Doran Racing’s Swanson Finishes Third
In Special Monday Night Show
At Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
BROWNSBURG, Ind., Aug. 3 — Doran Racing’s Kody Swanson qualified third and finished third in the 33rd annual Joe James-Pat O’Connor Memorial at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Monday night, but he had to come from eighth to achieve the podium finish after the top 10 qualifiers were inverted for the start of the 30-lapper.
Swanson had to work hard to move up in the extremely competitive field, but it provided good entertainment for the crowd, which enjoyed free general admission courtesy of Bald Spot Sports to the 500 Sprint Car Tour event presented by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores.
He experimented with various lines around the 0.686-mile asphalt oval with the No. 44, which is sponsored by Henry Repeating Arms, Glenn Farms and Duncan Oil and uses a Binks-prepped Chevy engine.
With the great finish Swanson now only trails the point leader, Dakoda Armstrong, by two points. He has 1,149 points to Armstrong’s 1,151 with only three races remaining in the series’ inaugural season.
Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now resides in Indianapolis, dove to the inside in Turn 1 on the first lap to pass C.J. Leary and Kyle O’Gara and immediately rise from eighth to sixth.
He passed Bobby Santos III for fifth on the second lap.
He overtook Kenny Schrader on lap four to move into fourth.
Swanson remained in fourth place for eight laps, running just inches between Russ Gamester, who was third, and Schrader and then Tyler Roahrig, who passed Schrader on lap six to grab fifth place.
Swanson passed Gamester for third on lap 12 as the top drivers jockeyed for position.
At the halfway point on lap 15 he was 1.262 seconds behind the second-place driver, Billy Wease, and 0.081 seconds ahead of the fourth-place driver, Roahrig. Swanson fought hard to hold off Roahrig for many laps.
Lap 21 was a pivotal lap. Wease passed Armstrong for the lead on the backstretch. On the same lap Roahrig passed both Swanson and Armstrong to move from fourth to second, putting Armstrong in third and Swanson in fourth.
Seconds later, with 22 laps down, the first and only yellow flew for Davey Hamilton Jr., who had stopped in Turn 2.
Swanson took full advantage of the restart, and dipped under Armstrong in Turn 1 for third on lap 23. Roahrig pressured Wease for the lead incessantly from that point on, while Swanson remained in third, about a second behind.
Roahrig passed Wease for the lead and the victory coming down for the checkered on the last lap, and won by only 0.160 of a second. Swanson was 1.115 behind Wease at the checkered and more than 2 seconds ahead of Santos, who finished fourth. Armstrong rounded out the top five followed by NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson.
Swanson set the third-fastest lap of the race on lap 4 with a time of 21.014 seconds. He qualified third with a lap in 20.608.
“We gave it everything we had, but eventually we just lost the handle on it,” Swanson said. “Tonight we were just third best.
“But we’ve had a great season so far, and I’m grateful for the support of our sponsors — Henry Repeating Arms, Glenn Farms and Duncan Oil. I’m also thankful for the hard work that everyone on this Doran Racing team puts in. I thank the fans for coming out on a Monday night too.”
The race was streamed live by Flo Racing.
The team is back in action this Saturday night, Aug. 6, in a USAC Silver Crown race at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway, where it is the defending winner. Another 500 Sprint Car Tour race follows Saturday, Aug. 13 at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. Also on the schedule for August is a USAC Silver Crown race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., near St. Louis on Aug. 19. All of them will be streamed live on Flo Racing.
About Henry Repeating Arms:
Henry Repeating Arms is one of the leading rifle and shotgun manufacturers in the United States and a world leader in the lever action category. The company motto is “Made in America, or not made at all,” and its firearms come with a lifetime guarantee backed by award-winning customer service. The company is also known for its Guns For Great Causes charitable program, which focuses on assisting the families of sick children, children’s hospitals, military veteran organizations, Second Amendment advocacy groups, and wildlife conservation organizations. The company currently employs over 550 people and has over 330,000 square feet of manufacturing space in its Wisconsin and New Jersey facilities. The company is named in honor of Benjamin Tyler Henry, who invented and patented the Henry lever action rifle in 1860 – the first practical repeating rifle and America’s unique contribution to the international stage of firearms design. Visit Henry Repeating Arms online at henryusa.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/HenryRepeating, and @henry_rifles on Instagram.
About Doran Racing:
Doran Racing has prepared and fielded race cars in a wide variety of series
for many years, from Indy cars to NASCAR trucks. It is legendary for the many
championships and events it has won in IMSA sports car racing. Team owner Kevin Doran has won the prestigious Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona at Daytona International Speedway overall as a crew chief, a team owner, and even as a car manufacturer. Under his direction the Doran Racing-prepared MOMO Ferrari was the first team in U.S. history to win the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the Watkins Glen Six-Hour race in the same year. In recent years the team has focused on asphalt sprint car racing, the asphalt portion of the USAC Silver Crown series, and historic sports car events, continuing its tradition of excellence on and off the track.
For more information on Doran Racing, see DoranRacing.com.
The team also has a Facebook page.
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