Kody Wins with Tanner 2nd in Indianapolis Thriller
TK Motorsports Release: (May 13, 2011)---Last night, TK Motorsports' Swanson Brothers and the USAC Pavement Sprint Cars headed to Lucas Oil Raceway for Night #1 of "Thursday Night Thunder." After finishing 2nd and scoring the most points in the season opener at Anderson Speedway in April, driver Kody Swanson led the series to the event and was among "those to watch" in the 30-lap Sprint car feature. Tanner Swanson was also mentioned prior to the event as a threat to win, as many remember the youngster stealing the show by winning last year's "Night Before the 500" in just his first attempt!
When the night's time trials came to a close, the results showed Kody then Tanner in the 3rd and 4th positions. With both brothers driving for their family owned TK Motorsports team, many knew that at least one of them should have a chance to end up in Victory Lane. Before that could happen, both drivers needed to finish in the Top 4 of their respective heat races to earn a spot in the night's feature event, and both did just that. Tanner drove from 5th to 4th in his heat race, while Kody moved from his 6th place starting spot to finish 2nd in his. After an invert of the 6 fastest qualifiers, and factoring in who transferred through their heat races, Tanner and Kody would line up 4th and 5th for the 30-lap feature. At the drop of the green flag, Tanner quickly moved from 4th into 3rd, and began his pursuit of the race lead, while Kody got shuffled back to the 6th position. In the early going, Kody raced his way past a few cars and into the 4th position, but not before Tanner had moved into 2nd, and nearly a straight-away ahead of Kody in 4th! While Tanner and two other cars battled for the lead, Kody quickly began closing the gap to the leaders, hoping to join the fray. By the half-way point, Jacob Wilson had got to the lead, with Tanner in tow, and Kody moving past early leader Tracy Hines into the 3rd spot. Tanner immediately began pressuring the #07 for the top spot, and after Kody got to Tanner's bumper, a three-way battle for the lead ensued with just 10-laps to go! With no cautions to be had, the non-stop affair produced some lapped traffic, and heightened the intense battle for the lead. While Tanner began working the low line under the leader, older brother Kody began working the outside to get beside Tanner for 2nd. With just three laps remaining, Kody finally got to the outside of Tanner in turns three and four, and had a big run on the leader coming down the front-stretch. With no time left to waste, Kody immediately dove to the inside of the #07 entering turn one, taking the lead off of turn two and completing his move from 3rd to 1st in less than 1 lap! Tanner was able to get by Wilson in the next lap, and began his pursuit of his older brother with just under two laps to go. The duo negotiated lapped traffic on the final lap, but the order stayed the same, with Kody taking the Feature Win and Tanner in 2nd to complete the Swanson Brothers One-Two finish!
While it is very exciting to have TK Motorsports finish One-Two in the first race of the return of "Thursday Night Thunder," they will also go down in the record books as the first to win at the newly renamed Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis (formerly O'Reilly Raceway Park and Indianapolis Raceway Park)! After becoming the first brothers in history to "sweep" a USAC Silver Crown Feature One-Two in August of last year, the Swanson Brothers have now completed One-Two Feature Event sweeps in each of the USAC Pavement Sprint Car series, USAC Silver Crown series, and USAC Western Sprint Car series. The brothers have also finished a combination of 1st & 3rd in both USAC National Midget series and USAC Western Midget series events, including last year's "Night Before the 500!" After Tanner and Kody each picked up wins in National Midgets and their first career Silver Crown victories last year, both were named USAC's "Most Improved Drivers" in 2010.
TK Motorsports would like to thank all of their USAC Sprint Car partners and sponsors: Lyons Transportation, Wawona Packing Co, Wawona Frozen Foods, Keith Williams Dentistry, K&N Filters, Eibach Springs, Simpson Race Products, Penske Shocks, All-Star Performance, HJ Hay Co, FK Rod Ends, Goodridge Fluid Systems, Calico Coatings, Jet-Star, Brad's Auto Body, Wilwood Brakes, Weld Racing Wheels, Diversified Machine, Sander Engineering, Top Shelf Design Co, Wysong Chassis, Scott Losorwith Racing Engines, JE Pistons, Schoenfeld Headers, Race Cover-Alls, RV Jensen, Olson Racing Products, Race Bolt, Saldana Products, Sponsor-Net.com, Family Tree Farms, Engler Injections, Brodix Heads, Rick Carsey Trucking, Weld-Tech, KSE Steering, Carrillo Rods, Superior Machine, Firecrest Designs, Indy Metal Finishing, Cap's Coatings, and The Joie of Seating.
- Kody Swanson on May 14, 2011
- Article Date: 5/14/2011 by TK Motorsports