For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Cell: (317) 201-0729

 

Unusual Problem Strikes Swanson at Belleville
With Doran Binks Racing’s Mission Foods No. 77

BELLEVILLE, Kan., May 20 — After blasting by four cars on the first lap to rise from eighth to fourth, Doran Binks Racing’s Kody Swanson encountered an unusual problem which resulted in a 14th-place finish in the Huncovsky Classic USAC Silver Crown race Saturday night on the half-mile dirt oval at the Belleville High Banks.

Driving the Mission Foods/Glenn Farms/Wilke Orthodontics No. 77, which is a Maxim with a Hampshire Chevy engine, the all-time USAC Silver Crown king passed Matt Westfall, Briggs Danner, Taylor Ferns and Chase Stockon on the first lap, while Brady Bacon came from fourth to take the lead from the polesitter and eventual winner, Kaylee Bryson.

Westfall regained fourth on lap two of the 50-lapper to push Swanson back to fifth, but Swanson set the fifth-fastest lap of anyone in the race on lap four. He remained in fifth place until Stockon passed him on lap 16.

Two laps later the crowd on hand realized Swanson was dealing with an issue, as he slowed dramatically and bucked around the bottom of the track due to a huge vibration. The problem was with the car’s right-rear wheel cover, which allowed mud to encase the wheel and make the car very hard to drive.

“We started to cave the cover and pack it with mud around lap six,” Swanson explained later. “It got a little worse around lap 10, and then it caved in fully and became completely full of mud around lap 15.”

Swanson dropped as low as 17th in the 25-car field on lap 33, and he was 16th when the race’s sole caution waved after the engine blew in the car of the leader, Bacon, with 35 laps complete. Bacon had a 15.8-second lead over Bryson at the time. Bacon got his car off the track safely but the yellow waved anyway for debris in Turn 3.

Yellow-flag laps didn’t count, and Swanson reported to the work area under that caution to have his Lebanon, Ohio-based team clear the wheel of mud. With Bacon’s retirement Swanson was 15th when the green waved again. He passed Nathan Moore shortly after the restart to rise to 14th on lap 37, and that’s where he finished, one lap down, between Ferns and Moore.

“We finished the race without a wheel cover, so I had to stay off the cushion to get it home,” Swanson said.

Bryson become the first woman to win a USAC national event and a USAC Silver Crown race. C.J. Leary came on strong at the end to finish second followed by Clouser, Justin Grant and Daison Pursley. The latter won the companion USAC midget feature.

“Congratulations to Kaylee, and many thanks to the Doran Binks crew for their hard work,” Swanson said. “We’re also thankful for the support of our sponsors, like Mission Foods, Glenn Farms and Wilke Orthodontics.”

Swanson and Doran Binks Racing topped the driver and entrant point standings going into the Belleville race by virtue of their domination of the first two races of the year. They are now second to Leary and Klatt Enterprises after Belleville, 198 points to 187.

Swanson topped the charts in hot laps with a time of 17.552 seconds, but he ended up eighth in qualifying with a 17.519, just 0.255 off the fastest time. Bryson was the fastest qualifier with a 17.264, but she didn’t eclipse Swanson’s track record of 16.823 seconds set when he won the pole here last year.

The coming week is the most demanding one of the year for the Doran Binks team.

First it will tackle the Hoosier Hundred USAC Silver Crown race at the Carb Night Classic on Friday, May 24 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind.

The next day it will compete in the largest asphalt sprint car race in the world, the 76th annual Little 500 presented by United Auto Workers at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, on Saturday, May 25.

The USAC event will be shown live on Flo Racing. The Little 500 will be streamed live on Dirtvision.

The Little 500 is a non-point race in the 500 Sprint Car Tour. It is preceded by practice on Wednesday, May 22; practice and qualifying (pole day) on Thursday, May 23, and practice and qualifying (bump day) on Friday, May 24.

For more information see raceirp.com and usacracing.com, and andersonspeedway.com and 500sprintcartour.com. The team’s website is at doranracing.com.

About Mission Foods:

The Gruma Corporation began in 1949 and is today the leading tortilla manufacturer worldwide. Mission Foods is a proud subsidiary of Gruma, and as the #1 tortilla company in the United States, manufactures a wide variety of authentic Mexican products. Five years ago it opened a state-of-the-art plant in Dallas, Texas, with the capacity to produce 30 million tortillas daily. Today Mission Foods is a global company, with special emphasis not only on the United States but also Mexico, Central America, Europe, China, Malaysia, and Australia. Its products include flour and corn tortillas; tostadas; low-carb, whole wheat, organic and gluten-free items; wraps; flatbreads such as naan, pita and roti; tortilla chips and organic chips; chicharrones; salsa, and dips. For more information see missionfoods.com.

Linda Mansfield/Restart Communications for KECO
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Cell: (317) 201-0729