BROWNSBURG, Indiana — This Friday night, Kody Swanson has a shot at tying Triple Crown champion Tracy Hines as the all-time winningest USAC driver at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP).
In 2021, a magical afternoon for Swanson was made complete with a dominating performance in the 2021 USAC Midget special event feature in Indianapolis, which came on the heels of winning the USAC Silver Crown race earlier that day.
Swanson currently holds 13 total victories while Hines possesses 15 at the .686-mile paved oval. Swanson will be competing in both the USAC Silver Crown division and the USAC Midget non-points special event, as part of the Brown’s Oil Service IRP pavement midget series.
Over the years, Swanson has grown accustomed to setting records at IRP.
In fact, his midget/silver crown sweep a year ago marked the first time any driver had won multiple USAC features on the same day at IRP since Dave Steele captured both ends of the Twin 25 midget features in 2002.
However, Swanson was the first driver to accomplish the feat in two different types of race cars.
Three of Swanson’s 13 IRP wins have come in a midget, going back to his earliest victory in 2010 and his two wins there in 2021. He has also set the fastest time in qualifying and starting from the pole in last year’s Carb Night Classic.
A total of five IRP midget winners are in this Friday’s 25-car field, including three-time victor Bobby Santos, who won in 2006 and 2020 in a midget. The 2010 NASCAR Modified king notched a third place in the 2021 Carb Night Classic midget feature.
Tanner Swanson has shared honors as a midget winner with his brother, Kody, at IRP. Tanner was victorious during the 2010 “Night Before the 500” and was a fourth place finisher at Carb Night in 2021.
Josh Wise, the 2005 USAC National Midget champion, returned to victory lane last August at IRP with a stirring midget win that came in a late-race dash in the final four laps. The 156-time NASCAR Cup Series starter returned to midget racing during the 2021 Carb Night Classic, finishing seventh.
Friday’s driver lineup also boasts its share of champions with 2020 USAC Silver Crown titlist and current USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship point leader Justin Grant.
Grant is returning to the fold after finishing fifth in the midget at the Carb Night Classic last year. He’s joined by reigning USAC National Midget champion Buddy Kofoid who will be making his pavement midget debut.
Chad Nichols is making his Carb Night Classic debut this weekend after collecting three consecutive USAC Western States Pavement Midget titles in 2012, ’13 and ’14.
NASCAR Xfinity Series veteran Dakoda Armstrong will also be making his first Carb Night Classic appearance. Armstrong was, at the time, USAC’s youngest champion at age 13 when he captured the 2004 USAC Kenyon Midget championship.
The Northeastern Midget Association always brings a strong contingent to IRP. Three-time NEMA champ Johnny Zych, standout driver Todd Bertrand and Jake Trainor were at the top of the NEMA teams at Carb Night 2021.
More than 50 combined USAC Silver Crown and Brown’s Oil Service midget drivers are expected to compete in the Carb Night Classic.
The seventh running of the Carb Night Classic features a rare quadruple header of open-wheel racing on the Friday before the Indianapolis 500, and it’s sure to be a night to remember.
The Carb Night Classic will feature Road to Indy’s Cooper Tire Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 Championships. A 30-lap, non-points USAC Special Event National Pavement Midget Championship feature that’s paying $5,000-to-win and a 100-lap, points-paying USAC Silver Crown National Championship race that’s paying $10,000-to-win will also be part of the event.
The USF2000 event will be the milestone 300th USAC sanctioned event on the IRP oval since its construction in 1961.
Keyword: Swanson Prepares For USAC Carb Night Classic