Wins Aid Swanson Recovery During USAC Silver Crown Season
Springfield Bettenhausen 100 Coming Saturday Afternoon
By Jay Hardin Track Enterprises Staff
(Springfield, IL) Kody Swanson entered the 2024 USAC Silver Crown season on uncertain footing, so to speak. A Christmas morning incident at his parents’ home left him with a broken foot. Multiple surgeries required to repair the damage meant a longer than anticipated recovery. However, the 7-time USAC national champion has shown little aftereffects, winning the season opener at Toledo in April. Wins at Winchester and Lucas Oil Raceway in May plus Jennerstown Saturday followed and propelled him to the top of the point standings after 8 events. His Doran Binks owned mount appears ready to help him to an unprecedented eighth USAC Silver Crown.
A win in the Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield August 17 would go a long way to ease the pain of recovery. A fourth Springfield win for Swanson would place him in rare company. Only Chuck Gurney, A.J. Foyt, and Jack Hewitt have as many 100-mile dirt car wins in the Illinois capitol. The Californian is the all-time series victory leader, with 40 entering the 2024 season. Eleven victories have come on the one-mile dirt tracks and Swanson hasn’t won a big car race on the dirt since the rain shortened August 2021 Bettenhausen 100.
An ability to keep the car straight and turn consistent laps made Swanson a contender on the dirt miles since his first Bettenhausen start in 2008. In 13 starts on the Springfield Mile, Kody Swanson has been running at the end of 10, completed the distance 9 times and led 4 times for 178 laps. He has 10 top 10 finishes on the Springfield clay and is fifth on the all-time money won list at Springfield.
Swanson’s point lead stands at 55 over 2017 Bettenhausen 100 winner Justin Grant, and 62 over 2023 Bettenhausen winner Logan Seavey after the August 10 race on the pavement at Jennerstown. A pavement event at World Wide Technology Raceway is also on the schedule prior to Springfield. Twenty-one race winners at Springfield have gone on to win a national championship, twelve of them in the Silver Crown Series since 1971. The last was Logan Seavey in 2023.
The August 17 Bettenhausen 100 continues a tradition of 100-mile national championship racing that celebrates the 90th anniversary of the first national championship race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, as well as celebrating a tradition of competitive auto racing at the fair that goes back at least 114 years. The “Springfield Mile” holds a legendary distinction among 4 wheel and 2-wheel competitors, the championship race became a model for races at the DuQuoin and the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The track itself was used as a basis for other tracks across the country. The Springfield Mile is one of the oldest and most historic motorsport venues in the United States.
The 61st Bettenhausen is part of a huge weekend of racing that begins Friday night, August 16 at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, Saturday afternoon, August 17 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and Sunday afternoon, August 18 with the ARCA Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and the Sportsman Nationals at the Illinois State Fair.
Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office.
Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 18 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20. Stores selling tickets include Champaign, Danville, Effingham, Forsyth, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield North/South, and Washington.
For more information, visit
www.usacracing.com,
www.arcaracing.com, or
www.trackenterprises.com.