Toledo, OH — (May 2, 2015) — Kody Swanson continued his winning ways in the Silver Crown Series after five wins propelled him to the 2014 championship, as he led every lap in Friday’s Hemelgarn Racing Super Fitness “Rollie Beale Classic” at Toledo Speedway. The Kingsburg, California driver forged a tie with Tracy Hines for 11th on the all-time series win list with his ninth career triumph.
“I had to hold up my end of the bargain to get this team a pavement win after we got them to bring this car out two years ago. I’m thankful to be with this team and work with them to strive for the same goal. They are the true definition of a good “team.” Today is my grandfather’s birthday, and yesterday was my anniversary with my wife Jordan, who is the ultimate partner and a big part of this team, too. My dad has been a huge part of this effort, getting the pavement car going well, and to reward him and all my guys is special to me,” Swanson said.
Kody, who earned the pole after setting the ProSource “Fast Time,” outgunned brother Tanner on the start at the start, as Jacob Wilson snuck to the second spot before a lap-six chain reaction sent Jerry Coons, Jr. and Austin Nemire spinning through the infield as both Kyle Hamilton and Tim Barber stopped in turn-four. Under yellow, Tracy Hines pitted for a right-front tire. All cars restarted except Hamilton.
Less than a lap later, Bobby Santos abruptly turned right in turn-three, stopping at the wall and giving up his fifth-place spot. From there, the Swanson brothers and Wilson disappeared into traffic, as Tanner passed Wilson for the runner-up spot on lap 41. As they neared halfway, Tanner jumped outside of brother Kody to race for the lead.
The two came up on a pack of cars on lap 49, with Tanner vaulting over the right-rear tire of C.J. Leary and somersaulting into the catchfence through turn-one. He came to a rest propped upon the inside wall in the middle of turns one and two, luckily able to walk away from a frightening crash that left a fuel spill and some fence repair.
After the red, Wilson hung with Kody Swanson for the lead. Behind them, David Byrne tried to use the outside lane to look for third, but instead relinquished that spot to A.J. Fike. On lap 57, Coons continued his recovery by taking the fifth spot from Byrne.
After a final caution on lap 59, the lead duo again pulled away as Wilson stayed right on Swanson’s back bumper. On lap 70, he looked to the outside but could not complete the pass. Swanson then gradually pulled away from Wilson, opening up a comfortable advantage before again reaching slower cars in the final circuits. He negotiated those flawlessly to post a 1.100-second victory in the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Beast/Hampshire.
“I knew we had to keep pushing over the last half with Wilson coming at us the way he was. We finally got a little gap to give myself some time through traffic, with as difficult as that was and how it bit Tanner earlier in the race. It was a relief to see Tanner was okay after that big crash. He came up to me and told me it was up to me to get it done now. The red was a long time to sit and think, and get knocked out of your rhythm. Our job is to be good in those situations, though, and I love this series for those type of situations that make you go well all race long,” Swanson said.
Wilson came home second in the Wilson Brothers Racing #07 Beast/Toyota.
“I tried to push Kody and try to make him run my pace, but I wore my stuff out a little bit to do it and he was able to save enough for the last half of the race. He ran a very smart race, and it’s tough to beat him right now. We’ve gotten closer and closer; I can’t thank my family and Keith Holsapple enough for getting us this strong. I really feel like we could get some wins if we can ever knock down the door for a Silver Crown win, and we’ll have to beat Kody to do it,” Wilson said.
Fike, who started 17th, came home third in the RFMS Racing – Liberty Village #3 Beast/Foxco.
“I really felt like we were just as fast as the leaders before the red, but I just screwed up qualifying to put us in a hole. We didn’t need the red; our tire sealed up and we weren’t as good after that. Starting last row, I had to use my stuff up a little bit to get to where we got. I can’t complain, though – my group did a great job tonight,” Fike said.
Coons came home fourth in the Nolen Racing – Columbus Container #20 Beast/Chevy, and Aaron Pierce rounded out the top-five in the Sam Pierce Chevrolet – G&G Oil #26 Beast/Chevy.
Jacob Stickel won the USAC HPD Midget Car Series feature.
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USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: May 1, 2015 – Toledo, Ohio – Toledo Speedway – Hemelgarn Racing Super Fitness “Rollie Beale Classic”
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-14.978; 2. Tanner Swanson, 11, Bowman-15.082; 3. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-15.155; 4. Tracy Hines, 98, RPM/Gormly-15.181; 5. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-15.263; 6. Kyle Hamilton, 33, Six-R/Hamilton-15.316; 7. Jerry Coons, Jr. 20, Nolen-15.440; 8. Bobby Santos, 122, DJ-15.480; 9. Jarett Andretti, 4, Andretti Autosport Short Track-15.496; 10. Rex Norris III, 16, Norris-15.546; 11. Dave Baumgartner, 15, Baumgartner-15.550; 12. Jimmy McCune, 81, Williams-15.601; 13. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary/Six-R-15.684; 14. Tim Barber, 28, Finkenbinder-15.781; 15. Austin Nemire, 91, Nemire/Yager-15.784; 16. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-16.604; 17. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-19.622; 18. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. Jacob Wilson, 3. A.J. Fike, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr., 5. Aaron Pierce, 6. David Byrne, 7. Austin Nemire, 8. Dave Baumgartner, 9. Tracy Hines, 10. Rex Norris III, 11. C.J. Leary, 12. Tim Barber, 13. Jarett Andretti, 14. Jimmy McCune, 15. Tanner Swanson, 16. Bobby Santos, 17. Kyle Hamilton, 18. Patrick Lawson. NT
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**Tanner Swanson flipped on Lap 50.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 K. Swanson.
USAC HPD MIDWEST MIDGET RACE RESULTS: May 1, 2015 – Toledo, Ohio – Toledo Speedway – Hemelgarn Super Fitness “Rollie Beale Classic”
FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Jacob Stickel (#14s Stickle), 2. Ross Rankine (#9 USAC), 3. Aaron Leffel (#4 Taylor), 4. Jacob Taylor (#11 Taylor). 3:39.21
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Leffel, Laps 2-3 Taylor, Laps 4-20 Stickel.
NEW USAC HPD MIDWEST MIDGET POINTS: 1-Stickel-60, 2-Rankine-57, 3-Leffel-54, 4-Taylor-51.
NEXT USAC HPD MIDWEST MIDGET RACE: June 6 – Waynesfield (OH) Raceway Park