CLERMONT, Ind. – Kody Swanson completed a sweep of the USAC-sanctioned features during Saturday’s rain-postponed Carb Night Classic with an absolute rout of the 30-lap midget special.
Swanson, who won the Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Raceway less than two hours earlier, led from start to finish in Jerome Rodela’s No. 25 and was never threatened at any point.
After a lap-five caution flag for the spun car of Bob Guess in turn four, Swanson turned on the jets and opened up a colossal 8.604-second margin over race-long runner-up Thomas Meseraull.
It marked Swanson’s 10th overall USAC win at Lucas Oil Raceway and his second in a pavement midget there. His prior pavement midget triumph at LOR came in 2010.
“I can’t say enough about (this team),” Swanson said in victory lane. “Everyone puts in a ton of effort, and this has got to be the nicest midget there ever was, and it deserves to win races. Jerome (Rodela) has done nothing but be ahead of the game on his end. I’m thankful that he let me be a part of this.”
Behind Meseraull, Bobby Santos, Kody’s younger brother Tanner Swanson and Justin Grant closed the top five.
Swanson’s Saturday sweep at the .686-mile LOR oval marked the first time one driver had won multiple USAC features at the track in the same day since Dave Steele won Twin 25s in a midget there in 2002.
It also put him in position to complete an “Indiana Trifecta” of winning in a pavement midget, a pavement USAC Silver Crown car and a pavement sprint car in the same day, if he can capture the victory in Saturday night’s 73rd Pay Less Little 500 at nearby Anderson (Ind.) Speedway.
Though Jack Hewitt and Kyle Larson have won in all three types of cars – sprint cars, midgets and Silver Crown cars – on the dirt in a single day, no driver in history has ever won in all three divisions on the blacktop within the same day.
USAC National Midget Series; Carb Night Classic; Lucas Oil Raceway; Brownsburg, Ind.; May 29, 2021
Qualifying: (Held on May 28) 1. Kody Swanson, 25, Rodela-21.023; 2. Justin Grant, 3, Bohanon-21.217; 3. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-21.234; 4. Bobby Santos, 29, Seymour/West-21.248; 5. Kyle Hamilton, 4, Klatt-21.358; 6. Dalton Armstrong, 7A, C & A-21.564; 7. Jake Trainor, 8, Trainor-21.596; 8. Todd Bertrand, 47, Bertrand-21.638; 9. Tanner Swanson, 7K, Irwin/Petry-21.647; 10. Josh Wise, 55, Bowman-21.649; 11. Nick Hamilton, 7KR, Irwin/Petry-21.653; 12. Kyle O’Gara, 1BR, SFHR-21.807; 13. Trey Burke, 63, Dooling-21.939; 14. Annie Breidinger, 80, Breidinger-21.954; 15. Mario Clouser, 99, Guess-22.016; 16. Johnny Zych, 9, Zych-22.210; 17. Jesse Love, 5, Van Dyne-22.318; 18. Cole Carter, 7, Bertrand-22.383; 19. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Western Speed-22.398; 20. Blake Brannon, 40, Western Speed-22.448; 21. Nathan Byrd, 33, RayPro-22.802; 22. John Sluss, 14AJ, RayPro-23.043; 23. Kevin Studley, 57K, Studley-23.248; 24. Taylor Ferns, 55F, Ferns-23.646; 25. Ryan Shilkuski, 75, Shilkuski-24.632; 26. Brandon Maurer, 14, Maurer-25.728.
Feature: (30 laps) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Thomas Meseraull (3), 3. Bobby Santos (4), 4. Tanner Swanson (6), 5. Justin Grant (2), 6. Jake Trainor (5), 7. Josh Wise (7), 8. Kyle O’Gara (9), 9. Cole Carter (15), 10. Nick Hamilton (8), 11. Cody Gerhardt (16), 12. Blake Brannon (17), 13. Johnny Zych (13), 14. Trey Burke (10), 15. Taylor Ferns (20), 16. Jesse Love (14), 17. John Sluss (19), 18. Todd Bertrand (12), 19. Annie Breidinger (11), 20. Nathan Byrd (18), 21. Bob Guess (22), 22. Ryan Shilkuski (21). NT