By Richie Murray
Toledo, Ohio (April 16, 2025)………The USAC Silver Crown trail is a diverse one with an array of dirt and pavement tracks each taking turns hosting the behemoths of the USAC arsenal – the champ cars.
Just last Sunday, Terre Haute’s dirt 1/2-mile was the battlefield. Now, this Saturday, April 19, the stage is paved with asphalt as the series takes on Ohio’s Toledo Speedway for the 12th running of the Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic Fueled by Marco’s Pizza.
The annual event remembers Toledo’s racing hero, 1973 USAC National Sprint Car champion Rollie Beale, who also later became a highly respected USAC official who served as the chief steward for both the Silver Crown and National Sprint Car series for many years.
Here’s seven storylines to watch coming up this Saturday at Toledo!
WHO’LL STOP THE REIGN?
Creedence Clearwater Revival once asked us “Who’ll stop the rain?” Race fans still wonder “Who’ll stop the reign…of Kody Swanson at Toledo?”
Swanson (Kingsburg, California) has raced to eight overall USAC Silver Crown victories at Toledo in 2011-15-18-19-21-22-23-24, including six consecutive. The eight victories are one shy of the record for most by any driver at a single track in USAC Silver Crown history, one that he himself owns with nine scores at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Kody’s current run of six consecutive Silver Crown wins at Toledo does have him at the top of another record for consecutive victories at one track. He set the record during the 2024 running of the event in which he led all 100 laps en route to the win after starting on the pole.
As the owner of eight poles and eight victories in Silver Crown competition at Toledo, Swanson is the winningest USAC driver in the history of the track. He’s also the only driver to have started all 11 previous USAC Silver Crown events contested at Toledo dating back to 2010 and has now led 778 of the 1,200 total laps ever run in Silver Crown competition at Toledo for a percentage of 64.8%.
The eight-time USAC Silver Crown champion, however, is buried deep in the points entering Toledo following a 16th place result in last Sunday’s opener at Terre Haute which has him 16th in the standings with a lot of ground to cover.
THE 100 CLUB
Twenty drivers have reached the 100 career start mark with the USAC Silver Crown series. Justin Grant (Ione, California) is poised to become the next this Saturday.
Grant currently stands at 99 starts dating back to his 2012 series debut. Other drivers in the 100 career start club include: Russ Gamester (218), Brian Tyler (212), Dave Darland (201), Jerry Coons Jr. (190), Tracy Hines (172), Jack Hewitt (163), Kody Swanson (154), Eric Gordon (153), Johnny Parsons (151), Tony Elliott (147), George Snider (129), Gary Hieber (125), Chuck Gurney (115), Bud Kaeding (113), Jimmy Sills (113), Dave Steele (111), John Heydenreich (110), Aaron Pierce (106), A.J. Fike (105) and Larry Rice (100).
Grant has finished each of his last three Toledo starts inside the top-five with a 3rd in 2022, 4th in 2023 and another 4th in 2024.
MARIO’S NEW SPEEDWAGON
This past Sunday, Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing captured the season opening victory of the USAC Silver Crown campaign on the dirt of the Terre Haute Action Track with Logan Seavey as the winning driver.
However, for the first time since 2019, the no. 22 will have a different driver in the seat. Mario Clouser has been selected as the wheelman of the car for Toledo. In the team’s four previous starts with Seavey, he collected a 10th, 4th, 5th and 7th.
Meanwhile, Clouser has progressively finished better in each of his three Toledo Silver Crown starts with a 9th in 2022, a 7th in 2023 and a 6th in 2024.
THE BOLT MAKES USAC HISTORY
At age 15, teenage sensation Colton Bettis will become the youngest driver to compete in a USAC Silver Crown event this Saturday at Toledo. The Lutz, Florida native will drive a second Sam Pierce Racing car at Toledo as a teammate to Kaylee Bryson.
Bettis has been on quite a roll as of late, winning the 2024 Auburndale Pro Late Model Championship and the 2024 BG Southern Sprint Car Series Championship. Thus far in 2025, he’s won five of the first seven winged pavement sprint car races in Florida in which he competed in.
Currently ranked second in the 2025 National Pavement Sprint Car rankings, Bettis is also the current BG Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series points leader.
BUSY IS THE WORD FOR BYRD
Perhaps no other driver will have a more diversified upcoming week of racing than Nathan Byrd.
On Thursday, Byrd (Goodyear, Arizona) will compete with the 500 Sprint Car Tour at Indiana’s Anderson Speedway. On Friday, he’s off to North Carolina’s Rockingham Speedway to race with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. To cap off his weekend on Saturday, he’ll wheel the Meyer Auto Research no. 40 Silver Crown car at Toledo.
The first of Byrd’s two Silver Crown starts at Toledo was his best, finishing sixth in 2021. His most recent appearance at the track netted a 16th in 2023.
LEARY DEBUTS NEW CAR
To kick off the week, C.J. Leary took his first ride in the Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Silver Crown car, which he took to a 5th place finish at Terre Haute’s dirt oval.
This weekend, the team will make a debut of another kind as they unveil the first ever DRC pavement Silver Crown chassis. In a series dominated by Beast chassis in the win column over the pavement for the past three decades, it will be interesting to see how the new DRC design performs in its first race day.
Leary also has a bit of a score to settle at Toledo after a magnificent 2023 run which saw him lead a race-high 77 laps before finishing second to Kody Swanson. Leary’s most recent USAC Silver Crown win actually came on the pavement of Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway in 2022.
FIRST THINGS FIRST FOR SANTOS
When it comes to USAC Silver Crown season openers on pavement, no driver has won more often than Bobby Santos. Santos has captured the pavement opener on six occasions in his career in 2012-13-17-18-22-23.
Back in 2017, Santos (Franklin, Mass.) raced around Kody Swanson just before the midway point to score one in the win column for himself and the DJ Racing team at Toledo Speedway. He’s also the only driver to win at Toledo in a USAC Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown car in his career in addition to collecting a King of the Wing Sprint Car victory there in 2017.
In six of his nine career Silver Crown starts at Toledo, Santos has placed on the podium, and he’s also taken the runner-up position four times in 2018-19-21-22.
RACE DETAILS
An open practice session will be held at Toledo Speedway on Friday, April 18. USAC Silver Crown practice will take place from 4:15-5pm Eastern and again from 6:15-8pm in an alternating fashion along with the other divisions.
On Saturday, April 19, at Toledo Speedway, the Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic features the USAC Silver Crown National Championship plus the CRA Jegs All Star Tour & Factory Stocks.
USAC pit gates open at 8am Eastern. Spectator grates open at 10:30am with practice set for 11:20am, followed by qualifying at 12:30pm, an autograph session from 1:50-2:30pm. Pre-race ceremonies begin at 2:45pm followed by the 100-lap USAC Silver Crown feature at 3pm.
General admission tickets are $30. Kids age 6-12 are $5. Ages 5 & under are free. Advance tickets are on sale now at http://www.toledospeedway.com/.
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2025 ROLLIE BEALE CLASSIC ENTRY LIST: (19)
5 DAKODA ARMSTRONG/New Castle, IN (C & A Motorsports)
6 JAKE TRAINOR/Greenfield, IN (Klatt Enterprises)
8 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Charles, MO (Steffens Motorsports)
18 TRAVIS WELPOTT/Pendleton, IN (Welpott Racing)
21 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Racing)
22 MARIO CLOUSER/Sutter, CA (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)
26 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Sam Pierce Racing)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
32 GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN (Williams-Cory Racing)
40 NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ (Meyer Auto Research)
41 TYLER ROAHRIG/Plymouth, IN (Michael Newman)
54 MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (4 Kings Racing)
55 TAYLOR FERNS/Shelby Township, MI (Taylor Ferns Racing)
77 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Doran-Binks Racing)
81 TREY OSBORNE/Columbus, OH (BCR Group)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
98 BOBBY SANTOS/Franklin, MA (DJ Racing)
124 (R) JACKSON MACENKO/Cincinnati, OH (Brad Hayes Racing)
126 COLTON BETTIS/Lutz, FL (Sam Pierce Racing)
(R) represents a USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC SILVER CROWN AT TOLEDO SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 10/15/2011 – Kody Swanson – 14.809 – 121.548 mph
100 Laps – 6/29/2012 – Jerry Coons Jr. – 27:07.40 – 110.606 mph
TOLEDO USAC SILVER CROWN WINS:
8-Kody Swanson
2-Jerry Coons Jr.
1-Bobby Santos
TOLEDO USAC SILVER CROWN WINNERS:
2010: Jerry Coons Jr. (10/16)
2011: Kody Swanson (10/15)
2012: Jerry Coons Jr. (6/29)
2015: Kody Swanson (5/1)
2017: Bobby Santos (7/28)
2018: Kody Swanson (5/4)
2019: Kody Swanson (4/28)
2021: Kody Swanson (10/10)
2022: Kody Swanson (8/6)
2023: Kody Swanson (8/5)
2024: Kody Swanson (4/20)
PAST USAC SILVER CROWN RESULTS AT TOLEDO SPEEDWAY:
2010 FEATURE: (150 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jerry Coons Jr. (1), 2. Kody Swanson (5), 3. Bobby East (6), 4. Bryan Clauson (10), 5. A.J. Fike (8), 6. Brian Tyler (11), 7. Levi Jones (4), 8. Bud Kaeding (3), 9. Justin Carver (15), 10. Zach Daum (14), 11. Dave Darland (19), 12. Russ Gamester (12), 13. Derek Hagar (18), 14. Zach Martini (20), 15. Tanner Swanson (9), 16. Tracy Hines (7), 17. Shane Hollingsworth (13), 18. Jeff Swindell (16), 19. Troy DeCaire (17), 20. Jacob Wilson (2). NT
2011 FEATURE: (150 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bryan Clauson (6), 3. Bobby East (3), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (2), 5. Darren Hagen (7), 6. Brian Tyler (10), 7. Levi Jones (11), 8. Kyle Hamilton (12), 9. Shane Hollingsworth (13), 10. Eric Gordon (4), 11. Tracy Hines (9), 12. David Byrne (14), 13. Kyle Larson (15), 14. Derek Hagar (16), 15. A.J. Fike (18), 16. Russ Gamester (8), 17. Jimmy Kite (19), 18. Tanner Swanson (5), 19. Doug Berryman (17). 45:54.90
2012 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jerry Coons Jr. (8), 2. Bobby East (1), 3. Bobby Santos (3), 4. Kody Swanson (2), 5. Tracy Hines (4), 6. Kyle Hamilton (5), 7. Tanner Swanson (6), 8. A.J. Fike (10), 9. Levi Jones (14), 10. Jacob Wilson (11), 11. Bud Kaeding (9), 12. Eric Gordon (13), 13. Brian Tyler (12), 14. Doug Berryman (15), 15. Taylor Ferns (7). 27:07.40
2015 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Jacob Wilson (3), 3. A.J. Fike (17), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (7), 5. Aaron Pierce (5), 6. David Byrne (16), 7. Austin Nemire (15), 8. Dave Baumgartner (11), 9. Tracy Hines (4), 10. Rex Norris III (10), 11. C.J. Leary (13), 12. Tim Barber (14), 13. Jarett Andretti (9), 14. Jimmy McCune (12), 15. Tanner Swanson (2), 16. Bobby Santos (8), 17. Kyle Hamilton (6), 18. Patrick Lawson (18). NT
2017 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bobby Santos (2), 2. Kody Swanson (1), 3. Chris Windom (4), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 5. Joe Liguori (8), 6. Davey Hamilton (9), 7. Joe Axsom (11), 8. David Byrne (5), 9. Annie Breidinger (12), 10. Justin Grant (7), 11. Troy Thompson (14), 12. Aaron Pierce (3), 13. Joss Moffatt (15), 14. Damion Gardner (10), 15. Matt Goodnight (13). 28:48.17
2018 FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Kody Swanson (9), 2. Bobby Santos (4), 3. David Byrne (7), 4. Eric Gordon (16), 5. Aaron Pierce (6), 6. Austin Nemire (8), 7. Cody Gerhardt (15), 8. Matt Goodnight (10), 9. Travis Welpott (11), 10. Justin Grant (1), 11. Kyle Robbins (12, 12. Toni Breidinger (14), 13. Jerry Coons Jr. (2), 14. Kyle Hamilton (3), 15. Chris Windom (5), 16. Dave Darland (13). NT
2019 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (11), 3. Aaron Pierce (3), 4. Justin Grant (6), 5. Chris Windom (10), 6. Kyle Hamilton (2), 7. Austin Nemire (20), 8. Derek Bischak (12), 9. Joey Schmidt (13), 10. Brian Gerster (19), 11. Russ Gamester (16), 12. Mike Haggenbottom (22), 13. Cody Gerhardt (21), 14. Kyle Robbins (17), 15. Cody Gallogly (18), 16. Chris Dyson (14), 17. Matt Goodnight (15), 18. Eric Gordon (4), 19. David Byrne (7), 20. Jason Conn (9), 21. C.J. Leary (5), 22. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (8). NT
2021 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (4), 3. Brian Tyler (7), 4. David Byrne (3), 5. Davey Hamilton Jr. (14), 6. Nathan Byrd (10), 7. Kyle O’Gara (6), 8. Austin Nemire (15), 9. Taylor Ferns (5), 10. Logan Seavey (12), 11. Mike Haggenbottom (19), 12. Jake Day (21), 13. Tyler Roahrig (8), 14. Annie Breidinger (20), 15. Russ Gamester (11), 16. Mike McVetta (17), 17. Justin Grant (2), 18. Jim Anderson (13), 19. Travis Welpott (18), 20. Aaron Pierce (16), 21. Kyle Robbins (9), 22. Dave Berkheimer (22). NT
2022 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (4), 3. Justin Grant (3), 4. Logan Seavey (5), 5. Russ Gamester (7), 6. Derek Bischak (19), 7. Kyle Robbins (6), 8. Brian Tyler (10), 9. Mario Clouser (9), 10. Nick Hamilton (8), 11. C.J. Leary (20), 12. Mike McVetta (11), 13. Kaylee Bryson (15), 14. Kyle O’Gara (12), 15. Mike Haggenbottom (17), 16. Gregg Cory (16), 17. Taylor Ferns (2), 18. Travis Welpott (14), 19. Jake Day (21), 20. Austin Nemire (13), 21. Tom Paterson (18), 22. Dave Berkheimer (22). 1:05:57.617
2023 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. C.J. Leary (2), 3. Derek Bischak (5), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Logan Seavey (7), 6. Kaylee Bryson (10), 7. Mario Clouser (9), 8. Taylor Ferns (17), 9. Russ Gamester (8), 10. Dakoda Armstrong (6), 11. Bobby Santos (20), 12. Billy Wease (11), 13. Kyle Robbins (14), 14. Kyle O’Gara (12), 15. Matt Westfall (15), 16. Nathan Byrd (13), 17. Trey Burke (18), 18. Mike McVetta (19), 19. Travis Welpott (16), 20. Davey Hamilton Jr. (4), 21. Tom Paterson (22), 22. Dave Berkheimer (21). 28:35.61
2024 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. C.J. Leary (3), 3. Tyler Roahrig (2), 4. Justin Grant (5), 5. Bobby Santos (4), 6. Mario Clouser (9), 7. Logan Seavey (6), 8. Taylor Ferns (11), 9. Jerry Coons Jr. (14), 10. Davey Hamilton Jr. (10), 11. Kaylee Bryson (18), 12. Kyle Steffens (15), 13. Gregg Cory (12), 14. Jackson Macenko (7), 15. Travis Welpott (16), 16. Trey Burke (13), 17. Dakoda Armstrong (8), 18. Dave Berkheimer (17), 19. Nathan Moore (19). 28:00.63