing, Lebanon, Pa. (#117)
40. (36) Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Brownsburg, Ind. (#10K)
41. (34) Davey Hamilton, Boise, Idaho (#60)
42. (31) Jackson Racing, Elizabethtown, Ind. (#33)
43. (30) Kenny Simpson, Avoca, Ind. (#96)
44. (30) Curtis Williams, Springfield, Ohio (#81)
45. (26) Dodie Miller, Seabrook, Texas (#36)
46. (15) Dr. Jim Logan, St. Louis, Mo. (#15)
47. (14) Bank Racing, Aliquippa, Pa. (#90)
48. (12) Ron Blondel, Orange, Calif. (#981)
49. (4) Ken Pierson, Fairfield, Calif. (#28)
50. (4) Jerry Bruce, Benton, Ill. (#50)