SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The upcoming USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship will present a new beginning for driver Jake Swanson and 2B Racing.
The two have paired up to chase the full USAC National Sprint Car schedule starting with the February season openers in Florida aboard the Scott Benic-owned DRC/Claxton ride sponsored by Honest Abe Roofing — America’s Reliable Roofer — and the Newton family.
Swanson experienced a breakout year on the USAC National Sprint Car scene this season, amassing four feature victories for Team AZ Racing, for whom Swanson had driven throughout the past five seasons.
It’s new scenery for Swanson, who will now take over the wheel of the No. 2B that was occupied by driver Logan Seavey during the 2023 season and saw the pairing capture two USAC National Sprint Car main events.
“I’m looking forward to a fresh start, but to be honest, I don’t feel like I’m starting over. I feel like I’m just closing a chapter on this aspect of my life and career,” Swanson explained. “The next step for me is going to be Scott and 2B Racing and I’m really excited with that.”
Swanson had driven for Team AZ in USAC CRA and USAC national competition since 2019, and in 2021, both made the mutual move together from the west to the Midwest to further expand their racing exploits.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” Swanson admitted. “We’ve had a really good relationship over the years and still do. That aspect of it is hard, but the cool part is that, even though we’re parting ways on the racing side, we’re still able to end things on good terms.
“It’s an amicable severance and we’re all mature enough to know that we want different things and can go different directions without anybody getting their feelings hurt.”
In addition to being one of the stars of USAC racing, Swanson also owns and operates a thriving racing shock business, Jake Swanson Shock Technology. It is that aspect, plus the time and effort throughout the week put into the race team coupled with an opportunity to not be as much “hands-on” that prompted a change in address for Swanson in the coming year.
“I need to make sure that I’m able to do what needs to be done to ensure the success of those things, which means not having to work on race cars during the week,” Swanson further elaborated. “That transition is really important to me and driving for Benic is really going to help me do that.
“We’ve done a lot of good things and I feel like I’ve established myself as a race car driver who can win races on a regular basis in this realm. Being able to jump in with a good team and a good program, and with the things I’m able to bring to the table, I feel like it will help them as well.”
Swanson knew by August that he and Team AZ would not be continuing beyond the 2023 season, but a chance meeting came along in October when Honest Abe Roofing President and car owner/sponsor Kevin Newton reached out to Swanson to drive his winged car during a High Limit Sprint Car Series race at Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway.
The car that night was crew chiefed by none other than Scott Benic, which led to additional opportunities in the weeks to come.
Shortly thereafter, Swanson was tabbed by Benic to compete in a pair of non-USAC sanctioned events in Indiana at Tri-State Speedway and Kokomo Speedway, which proved beneficial for the new duo and provided them with a bit of a head start going into 2024.
“It was huge, and it’s amazing what just one or two races does for your confidence, preparedness and understanding of the difference between this car and the other car and the things we need to change from when Seavey drove it to the things that I like,” Swanson documented. “Luckily, I’ve worked on (sprint cars) quite a bit, so I know I can pinpoint stuff pretty quickly on what I feel like we need and can get myself more comfortable and closer to what I’m used to because I’ve been building my stuff for so long.”
“I could tell that the fundamentals of the race car and the race team were good and we all worked really well together,” Swanson continued. “I think that there’s some surefire potential to be really successful. It was really key to run those couple of races to get a good understanding of the program as well as how we both operate and to see how we’re going to build stuff going forward and how we’re going to attack the season in 2024.
Benic’s 2B Racing group owns 33 career USAC National Sprint Car wins, which ranks 11th on the all-time list.
In 2005, with Levi Jones as the team’s driver, 2B Racing captured the USAC National Sprint Car championship. The new combo of Swanson and 2B has a great pedigree with the team’s storied past, its current status as a regular frontrunner and its future with Swanson at the helm.
“First of all, we couldn’t do any of this without the support of my wife, Dana, and the help of Jeff Claxton. I also want to thank Logan (Seavey) for everything that he’s done with us this past year,” Benic stated. “In September when Logan informed us he would not be back in 2024, we were really concerned on our direction for the future and then along came Jake.”
In the coming year, Benic foresees the likelihood of big success for his team with Swanson at the wheel.
“With Jake and us, I think this has the potential to be a really good combination. He got in our car at the end of this year and had a couple decent runs, and I think there’s a great potential to do more and more things. He learned how to win this year and that’s an important part. I think it’s all a good fit.
“His ability speaks for itself, and he can help us with different things chassis-wise and on the development of product lines through Benic Enterprises and the things obviously need to continue to work on.”
The new chapter for Swanson and 2B Racing opens in 2024 with five Winter Dirt Games dates at Ocala, Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park in early February, plus two nights at Barberville, Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park in mid-February for the DIRTcar Nationals where Swanson opened 2023 with a victory and now eyes a repeat in the new year.
“It’s been great getting to know Scott over the course of the past few months,” Swanson praised. “He’s been there and done that for a long time. He’s very in tune with it, and I feel like I’m very in tune with these race cars as well.”