DU QUOIN, Ill. – Kody Swanson was his usual humble self as he accepted the winner’s check and trophy for winning the Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in August.
It would have been completely out of character had Swanson exited the car and boasted about his accomplishments in the USAC Silver Crown Series. Even if he had been boastful, there is no one that could dispute him.
Swanson has been nothing short of stellar this year. He is nearing an unprecedented sixth USAC Silver Crown championship entering this Saturday night’s Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds.
Swanson intended to cut back his races in a Silver Crown car after last year. In addition to being the all-time wins leader in the series, he’s one of 15 drivers who have won a 100-miler on all three of the fairground dirt miles on the schedule. He had little left to prove in the big cars.
Other opportunities popped up for the Californian, including stock cars and sports cars. As a result, Swanson announced he would not be running the Silver Crown cars on the dirt, running only the pavement races for Doran Racing.
Then the elimination of the Hoosier Hundred and the Sumar at Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track from the schedule came.
The season opener came on May 29 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis with Swanson leading 37 laps and winning the 100-lap event. Swanson missed the dirt event at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., but a call from Kent Wolters put him in the Mark Swanson Encore Team No. 21 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, where he finished third.
A new track record with Doran and a second at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway put him back in the points lead by four over Justin Grant.
Swanson followed that with another win at Lucas Oil Raceway and the win at Springfield (Ill.) Mile put him 51 points ahead of Logan Seavey and 100 ahead of Grant with three races left.
At Springfield, Swanson set fast time but was relegated to the 23rd-starting position due to changing his right rear tire. He marched through the field and took the lead just past halfway with rain on the horizon. Rain shortened the event to 76 laps and Swanson managed to win once again.
Swanson is slated to run the same Chris Dyson Racing machine that won at Springfield and Eldora. Sean Michael, who won twice last year with Kyle Larson, will crew chief.
Swanson won the Horn 100 as a rookie in 2010 and again in 2017. His shot at a third event title starts 5 p.m. Central Standard Time in the series’ practice session, with qualifying slated at 6:30 and the main event at 8:15 p.m.
Â