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Irwindale, CA. - Nov. 25, 2010 -The Swanson brothers from Kingsburg, Calif. made the 360 cubic inch AMS/OIL USAC Western Sprint Car Series their personal playground in family-owned Eagle/Chevies Thursday during the second of three Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Thanksgiving features. Kody, 22, dominated the 40-lap main on the progressively-banked half-mile and won $2,500 from the $16,305 sprint car purse. He started fifth as second fastest qualifier in a 26-car field and led the final 35 laps. Tanner, 19, set the fastest qualifying time, a new track record, during mid-afternoon time trials for 29 cars. His 16.139 (111.531 mph) lap as the 17th qualifier in the Swanson blue No. 17, beat the record of 16.179 (111.255 mph) just set by his brother Kody, the 12th driver to qualify, in the Swanson yellow No. 75. Michael Lewis, from Indiana, set the old track record of 16.378 (109.296 mph) on October 4, 2003.
With six cars inverted in the feature lineup, sixth quickest Davey Hamilton, an Indianapolis 500 veteran and 2010 starter, shot into the lead after a brief duel with second starter Bobby East. Hamilton's Brian McClish Beast/Chevy led through lap 5 as the Swanson brothers charged forward and reached positions two and three. Kody led from lap 6 to the finish. Tanner ran second from lap 7 to lap 20 when he pulled into the infield with a broken crankshaft. Scott Pierovich, who also qualified under the old one-lap track record, ran second at lap 20 in Ken Pierson's Eagle/Chevy. East and Tony Hunt, in Mike Phulps Ebay Motors Schwenke/Chevy team cars, were third and fourth at the halfway mark. Jo Jo Helberg was fifth, Hamilton sixth, and Tracy Hines seventh in Andy Morales' “Tamale Wagon” J & J/Shaver.
The only caution of the race flew on lap 22 when tenth-starter Shauna Hogg experienced a mechanical failure and hit the first turn wall, stopping against the wall and under the scoring pylon before turn two. She was uninjured. K. Swanson extended his winning advantage to 20-yards (0.919) during the final 19 laps. East took second from Pierovich on on lap 25. Hunt and Helberg dropped Pierovich to fifth on lap 30. Hunt passed his teammate East on the final lap with an inside move entering the third turn. East trailed Hunt by 0.286 at the checkers. Mike Murgoitio, Luis Ramos III, Pierovich, Hines, Hamilton,and Rick Hendrix completed the top ten. The race took 17:05.849. Twenty of 26 starters were racing at the finish, and 14 drivers ran all 40 laps.
Hunt, 38-year old son of Tommy Hunt, USAC VP Western Operations, entered the race with a 43-point lead over Ramos with 66-points available for winning. Hunt's second place gave him the 2010 championship over Ramos by 58-points (756-698). He became only the eighth driver to claim a sixth USAC driving title in 55 years of USAC competition. A. J. Foyt (13), Rich Vogler and Sleepy Tripp (9), Mel Kenyon (8) and Michael Lang (7) have more USAC titles. Shorty Templeman and Steve Butler also have six championships. Hunt's prior Western 360 sprint crowns came in 2001, 02, 04 and 06. He also won the 1992 Russell Pro Championship.
Hunt won four main events this season using the spec engine option for the Western 360 series. It is based on a Chevrolet LLS3 engine restricted on RPMs to no more than 7,900, and produces 650 horsepower. The engine costs less than $16,000 compared to professionally-built racing engines that cost in the $35,000-$40,000 range. It was the tenth USAC 360 sprint race run at TS@I Thanksgiving evening Grand Prix. Seven drivers have won the prior TNGP sprint car features. They were: Hunt (2001 and 06), Michael Lewis (2003-04), Tony Stewart (2002), Dave Steele (2005), Bobby Santos III (2007), Tracy Hines (2008) and Cole Whitt (2009).
For complete results box score and point standings check www.usacracing.com.
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