By Richie Murray
Salem, Indiana (August 6, 2025)………For the first time in five seasons, USAC Silver Crown racing returns to the high banks of southern Indiana’s Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery this Saturday, August 9.
The seventh appearance of the series at the .555-mile paved oval dating back to 1988 presents the first 100-lap USAC event at the track in 57 years!
The field will be gunning for a $10,000 prize at one of America’s most storied racetracks with USAC’s origins at the speedway dating back to 1956.
Here’s a few of the storylines we’re keeping an eye on this Saturday night under the lights at Salem!
SIX STRAIGHT IN THE CARDS FOR SWANSON?
The conversation of Saturday’s race begins with Kody Swanson who is a perfect 5-for-5 in USAC Silver Crown competition at Salem Speedway with successive victories in 2016-2017-2018-2019-2020.
In those five races, the Kingsburg, California driver has won the pole position in each and every one of his appearances. He even added an ARCA CRA Super Late Model race win at Salem back in 2021.
His five-straight Salem wins are the second most consecutive by a driver at a track in Silver Crown history. The leader in that particular category is, you guessed it, Kody Swanson who won six straight at Toledo Speedway, but had his streak snapped back in April of this year.
Will the trend of Salem wins continue for Swanson, or will another driver meet the challenge?
C.J.’S KICKING ASPHALT
C.J. Leary enters Saturday’s event as the most recent USAC Silver Crown winner, overall and on pavement.
The Greenfield, Indiana native scored a superb victory on July 23 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, leading the final 51 laps to earn his first series victory since 2022, which also came on pavement.
Leary now ranks just 68 points behind Justin Grant in the series standings as Leary pursues his first career series title. Saturday will mark Leary’s first visit to compete at Salem.
GRANT BACK IN THE SADDLE
Speaking of Justin Grant, it’s been a tumultuous time for the 2020 USAC Silver Crown champion of late.
During a USAC Indiana Sprint Week event on July 27 at Lawrenceburg Speedway, Grant (Ione, California) flipped during the feature, and as a result, suffered a broken left foot.
Although he showed up two nights later at Kokomo in order to gain points, he opted to sit out the remaining four events to rest and heal.
Salem will essentially be his first race back in the cockpit, just 13 days after the incident. But with a 68-point lead he intends to sustain in the hunt for the USAC Silver Crown championship, Grant is preparing to take on the long distance 100-lap challenge on a demanding racetrack.
SALEM IS TAYLOR MADE FOR FERNS
Salem Speedway has been special to Taylor Ferns in recent times. Back in late 2024, she raced to a 500 Sprint Car Tour victory on the high banks, fending off Kody Swanson in the process to get the job done.
She’s yet to make a USAC Silver Crown start in her career at Salem, so this Saturday will present a new challenge for the Shelby Township, Michigan racer.
Her best finish of the season came on the similarly shaped Winchester Speedway in June where she finished sixth. Furthermore, she equaled her career best Silver Crown finish with a 3rd at Winchester in 2022. On Saturday, she’ll vie for her first Silver Crown victory.
STRONG ARM OF SALEM
Dakoda Armstrong possesses winning experience in his career at Salem. Back in 2010, he captured an ARCA Stock Car win at the track. That particular race was 200 laps, 88 of which Armstrong led that day.
The New Castle, Indiana native ran a sprint car at Salem with the 500 Sprint Car Tour in September 2024, finishing seventh.
He’s finished on the podium in three of his four Silver Crowns starts this year but is aiming to return to winner’s circle for the first time in 2025 this weekend after scoring a pair of victories with the series in 2024.
57 YEARS LATER…100 LAPS AT SALEM
The last 100-lap USAC event to take place at Salem Speedway was a sprint car event held 57 years ago on October 13, 1968!
National Sprint Car and USAC Hall of Famer Rollie Beale took the lead on the first lap and led the entire distance in Ray & Cissy Smith’s sprinter, completing his run in a then record 32 minutes and 30.25 seconds. Greg Weld finished second with Cy Fairchild taking third.
Six previous USAC Silver Crown races have taken place at Salem, but none have exceeded more than 75 laps. The initial 1988 race was 50 laps in length while each subsequent event between 2016-2020 was a 75-lap distance.
RACE DETAILS
On Saturday, August 9, at Indiana’s Salem Speedway, the pits open at 2pm Eastern. Spectator gates open at 3pm. The drivers meeting is scheduled for 3:45pm. The first Silver Crown practice runs from 4:30-5pm. The second Silver Crown practice runs from 5:30pm-6pm. Silver Crown qualifying is set for 6:20pm.
Racing is slated to begin at 7pm with feature races for the Kenyon Midgets, Legends and Scrappers followed by a Silver Crown autograph session, driver intros and the 100-lap Silver Crown feature.
Advanced tickets can be purchased at www.SalemSpeedway.com. General admission tickets are $25. Chairback seats are $30. Kids age 6-12 are $5. Children age 5 & under are free.
The event can be watched live and on-demand at https://flosports.link/usac.
SALEM USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST
5 DAKODA ARMSTRONG/New Castle, IN (C & A Motorsports)
6 (R) JAKE TRAINOR/Medway, MA (Klatt Enterprises)
7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
8 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Charles, MO (Steffens Motorsports)
21 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Racing)
22 DEREK BISCHAK/Angola, IN (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)
26 BILLY WEASE/Noblesville, IN (Sam Pierce)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Dave Berkheimer Motorsports)
40 NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ (Meyer Auto Research)
41 TYLER ROAHRIG/Plymouth, IN (Newman Racing)
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)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Kazmark Motorsports)
124 (R) JACKSON MACENKO/Cincinnati, OH (Brad Hayes Racing)
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TRACK RECORDS AT SALEM SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 8/12/2017 – Kody Swanson – 15.923 – 125.479 mph
50 Laps – 9/18/1988 – Bob Frey – 14:37.44 – 113.854 mph
75 Laps – 8/11/2018 – Kody Swanson – 24:06.27 – 103.611 mph
USAC SILVER CROWN WINS AT SALEM SPEEDWAY
5-Kody Swanson
1-Bob Frey
USAC SILVER CROWN WINNERS AT SALEM SPEEDWAY
1988: Bob Frey
2016: Kody Swanson
2017: Kody Swanson
2018: Kody Swanson
2019: Kody Swanson
2020: Kody Swanson
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-585, 2-C.J. Leary-517, 3-Matt Westfall-422, 4-Kyle Steffens-350, 5-Kody Swanson-341, 6-Dakoda Armstrong-281, 7-Dave Berkheimer-276, 8-Mario Clouser-273, 9-Bobby Santos-272, 10-Logan Seavey-271.
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANT POINTS: 1-Hemelgarn Racing #91-585, 2-Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Racing #21-517, 3-4 Kings Racing #54-422, 4-Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing #22-400, 5-Klatt Enterprises #6-368, 6-Steffens Motorsports #8-350, 7-Doran Binks Racing #77-310, 8-C & A Motorsports #5-281, 9-Dave Berkheimer Motorsports #31-276, 10-DJ Racing #98-272.
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROOKIE DRIVER POINTS: 1-Jake Trainor-192, 2-Jackson Macenko-181, 3-Saban Bibent-90, 4-Danny Jennings-77, 5-Colton Bettis-68, 6-Travis Mahoney-68, 7-Kip Hughes-58, 8-Ricky Thornton Jr.-39, 9-Alex Bright-37, 10-Dave Doran-35.
USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Kale Drake-184, 2-Briggs Danner-126, 3-Gunnar Setser-100, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-99, 5-Logan Seavey-94, 6-C.J. Leary-91, 7-Kyle Cummins-90, 8-Justin Grant-83, 9-Robert Ballou-69, 10-Jake Swanson-69.
PAST USAC SILVER CROWN RESULTS AT SALEM SPEEDWAY:
1988 FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bob Frey (2), 2. Bob Cicconi (6), 3. Jack Hewitt (5), 4. Steve Butler (8), 5. Gene Lee Gibson (7), 6. Tray House (9), 7. Bruce Field (4), 8. George Snider (10), 9. Andy Hillenburg (12), 10. Larry Hoppes (14), 11. Paul Huntington (13), 12. Rich Vogler (1), 13. Jeff Bloom (11), 14. Gary Bettenhausen (3). NT
2016 FEATURE: (75 laps) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Bobby Santos, 5. Justin Grant, 6. Aaron Pierce, 7. David Byrne, 8. Joe Liguori, 9. Patrick Lawson, 10. Casey Shuman, 11. Shane Cottle, 12. Jacob Wilson, 13. Austin Nemire. 27:59.49
2017 FEATURE: (75 laps) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Bobby Santos, 4. Aaron Pierce, 5. Davey Hamilton Jr., 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 7. Justin Grant, 8. Davey Hamilton, 9. Shane Butler, 10. Joss Moffatt, 11. Matt Goodnight, 12. Joe Axsom, 13. David Byrne, 14. Jacob Wilson. 25:59.00 (NTR)
2018 FEATURE: (75 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Chris Windom (5), 3. Bobby Santos (3), 4. Jerry Coons, Jr. (2), 5. Kyle Hamilton (7), 6. Justin Grant (8), 7. Jacob Wilson (9), 8. David Byrne (4), 9. Dave Darland (10), 10. Travis Welpott (12), 11. John Heydenreich (15), 12. Mike Haggenbottom (16), 13. Patrick Lawson (14), 14. Eric Gordon (6), 15. Matt Goodnight (13), 16. Toni Breidinger (17), 17. Kyle Robbins (11), 18. Cody Gallogly (18), 19. Terry James (19). 24:06.27 (New Track Record)
2019 FEATURE: (75 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (2), 3. Aaron Pierce (3), 4. Kyle Hamilton (6), 5. David Byrne (4), 6. Justin Grant (5), 7. Eric Gordon (8), 8. Derek Bischak (9), 9. James Davison (12), 10. Kyle Robbins (10), 11. Cody Gallogly (13), 12. Patrick Lawson (16), 13. Joe Liguori (11), 14. Mike Haggenbottom (17), 15. Matt Goodnight (15), 16. Chris Windom (7), 17. Ronnie Gardner (18), 18. Austin Nemire (14), 19. Dave Berkheimer (19). 28:21.258
2020 FEATURE: (75 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (2), 3. Aaron Pierce (9), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Derek Bischak (5), 6. Austin Nemire (15), 7. Kyle O’Gara (14), 8. Kyle Robbins (11), 9. Mike Haggenbottom (18), 10. Joe Liguori (8), 11. Matt Goodnight (13), 12. Travis Welpott (16), 13. Kyle Hamilton (7), 14. Brian Gerster (10), 15. Patrick Lawson (12), 16. Bryan Gossel (19), 17. Chris Windom (6), 18. John Heydenreich (17), 19. David Byrne (4), 20. Dave Berkheimer (20). 29:41.723