OREGON, Wis. — The USAC Silver Crown National Championship hits the road Friday night for the fifth running of the Bytec Dairyland 100 at Madison Int’l Speedway.
Kody Swanson has accomplished many things in his illustrious USAC Silver Crown career. One of those items he’s checked off over the years is winning four-straight pavement USAC Silver Crown races in 2018.
Swanson can match that effort with a win this Friday at Madison where he’s won three of the four events held at the track in 2018-19-23. In fact, Swanson’s 2018 pavement domination included a victory in the inaugural series race at Madison. Dave Steele is the only other driver to achieve the feat, having won the first four pavement rounds of the 2005 campaign.
Swanson has led all 300 laps run on the pavement this year on pavement at Toledo, Winchester and IRP which has aided him immensely in propelling him to the top of the standings entering Friday’s Madison race where he now holds a 30-point lead over Justin Grant.
C.J. Leary proved he wasn’t just a “dirt guy” when he obliterated the Madison field in 2022. From start to finish, Leary was picture perfect. He was the fastest in practice and qualifying, then led all 100 laps in wire-to-wire fashion aboard his Klatt Enterprises No. 6.
Leary experienced a stellar start to the 2024, finishing on the podium in each of his initial four starts, including pavement results of second, third and third, all of which thrusted him to the top of the standings.
However, an opening lap incident in the most recent round last Saturday on the dirt at Port Royal Speedway relegated him to the 23rd position in the race and knocked him down to a distant third in the standings, 39 points back
For the drivers on the top rung of the series standings, it’s crunch time in their pursuit of a championship. Defending Silver Crown champ Logan Seavey finds himself in this group after some unsmooth sailing on the dirt tracks with the division thus far.
Seavey’s three best performances to date this season have come on pavement, highlighted by a runner-up effort at IRP.
Seavey occupies the fourth spot in the standings, a distant 73 points out of the lead. He ran fifth on Madison’s asphalt a year ago.
Last Saturday on the dirt at Port Royal, Justin Grant led 20 laps and was leading on the final corner of the final lap when he was passed on the outside by Daison Pursley for the win. Grant finished second in the race, but as a consolation, he did move up one more spot in the pecking order of the championship standings.
Grant, the 2020 USAC Silver Crown champ, is now just 30 points out of the lead and makes his return to Madison where he finished third in 2018 and fifth in 2022.
In Bobby Santos’ career, he’s won at five different pavement tracks with the USAC Silver Crown series: IRP, Gateway, Iowa, Phoenix and Toledo. However, one that’s missing from the résumé is Madison.
Four career Silver Crown starts at Madison for Santos have netted an average finish of 2.5 following runner-up results in 2018-2022-2023 to go along with a fourth in 2019.
Friday’s Madison field includes a stark contrast of drivers in the field.
Russ Gamester ranks No. 1 in terms of starts with the USAC Silver Crown series over the years, racking up an incredible 214 since his series debut in 1989. In his most recent outing, he recorded his best pavement Silver Crown finish in 20 years, finishing fourth at IRP. Both of his Madison Silver Crown starts have resulted in top-10s, a ninth in 2019 and a 10th in 2023.
Meanwhile, Trey Osborne is on the opposite end of the experience spectrum, having just six career starts dating back to the end of the 2023 season. Thus far, he leads the USAC Silver Crown Rookie standings and is 13th overall in points. His two pavement outings this year have been his best thus far, finishing ninth at both Winchester and IRP. Friday will present his first Madison appearance.