By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (December 1, 2022)………The Bobby Santos vs. Kody Swanson rivalry is among the fiercest and most competitive of its era and has been a tooth-and-nail, tug-of-war clash for more than a decade, namely on the USAC Silver Crown trail.
The torrid battle between Santos and Swanson during the final laps of this past May’s Carb Night Classic at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park proved to be the closest fight to the finish of the entire 82-race USAC National season in 2022.
Santos (Franklin, Mass.) raced to his first USAC Silver Crown victory in more than four years by withstanding the pressure from Swanson to prevail by a slim 0.094 second margin that served as the separation between the pair of pavement aces.
A balancing act of four Sprint Car races, three Midget and three Silver Crown events occupy the list of the 10 closest finishes of the 2022 USAC campaign.
During the USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week feature at Kokomo Speedway in July, Justin Grant saw the race lead slip from his grip three different times. However, the Ione, Calif. driver belied that fact to prevail following a near racelong tug-of-war with Robert Ballou, then fended off a late burst from Kyle Cummins to win the closest USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature of the season by 0.155 sec.
In the closest barnburner on the 2022 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship trail, Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) found a bit of extra good fortune. Kofoid ran third on the final lap of July’s Midwest Midget Championship at Fairbury, Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway when the top-two of Ryan Timms and Cannon McIntosh collided with each other and slid over the turn two banking. Kofoid rushed underneath both Timms and McIntosh, then beat the bottom-rolling Jerry Coons Jr. to the line by a single car length to the tune of 0.218 sec.
On the flip side, Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) captured the strangest, most unpredictable USAC Silver Crown in several years during September’s Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds. In an attrition-filled event which saw just seven of the 30 starters make it to the finish line, when all was said and done, Seavey pounced when the dominant Shane Cockrum ran out of fuel with 13 laps remaining and C.J. Leary’s car snapped a driveline while leading with seven laps to go.
In the end, Seavey was nearly a full lap ahead of the competition, crossing the finish line 33.882 seconds ahead of second place. Yes, you read that right. No filter. No typo.
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CLOSEST FINISHES OF THE 2022 USAC NATIONAL SEASON:
#1 | 0.094 sec. | 5/27/2022 | Silver Crown | Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Bobby Santos over Kody Swanson
#2 | 0.155 sec. | 7/26/2022 | National Sprint | Kokomo Speedway | Justin Grant over Kyle Cummins
#3 | 0.218 sec. | 7/16/2022 | National Midget | Jefferson County Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Jerry Coons Jr.
#4 | 0.227 sec. | 10/8/2022 | National Midget | Tri-State Speedway | Justin Grant over Buddy Kofoid
#5 | 0.265 sec. | 7/22/2022 | National Sprint | Gas City I-69 Speedway | Shane Cottle over Justin Grant
#6 | 0.266 sec. | 8/25/2022 | National Sprint | Kokomo Speedway | Justin Grant over Kyle Cummins
#7 | 0.297 sec. | 6/17/2022 | National Sprint | Williams Grove Speedway | Justin Grant over Alex Bright
#8 | 0.301 sec. | 6/9/2022 | National Midget | Lincoln Park Speedway | Jacob Denney over Zach Daum
#9 | 0.317 sec. | 6/24/2022 | Silver Crown | Madison International Speedway | C.J. Leary over Bobby Santos
#10 | 0.411 sec. | 6/18/2022 | Silver Crown | Port Royal Speedway | Logan Seavey over Matt Westfall
#11 | 0.417 sec. | 11/19/2022 | National Midget | Placerville Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Chance Crum
#12 | 0.431 sec. | 7/30/2022 | National Sprint | Tri-State Speedway | Robert Ballou over Kyle Cummins
#13 | 0.465 sec. | 9/16/2022 | National Sprint | Circle City Raceway | Kevin Thomas Jr. over Brady Bacon
#14 | 0.478 sec. | 2/12/2022 | National Midget | Bubba Raceway Park | Justin Grant over Buddy Kofoid
#15 | 0.529 sec. | 7/10/2022 | National Sprint | Huset’s Speedway | Mitchel Moles over C.J. Leary
#16 | 0.538 sec. | 7/25/2022 | National Sprint | Circle City Raceway | C.J. Leary over Justin Grant
#17 | 0.558 sec. | 9/10/2022 | National Midget | Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex | Buddy Kofoid over Daison Pursley
#18 | 0.560 sec. | 5/22/2022 | National Sprint | Terre Haute Action Track | Robert Ballou over Brady Bacon
#19 | 0.576 sec. | 11/23/2022 | National Midget | Merced Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Spencer Bayston
#20 | 0.582 sec. | 10/7/2022 | National Midget | Wayne County Speedway | Mitchel Moles over Zach Daum
#21 | 0.583 sec. | 11/15/2022 | National Midget | Bakersfield Speedway | Thomas Meseraull over Michael Pickens
#22 | 0.599 sec. | 6/15/2022 | National Sprint | Bridgeport Motorsports Park | Logan Seavey over Chase Stockon
#23 | 0.630 sec. | 6/5/2022 | National Midget | Tri-State Speedway | Thomas Meseraull over Buddy Kofoid
#24 | 0.632 sec. | 11/4/2022 | National Sprint | Perris Auto Speedway | Robert Ballou over Kevin Thomas Jr.
#25 | 0.636 sec. | 2/18/2022 | National Sprint | Bubba Raceway Park | Justin Grant over Buddy Kofoid
#26 | 0.639 sec. | 2/11/2022 | National Midget | Bubba Raceway Park | Justin Grant over Tanner Thorson
#27 | 0.644 sec. | 9/24/2022 | National Sprint | Eldora Speedway | Justin Grant over C.J. Leary
#28 | 0.690 sec. | 7/2/2022 | National Sprint | Lincoln Park Speedway | Justin Grant over Emerson Axsom
#29 | 0.706 sec. | 7/28/2022 | National Sprint | Lincoln Park Speedway | Mitchel Moles over Jadon Rogers
#30 | 0.720 sec. | 9/22/2022 | National Sprint | Gas City I-69 Speedway | Kevin Thomas Jr. over Logan Seavey
#31 | 0.774 sec. | 8/26/2022 | National Sprint | Kokomo Speedway | Kevin Thomas Jr. over Jake Swanson
#32 | 0.793 sec. | 7/15/2022 | National Midget | Jefferson County Speedway | Mitchel Moles over Ryan Timms
#33 | 0.797 sec. | 10/1/2022 | National Sprint | Lawrenceburg Speedway | Kyle Cummins over Logan Seavey
#34 | 0.816 sec. | 10/29/2022 | National Sprint | Cocopah Speedway | Jake Swanson over C.J. Leary
#35 | 0.836 sec. | 9/24/2022 | Silver Crown | Eldora Speedway | Logan Seavey over C.J. Leary
#36 | 0.845 sec. | 8/4/2022 | National Midget | The Dirt Track at IMS | Buddy Kofoid over Cannon McIntosh
#37 | 0.850 sec. | 7/10/2022 | National Midget | Huset’s Speedway | Cannon McIntosh over Shane Golobic
#38 | 0.876 sec. | 7/9/2022 | National Midget | Huset’s Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Cannon McIntosh
#39 | 0.959 sec. | 11/3/2022 | National Sprint | Perris Auto Speedway | Brady Bacon over Justin Grant
#40 | 0.978 sec. | 9/17/2022 | National Sprint | Tri-State Speedway | Jadon Rogers over Kyle Cummins
#41 | 0.990 sec. | 4/22/2022 | National Midget | Port City Raceway | Justin Grant over Buddy Kofoid
#42 | 0.992 sec. | 7/8/2022 | National Sprint | Huset’s Speedway | Robert Ballou over Justin Grant
#43 | 0.993 sec. | 7/12/2022 | National Midget | Red Dirt Raceway | Ryan Timms over Justin Grant
#44 | 1.047 sec. | 11/17/2022 | National Midget | Placerville Speedway | Tanner Carrick over Michael Pickens
#45 | 1.094 sec. | 5/1/2022 | Silver Crow | Terre Haute Action Track | Justin Grant over Jerry Coons Jr.
#46 | 1.107 sec. | 9/23/2022 | National Midget | Eldora Speedway | Mitchel Moles over Bryant Wiedeman
#47 | 1.123 sec. | 11/22/2022 | National Midget | Merced Speedway | Carson Macedo over Buddy Kofoid
#48 | 1.131 sec. | 9/30/2022 | National Sprint | Kokomo Speedway | Kyle Cummins over Jake Swanson
#49 | 1.158 sec. | 8/19/2022 | Silver Crown | World Wide Technology Raceway | Kody Swanson over Davey Hamilton Jr.
#50 | 1.224 sec. | 9/9/2022 | National Midget | Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex | Cannon McIntosh over Brenham Crouch
#51 | 1.251 sec. | 6/19/2022 | National Sprint | Bloomsburg Fair Raceway | Brady Bacon over Justin Grant
#52 | 1.338 sec. | 6/3/2022 | National Midget | Bloomington Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Chance Crum
#53 | 1.367 sec. | 11/26/2022 | National Midget | Ventura Raceway | Justin Grant over Kyle Larson
#54 | 1.372 sec. | 11/18/2022 | National Midget | Placerville Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Cannon McIntosh
#55 | 1.416 sec. | 4/23/2022 | National Midget | Port City Raceway | Buddy Kofoid over Mitchel Moles
#56 | 1.442 sec. | 6/14/2022 | National Sprint | Grandview Speedway | Brady Bacon over Briggs Danner
#57 | 1.576 sec. | 7/9/2022 | National Sprint | Huset’s Speedway | Ryan Bernal over Justin Grant
#58 | 1.581 sec. | 6/4/2022 | National Midget | Lawrenceburg Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Justin Grant
#59 | 1.836 sec. | 10/15/2022 | Silver Crown | Illinois State Fairgrounds | Shane Cockrum over Shane Cottle
#60 | 1.862 sec. | 7/8/2022 | National Midget | Huset’s Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Thomas Meseraull
#61 | 1.936 sec. | 10/28/2022 | National Sprint | Cocopah Speedway | Emerson Axsom over Jake Swanson
#62 | 1.937 sec. | 7/13/2022 | National Midget | Solomon Valley Raceway | Thomas Meseraull over Buddy Kofoid
#63 | 1.953 sec. | 6/26/2022 | National Sprint | Angell Park Speedway | Robert Ballou over Brady Bacon
#64 | 1.973 sec. | 7/29/2022 | National Sprint | Bloomington Speedway | Kyle Cummins over Brady Bacon
#65 | 2.243 sec. | 6/11/2022 | National Midget | Kokomo Speedway | Cannon McIntosh over Jacob Denney
#66 | 2.514 sec. | 4/16/2022 | National Sprint | Atomic Speedway | Brady Bacon over Robert Ballou
#67 | 2.536 sec. | 2/19/2022 | National Sprint | Bubba Raceway Park | Emerson Axsom over Tanner Thorson
#68 | 3.114 sec. | 8/6/2022 | Silver Crown | Toledo Speedway | Kody Swanson over Bobby Santos
#69 | 3.267 sec. | 7/1/2022 | National Sprint | Lincoln Park Speedway | C.J. Leary over Brady Bacon
#70 | 3.462 sec. | 9/24/2022 | National Midget | Eldora Speedway | Chris Windom over Bryant Wiedeman
#71 | 3.632 sec. | 5/14/2022 | National Sprint | I-70 Motorsports Park | Robert Ballou over Brady Bacon
#72 | 4.002 sec. | 2/17/2022 | National Sprint | Bubba Raceway Park | Emerson Axsom over Jason McDougal
#73 | 4.088 sec. | 8/27/2022 | National Sprint | Kokomo Speedway | Kyle Cummins over C.J. Leary
#74 | 4.595 sec. | 5/12/2022 | National Sprint | Lakeside Speedway | Brady Bacon over Robert Ballou
#75 | 4.883 sec. | 10/22/2022 | Silver Crown | Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Tanner Swanson over C.J. Leary
#76 | 5.407 sec. | 6/18/2022 | National Sprint | Port Royal Speedway | Logan Seavey over Alex Bright
#77 | 5.802 sec. | 6/2/2022 | National Midget | Tri-City Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Kyle Larson
#78 | 6.328 sec. | 5/20/2022 | National Sprint | Terre Haute Action Track | C.J. Leary over Logan Seavey
#79 | 6.430 sec. | 11/5/2022 | National Sprint | Perris Auto Speedway | Brady Bacon over Jake Swanson
#80 | 10.062 sec. | 7/21/2022 | Silver Crown | Winchester Speedway | Kody Swanson over Logan Seavey
#81 | 33.882 sec. | 9/5/2022 | Silver Crown | Du Quoin State Fairgrounds | Logan Seavey over Shane Cockrum
#82 | Red Flag | 9/22/2022 | National Midget | Gas City I-69 Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Kaylee Bryson