“I was going to be comfortable as long as they were willing to trust me with all of their equipment and all of their belongings. I mean it is their trailer and their race car. It is a lot of money they are entrusting me with, but they were all for it. We made a plan, and it kind of happened a lot sooner than any of us anticipated.”
Then came the moment he dreaded. He needed to talk his decision over with Larry Henry. Henry was more than a boss, and more than just a car owner. In reality, he was like a second father.
“That was one of the hardest parts about the whole thing of uprooting,” Jake says. “Every decision I have made, every single thing I have done in life I have ran through him. So I walked in there and I said, ‘Check it out. I have this opportunity.‘
“He has always told me that I needed to be racing in Indiana. We had always gone full speed ahead with the tank-testing deal and I was planning to work there a long time. So I walked into the room and he didn‘t even hesitate. He said, ‘You need to go, and you need to go right now.‘ I said, ‘Hold on, I have a lot of responsibility here, and I just can‘t leave. We will work it out so I can leave at the beginning of 2021, and you can find someone to hire and I would have a couple of months to train that person.‘ He said, ‘No, you have to go. We will figure out what we have to do. We will get rid of some sites, or work, or whatever.‘
“I could not have asked for a better response and more understanding from him, but that‘s just how he is.”
One aspect of the transition to Indiana involves the relocation of his shock business. In recent years, Jessica had taken on much of the work and the business was actually housed at Orange County Tank Testing.
“I was a west coast rebuilder and dealer,” he says. “And the majority of my customers plan on sticking with me. Obviously, they will have to ship things, but I also had walk-ins. That part of it is going to be a bit tougher, and I am doing this alongside ARS (Advanced Racing Suspensions) and CSI (Competition Suspensions Inc.), who are just a couple of towns over from me.
“I‘m not trying to infringe on their business or step on their toes, but I do want to continue to work with my customer base. I have a good relationship with them, and they with me. I have all of their information and past shock history. So we will try to bring it back here and see how it goes.”
As he has settled into his new surroundings, Swanson has shown that he will be a serious contender on the USAC National Sprint Car Series as he gains more experience on unfamiliar tracks.
On the Silver Crown front, the record does not reflect how well he raced at Selinsgrove, but his performance at the Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds turned plenty of heads.
What many fans did not know is that he went into the race with a fuel cell with a capacity of only 65 gallons, a full 10 gallons less than the regulations allow. In a 100-mile race, you need every ounce you have. It was still a memorable day.
“I qualified 10th and I was kind of mad because I left some tenths on the table,” he says.
“Then I realized it was probably for the best, because I didn‘t abuse the tires like some guys did up front. So I thought this might work out. Then we had those two reds, and we were able to put fuel in the car on lap nine. They filled the car up and it took 11 gallons. After that I said, ‘You know, I‘m just the driver here, but the math doesn‘t really add up.‘ My crew said, ‘Well, it‘s what we got. Do the best you can.‘
“I was doing everything I could to save fuel. I was leaning it out and rolling it down the straightaway. On the second red I parked next to the guardrail so I would be the last one to get pushed off. They told me to go with about 15 laps left, and within those few laps I ran down Larson and Leary, and I had plenty of tire and plenty of brake.
“I was smelling blood and licking my chops, particularly given how hard those guys were running during the race. So, I thought I was better than them. Then I got to Leary‘s back bumper and the thing stumbled on me. I drove down into the next corner, got on it again, and it stumbled even more and I fell out of the groove. That was it. I had to change up my driving to where I wasn‘t on the gas as early in the corner, because the fuel was sloshing away from the pickup and I would roll the corners really hard.
“We started dropping back, but at least we were able to finish sixth.”
Suffice it to say, many were impressed with what they witnessed.
When it comes to racing, it has been clear that Jake Swanson is right at home in Indiana. Most importantly, his wife, in spite of the personal sacrifices such a move entailed, has no regrets.
She knew this was the correct career move for her husband and, beyond that, she is also hungry to get the family midget out and get back to racing herself.
Jake and the former Jessica Clark were married in February of 2019. Their wedding had a 1920‘s theme and included, of all things, a brass band. Jessica Swanson says that she and her husband are, in many ways, “old souls.” And, while unpacking and settling in to their new home, she found evidence of that assertion.
Over the course of their courtship, which had long periods of separation, Jessica and Jake did something nearly unheard of in this day and age: they wrote each other letters.
It is the kind of story that warms the heart of the truly old. In 2011 Jessica was invited to attend Lyn St. James‘ annual Women in the Winner‘s Circle celebration in Indianapolis. While there, she sent her new boyfriend a postcard, and now, just shy of a decade later, Jessica was holding this very card in her hand.
As she looked down, she could only smile as she read the note which said, “I know you are probably in a heat race right now, and I hope you are doing well. I can‘t wait to move out here someday.”
In a world that has become far too angry, and people far too cynical, isn‘t it nice to realize that sometimes dreams do come true?