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SWANSON PUTS EXCLAMATION ON DOMINANT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON WITH SYRACUSE WIN

Syracuse, New York…….Kody Swanson finished off a magical 2014 Silver Crown Series championship for he and DePalma Motorsports on Saturday in the “Salt City 78” on the New York State Fairgrounds mile. The Kingsburg, California driver was dominant all year, notching five wins in ten races to claim his first USAC National title.

“I can’t really believe this is how it’s all worked out. That’s what this is all about. To be able to go five-for-ten in Silver Crown and winning the championship is so special. They (DePalma Motorsports) hadn’t won a race in the series before this year, and they knew we had to find a way to make me better on dirt. They did everything they could do to make us better to compete for the championship, and it’s amazing to see a group that is such an epitome of “team.” These are great people, and we have a lot of fun racing together,” Swanson said of his team led by owner Tony DePalma and crew chief Bob Hampshire.

Swanson, who has been a series mainstay since 2009, put into words his pursuit of the series crown over the past six season, saying, “I’ve been trying for this for so long – I was a rookie in 2009 and had a shot at it a few different times. I lost a year to injury and then lost my full-time ride, so last year I got to drive for Ricky Nix and Eddie Sachs on dirt, and the DePalmas on pavement. I’m so grateful to all of them for keeping me on track last year, having a lot of fun, and putting me in position to have a year like this one. This is years and many people in the making, and I’m so happy to do it with the DePalmas, my family, our friends, and all the people who are involved and helped us accomplish what we have this year. It’s an incredible feeling to win the race and see all of them so happy and excited at what we’ve been able to do.”

Swanson immediately showed himself as a strong contender for the race win, as he jumped to the lead from outside the front row on the opening lap before a caution for Shane Cockrum. After a quick yellow, Swanson was off with the lead as two-time series champion Bobby East pressured him. East got a run down the frontstretch as they completed lap twelve to take the lead going into turn-one.

East pulled away as Swanson kept a conservative pace that stacked up the pack behind him racing for second through eighth. A.J. Fike stayed glued to Swanson through the first half of the race, as Rich Tobias, Stewart Friesen, Jerry Coons, Jr., and Steve Buckwalter raced just outside the top-five.

Swanson began to gain ground on East around lap 50, slowly reeling him in as Fike came along with him. He went to work quickly after catching him, using the difficult groove through turns one and two to slip underneath with the lead on lap 67.

Fike was the pursuer over the final ten laps, moving past East for second and coming after Swanson for the top spot. He had a shot at the win in the final two laps, but a move to the outside while negotiating a slower car sent him out of the groove through turns one and two, allowing Swanson to slip away.

The dream season for Swanson and the DePalma Motorsports – Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire ended parked on the frontstretch of the “Moody Mile” with the win.

“I didn’t want to be too greedy and risk losing the championship by going too hard to win the race. We were almost in position to come here with a little safety net, but in the last two laps at Eldora, we blew a tire and put ourselves in jeopardy with the championship today. So that was on my mind throughout the race. We finally reeled Bobby (East) back in and the opportunity presented himself with that hole down there that could make you tight. Right when I got there, his car hit it and the hole opened up. I wanted to go harder at the end to fend off A.J. for the win, but I wanted to be sure I didn’t cost myself all of it by running the tire off,” Swanson said.

Fike finished his strong day in second aboard the RFMS Racing – H.E. Mitchell Construction #3 Beast/Foxco.

East rounded out the podium in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing – Chevy Performance #10 Maxim/Kistler.

Chris Windom lost touch with Swanson & Fike just as they made their charge to go after East, but came home fourth in the Rotondo Weirich – Curb Records #17 Beast/Triad. Stewart Friesen finished fifth in his first Silver Crown Series appearance aboard the RPM Auto Enterprise – City of Syracuse Special #99 JEI/Mopar.

USAC SILVER CROWN SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 11, 2014 – Syracuse, New York – New York State Fairgrounds – “Salt City 78”

QUALIFYING: 1. Bobby East, 10, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-32.436; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-32.535; 3. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-32.627; 4. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-32.640; 5. Chris Windom, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-32.702; 6. Rich Tobias Jr., 117, Tobias-32.762; 7. Stewart Friesen, 99, RPM/Gormly-32.856; 8. Shane Cockrum, 66, Hardy-33.113; 9. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-33.160; 10. Steve Buckwalter, 53, SET-33.273; 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 98, RPM/Gormly-33.315; 12. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-34.005; 13. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-35.105; 14. Kenny Gentry, 18, Gentry-37.972; 15. Wes Miller, 36, Miller-NT.

FEATURE: (78 laps) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. A.J. Fike, 3. Bobby East, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Stewart Friesen, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Rich Tobias Jr., 9. Davey Ray, 10. Patrick Lawson, 11. Randy Bateman, 12. Steve Buckwalter, 13. Kenny Gentry, 14. Shane Cockrum, 15. Wes Miller. 45:23.12

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Swanson, Laps 13-66 East, Laps 67-78 Swanson.

FINAL USAC SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Swanson-582, 2-Hines-555, 3-East-537, 4-Windom-469, 5-Coons-408, 6-Fike-320, 7-Jacob Wilson-306, 8-Cockrum-286, 9-Caleb Armstrong-259, 10-Lawson-245.

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