LAS VEGAS — Kody Swanson cemented his legacy among the great asphalt open wheel drivers in the United States, driving to his third career Fuel Winged Sprint Car $50,000 victory during Saturday’s OnlyBulls Open Wheel Showdown in Las Vegas.
Combined with his 2026 Friday Non-Winged triumph and 2023 Midget win, Swanson has recorded a staggering five victories at annual pavement open wheel showcase at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Swanson was a part of a dynamic four-way fight for victory in the first half of the 100-lap feature, then darted away over a two-lap shootout at the finish to see the checkered flag first.
“Man it takes being surrounded by special people. It’s important to be driving a great race car. I’m so thankful god has blessed me with this 50M team. The race was wild. Davey (Hamilton, Jr.) rolled by us. I was chasing Mike (Murgoitio) through traffic. We were dicing through there,” Swanson said. “We caught lapped cars and I knew we were getting close to the end of halfway. I thought I had to be on the front row to have a chance to win it. So we went for it there on the outside there in lapped traffic. Managed to steal the lead away by the skin of our teeth. Had to get the lead and hope we could hang onto it and we did.”
Murgoitio led the way from the pole position for the fast paced first 45-laps of action. Murgoitio then squared off with Swanson and event promoter Davey Hamilton Jr. in lapped traffic. Hamilton took the lead around the high line on lap 46, then Swanson used the high side himself to drive past Hamilton to lead into the lap 50 break.
Aaron Willison gave chase as well in the exciting mix of drivers dueling for the win.
Swanson motored ahead when action resumed following the lap 50 race break. Swanson was comfortable ahead and within a few hundred feet of victory before 16-year-old A.J. Luttmer spun in turn four to require a restart.
Swanson lined up alongside Hamilton for a green-white-checkered finish. Willison drove around Murgoitio and Hamilton in the final sprint to the finish.
Swanson claimed the $50,000 win over a charging Willison, Hamilton, Murgoitio and 16th-starting JoJo Helberg.
The finish:
Feature (100 Laps): 1. 50M-Kody Swanson[2]; 2. 1M-Aaron Willison[3]; 3. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr[5]; 4. 17-Mike Murgoitio[1]; 5. 7H-JoJo Helberg[16]; 6. 26-Chase Cabre[4]; 7. 22A-Bobby Santos III[19]; 8. 99-Cory Lockwood[15]; 9. 15-Eric Humphries[13]; 10. 24R-Kyle Ray[10]; 11. 18-AJ Luttmer[9]; 12. 14C-Colton Bettis[20]; 13. 16G-Austyn Gossel[22]; 14. 33J-Jeff Montgomery[6]; 15. 57-Evan Margeson[8]; 16. 88-Chase Locke[11]; 17. 91Y-Darren Yates[21]; 18. 77L-Troy DeCaire[18]; 19. 44B-Brad Aumen[25]; 20. 92-Casey Tillman[7]; 21. 61-William Ginn[12]; 22. 91-Bryan Warf[14]; 23. 1R-Ryan Land[17]; 24. 66-Daryle Redlin[24]; 25. 94W-Geoff Wade[23]; 26. 41R-Cody Ridge[26]
