SWANSON VS. SEAVEY AT TOLEDO SILVER CROWN SERIES OCTOBER 10
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Toledo, Ohio (October 4, 2021)………And then there were two.
The closest USAC Silver Crown title race ever makes its way to Ohio’s Toledo Speedway for the season finale, the Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic this Sunday afternoon, October 10.
Kingsburg, California’s Kody Swanson leads the series standings entering the 100-lap event by one single solitary point over series newcomer, Sutter, California’s Logan Seavey. That’s less than the difference between one position in the feature, less than one fast qualifying time, and less than the bonus for leading the most laps.
Only one other time has the point difference been as close going into the final race. Similarly, in 2010, Levi Jones trailed Bud Kaeding by one entering the series’ inaugural race at, guess where, Toledo.
In that one, Jerry Coons Junior won the race, but it was Jones who ultimately edged Kaeding by a mere two points to win the driving championship, finishing seventh with Kaeding lurking just behind in eighth. Kaeding had been running ahead of Jones until 27 laps to go when he was involved in a three-car tangle on the backstretch. Kaeding continued but he was unable to catch and pass Jones for the title.
One more spot gained and Kaeding would’ve been the champion. But that’s the difference when so much is at stake and every Silver Crown point matters.
That old adage of, “if the season ended today…” would make the 2021 Silver Crown championship duel the closest of all-time.
Three times has the final difference in Silver Crown points been exactly two points between first and second. Mike Bliss over Ron Shuman in 1993; Tony Stewart over Dave Darland in 1995; and the aforementioned narrow fight of Jones over Kaeding in 2010.
The margin has been single digits between the champion and the runner-up a total of eight times in the series’ 50-year history: Jones prevailing over Jerry Coons Junior by 3 in 2011; Coons Jr. over Darland by 5 in 2008; Chris Windom by 5 over Swanson in 2016; Bobby East by 6 over Windom in 2013; and Steve Butler over Jeff Swindell by 7 in 1992.
Meanwhile, Brian Tyler and Russ Gamester are expected to be in Sunday’s Toledo field. Each recently reached the 200 starts mark in their Silver Crown careers – Tyler at Eldora on September 25 and Gamester at Lucas Oil Raceway on August 14. With one more start on Sunday, they’ll both tie Dave Darland for the most career starts in series history at 201.
Furthermore, by making his 148th career Silver Crown start on Sunday at Toledo, Eric Gordon will move past Tony Elliott for eighth on the all-time series list in that category.
Sunday’s Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic features the USAC Silver Crown National Championship plus R & M Recycling Late Model Sportsman and The Vault Factory Stocks.
CLOSEST USAC SILVER CROWN FINAL POINT MARGINS (BY RANK):
1993: (2) Mike Bliss over Ron Shuman 1995: (2) Tony Stewart over Dave Darland
2010: (2) Levi Jones over Bud Kaeding 2011: (3) Levi Jones over Jerry Coons Jr.
2008: (5) Jerry Coons Jr. over Dave Darland 2016: (5) Chris Windom over Kody Swanson
2013: (6) Bobby East over Chris Windom 1992: (7) Steve Butler over Jeff Swindell
1990: (11) Jimmy Sills over Eric Gordon 2012: (12) Bobby East over Jerry Coons Jr.
1998: (16) Jason Leffler over Brian Tyler 2005: (19) Dave Steele over Josh Wise
1981: (23) Larry Rice over Rich Vogler 2014: (27) Kody Swanson over Tracy Hines
2000: (29) Tracy Hines over Dave Darland 1989: (38) Chuck Gurney over Johnny Parsons
2002: (38) J.J. Yeley over Dave Steele 2007: (38) Bud Kaeding over Wayne Reutimann Jr.
1996: (42) Jimmy Sills over Kenny Irwin Jr. 1979: (43) Bobby Olivero over Billy Engelhart
2006: (44) Bud Kaeding over Brian Tyler 2020: (46) Justin Grant over Kody Swanson
1999: (47) Ryan Newman over Russ Gamester 2004: (47) Dave Steele over Bud Kaeding
1988: (49) Steve Butler over Jack Hewitt 1997: (49) Dave Darland over Donnie Beechler
1991: (55) Jeff Gordon over Jimmy Sills 1978: (56) Pancho Carter ov Gary Bettenhausen
2009: (59) Bud Kaeding over A.J. Fike 1973: (60) Al Unser over Mario Andretti
1975: (60) Jimmy Caruthers over Tom Bigelow 1976: (60) Billy Cassella over Johnny Parsons
2019: (60) Kody Swanson over Justin Grant 1983: (63) Gary Bettenhausen over Ken Schrader
1980: (65) Gary Bettenhausen over Pancho Carter 1982: (74) Ken Schrader over Mark Alderson
2001: (78) Paul White over Russ Gamester 2003: (81) J.J. Yeley over Dave Darland
1994: (82) Jimmy Sills over Chuck Gurney 2018: (82) Kody Swanson over Justin Grant
2017: (88) Kody Swanson over Jerry Coons Jr. 1977: (90) Larry Rice over Billy Vukovich
1971: (100) George Snider over Jim McElreath 1972: (100) A.J. Foyt over Al Unser
1984: (121) Dave Blaney over Gary Bettenhausen 2015: (142) Kody Swanson over Jerry Coons Jr.
1985: (159) Rick Hood over Sheldon Kinser 1974: (180) Mario Andretti over Tom Bigelow
1987: (314) Jack Hewitt over Steve Butler 1986: (489) Jack Hewitt over Steve Butler
=============================
2021 USAC SILVER CROWN STAT LEADERS:
Most Wins: 3-Kody Swanson Driver Point Leader: Kody Swanson
Entrant Point Leader: Rice Motorsports #222 Leading Rookie in Points: Logan Seavey (2nd)
Most Laps Led: 204-Kody Swanson Most Top-Fives: 6-Kody Swanson
Most Top-Tens: 7-Logan Seavey & Kody Swanson Most Fastest Qualifying Times: 4-Kody Swanson
Best Finish By A Rookie: Aug 8: Selinsgrove Speedway & Sep 25: Eldora Speedway – Logan Seavey (1st)
Most Feature Starts: 9-Dave Berkheimer, Shane Cottle, Justin Grant, Austin Nemire, Kyle Robbins, Logan Seavey & Travis Welpott
Most Positions Advanced in a Race: Aug 21: Illinois State Fairgrounds – Kody Swanson (23rd to 1st) & Shane Cockrum (25th to 3rd)
=======================
2021 USAC SILVER CROWN DRIVER POINT STANDINGS: (TOP-10)
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1 498 Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.
2 497 Logan Seavey (R), Sutter, Calif.
3 386 Shane Cottle, Kansas, Ill.
4 365 Justin Grant, Ione, Calif.
5 361 Kyle Robbins, New Castle, Ind.
6 331 David Byrne, Shullsburg, Wis.
7 328 Shane Cockrum, Benton, Ill.
8 299 Austin Nemire, Sylvania, Ohio
9 286 Jake Swanson (R), Anaheim, Calif.
10 285 Travis Welpott, Pendleton, Ind.
—————————————————————————-
2021 USAC SILVER CROWN ROOKIE DRIVER POINT STANDINGS: (TOP-10)
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1 497 Logan Seavey, Sutter, Calif.
2 286 Jake Swanson, Anaheim, Calif.
3 255 Carmen Perigo, Stoystown, Pa.
4 193 Jason McDougal, Broken Arrow, Okla.
5 166 Casey Buckman, Chandler, Ariz.
6 152 Kyle O’Gara, Beech Grove, Ind.
7 109 Kyle Cummins, Princeton, Ind.
8 90 Nathan Byrd, Goodyear, Ariz.
9 86 Chris Phillips, Plainfield, Ind.
10 74 Nick Bilbee, Indianapolis, Ind.
—————————————————————————-
RACE WINS:
3-Kody Swanson (May 29 at Lucas Oil Raceway, Aug 14 at Lucas Oil Raceway & Aug 21 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds)
2-Logan Seavey (Aug 8 at Selinsgrove Speedway & Sep 25 at Eldora Speedway)
1-Shane Cockrum (Jun 18 at Williams Grove Speedway)
1-Tyler Courtney (Jun 26 at Eldora Speedway)
1-Justin Grant (Jul 22 at Winchester Speedway)
1-Brian Tyler (Sep 6 at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds)
—————————————————————————-
ALL-TIME USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE WINS:
1. [33 wins] Kody Swanson
2. [23 wins] Jack Hewitt
3. [18 wins] Brian Tyler
4. [16 wins] Dave Steele
5. [15 wins] J.J. Yeley
6. [14 wins] Dave Darland & Chuck Gurney
8. [12 wins] Jimmy Sills
9. [11 wins] Bobby East
10. [10 wins] Gary Bettenhausen, Mike Bliss & Bobby Santos
13. [9 wins] Tracy Hines
14. [8 wins] Tanner Swanson & Chris Windom
16. [7 wins] Jerry Coons Jr., Rick Hood & George Snider
19. [6 wins] Tom Bigelow, Russ Gamester, Kenny Irwin Jr., Jason Leffler, Ken Schrader & Al Unser
25. [5 wins] Mario Andretti, Donnie Beechler, Pancho Carter, Jay Drake, Tony Elliott, Bud Kaeding, Sheldon Kinser & Larry Rice
33. [4 wins] Shane Cockrum, Kyle Larson, Jeff Swindell & Rich Vogler
37. [3 wins] Steve Butler, Tyler Courtney, Cameron Dodson, A.J. Fike, Justin Grant, Levi Jones, Kasey Kahne, Jim Keeker, Steve Kinser, Bobby Olivero, Johnny Parsons, Aaron Pierce, Ron Shuman, Tony Stewart, Tyler Walker & Paul White
53. [2 wins] Pat Abold, Brady Bacon, Steve Chassey, Bryan Clauson, Shane Cottle, Larry Dickson, Billy Engelhart, A.J. Foyt, Jeff Gordon, C.J. Leary, Ryan Newman, Joe Saldana, Logan Seavey, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Whitt, Josh Wise & Doug Wolfgang
70. [1 win] Teddy Beach, Christopher Bell, Jeff Bloom, David Byrne, Marvin Carman, Shane Carson, Bob Cicconi, Herb Copeland, Bruce Field, Aaron Fike, Chet Fillip, Bob Frey, Eric Gordon, Kyle Hamilton, John Heydenreich, Gary Hieber, Shane Hmiel, Shane Hollingsworth, Jimmy Horton, Jackie Howerton, Kevin Huntley, Kenny Jacobs, Bubby Jones, Keith Kauffman, Jimmy Kite, Chuck Leary, Eddie Leavitt, Jason McCord, Jim McElreath, Lealand McSpadden, Mat Neely, Brad Noffsinger, Stevie Reeves, Wayne Reutimann Jr., Danny Smith, Kevin Thomas, Rich Tobias Jr., Chris Urish, Billy Vukovich & Jacob Wilson
ALL-TIME USAC SILVER CROWN DRIVER CHAMPIONS:
1971: George Snider, 1972: A.J. Foyt, 1973: Al Unser, 1974: Mario Andretti, 1975: Jimmy Caruthers, 1976: Billy Cassella, 1977: Larry Rice, 1978: Pancho Carter, 1979: Bobby Olivero, 1980: Gary Bettenhausen, 1981: Larry Rice, 1982: Ken Schrader, 1983: Gary Bettenhausen, 1984: Dave Blaney, 1985: Rick Hood, 1986: Jack Hewitt, 1987: Jack Hewitt, 1988: Steve Butler, 1989: Chuck Gurney, 1990: Jimmy Sills, 1991: Jeff Gordon, 1992: Steve Butler, 1993: Mike Bliss, 1994: Jimmy Sills, 1995: Tony Stewart, 1996: Jimmy Sills, 1997: Dave Darland, 1998: Jason Leffler, 1999: Ryan Newman, 2000: Tracy Hines, 2001: Paul White, 2002: J.J. Yeley, 2003: J.J. Yeley, 2004: Dave Steele, 2005: Dave Steele, 2006: Bud Kaeding, 2007: Bud Kaeding, 2008: Jerry Coons Jr., 2009: Bud Kaeding, 2010: Levi Jones, 2011: Levi Jones, 2012: Bobby East, 2013: Bobby East, 2014: Kody Swanson, 2015: Kody Swanson, 2016: Chris Windom, 2017: Kody Swanson, 2018: Kody Swanson, 2019: Kody Swanson, 2020: Justin Grant
—————————————————————————-
ALL-TIME USAC SILVER CROWN OWNER CHAMPIONS:
1971: Leader Card Racers, 1972: A.J. Foyt Enterprises, 1973: Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing, 1974: Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing, 1975: George Middleton, 1976: Louis Seymour & Sons, 1977: Dave LeFevre, 1978: Johnny Capels, 1979: Leader Card Racers, 1980: Delrose-Holt Racing, 1981: Johnny Vance, 1982: Steve Enslow, 1983: Delrose-Holt Racing, 1984: Ralph & Jim DePalma, 1985: Damon Fortune, 1986: Bob Hampshire, 1987: Bob Hampshire, 1988: Kenneth Jarrett Farms, 1989: Junior Kurtz, 1990: Bob Consani, 1991: Fred Ede, 1992: Kenneth Jarrett Farms, 1993: Del McClure, 1994: Gary Stanton, 1995: Glen Niebel, 1996: Stanton Racing, 1997: Foxco, Inc., 1998: Goetz Racing, 1999: Snider-Foyt Racing, 2000: Terry Riggs, 2001: Paul Cook Racing, 2002: East-Stewart Racing, 2003: East-Stewart Racing, 2004: East-Stewart Racing, 2005: East-Stewart Racing, 2006: Leffler-BK Racing, 2007: BK Racing, 2008: RW Motorsports, 2009: BK Motorsports, 2010: Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, 2011: Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, 2012: RW Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian Racing, 2013: Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, 2014: DePalma Motorsports, 2015: DePalma Motorsports, 2016: DePalma Motorsports, 2017: DePalma Motorsports, 2018: DePalma Motorsports, 2019: Klatt Enterprises, 2020: Hemelgarn Racing
—————————————————————————-
ALL-TIME USAC SILVER CROWN ROOKIES OF THE YEAR:
1981: Jack Hewitt, 1982: Keith Kauffman, 1983: Rick Hood, 1984: Dave Blaney, 1985: Steve Butler, 1986: Kenny Jacobs, 1987: Jeff Swindell, 1988: Gene Lee Gibson, 1989: Jimmy Sills, 1990: Eric Gordon, 1991: Stevie Reeves, 1992: Jim Keeker, 1993: Randy Tolsma, 1994: Kenny Irwin Jr., 1995: Chuck Leary: 1996: Ryan Newman, 1997: Jimmy Kite, 1998: Todd Kane, 1999: Paul White, 2000: Kasey Kahne, 2001: Aaron Fike, 2002: Matt Westfall, 2003: Ron Gregory, 2004: Aaron Pierce, 2005: Josh Wise, 2006: Mat Neely, 2007: Cameron Dodson, 2008: Steve Arpin, 2009: Kody Swanson, 2010: Bryan Clauson, 2011: Kyle Larson, 2012: Kyle Hamilton, 2013: Chris Windom, 2014: Caleb Armstrong, 2015: C.J. Leary, 2016: Casey Shuman, 2017: Joss Moffatt, 2018: Kyle Robbins, 2019: Derek Bischak, 2020: Bryan Gossel
MACEDO’S TULARE USAC MIDGET WIN