SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (August 6, 2011) – Kingsburg’s Kody Swanson, fresh off a win in the USAC Silver Crown series, won his first ever USAC dirt sprint car feature by topping a 29 car field in Friday night’s “Wayne Sue Classic” for the USAC Western Classic Sprint Cars at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway. Swanson took the #69 Alan Kaiser Construction mount to win in just his second ever USAC dirt sprint car start.
Swanson came to the feature after winning the semi and started the 22 car feature from ninth after getting his qualifying time back. Sebastopol’s Geoff Ensign led the field to green from the pole and maintained the lead under heavy pressure in the early laps.
Matt Streeter jumped forward to second on the opening lap as outside pole sitter Scott Pierovich began to slip back through the field. The first caution came out on lap one and on the restart Pierovich backpedaled even more, falling back to eighth place.
Young Marty Hawkins fell out of contention on lap eight with mechanical problems after qualifying fourth, while fast-time qualifier Andy Forsberg took over third from Jason York on lap 12. Swanson cracked the top-five as well while overall points leader Tony Hunt was up to seventh from 11th starting.
The frustrating night for Pierovich finally ended when he stopped on lap 16 to bring out the caution and his night was over. The restart saw York try to come back at Forsberg for third before he spun in turn two. York was able to keep his #25 mount rolling but he fell to 14th.
Streeter applied heavy pressure on Ensign for the lead with Forsberg and Swanson in close pursuit. On lap 19 Streeter and Ensign went side-by-side for the lead into turn one with Streeter spinning out. The caution gave Forsberg his best shot at Ensign as he swept high atop the cushion. But the bottom proved to be the place to run allowing Swanson to shoot past Forsberg to take over second.
Kyle Hirst began to make his presence felt as he challenged the leaders while Hunt cracked the top-five. After a brief three-wide battle for second, Swanson finally got away to battle Ensign. Coming into turn three on lap 24, Swanson dove inside to steal the preferred line and take the lead.
A red flag was needed one lap later as Cody Myers and dirt points leader Shauna Hogg flipped while battling for seventh. Hogg was able to continue while Myers was done for the night.
Swanson drove away on the restart with five laps to go while Ensign defended Forsberg and Hirst. Hirst was able to get under Forsberg to take third before the checkers to round out the podium. York came back to fifth ahead of Taylor Simas, Hunt, Kirk Simpson, Colby Copeland, and Streeter the top-ten.
With the second place finish, Ensign unofficially closed to within 44 points of Hunt in the overall USAC Western Classic Racing Series points while Hogg unofficially maintained her lead in the dirt points as she drove back to a solid 11th place finish. For her efforts, Hogg was awarded a $50 Kaeding Performance award along with Hawkins.
Heat race wins went to Streeter, Myers, Hirst, and Simas, with Swanson pacing the semi over James Sweeney, Hunt, and Simpson. Provisional starting positions in the feature went to Tim Barber and Todd Miller, Jr.
Johnathon Henry of Stockton won the USAC/BCRA Midget feature on the night as well as he charged past Chris Ennis to take the lead on lap 15 of the 30 lap contest. Henry went on to a six second victory over Shannon McQueen and Cody Swanson. Cody Kruseman’s sixth place finish allowed him to retake the USAC points lead over David Prickett.
Tonight the USAC Western Classic Racing Series continues as they move on to Alan Handy’s Placerville Speedway for the “Mike McCreary Classic”. BCRA Midgets and BCRA Midget Lites are also scheduled to be in action.
Saturday night’s show at Placerville Speedway will have the front grandstand gate opening at 5:00 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m. General adult admission is $13.00 with seniors and juniors $11.00 and children $6.00.
More information on the USAC Western Classic Racing Series is available on Facebook at keywords “USAC Western Classic Racing Series”. The United States Auto Club is online at www.usacracing.com The USAC Western States is available at www.usacwesternstates.com with contact information and the latest news.
The USAC Western Classic Racing Series is brought to you by: Amsoil, Hoosier Tires West, and Kaeding Performance.
- Steven Blakesley on Aug 06, 2011
- Article Date: 8/6/2011 by Steven Blakesley / Blakesley Sports Media