Danner Runs in Top Four in Hoosier Hundred
Thursday at IRP in Doran-Swanson Racing No. 77

BROWNSBURG, Ind., June 26 — Briggs Danner competed in his first race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park ever Thursday night and diced with some of the biggest stars of the USAC Silver Crown division in one of the series’ biggest races, the 69th annual Hoosier Hundred. The Allentown, Pa.-based series rookie appeared to be on his way to at least a top-five finish, but unfortunately a driveline failure knocked his Doran-Swanson Racing No. 77 out while he was running fourth just after the halfway point.

He ended up 17th in the 23-car field, but before he dropped out he came out on top during great battles with the series’ defending champion, Justin Grant, and Bobby Santos III, the 2023 Hoosier Hundred winner who is in a three-way tie as the winningest driver on this 0.686-mile asphalt oval in USAC competition.

Dakoda Armstrong, whose previous best finish in this race was sixth in 2024, ended up winning over C.J. Leary, Tyler Roahrig, Russ Gamester, Grant, and Santos.

Danner qualified third behind Leary and Santos, but he dropped to fifth initially when both Armstrong and Grant got by his car, which is sponsored in part by E. Schneider & Sons Inc. Recycling and Fuelmart, on the first lap.

Danner ran his fastest lap of the race on lap seven with a time of 22.141 seconds, but Roahrig got around him on lap eight to push him to sixth place. Roahrig and Grant swapped fourth and fifth during the early going. By lap 20 Armstrong had a 1.722-second lead over Leary but Danner was just 0.169 behind Grant as he fought to get back into the top five.

At the one-quarter mark Armstrong still led Leary by 1.684 seconds. Grant passed Santos for fourth on that lap, but Danner was only 0.128 seconds behind Santos and a full second ahead of the seventh-place driver, Mario Clouser, before the second of only two full-course cautions waved between laps 27 and 30.

Danner took good advantage of the restart on lap 31 and on lap 32 he passed Santos for fifth coming out of Turn 4. By lap 35 he was only 0.321 behind the fourth-place Grant and 0.324 ahead of Santos, much to the delight of the Flo Racing audience.

At that point he kept the pressure on Grant and slowly built up a bit of an advantage over Santos. By lap 40 he was 0.164 behind Grant and 0.521 ahead of Santos.

Five laps later he passed Grant for fourth when he dove under him in Turn 4. Armstrong had a 1.015-second lead over Leary at that point. With Grant behind him, Danner’s next goal was to pass Roahrig for third while holding off Grant.

Gamester passed Grant for fifth on lap 47. At the halfway point Danner was still in fourth place, busy holding off Gamester. He was able to stay in fourth until the mechanical issue struck with 54 laps complete.

Danner qualified third with a time of 21.160, which was only 0.198 off the time Leary set to earn the pole. Danner was second in the only practice period with a 21.242, only 0.027 off the time Kyle Hamilton ran to top the session in the late stages.

The Hoosier Hundred was rained out May 22 and postponed until June 25. Danner’s next USAC Silver Crown race with the Lebanon, Ohio-based team will be July 19 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway.

“I thought we had a top-five car,” Danner said after the race. “I had a close call once when I misjudged how fast I was closing on Grant. And lapped cars were tough; they’re fighting for their own positions though. This track is wide, but the racing groove is pretty narrow.

“I had a good battle with Santos too. I got a run on him in Turn 2, got under him in Turn 3, and got by him coming off 4. It’s all good experience; this was my first race here.

“Now we go to a track I’ve never seen — Winchester. I’m excited to go there, and see what we can do!”

For more information see Briggs Danner Racing on Facebook.

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