7/31/2011
Kody Swanson returns to Victory Lane and Team 6R reclaims USAC Silver Crown Win Lead!
Kody Swanson made his return to racing and Victory Lane all in one night during Thursday's Kroger Speedfest at Lucas Oil Raceway. Driving for Team 6R Racing, powered by Toyota and sponsored by Kroger and Wawona Packing, Kody picked up his 2nd career USAC Silver Crown win in just his first series start of 2011.
Fielding 4 powered by Toyota cars for the event, Team 6R Racing drivers qualified 5th (Tanner Swanson), 6th (Kody Swanson), 11th (Brian Tyler) and 25th (Brian Gerster).
By lap 10, Kody had cracked the Top 5, and quickly began making his move toward the front. Kody found the low groove and used the bottom side of the racetrack to pass for each position, taking over the top spot from Tony Stewart Racing's Levi Jones on lap 20.
For the majority of the race, Tanner battled with those frontrunners and got himself into the 4th position, hoping to make a charge toward the top spot near the end of the 100-lap event. In the final 25 laps Tanner passed defending Silver Crown Champ Levi Jones, and set his sights on the Top 2- Kody Swanson and Tracy Hines.
While Kody had continued to pull away during the middle of the race, a series of late cautions and decreasing Right Rear air pressure seriously affected the handling on his #19. As the race neared its end, Kody found some stiff competition from former Silver Crown Champ Tracy Hines. Hines closed to his back bumper, and pulled alongside Swanson as the duo took the white flag, but Kody held on to win at the famed Indianapolis racetrack, and closed the book on his recovery.
The win propelled Team 6R Racing to the All-Time USAC Silver Crown series Wins lead, with 26.
While he was never able to fully challenge for the lead, Tanner's 3rd place finish, of the 30 car starting field, was enough to propel him to a tie for the series point lead! Brian Tyler came home with a solid 11th place finish, and currently sits 8th in the series standings.
The Traxxas USAC Silver Crown series will return to action at the Springfield, Illinois' State Fair on August 20th.
Chris Pedersen Photo: RacePhoto1.com
Article Credit: Team 6R Racing