Kody Swanson grabs the Carb Night gold

Kody Swanson led all 100 laps of the USAC (United States Auto Club) Silver Crown series presented by Traxxas "Carb Night Classic" at Lucas Oil Raceway. With the win, his 16th in Silver Crown competition, Kody tied the late David Steele for third all-time in Silver Crown history. The race promotion by Bob Sargent's Track Enterprises was excellent as always with a good fan turnout on a night with threatening weather. The race was capped by a thrilling green-white-checkered finish and celebrated by fireworks courtesy of Mother Nature.

We present photographs of the racers  - 

Kody Swanson started up front as the fast qualifier at 21.004 seconds 

and was never headed

Bobby Santos III made his pass for second place on lap 99

but couldn't catch Kody Swanson

Younger brother Tanner Swanson started second with a lap of 21.150 seconds 

and ran in  second place for 99 laps but had to settle for third place. 

Chris Windom turned in solid fourth place run and finished on the lead lap

Aaron Pierce started ninth and moved up to finish fifth one lap down 

David Byrne finished sixth 

Kevin Studley won the KSE Hard Charger Award as he started 15th finished seventh 

AJ Russell overcame a crash in time trials to finish eighth

The always friendly Jerry Coons Junior finished ninth in the Gene Nolen entry 

USAC's winningest female driver Toni Breidinger 

continues to improve in Silver Crown and finished eleventh

Troy Thompson from Brooksville Florida finished 13th 

to win the Wilwood Brakes 13th place award

Justin Grant ran sixth until he crashed on lap 190

Davey Hamilton Junior lost 30 laps 

due to fuel delivery issues but the RPM 

crew fixed the car and he returned 

late in the race to run with the leaders

Good guy Joe Liquori finished 17th

 Car owner Gene Nolen checks over Joe Axsom's msachine

JC Bland's entry brought back memories of 

the livery of  the 1950's Bowes Seal Fast Specials 

Cody Gerhardt only completed four laps

Kody Swanson claimed the big $8000 check

Track Enterprises, USAC and the Indiana State Fairgrounds officials are discussing a make-up date for the 63rd running of the Hoosier Hundred. The Hulman Classic for the Amsoil USAC National Sprint cars  at the Terre Haute Action Track will be run on Friday June 23 2107.  The next USAC Silver Crown race is the "Horn-Schindler Memorial" at Williams Grove Speedway on June 16 2017 

All photos by the author

Statistics provided by Richie Murray USAC

Pre-practice photos of USAC Silver Crown cars at Phoenix

Warming up Toni Briedinger's car 

Putting the numbers on the nose of Henry Clarke's Bill Rose owned entry

Davey Hamilton leans on his RPM entry and chats with fans, 

his son DJ is his teammate this weekend

A close look at AJ Russell's Ted Finkenbinder machine

Chris Windom check his phone while his crew works on his #92 car

Aaron Pierce's car is powered by a 770 horsepower Chevy engine

All photos by the author

The Silver Crown cars

return to Phoenix this weekend

 

 

After an absence of over seven years (2,725 days to be precise) the United States Auto Club (USAC) Silver Crown Series returns to action for 100 laps on the one-mile pavement of the new Phoenix Raceway on Saturday April 29 2017.

The last USAC Silver Crown race at Phoenix held on November 12 2009 was won by Cole Whitt driving for legendary car owner Johnny Vance with second place falling to Kody Swanson. Whitt has since moved on to the race in the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) top-tier Monster Energy series, while Swanson claimed the USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the year title in 2009 then claimed the Silver Crown championship in 2014 and 2015.   

The 18-car preliminary entry list for the 2017 Phoenix Copper Cup includes just two drivers that competed in the race at Phoenix in 2009 – Jerry Coons Junior of Tucson Arizona in one of three potent Gene Nolen Racing entries and Bobby Santos III in the DJ Racing #22 racer. Coons will be joined on the Nolen team by Joe Axsom and Kody Swanson’s younger brother Tanner.

Father and son, Davey Hamilton Junior and Senior are entered as teammates with the RPM/Fred Gormly pair of cars. Another notable entry is Toni Breidinger, USAC’s winningest female driver with eleven feature victories who will make her Silver Crown debut in the Breidinger family-owned #80 machine.     

Muncie Indiana speed merchant Aaron Pierce, who holds the record for the fastest Silver Crown lap at Homestead Speedway of 175 miles per hour (MPH), and the fastest race win at 159 MPH at Kansas Speedway, will be looking to eclipse the fastest Silver Crown Phoenix lap of 140.966 MPH set in 2009 by the late Jason Leffler in a Bob East entry.  Bob East will be on hand Saturday tuning Terry Klatt’s entry for five-time USAC/CRA champion Damion Gardner.  

The balance of the eighteen USAC Silver Crown entries include the defending Silver Crown series champion Chris Windom from Canton, Illinois, Patrick Lawson of Edwardsville, Illinois, A.J. Russell from Clovis, California, Shane Butler from Bushnell, Florida, David Byrne of Shullsburg, Wisconsin, Justin Grant of Ione, California and Bill Rose from Plainfield, Indiana with his teammate Henry Adams of Villa Park, California.

The USAC Silver Crown cars will practice and qualify on Friday April 28 with the 100-lap Phoenix Copper Cup scheduled to go green on Saturday at 3 PM local time.