SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The Bobby Santos vs. Kody Swanson rivalry is among the fiercest and most competitive of its era and has been a tooth-and-nail, tug-of-war clash for more than a decade — namely on the USAC Silver Crown trail.
The torrid battle between Santos and Swanson during the final laps of this past May’s Carb Night Classic at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park proved to be the closest fight to the finish of the entire 82-race USAC National season.
Santos raced to his first USAC Silver Crown victory in more than four years by withstanding the pressure from Swanson to prevail by a slim 0.094 second margin that served as the separation between the pair of pavement aces. A balancing act of four sprint car races, three midget and three Silver Crown events occupy the list of the 10 closest finishes of this year’s USAC campaign.
During the USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week feature at Kokomo Speedway in July, Justin Grant saw the race lead slip from his grip three different times. However, the California native belied that fact to prevail following a near race-long battle with Robert Ballou, then fended off a late burst from Kyle Cummins to win the closest USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature of the season by 0.155 sec.
In the closest barnburner on the 2022 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship trail, Buddy Kofoid found a bit of extra good fortune. Kofoid ran third on the final lap of July’s Midwest Midget Championship at Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway when the top-two of Ryan Timms and Cannon McIntosh collided with each other and slid over the turn two banking. Kofoid rushed underneath both Timms and McIntosh, then beat the bottom-rolling Jerry Coons Jr. to the line by a single car length to the tune of 0.218 sec.
On the flip side, Logan Seavey captured the strangest, most unpredictable USAC Silver Crown in several years during September’s Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds. In an attrition-filled event which saw just seven of the 30 starters make it to the finish line, when all was said and done, Seavey pounced when the dominant Shane Cockrum ran out of fuel with 13 laps remaining and C.J. Leary’s car snapped a driveline while leading with seven laps to go.
In the end, Seavey was nearly a full lap ahead of the competition, crossing the finish line 33.882 seconds ahead of second place.
Yes, you read that right. No filter. No typo.
Top 10 Closest FINISHES OF THE USAC NATIONAL SEASON
No. 1 | 0.094 sec. | 5/27/22 | Silver Crown | Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Bobby Santos over Kody Swanson
No. 2 | 0.155 sec. | 7/26/22 | National Sprint | Kokomo Speedway | Justin Grant over Kyle Cummins
No. 3 | 0.218 sec. | 7/16/22 | National Midget | Jefferson County Speedway | Buddy Kofoid over Jerry Coons Jr.
No. 4 | 0.227 sec. | 10/8/22 | National Midget | Tri-State Speedway | Justin Grant over Buddy Kofoid
No. 5 | 0.265 sec. | 7/22/22 | National Sprint | Gas City I-69 Speedway | Shane Cottle over Justin Grant
No. 6 | 0.266 sec. | 8/25/22 | National Sprint | Kokomo Speedway | Justin Grant over Kyle Cummins
No. 7 | 0.297 sec. | 6/17/22 | National Sprint | Williams Grove Speedway | Justin Grant over Alex Bright
No. 8 | 0.301 sec. | 6/9/22 | National Midget | Lincoln Park Speedway | Jacob Denney over Zach Daum
No. 9 | 0.317 sec. | 6/24/22 | Silver Crown | Madison International Speedway | C.J. Leary over Bobby Santos
No. 10 | 0.411 sec. | 6/18/22 | Silver Crown | Port Royal Speedway | Logan Seavey over Matt Westfall