Could Kody Swanson Take a Six-Peat at Toledo?
Could Kody Swanson Take a Six-Peat at Toledo?
California-native Kody Swanson will try to continue a dominant streak at Toledo Speedway on April 20th. Swanson looks to take a sixth consecutive Rollie Beale Classic win. Swanson has won every edition of the race held since 2017.
In fifteen starts, Swanson has captured 8 wins and thirteen top tens at Toledo Speedway. Divisions raced at Toledo include the USAC Sprint Cars, USAC Midgets, USAC Silver Crown, and the 500 Sprint Car Tour.
The USAC Silver Crown Series opens its 2024 season at Toledo Speedway on April 20th, and Swanson will have a hungry and competitive field waiting to take a shot at the crown.
The Green Flag: Between 2019 and June of 2023, Swanson led all but five laps in features at Toledo. This included three consecutive wins while leading from flag to flag (In 2023, he passed 7 cars in 5 laps to take the lead in 500 Sprint Car Tour action). The 2023 Rollie Beale Classic, however, was a different story.
“It was good to win the Rollie Beale last year, and always great to see the Beale Bunch in victory lane,” Swanson told ToledoSpeedway.com. "I appreciate that Ron Hamelgarn and Toledo Speedway continue to honor them in that way.”
“Last year was a little extra special because it was different for me.”
“In the other ones, I have been fortunate to have leads and control the race. This last time, CJ Leary got way out front and I thought, ‘well, today isn't going to be our day.’”
“The thing I love about the Silver Crown series is you're never out of it. The races are long enough and the tires fall off enough that you keep racing and keep giving it your best. We had a 90 lap green flag run to the end and we were able to track them back down in lap traffic, and steal one with 20 to go.”
Swanson looks to April 20th as an opportunity to take another win.
What to Know: Swanson took his record 40th career USAC Silver Crown victory at Toledo on August 5th, 2023 - the most recent running of the Rollie Beale Classic.
- Swanson would end up narrowly losing out to Logan Seavey in the 2023 season point standings in Silver Crown action.
- Seavey won his historic second consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals feature in January. The only other drivers to win consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals? Kevin Swindell, Rico Abreu, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson. Keep reading for more on Seavey.
- Swanson looks to make it 41 wins in the USAC Silver Crown division on 4/20. Swanson would break his own record as the Silver Crown Series' all-time winningest driver
- Swanson’s team, while national, has some Michigan and Ohio roots behind it.
- Based and built in Lebanon in Ohio, Kevin Doran is a co-owner of Doran Binks Racing. Doran's resume is certainly accomplished. Doran has won the 24 Hours of Daytona as a crew chief, team member, team manager, car owner, and even as a car manufacturer in 2004.
- In 1998, Doran Enterprises made history when the Doran-prepared MOMO Ferrari Team became the first to ever win the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 hours of Sebring, and the 6 hours at Watkins Glen in the same year.
- Brighton’s Dan Binks is the co-owner of Doran Binks Racing. Binks led Corvette Racing’s factory sports car team for almost two decades. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times, along with many IMSA championships in the process.
- Binks was the 2023 inductee to the Corvette Hall of Fame at the National Corvette Museum for Racing.
How It Works: Swanson has a field around him that will look to take a big, combo-breaking win on the high banks
- Toledo Speedway will be 1 stop out of 99 for Logan Seavey. The California-native is trekking the country to attempt the USAC triple crown; one of the most difficult single-season accomplishments in motorsports. He looks to take the championship in all three USAC divisions - the Silver Crown, AMSOIL National Sprint Car and NOS Energy Drink National Midget.
- The only two drivers to complete the USAC Triple Crown? Tony Stewart in 1995, and JJ Yeley in 2003.
- Detroit-native Taylor Ferns looks to take on the Toledo Strip and open her season with a win. Ferns made headlines in March when she was announced as a new driver to the IndyCar feeder Indy NXT series, competing on all four ovals on the 2024 calendar with Abel Motorsports.
- Kaylee Bryson took Rookie of the Year in the USAC Silver Crown series in 2023, including a sixth place effort at Toledo. Bryson will look to build on that effort at Toledo.
- The last driver to win at Toledo Speedway in USAC Silver Crown competition not named Kody Swanson is Bobby Santos III, who won at Toledo in dramatic fashion in 2017. Santos looks to bookend the Swanson domination with a checkered flag at Toledo.
- CJ Leary came a close second at Toledo Speedway in 2023 in the Rollie Beale classic, narrowly losing out to Swanson at the finish in a close race. Leary just needs one more step on the podium to take home his first Rollie Beale Classic victory.
Look Ahead: With just a couple of weeks left until the Hemelgarn/SuperFitness Rollie Beale Classic, it's anyone’s guess what can and will happen on the track on race day with the Silver Crown division. Despite the odds, Kody Swanson looks to make history on race day.
The Checkered Flag: Swanson will be the favorite when the USAC Silver Crown division comes to Toledo Speedway on April 20th, but a historic field of drivers will look to make history of their own.
Hemelgarn / Super Fitness USAC Silver Crown Rollie Beale Classic Fueled by Marcos Pizza, + Factory Stocks and Late Model Sportsman!
April 20, 2024 - 03:00 PM EDT
Toledo Speedway