SOMERTON, Ariz. — Jake Swanson was “the one” during Saturday night’s 55th annual Chapman Chevrolet of Yuma Western World Championships at Cocopah Speedway.
Swanson, who finished second in Friday’s preliminary main event, set a track record during qualifying on Saturday setting him up for the big victory.
Swanson turned up the wick with a last turn, last lap pass to win his heat race after starting sixth, then followed through by once again charging from sixth to first in the feature, overtaking Robert Ballou for the lead with 13 laps remaining in the 30-lapper to score a complete sweep of the night in his Team AZ Racing/Stratis Construction – Lucas Oil – RSS Industries/DRC/Claxton Chevy.
It was the first such sweep in USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship competition since Tyler Courtney did so during the 4-Crown Nationals at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in September of 2019.
The second USAC National Sprint Car victory of Swanson’s career was his most lucrative thus far with a $10,000 payday and, by doing so, he came through by delivering a dream come true for the Arizona-based Team AZ operation.
“It’s just been non-stop work and there’s been no time for any sort of relaxation. I’ve got a little cold and it turned into a weeklong thing because I couldn’t ever just rest,” Swanson explained. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be able to do this. It’s been such a blessing moving to the Midwest (to race more often and for a living) and I didn’t really think I’d ever get the chance. I felt like I was too old. I didn’t really think it was going to happen but then COVID came, and it was one of those decisions where we jumped on it, went all-in and just hoped it would pan out.”
Not only was it a winning performance for Swanson, but it was also a riveting dissection of the 24-car field which witnessed him make all the right moves at all the right times throughout the non-stop, caution-free affair.
“My job is so easy when I have such a fast racecar; holy cow,” Swanson exclaimed. “This thing has just been on rails. I was rolling out there starting six and I’m like, man, I’ve got some good guys up here in front of us. I still felt like, as long as I do my job, this car can win the race. I’ve just got to make it happen.”
C.J. Leary came on strong during the final 10 laps but finished .816 seconds behind Swanson, while Friday night winner Emerson Axsom nipped Ballou to finish third. Brady Bacon rounded out the top five.
“On the start there, I gave up some ground and I had a run-in with the 1 car,” Leary recalled. “We were so good at the end there and I was going to race Jake really hard. I was hoping to get a run at him in lapped traffic but, overall, it was a good weekend.”
A night after winning the Western World opener, Axsom raced by Ballou on the final lap to take third by inches.
“Once you find a good package for something, you just stick to it and fine-tune,” Axsom said. “I felt like, at the end, we were really coming alive to get Robert at the line. I think it was getting a little abrasive in turn one and, if there was a little bit more time, maybe we would’ve had a shot.”
Logan Seavey, meanwhile, pocketed up more than $1,100 in bonus bucks for his hard-charging performances during Western World weekend. Seavey passed 26 total cars across both nights to earn the Western World ProSource Passing Master Award.
Furthermore, Seavey’s run from 21st to sixth in Saturday’s feature race earned him the coveted Lafond Jar of Change, which made up more than $900 of Seavey’s bonuses courtesy of fan donations.
The Boxscore
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and AMSOIL USAC-CRA Sprint Car Series, Cocopah Speedway, Somerton, Ariz., Oct. 29, 2022
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR / WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Jake Swanson, 21AZ, Team AZ-16.127 (New Track Record); 2. Jadon Rogers, 14, Engler-16.291; 3. Damion Gardner, 1, Alexander-16.342; 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.347; 5. C.J. Leary, 77m, Michael-16.388; 6. Emerson Axsom, 47BC, Clauson Marshall Newman-16.410; 7. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-16.413; 8. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-16.416; 9. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.490; 10. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.494; 11. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.539; 12. Justin Zimmerman, 1J, Zimmerman-16.655; 13. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-16.697; 14. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.699; 15. Chris Bonneau, 15, Bonneau-16.717; 16. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.719; 17. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-16.730; 18. Chase Johnson, 2i, Yeley/Petty-16.738; 19. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-16.752; 20. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-16.772; 21. Kyle Cummins, 2J, Yeley/Petty-16.807; 22. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.840; 23. Verne Sweeney, 98, Tracy-16.870; 24. Logan Seavey, 42, Cheney-16.898; 25. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.938; 26. Shon Deskins, 20, SDR-16.990; 27. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-17.004; 28. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-17.030; 29. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-17.079; 30. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-17.146; 31. Ricky Lewis, 41, Stensland/Halley-17.174; 32. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-17.223; 33. Jeremy Jonas, 54, Pardo-17.371; 34. Austin Williams, 2, Williams-17.439; 35. Jake Neal, 214, Kracht-17.670; 36. Wayne Siddle, 007, Siddle-18.972; 37. Nate Schank, 1$, Schank-19.096.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS / FLOWDYNAMICS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Jake Swanson, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Kyle Cummins, 5. Matt McCarthy, 6. Logan Williams, 7. Austin Grabowski, 8. Jeremy Jonas, 9. Nate Schank, 10. Mitchel Moles. 2:19.357
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) / BILLSJERKY.NET SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Charles Davis Jr., 2. Brody Roa, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Emerson Axsom, 5. Chase Johnson, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Shon Deskins, 8. Logan Calderwood, 9. Austin Williams. 2:20.935
PIT STOP USA / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Cody Williams, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 5. Chris Bonneau, 6. Verne Sweeney, 7. Ricky Lewis, 8. Jake Neal, 9. Mike Martin. 2:24.291
ROD END SUPPLY / LASERWORX MANUFACTURING FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. Justin Zimmerman, 7. Tommy Malcolm, 8. Sterling Cling, 9. Wayne Siddle. 2:23.146
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS / FACTORY WRAPS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Tommy Malcolm, 2. Mitchel Moles, 3. Matt Mitchell, 4. Justin Zimmerman, 5. Chase Johnson, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Chris Bonneau, 8. Shon Deskins, 9. Verne Sweeney, 10. Austin Williams, 11. Sterling Cling, 12. Logan Williams, 13. Logan Calderwood, 14. Mike Martin, 15. Nate Schank, 16. Jake Neal, 17. Wayne Siddle, 18. Jeremy Jonas, 19. Austin Grabowski, 20. Ricky Lewis, 21. Matt McCarthy. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jake Swanson (6), 2. C.J. Leary (4), 3. Emerson Axsom (3), 4. Robert Ballou (1), 5. Brady Bacon (13), 6. Logan Seavey (21), 7. R.J. Johnson (7), 8. Mitchel Moles (12), 9. Justin Grant (8), 10. Kyle Cummins (20), 11. Matt Westfall (22), 12. Damion Gardner (5), 13. Charles Davis Jr. (9), 14. Matt Mitchell (16), 15. Brody Roa (15), 16. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (2), 17. Chase Johnson (18), 18. Kevin Thomas Jr. (17), 19. Tommy Malcolm (11), 20. Verne Sweeney (24-P), 21. Cody Williams (14), 22. Justin Zimmerman (19), 23. Logan Williams (23-P), 24. Jadon Rogers (10).