BECHTELSVILLE, Pa. — The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series kicked off Tuesday night with Jake Swanson winning the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship’s Jesse Hockett Classic.
Swanson collected $6,000 for his first Thunder on the Hill victory in the 40-lap main event.
Jeff Strunk won the companion 358 modified feature.
California’s Swanson kicked off the Eastern Storm at the top of the podium, picking up his first-ever win in the Eastern Storm series that started in 2007.
“I can get used to this; this is pretty unreal,” Swanson exclaimed. “I’m just so pumped to be able to win USAC National Sprint Car races. We’ve worked really, really hard for this, and it feels good to be able to go anywhere and be in the hunt. As long as we do our jobs and everyone pulls together, we’re always going to be there and in position, and if the cards fall right, they fall right, and that’s what they did tonight.”
Swanson dominated the early portion of the event taking control on the opening circuit with Thomas Meseraull close on his rear bumper. The caution flag flew for the first time on lap 18 for Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon – who raced up to the ninth position after qualifying in the semi-feature event.
On the restart, a three-wide battle for the fourth position moved Emerson Axsom passed local favorite, Briggs Danner. Axsom would battle past Stockon into third, and then onto second-place with ten laps remaining.
The action stopped on lap 30 when Briggs Danner spun in turn two, collecting Matt Westfall who flipped bringing out the red flag.
Axsom challenged Swanson when the green flag flew again, riding around the inside of the race track, while Swanson rode almost against the outside wall of the famed one-third mile oval.
The two pulled side-by-side with five laps remaining, but Jake Swanson would hold on to win the $6,000 Jesse Hockett Classic main event, Axsom settled for second position, Robert Ballou came home in third, Timmy Buckwalter in fourth and Kyle Cummins rounded out the top five.
Cummins started the evening with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series Quick Time presented by Clever Girl Winery racing a lap of 13.662.
Swanson’s fourth victory of the season propelled him into the point lead by a single marker over Cummins.
The Boxscore
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville, Pa., June 13, 2023
HONEST ABE ROOFING/CLEVER GIRL WINERY QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.662; 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.715; 3. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-13.746; 4. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-13.776; 5. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-13.813; 6. Thomas Meseraull, 20, Dyson-13.895; 7. Jake Swanson, 21AZ, Team AZ-13.932; 8. Emerson Axsom, 47BC, Clauson Marshall-13.996; 9. Timmy Buckwalter, 20T, Lotier/Hummer-14.052; 10. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-14.055; 11. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.059; 12. Shane Cottle, 74x, Hodges-14.060; 13. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.065; 14. Daison Pursley, 5p, KO-14.122; 15. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-14.125; 16. Logan Seavey, 2B, 2B Racing-14.131; 17. Steven Drevicki, 19, DeGre-14.147; 18. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.181; 19. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.182; 20. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin/Fox-14.195; 21. Bobby Butler, 5B, Butler-14.217; 22. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-14.311; 23. Alex Bright, 27, Heffner-14.329; 24. Joey Amantea, 88J, Amantea-14.405; 25. Ricky Lewis, 41, Brown-14.632; 26. Patrick Chilmonik, 1, Chilmonik-14.684; 27. Kyle Moody, 5x, Baldwin/Fox-14.706; 28. Jason Cherry, 67c, Cherry-15.817; 29. Max Adams, 17GP, Dutcher-NT; 30. Isaac Chapple, 6, Chapple/Hall-NT; 31. Tom Harris, 84, Harris-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Steven Drevicki, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Timmy Buckwalter, 4. Briggs Danner, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Bobby Butler, 7. Ricky Lewis. NT
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Mitchel Moles, 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Daison Pursley, 5. C.J. Leary, 6. Charles Davis Jr., 7. Patrick Chilmonik. 2:27.27
T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Jake Swanson, 3. Carson Garrett, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Matt Westfall, 6. Alex Bright, 7. Kyle Moody. 2:27.84
CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Emerson Axsom, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Anton Hernandez, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. Jason Cherry, 7. Joey Amantea. NT
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Bobby Butler, 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Alex Bright, 6. Matt Westfall, 7. Ricky Lewis, 8. Joey Amantea, 9. Charles Davis Jr., 10. Kyle Moody, 11. Jason Cherry, 12. Max Adams. NT
FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jake Swanson (1), 2. Emerson Axsom (7), 3. Robert Ballou (10), 4. Timmy Buckwalter (12), 5. Kyle Cummins (6), 6. Daison Pursley (17), 7. Thomas Meseraull (2), 8. Shane Cottle (15), 9. Chase Stockon (4), 10. Alex Bright (22), 11. Steven Drevicki (8), 12. Carson Garrett (18), 13. Matt Mitchell (11), 14. Brady Bacon (16), 15. C.J. Leary (13), 16. Justin Grant (5), 17. Mitchel Moles (9), 18. Anton Hernandez (20), 19. Briggs Danner (3), 20. Max Adams (23-P), 21. Logan Seavey (19), 22. Matt Westfall (14), 23. Charles Davis Jr. (24-P), 24. Bobby Butler (21).