SANTOS SMOKES THE FIELD IN “HALL OF FAME CLASSIC”
Clermont, Indiana – An early-race restart gave Bobby Santos the opening he wanted to see and the Franklin, Massachusetts drivers never looked back en route to dominating Saturday night’s Inaugural “Hall of Fame Classic” Traxxas Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
In his first race aboard the RW/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records#17 Beast/Wallace Toyota Silver Crown car, Santos pulled away as the 100 laps wore on, posting an eventual winning margin of 7.512 seconds.
“I don’t think Kody’s car was restarting the greatest, so I just took advantage there and went underneath him. The car was so good, it was a pretty easy drive from there. Usually, I push my car as hard as I can without losing the tires, and I’m really more comfortable coming from behind, but that’s just how good my car was tonight. I’m excited for all the races with this team, and to join with my teammates to run for a championship in the Midgets and with Bryan (Clauson) in this,” Santos said.
Kody Swanson, who won the last Silver Crown race at the facility, took the pole and led at the start, before a lap-four yellow for Brian Tyler, who suffered a broken axle on the front-stretch. On the restart, Santos pounced, leaving everyone to watch the battles behind him.
Three-time series champion Bud Kaeding reeled in Swanson over the final few laps looking for the runner-up spot. Kody held on to finish second in the Six-R Racing – Jet Star – K&N Filters #19 Beast/Claxton Toyota. Kaeding held on to fill the podium in the BK Motorsports – Kaeding Performance – Alviso Rock #29 Beast/Speedway Mopar.
The best battle over the final few laps developed as Jacob Wilson encountered a pack of lapped cars. Using the traffic as his opportunity, Tanner Swanson swept by to claim fourth in the Six-R Racing – Jet Star – K&N Filters #23 Beast/Claxton Toyota. Wilson rounded out the top-five in the Wilson Brothers Racing – Jet Star – Toyota #07 Beast/Toyota.
The event was run just after ceremonies held to honor the inaugural class inducted into the newly-formed USAC Hall of Fame, which consisted of J.C. Agajanian, Mario Andretti, Gary Bettenhausen, Tom Binford, Jimmy Bryan, Duane Carter, A.J. Foyt, Tony Hulman, Parnelli Jones, Mel Kenyon, Roger McCluskey, and Rich Vogler.
TRAXXAS USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: May 19, 2012 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis – Inaugural “Hall of Fame Classic”
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 19, Six-R-20.763; 2. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-20.988; 3. Bobby Santos, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-20.995; 4. Tanner Swanson, 23, Six-R-21.013; 5. Jacob Wilson, 07, Wilson-21.137; 6. Bobby East, 22, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-21.167; 7. Levi Jones, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-21.296; 8. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-21.341; 9. Brian Tyler, 21, Six-R-21.366; 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 27, RW-21.421; 11. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-21.443; 12. Kyle Hamilton, 33, Six-R/Hamilton-21.464; 13. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-21.512; 14. Eric Gordon, 2, Bowman/Canine-21.572; 15. Zach Daum, 50, Daum-21.590; 16. Doug Berryman, 63, DePalma-21.917; 17. Jimmy Kite, 25, Sachs-22.149; 18. Donnie Beechler, 14, McQuinn-NT; 19. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Bobby Santos, 2. Kody Swanson, 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Tanner Swanson, 5. Jacob Wilson, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Eric Gordon, 8. Levi Jones, 9. A.J. Fike, 10. Russ Gamester, 11. Bobby East, 12. Kyle Hamilton, 13. Zach Daum, 14. Jerry Coons, Jr., 15. Jimmy Kite, 16. Doug Berryman, 17. David Byrne, 18. Brian Tyler, 19. Donnie Beechler. 47:57.38
——————————–
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 K.Swanson, Laps 14-100 Santos.
NEW TRAXXAS SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1- Santos-63; 2-K.Swanson-60; 3-Kaeding-54; 4-T.Swanson-51; 5-Wilson-48; 6-Hines-45; 7-Gordon-42; 8-Jones-39; 9-Fike-36; 10-Gamester-33.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: May 25 – Indianapolis, IN – Indiana State Fairgrounds – 59th Running of “Hoosier Hundred”