WINCHESTER, Ind. — After going winless through the first four races of the USAC Silver Crown Series season, Kody Swanson put a whipping on the field to win Thursday night’s Rich Vogler Classic Presented By The Pallet Builder at Winchester Speedway.
It was Swanson’s longest victory drought in the series since 2013.
The six-time series champ led all 100 circuits and lapped all but one driver in the 21-car field en route to a mind-blowing 10.062-second margin of victory in his Doran-Dyson Racing/Glenn Farms – Henry U.S.A. – Duncan Oil/Beast/Lanci Ford, which resulted in his 35th career USAC Silver Crown victory, and the first of his career at Winchester.
“I left Tuesday morning for the race shop and still haven’t been home,” Swanson revealed. “We had a job to do and wanted to put this car in victory lane for this team, and I didn’t do any of it alone.”
The triumph was Swanson’s third in the Rich Vogler Classic, each coming an even three years apart from each other following previous victorious celebrations in 2016 and 2019 and now 2022.
The win carried extra special weight with Swanson greeting Vogler’s mother Eleanor in victory lane on a night 32 years to the day that the world lost Vogler, USAC’s winningest driver. Vogler was a 10-time USAC winner on the banks, while another USAC legend, Tracy Hines, captured eight.
“I appreciate the history of the sport,” Swanson stated. “Someone who helped me learn how to race on the banks was Tracy Hines. Five or six years ago before (a race at) Salem (Speedway), I gave him a call and he helped me out and taught me a lot which still holds true to this day. Even last fall, I got to sit down with Mack McClellan, Tom Bigelow and Johnny Parsons and they told stories about this place. There’s a lot of it that I took to heart that made sense; those guys did it, and it was super tough. There was maybe a trick or two I learned from them. I am thankful for that, for everybody who’s in my life and the chance to do this.”
Swanson was quickest in practice and notched his 38th career pole during qualifying. Swanson darted to the initial lead with Chris Windom running second about three car lengths behind. That was about as close as anybody got to Swanson for the remainder of the night.
Two prime contenders fell by the wayside relatively early, with fourth-running Bobby Santos having his shock tower break off after just 35 laps into it. Defending race winner Justin Grant, running fifth at the time, blistered a right-rear tire, which cost him five laps during the pit stop.
By the halfway mark, Swanson was leaving no doubt who was in charge as he had already lapped up to fifth with 50 laps still left to go, and no signs of relenting.
The race’s one and only stoppage came on lap 55 when Ferns got loose on the high side of turn two and looped it down to the bottom of the race track. As it turned out, it was not as much of a heartbreak as it seemed at first glance.
After her spin, she was forced to start at the tail of the field. She was running fourth at the time, but there were only four cars on the lead lap. By rule, a driver doesn’t lose a lap following a spin unless he or she retreats to the work area, which she did not. Thus, she restarted at the back of the pack without losing a spot and remained scored fourth in the running order.
Logan Seavey jumped to second on the lap-63 restart as he fenagled his way past Windom. Ferns subsequently charged to third by Windom amid gridlock-style traffic. While running fourth with 78 laps completed, Windom was surpassed by Swanson and put a lap down. Moments later, with a blistered right rear tire, Windom slowed and made the journey back to the pits.
And the beat went on as Swanson put Ferns a lap down on the 95th circuit with a turn one bottom-side pass, leaving only the half-lap leading Swanson and second-running Seavey on the same lap, while all others were at least one lap down.
In the end, it was complete annihilation and decimation of the field led by Swanson in a performance for the ages as he finished off the job by a 10.062 second margin over
This all came after a practice crash in which she and Dave Berkheimer collided on the front straightaway before glancing backwards into the turn one wall, followed by a mid-race spin during the feature.
“Today, for me, was just about overcoming adversity,” Ferns admitted. “After the incident in practice, we were driving the car with a bent Panhard bar and using scraps from people in the pits. I felt like we had something for Logan, but I was pushing the car really hard, and it bit me. I passed (Justin) Grant to make it three-wide going into turn one and, luckily, with my dirt experience, I saved it, but it bit me not too long after. I’m honestly surprised we came home third after that spin. I know that win is coming soon, but I wanted that second today. Maybe next time.”
USAC Silver Crown National Championship, Winchester Speedway, Winchester, Ind., July 21, 2022
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 1, Doran/Dyson-14.629; 2. Chris Windom, 26, Pierce-15.101; 3. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-15.170; 4. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-15.187; 5. C.J. Leary, 6, Klatt-15.256; 6. Eric Gordon, 99, Armstrong-15.264; 7. Logan Seavey, 222, Rice-15.265; 8. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-15.383; 9. Taylor Ferns, 55, Ferns-15.503; 10. Kyle O’Gara, 67, SFHR-15.537; 11. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-15.582; 12. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-15.700; 13. Brian Tyler, 81, BCR-15.829; 14. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-15.911; 15. Mike McVetta, 94, Ram-15.963; 16. Nathan Byrd, 11, Hamilton/Byrd-16.234; 17. Mario Clouser, 92, Kazmark-16.279; 18. Gregg Cory, 32, Williams-16.322; 19. Tom Paterson, 111, Paterson-17.792; 20. Jake Day, 42, Day-NT; 21. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Logan Seavey (6), 3. Taylor Ferns (8), 4. C.J. Leary (19), 5. Brian Tyler (12), 6. Derek Bischak (10), 7. Mike McVetta (14), 8. Kyle Robbins (7), 9. Travis Welpott (13), 10. Kyle O’Gara (9), 11. Nathan Byrd (15), 12. Matt Goodnight (11), 13. Mario Clouser (16), 14. Justin Grant (4), 15. Gregg Cory (17), 16. Chris Windom (2), 17. Bobby Santos (3), 18. Eric Gordon (5), 19. Jake Day (20), 20. Tom Paterson (18), 21. Dave Berkheimer (21). 35:44.816 (New Track Record)