By Linda Mansfield
ANDERSON, Ind., April 19 — Doran Racing got its 2026 season off to an extremely successful start when the Lebanon, Ohio-based team’s Kody Swanson led all 100 laps of the 26th annual Glen Niebel Classic Saturday night at Anderson Speedway.
The orange and blue No. 33 asphalt sprint car sponsored by Wilke Orthodontics and Glenn Farms will go down in the history books as the winner of the season opener for the YourBIGPlans.com 500 Sprint Car Tour.
Besides getting the season off to a great start, it was a great tune-up for the series and the track’s biggest race, the 78th annual Unified Group Services Little 500 presented by Ed Martin Automotive Group, which will take place on Anderson’s high-banked quarter-mile oval on Saturday, May 23. 
Rick Kimball Photo
It was the fourth victory in the Glen Niebel Classic for Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Brownsburg, Ind. The two-time series champion also won this race, which is presented by CB Fabricating, in 2018, 2021, and 2024.
The event was held under very cold weather conditions.
Swanson topped both practice sessions, but then qualified third behind Dakoda Armstrong and Tyler Roahrig. He was only 0.149 seconds off Armstrong’s fast time with the No. 33, which is powered by a Dan Binks eight-cylinder Chevy engine.
The invert went Swanson’s way, however, and he started on the pole with Armstrong alongside him. Colton Bettis started third, Derek Bischak fourth, Roahrig fifth, and Jackson Macenko sixth.
The race got off to a rocky start when there was a red flag and two yellows in the first 14 laps. The red flew for Armstrong, the defending series champion and the defending race winner. He was second working lap four when his car’s right-front wheel flew off, sending him hard into the outside wall in Turn 4 with three laps down. The wheel cleared the catch fence and landed on the bottom landing in the Turn 4 grandstands, but luckily no fans nor Armstrong were hurt.
Armstrong’s departure but Bischak into second place, which he held until Roahrig passed him on lap 52 enroute to the runner-up honors.
Mario Clouser and Rylan Gray drew the second caution with eight laps down, and Colin Grissom spun on the start/finish line with 14 laps down while running 13th.
From that point on the runs got longer, although there were two other cautions with 76 laps down and 89 laps down, respectively, that could have spelled disaster for the winning effort.
Swanson excelled on the long runs. Bischak was only 0.277 of a second behind Swanson on lap 25, but five laps later Swanson had stretched his advantage to over a second for the first time, and five laps after that he had a 2-second lead. He was over 3 seconds ahead of Bischak by lap 45, and had nearly the same advantage, 2.905 seconds, at the halfway mark.
Swanson was able to increase his lead even more in the second half of the race. He was 4.056 seconds ahead of Roahrig on lap 55, and a full 5 seconds ahead by lap 64. He had a 6.426-second lead by lap 66, which he increased to over 7 seconds by lap 70.
He had a close call six laps later, however. The seventh-place car of Kyle O’Gara developed a problem just as Swanson was about to lap him. Room ran out, Swanson clipped O’Gara’s car slightly, and O’Gara spun in Turn 2 to slow the race for the fourth time. O’Gara retired at that point, and Swanson’s 7.334-second lead disappeared for the restart.
Roahrig threw everything he had at Swanson when the green flew again, but Swanson prevailed. It might have been disheartening to lose such a big lead for a restart, but Swanson said he didn’t realize how far ahead he was since the 500 Sprint Car Tour doesn’t allow the use of spotters.
“I just focused on the task at hand, put my head down, and tried to keep ahead of the pack, because I knew they were all right behind me,” he said afterwards.
His approach paid off. He had a 0.549-second lead on lap 80, and he had increased his advantage to 1.154 seconds by lap 85. He had nearly a 2-second lead (1.904 seconds) when he had another close call, however, with 89 laps down.
The ninth-place car of Chris Schmelzle blew a hose and dropped fluid on the track in Turn 3, which caused Swanson to slip and slide and fight to keep from hitting Schmelzle or the wall. Luckily he was successful. Schmelzle rolled to a stop on the frontstretch and a red was thrown to get a wrecker for his car and to inspect the track for more spilled fluid.
That set up a 10-lap run to the checkered and gave the field, which started with 23 cars and was now down to eight, yet another chance to pass Swanson. His restart was flawless and Roahrig nor anyone else was able to catch him. Swanson had a 2.424-second margin of victory.
Bettis, who started third and was never out of the top five, finished third. Bobby Santos III, who started seventh, broke into the top five for the first time on lap 59 by passing Macenko and placed fourth. Macenko finished fifth. Bischak, who set the second-fastest race lap on lap 12 to Swanson’s fastest race lap of 11.412 seconds on lap eight, placed sixth. There were six cars on the lead lap at the checkered.
“It was great to get the win,” Swanson said afterwards. “Lapped traffic is always tough here, just because it’s a tight track for sprint cars.
“We had a few close moments,” he added. “I just clipped Kyle slightly as he started to lift due to a problem. And I got real lucky when Chris Schmelzle dropped fluid on the track. I used up all the racetrack to not hit him or the wall.
“It’s hard to know how to get the balance right here, especially with a long race and the tire wear and the fuel load. The cold conditions really didn’t affect us; it was racing as usual. I knew there were guys ready to pounce at any moment, so I just focused on the task at hand.
“It’s good to have a good run here, not only to start the season, but also as preparation for the Little 500 in May. I’m grateful for the Doran Racing team and all the people and sponsors who help us get here.”
The event was streamed live on RacingAmerica.tv.
For more info please see DoranRacing.com.