TOYOTAS 1-2 IN BERLIN SILVER CROWN; TANNER EDGES KODY IN ALL-SWANSON SHOOTOUT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Aug. 12, 2010) – Tanner Swanson took the lead on Lap 101 and then held off brother and Team 6R teammate Kody Swanson over the final 50 laps to give Toyota a one-two finish in Thursday night’s Great Lakes 150 USAC Silver Crown race at the Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich.
After qualifying third (Tanner) and sixth, the Swanson brothers settled into third and fourth by Lap 36 and then the top four cars pulled away from the field with lapped traffic proving to play a major role throughout the 150-lap event. On Lap 98, Tanner moved into second and then moved into the lead on Lap 101 as Kody gained two positions on the lap to put the Toyota-powered duo into the top two spots.
From there, they pulled away from the field. Kody repeatedly made runs at his younger sibling, at times going three abreast through traffic, but couldn’t quite pull off a pass for the lead. Finally, Kody was caught up in traffic with three laps to go, allowing Tanner the breathing room he needed to hold off his brother for his first Silver Crown victory.
“I think that might have been the best performance of my career,” said Tanner Swanson. “We were constantly in traffic and you never really had a moment to breathe out there. But it was a lot of fun. The whole 6R team did a great job and the Toyota engine was great on the re-starts.”
While not taking the individual victory, Kody Swanson saw it as team triumph.
“I thought I might have had something for him at the end before I got caught in traffic,” he said. “But still it was a great night for the whole 6R Toyota team. When you’re in a race with a teammate, you have to keep in mind that there are two 6R cars in the front and it’s a successful night and you better be sure that if you’re going to make a pass on the last lap it better be a clean one because you can’t take out your teammate.”
While the Swansons stole the headlines, three more Toyota-powered entries earned top-10 finishes on the night. Brian Tyler registered a sixth, Jacob Wilson, who qualified second, placed eighth and Jerry Coons Jr. earned a hard-fought ninth. In addition, Shane Hmiel placed 13th.
With the strong showing, four Toyota-powered drivers are now in the top eight in Silver Crown points with Coons leading the way in second place, while Kody Swanson is fifth, Hmiel sixth and Tyler is eighth.
The USAC Silver Crown Series resumes next Saturday night at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, August 21.
Toyota Drivers – Qualified/FinishedT. Swanson - 3/1
K. Swanson - 6/2
Tyler - 10/6
Wilson - 2/8
Coons - 15/9
Hmiel - 17/13
K & N SILVER CROWN SERIES STANDINGS: 1-Kaeding-267;
2-Coons-225; 3-Fike-215; 4-Jones-210;
5-K.Swanson-200; 6-Hmiel-197; 7-Hines-190;
8-Tyler-185; 9-Clauson-168;10-East-154.
NEXT RACE: August 21 – Springfield, Ill. – Illinois State Fairgrounds
OTHER USAC SERIES
NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Clauson-954; 2-Kuhn-908; 3-Hines-902; 4-Sweet-860; 5-Hagen-844; 6-Coons-842; 7-Darland-815; 8-East-635; 9-Daum-608; 10-Clarke-590.
NEXT RACE: August 28-29 – Sun Prairie, Wis. – Angell Park Speedway
NATIONAL SPRINT PAVEMENT POINTS: 1-Hmiel-286; 2-Coons-263; 3-Clauson-259; 4-Gardner-249; 5-Clarke-235; 6-Hines-226;7-East-221; 8-Jones-213; 9-Windom-190; 10-K.Swanson-190.
NEXT RACE: August 14 – Salem, Ind. Salem Speedway
WESTERN MIDGET CAR STANDINGS: 1-Schutte-457; 2-Kruseman-454; 3-Josett-440; 4-Kody Swanson-267; 5- Lakatos-226; 6-J.Swanson-214; 7-Cody Swanson-208; 8-Sweet-207; 9- Pankratz-206; 10-Pierovich-195.
NEXT RACE: August 21 – Perris, Calif., Perris Auto Speedway
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