By Richie Murray
Terre Haute, Indiana (May 21, 2024)………With Logan Seavey, there seems to be a trend of sorts in USAC national competition. The last time he was the fastest qualifier in each of three USAC national series, he went on to win the feature event that very same night.
During Tuesday’s 54th annual running of the Tony Hulman Classic for the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track, he set the tone for the night by recording the fastest qualifying time, then proceeded to keep his personal omen alive.
He accomplished the same feat with his most recent fast qualifying effort with the USAC Silver Crown series in August of 2023 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and in his latest USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget triumph last Sunday at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Park.
But there’s also another ongoing trend that the Sutter, Calif. native is quite fond of, and that’s winning, period. His latest performance at Terre Haute’s 1/2-mile saw him take the lead with just two laps remaining to win his second race spanning across two USAC national series in the past three days while also capturing his fourth USAC Sprint victory of the season in his Abacus Racing/CG CPAs – Indy Custom Stone – Forecheck Marketing/DRC/Stanton Chevy.
Believe it or not, Seavey is the first fastest qualifier to win the Hulman Classic in 21 years! J.J. Yeley was the most recent to do so way back in 2003.
Seavey’s 14th career USAC National Sprint Car victory tied him for 43rd all-time alongside Billy Cassella, Lee Kunzman, Chase Stockon and Bruce Walkup. Two of Seavey’s 14 wins have come at Terre Haute, the first of which occurred during the Indiana Sprint Week round in 2021. Much like Stockon and Walkup, Seavey is now the proud owner of a Hulman Classic rifle, annually presented to the race’s winner since 1971.
“I really wanted to win this rifle,” Seavey stated. “It’s one of the coolest trophies we get to race for. I’m just excited to win another one here at Terre Haute. This place is so special to me and to all of racing in Indiana. To win one in Tony Hulman’s name is really cool. This place is tough, and it means a lot to win here. I was able to win one a few years ago and it’s eluded me for a few years but now it feels so good getting into this racecar and knowing we have a shot every night.”
Seavey started fifth on the grid for the 30-lap, $10,000-to-win main event, but quickly got shuffled back to eighth before steadily making his way back to the forefront. Initially, 2017 Hulman Classic winner Kevin Thomas Jr. stepped out to the lead from the pole position with three-time Hulman winner Robert Ballou giving chase.
However, the start was a rough go as Joey Amantea spun backwards in turn one, claiming he “saw God” as the back half of the field scattered high and low to miss T-boning him before he rolled to a stop without contact. In the end ,you could almost say Amantea was a hard charger twice. Starting 19th, he worked up to 14th by lap one before his incident. Restarting 23rd, he passed 12 more in the final 29 laps to finish 11th in his debut Hulman Classic experience.
On the ensuing restart, two-time and defending USAC Sprint champion Justin Grant (10th) spun backwards to a stop in turn two, and in the end, wound up 15th at the finish line after restarting at the tail.
After first time USAC starter Nate Ervin (23rd) slowed a stop on the back straightaway to bring out the yellow on lap nine, Swanson took advantage of the reset to slide job past Thomas for the lead. Brady Bacon followed suit to second in turn three as he shot under Thomas for the runner-up spot.
Just before midway, Seavey surged into third on the 13th lap as he dug in to swipe the position with a turn three slider on Thomas. Yet, Seavey remained nearly a half-straightaway behind the top two who were now entering the tail end of the field to put them a lap down. Seavey turned the quickest lap of the race on lap 17 and visibly drew closer to the front pack.
Bacon fired a shot at Swanson for the race lead in turn three on lap 21, but the bottom line was occupied by the lapped car of Charles Davis Jr., forcing Bacon to fall back in line in front of Seavey who was now right on his rear bumper. Seavey remained in third with just four laps to go but executed a picture-perfect slider on Bacon in turn one on lap 27 for second, then set his compass toward Swanson, but time was running short.
“We were hustling hard there,” Seavey explained. “Jake and Brady were so fast and setting such a good pace, I could get to third and be right on Brady, but he never seemed to get a run to slide him for the lead. I tried to show him a nose to get him to race a little harder and a little more aggressively, but I was finally able to get a run on Brady and slide him. Then, on the next lap, I could see the flagman, barely, through the dust but I could see him say ‘five to go.’ I knew it was coming quick, so I had to pull the trigger and I was able to get it done.”
With three to go, Swanson put Grant one lap down as he worked his way past in turns one and two. Meanwhile, Seavey got hung up behind Grant at the exit of turn two, seemingly costing Seavey valuable time as Swanson opened his gap up to six car lengths on the back straight. Seavey cleared Grant by turn three and set forth on tracking Swanson down.
Turn two on lap 29 is where Seavey practically won the race. Nailing the cushion perfectly, Seavey propelled off of it and launched right to Swanson’s tail tank halfway down the back straight before racing underneath at the entrance to turn three to take over the lead and put another win in the bag.
“You have to have such a big run,” Seavey acknowledged. “Even though this place is wide, you enter nearly wide open getting into these corners. To clear somebody, you have to run it in so hard, then it’s all the way to the fence. You just slide and slide and slide, then just gas it as hard as you can before you hit the fence and hope you don’t crash, really. In all reality, that’s what we’re doing out there. We’re just sliding each other and hoping we don’t crash coming out the other end. It’s just about getting a big run and getting to them as they enter and making sure you get across in front of them because they can see you coming. This place is tricky; it’s fast; and it’s not a place you want to bang wheels at. You want to make sure you clear them good and then hit the cushion and get a good launch down the straightaways.”
From there, Seavey executed the last lap and a half to keep Swanson at bay with Seavey defeating him at the line by less than two car lengths and a 0.287 second margin. Swanson took second with Bacon third, Thomas fourth and C.J. Leary fifth.
For Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.) it was a bittersweet symphony. He led a race high 20 laps and finished with his best Tony Hulman Classic result to date aboard his 2B Racing/Honest Abe Roofing – Benic Enterprises/DRC/Claxton Chevy. Despite the disappointment of seeing the win slip away, Swanson is proud of the accomplishment given the team’s up-and-down season to this point.
“It’s a big-time step in the right direction,” Swanson said. “I’m actually really happy and really stoked for this race team. They worked really, really hard and they deserve this. I just wish we were one spot better. Obviously, it’s a massive heartbreak. I was trying to be smart, and I saw Brady at one point towards the end. I was like, ‘alright, I’ve got to turn the wick up a little bit and run it a little bit harder’ and I did. I was just worried because this place has such a knife’s edge that you run it hard for 30 laps and that’s a good way to bust your ass. I was trying to be smart and win the race while being smart. At the end of the day, I don’t know if I could’ve gotten away a little more or maybe it would’ve panned out a lot worse. Either way, it’s a step in the right direction. Luckily, we don’t have too much heartbreak for too long. We get to race tomorrow (at Circle City Raceway).”
For Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.), it’s relatively the same story as Swanson. The defending Hulman Classic winner has yet to win a USAC race to this point but has begun to string consistent finishes together with a 3rd, 7th, 8th and 3rd over his past four series starts in the month of May. Furthermore, it’s his fourth consecutive Hulman Classic podium following results of 3-2-1-3 since 2021 in his Dynamics, Inc./Next Level Metal – Davis Brothers Trucking – Hutson John Deere/Triple X/Rider Chevy.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: May 21, 2024 – Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, Indiana – 54th Annual Tony Hulman Classic – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-20.152; 2. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-20.249; 3. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-20.363; 4. Jake Swanson, 2B, 2B Racing-20.385; 5. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-20.392; 6. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-20.404; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-20.416; 8. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-20.458; 9. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-20.475; 10. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-20.501; 11. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-20.512; 12. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-20.533; 13. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-20.549; 14. Ricky Lewis, 41, Stensland-20.556; 15. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-20.667; 16. Max Adams, 63, F & F-20.692; 17. Saban Bibent, 98, Wedgewood-20.775; 18. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-20.930; 19. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-20.944; 20. Jadon Rogers, 17GP, Dutcher-21.049; 21. Tye Mihocko, 42, Cheney-21.179; 22. Kevin Newton, 16TH, 2nd Law-21.243; 23. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-21.318; 24. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-21.403; 25.Nate Ervin, 11, Algieo-22.144; 26. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-23.433; 27. Mitch Wissmiller, 29, LNB-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Mitchel Moles, 2. Jake Swanson, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Max Adams, 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 7. Joey Amantea, 8. Kevin Newton, 9. Nate Ervin. 2:50.26
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Ricky Lewis, 2. Matt Westfall, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Carson Garrett, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Saban Bibent, 8. Brandon Mattox. 2:49.57
T.J. FORGED / CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Charles Davis Jr., 5. Robert Ballou, 6. Tye Mihocko, 7. Shane Cottle, 8. Matt Goodnight. 2:53.27
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (8 laps, shorted to 7 laps due to accident, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Joey Amantea, 3. Matt Goodnight, 4. Saban Bibent, 5. Brandon Mattox, 6. Nate Ervin, 7. Kevin Newton. 2:35.29 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (5), 2. Jake Swanson (2), 3. Brady Bacon (4), 4. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1), 5. C.J. Leary (9), 6. Daison Pursley (12), 7. Chase Stockon (13), 8. Robert Ballou (3), 9. Mitchel Moles (7), 10. Shane Cottle (10), 11. Joey Amantea (19), 12. Matt Westfall (14), 13. Ricky Lewis (8), 14. Kyle Cummins (15), 15. Justin Grant (11), 16. Max Adams (16), 17. Jadon Rogers (20), 18. Charles Davis Jr. (18), 19. Brandon Mattox (22), 20. Saban Bibent (17), 21. Matt Goodnight (23), 22. Tye Mihocko (21), 23. Nate Ervin (24), 24. Carson Garrett (6). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Kevin Thomas Jr., Laps 9-28 Jake Swanson, Laps 29-30 Logan Seavey.
**Kevin Newton flipped during the semi.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-870, 2-C.J. Leary-807, 3-Kevin Thomas Jr.-789, 4-Daison Pursley-694, 5-Kyle Cummins-662, 6-Justin Grant-658, 7-Brady Bacon-655, 8-Mitchel Moles-624, 9-Robert Ballou-618, 10-Chase Stockon-604.
BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOIN’ FASTER PRESENTED BY SPIRE SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-233, 2-C.J. Leary-205, 3-Kevin Thomas Jr.-203, 4-Brady Bacon-178, 5-Daison Pursley-178, 6-Justin Grant-172, 7-Mitchel Moles-171, 8-Kyle Cummins-165, 9-Jake Swanson-152, 10-Carson Garrett-150.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Robert Ballou-64, 2-C.J. Leary-62, 3-Logan Seavey-57, 4-Daison Pursley-50, 5-Joey Amantea-49, 6-Matt Westfall-38, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-37, 8-Brady Bacon-37, 9-Justin Grant-33, 10-Kyle Cummins-33.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: May 22-23, 2024 – Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, Indiana – Circle City Salute – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: C.J. Leary (20.157)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Logan Seavey (20.152)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Mitchel Moles
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Ricky Lewis
T.J. Forged / Car IQ Third Heat Winner: C.J. Leary
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Shane Cottle
Hard Charger: Joey Amantea (19th to 11th)