Swanson Dominates Rich Vogler Classic at Winchester
In Doran Binks Racing’s Mission Foods No. 77;
He Leads All 100 Laps from the Pole Friday Night
For the Fourth Straight Year

Photo credit: Rick Kimbal

WINCHESTER, Ind., June 29 — Kody Swanson has already earned the designation of “Greatest of All Time” in USAC Silver Crown competition since he has the most career wins, poles, and championships in series history. He can go down in history as “The King of the High Banks” too with dominating performances like his sixth overall and fourth straight victory in the Rich Vogler Classic Friday night at the high-banked paved oval of Winchester Speedway, known as “the world’s fastest half-mile.”

For the 34th annual version of this classic race and the fourth straight year he led all 100 laps from the pole at this track, which has 37 degrees of banking in its turns. Swanson’s winning Doran Binks Racing No. 77 is sponsored by Mission Foods, Glenn Farms, and Wilke Orthodontics, and is powered by a Lanci Ford engine.

Besides winning this particular race at Winchester four consecutive times, Swanson also won it in 2016 and 2019 when it was held at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. He is also the winningest USAC Silver Crown driver ever at IRP.

The Rich Vogler Classic hasn’t always been a USAC Silver Crown event. It was also a USAC sprint and USAC midget race in the past, and it wasn’t held at all during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Swanson’s Winchester streak makes him one of only four drivers to have ever won four consecutive races here in any USAC national division.  The last time that happened was 1999. Steve Chassey remains the holder of that record with five consecutive USAC national sprint car victories at Winchester in 1979. Dave Steele and Ryan Newman had four straight wins at Winchester from 1998 through 1999, Steele’s coming in the USAC national sprint car division and Newman’s in USAC national midgets.

The USAC Silver Crown division is unique in that it is contested on both asphalt and dirt ovals. High-banked asphalt tracks come with their own set of challenges, but Swanson is certainly a master of them. He also has five straight USAC Silver Crown victories on another famous high-banked track the USAC Silver Crown series will visit Aug. 9: Salem Speedway in Salem, Ind. In 2020 he broke Pancho Carter’s record of four consecutive Joe James-Pat O’Connor Memorial victories set between 1974 and 1977.

On Friday Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who now lives in Brownsburg, Ind., extended his series record for USAC Silver Crown career victories to 47 and poles to 57. He is an eight-time USAC Silver Crown champion, the most of anyone ever, as well as the series’ defending champion.

Masters have a way of making their performances look easy, but behind the scenes they often have to overcome challenges. After the race Swanson noted he had trouble getting through lapped traffic, which he started doing as early as lap nine in the 100-lap race. He also said tire management was challenging, as his Hoosiers were very worn down for the last 20 laps of the race, which made his car “a handful” to drive. “I’m glad I didn’t spin out on that last restart,” he said.

“One hundred laps around here is tough, and C.J. Leary had a really good car and pressured me a lot,” he added. “The whole field is really good; they’ll make you pay if you mess up.

“I had a tough time getting around some of the lapped cars that were racing each other,” he noted. “It’s like walking a tightrope to get around on the high banks. The challenge is to be fast enough while still saving your equipment. You have to try to go as fast as you need to.”

Swanson’s rivals had prime opportunities to pass him at the initial start and three restarts after yellows, the last of which set up a green-white-checkered finish.

Leary started alongside Swanson but Swanson beat him into Turn 1 on the first lap of the race and already had a three car length advantage by Turn 2. But Leary was only one-, two- or three-tenths of a second back for the first 28 laps.

The timing of the cautions and the difficulty getting around lapped cars kept things close. The first yellow flew on lap 31 for debris on the backstretch. It may have come from Kyle Robbins’ car, as he reported to the pit area with a crumpled tail tank under that yellow. Jake Trainor also retired under that yellow.

The second yellow waved on lap 54 when 15-year-old Colton Bettis stopped in Turn 4 while running tenth, reportedly due to a broken fuel pump cable.

Swanson had built up his biggest advantage of the race — 3.625 seconds — on lap 94 when the third and final yellow came out after the driver who was tenth at the time, Matt Westfall, hit the outside wall in Turn 2 and Leary, who was still second, spun to avoid him and came to a stop low at the entrance to that turn. Both drivers were OK but their cars were dragged back to their pit areas on the back of wreckers. Leary’s car had a flat right-rear tire, but he didn’t have any positions to gain by restarting so late in the race so he wasn’t running at the finish.

His departure gave second place to Justin Grant for the green-white-checkered finish, but Swanson had a 1.353-second margin of victory over him. Dakoda Armstrong finished third. Bobby Santos, who was second the last two years here, was fourth this time, and 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman placed fifth. Taylor Ferns was sixth and Nathan Byrd placed seventh. Swanson lapped through seventh place. Kyle Steffens, Leary, and Westfall rounded out the top 10.

Swanson set the fastest race lap on lap 63 with a time of 15.593 seconds. Leary was second in that category with a 15.801 three laps later.

Swanson won the pole for the fifth year in a row here with a time of 14.842 set on his first of two laps. Swanson has started on the pole in all five of the USAC Silver Crown races held at Winchester. He set the series’ track record here in 2021 with a 14.459. That time was hard to beat this year, as Friday’s race was held under a heat advisory.

It was the Lebanon, Ohio-based team’s second consecutive USAC Silver Crown victory this year, as it also won at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., on June 14.

“We had some bad luck at the beginning of the season, and I appreciate everyone on this Doran Binks team’s effort to stay on it and make the extra effort to keep the car going good,” Swanson said. “I appreciate the opportunity to get to do this, and that wouldn’t happen without our sponsors like Mission Foods, Glenn Farms, Wilke Orthodontics, and Rosewood Machine and Tool. We have a lot of great product sponsors too, like TJ Forged Wheels, Duncan Fuel and Oil, and All Star Performance, to name a few.”

The race was streamed live by Flo Racing.

Doran Binks Racing’s next USAC Silver Crown race will be the USAC RaceAid 100 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind., on Wednesday, July 23. USAC RaceAid, a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to USAC members and their families in times of injury and need, will receive a $5 donation from every ticket and pit pass sold for that event.

About Mission Foods:
The Gruma Corporation began in 1949 and is today the leading tortilla manufacturer worldwide. Mission Foods is a proud subsidiary of Gruma, and as the #1 tortilla company in the United States, manufactures a wide variety of authentic Mexican products. Five years ago it opened a state-of-the-art plant in Dallas, Texas, with the capacity to produce 30 million tortillas daily. Today Mission Foods is a global company, with special emphasis not only on the United States but also Mexico, Central America, Europe, China, Malaysia, and Australia. Its products include flour and corn tortillas; tostadas; low-carb, whole wheat, organic and gluten-free items; wraps; flatbreads such as naan, pita and roti; tortilla chips and organic chips; chicharrones; salsa, and dips. For more information see missionfoods.com.

For more information on Doran Racing, see DoranRacing.com.
The team also has a Facebook page.
Series information on USACRacing.com