Monday, March 18, 2013

Swanson's 1-2 at Ventura Raceway Opener 3/16 - Onboard Video



    The Swanson Motorsports Team headed back to the beautiful Ventura beach this past weekend for VRA's season opener and what a night it turned out to be. We had 11 midgets in the field and the top 6 cars were all within 2 tenths of each other. The quantity of cars may be down, but the quality of cars is pretty equal across the board.
    The events leading up to the main event went fairly smooth for us. I was 3nd fast time in practice and finished 3rd in the heat from 5th. The line-up for the feature was Rick Hendrix and Cody Swanson on the front row, and the second row consisted of Bruce Dougless and David Prickett. I started 5th with Ronnie Gardner just outside of me.
    Bruce spun early but Scott Pierovich joined the group and us 6 cars had a pretty awesome battle going on throughout the entire race. I was pretty tight early on but as the track came to me more I started picking them off. On lap 26 Cody took the lead from Rick and I was able to get by him just a couple laps later. The remaining 3 laps I was able to reel in Cody and get to his bumper by the final corner.
    It felt good to get our first 1-2 finish and Congratulations to Cousin Cody his W! I'd like to thank Goodwine Glass, Lucas Oil Products, DC Racing Cams, HPD and Honda Racing, PBH Indy, Eibach Springs, Swanson Inspections, K&N Filters, Simpson Race Products, and One Day Sign for their support. Thanks Scott Sheldon for the shots.
    Be sure to click the link ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njVQNm4m7hk&feature=youtu.be to watch the race from my view!
    And to see some photos of the action, check out Sprint Car Scotty's website here ---> http://sprintcarscotty.smugmug.com/VenturaRaceway2013/VRA-16MARCH2013/28467463_smJzbd#!i=2411740693&k=QfPqVnP

Jake

2013 Update & Canyon AZ Race Report 3/1-2/13

Turkey Night Qualifying - www.marvsphotography.com
    Lots of news to cover for this new 2013 season! First off, last year we took a little break from midget racing halfway through the year and geared up for one of the most prestigious midget races of all time; the 72nd running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix at the Perris Auto Speedway. It was a very successful weekend for us. The race was a national event so the competition was intense. I didn't qualify in but I was able to race my way in through the first qualifier. The 98 lap feature was a test of driver stamina as well as a tough test on equipment. We finished a solid 20th of the 34 cars to start the feature. Just finishing that race is a feat in itself, so we were pretty pumped for that run.
    From there the car got rebuilt for the big K24 engine test day. The test took place in February, and the goal was to put as many laps on the new engine as possible in a 2 day span as a true test of durability, performance, and drivability. This test was also a success. We put approximately 500 laps on the new engine, as a matter of fact, we ran out of tires and had to cut the test short. About 40 tires were burned off (literally). We learned so much valuable information and I'm very excited for it's competition debut sometime in the near future.
     After the test, the engine was given to Honda for further inspection as we got busy with yet another complete rebuild of the #05 Stealth.  The first competition of the season was the USAC Western States Season opener at Canyon Speedway in Peoria, Arizona. We put the Turkey Night engine back in the car for this race (F engine) and set off to go racing for the first time in 2013!
    The first night of the two day show, we had to get a feel of the track and after struggling most of the day, we had a good charge in the main after starting 20th and finishing 10th.
    On night two we improved even further by starting 8th and running in the top 5 most of the race. We ended up finishing 6th to Clauson, RJ Johnson, and a few of the Kuhnz Toyota Team cars including Larson who finished just in front of me. It was a great way to start off 2013!
    We've got Eibach Springs on board sponsoring us this year and also Swanson Inspections for all your home and property inspection needs. Welcome to the team and thank you very much for your support! I'd also like to thank the rest of our sponsors for their support over the years and helping get this team extremely competitive week in and week out; Goodwine Glass, Lucas Oil Products, DC Racing Cams, HPD and Honda Racing, PBH Indy, K&N Filters, Simpson Race Products, and One Day Signs.