Doran Racing’s Swanson Regains Point Lead
With Fourth-Place Finish in Tony Elliott Classic
500 Sprint Car Tour Race at Anderson Speedway
ANDERSON, Ind., Oct. 7 — Doran Racing’s Kody Swanson regained the point
lead in the inaugural 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value Bumper to
Bumper Part Stores by qualifying third, starting eighth, and finishing fourth in the
seventh annual Tony Elliott Classic Thursday night at Anderson Speedway.
Dakoda Armstrong had a four-point advantage over Swanson in the point
standings going into this race. Unofficially after it Swanson now leads by 17 points,
with 1,533 points to Armstrong’s 1,516 with one race remaining this season. The
season finale is Saturday, Oct. 22 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in
Brownsburg, Ind.
Swanson was behind the wheel of the Lebanon, Ohio-based team’s Henry
Repeating Arms No. 44, which is powered by a Binks Chevrolet V8 engine. Other
support from the team comes from Glenn Farms and Duncan Oil.
Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Indianapolis, qualified
third behind fastest qualifier Tyler Roahrig and Taylor Ferns for the 100-lap test on
the quarter-mile, high-banked asphalt oval. His qualifying time was 11.334
seconds, which was only 0.131 off Roahrig’s time. There were a total of 24 entries.
The top-10 cars were inverted for the start, so Swanson lined up on the outside of
row four beside Emerson Axsom. After some initial jockeying for position, he
passed Billy Wease on lap four and ran in seventh place from lap four through lap
20.
From lap 20 until the end Swanson was kept busy defending his position from
Roahrig, which was one of the best battles of the race.
Swanson moved into sixth place on lap 21 when both he and Axsom passed Derek
Bischak, who had started on the pole but lost the top spot at the start to fellow
front-row starter Chris Neuenschwander. Roahrig passed Bischak on lap 22 to
keep the heat on Swanson.
There were only two leaders. Neuenschwander led the first 53 laps, and Bobby
Santos III led the rest.
Swanson moved into fifth place on lap 63 when Neuenschwander dropped back.
On lap 84 Swanson got fourth place when he charged under Dakoda Armstrong.
Roahrig and Ferns passed Armstrong on the following lap. Armstrong went on to
finish seventh to Swanson’s fourth, which was important to the title chase.
Santos, who started third, won over Kyle O’Gara, Axsom, Swanson and Roahrig.
Ferns, Dakoda Armstrong, Caleb Armstrong, Travis Welpott and Nathan Byrd
rounded out the top 10. Nine drivers completed all 100 laps.
Swanson was 0.250 of a second behind Axsom at the checkered and 0.428 ahead
of Roahrig.
There were three yellow flags but yellow-flag laps didn’t count, so all the drivers
got a good workout throughout the 100-lapper. The first yellow flew with 34 laps
down when Kyle Robbins hit the outside wall in Turn 4 after a problem with a
lapped car. The second one was for debris on lap 68. The final one flew with 81
laps down when Wease slowed and then stopped in Turn 1.
Swanson set the second-fastest lap of the race on lap seven with a time of 11.529
seconds. Neuenschwander set the fastest race lap with a 11.485 one lap earlier.
“It was a tough race tonight,” Swanson said afterwards. “This place changes a lot
from each visit to the next. Tonight the track was narrow and hard to get a hold of.
We had a fast car, but it was tough to pass. The big inversion makes it a challenge
too.
“I dealt with a lot of traffic, but didn’t have any close calls. There were some tight
moments though with lapped traffic, figuring out whether to go high or low to get
by.
“I appreciate the battle we had with Tyler Roahrig. He always races real clean. He
could poke a nose alongside us, but he never got by.
“I want to thank the Doran Racing crew for all their hard work, and Henry Repeating
Arms, Glenn Farms, Duncan Oil and all of our other supporters.”
The event was streamed live by MAVTV 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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