Jake Puts it on the Podium at Ventura

4/21/12

    I turned 19 years old on the 21st, and what better way to spend a birthday than at the track doing what I love! Since the prior 2 VRA Midget races rained out, this was the first Ventura race of the year. And it was my first time on the new surface that Ventura has put down. The new dirt proved to be challenging to get a hold of despite the damp conditions that night.
    My cousin and I had a lot of fun in hot laps, it was the raciest track we had all night. The line was up on the fence all the way around; my kind of track. Slick to the fence and slide-job passing makes for a heck of a lot of fun. We posted the 2nd fastest time of the field.
    We had a good run in the heat race, started 3rd and finished 2nd. That put me starting 5th in the feature.
    The main was rough. The track wasn't a very raceable track. It was one-lined around the bottom, and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get the top of the racetrack to work for us. This made passing extremely difficult. The invert placed a couple of the slower cars and the front, and all the faster guys at the back. We were running 4th for quite a while. I just felt stuck out there, everybody was protecting the bottom and the top was my only other option. The #22 was trying hard to work it in up there and got by me, so I had to try it. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I went from 5th to dead last in a lap and a half.
    After the freight train went by me, I made quick work of the back markers. I moved back through the field quickly, and when the checkers flew I had made my way back up to 3rd.
    I was happy to put it on the podium, but it wasn't a win. We are so close to picking up that first W for Swanson Motorsports. The improvements we have made on this car has been huge, and we continue to find little chassis tweaks that will give us the advantage we need on the track.
    The next race for me is in the #41 410 Sprinter at Perris on Saturday April 28th in the Henry/Jones DRC. The next USAC Midget Race will be May 12th at Santa Maria.

Stay Tuned!

Jake Swanson

www.jakeswanson.com

Getting Comfortable in a 410

3/31/12


www.sprintcarscotty.com

    Last Saturday I had my 2nd race with the new 410 car and team back at the Perris Auto Speedway. After how well we kicked off our debut, I was very excited to get another chance back in the seat.
    Hotlaps was a really good learning session for me. I got behind two pretty good guys and hung with them the whole session. I was able to find and test the cars limits and this gave me a lot more confidence going into qualifying. I qualified a 17.0 which was 4 tenths quicker than my last Q effort which placed me 22nd out of the 33 entries.
    This put me on the outside pole for my heat race, again. This time though, I felt I had a much more competitive heat race. Mike Spencer, Rip Williams,  Ryan Bernal, and Bill Rose were all in it, so I definitely had my work cut out for me. I had a good start, beat the pole sitter into turn 1 and gained and early lead. I kept pushing the car harder trying to gain speed. I led for most of the race until the 2011 USAC/CRA Champion, Spencer, got by me for the lead. I finished 2nd to him with a respectable gap between us and the 3rd place car of Bernal.
    For the feature, I started last row inside. Again, my goal was to just get laps and gain experience. We did just that. I stayed out of trouble and learned a lot about how to run these cars on a slick racetrack. Towards the end of the race, the car began to smoke due to a small oil leak. I kept an eye on the gauges and all was well, but I pulled in anyways. It wasn't worth hurting that engine and not being able to run the next race.
    I'm a little bummed that we weren't able to finish, but the fact that I gained so much knowledge and experience from just this race more than makes up for it. I now have much more confidence about driving this car and I know with the Crew Chief and Car Owner that I have behind me, we will be a force in the future.
    I'd like to give a huge Thanks to everybody who is helping me and the Tony Jones Racing Team pursue this dream; Zanzabuku Sports Lounge, VGI Graphics, The Alexander Brothers, Bubby Jones Racing, Goodwine Glass, So-Cal Performance, JDS Tank Testing and K&N Filters.
    And a very special Thank you to Larry Henry and Tony Jones for giving me such an amazing opportunity to race these 410 sprinters!

Jake Swanson

www.jakeswanson.com

Jake Place's 6th in USAC Western States Midget Opener

3/23/12

    Silver Dollar Speedway located in Northern California is home for a lot of winged sprint car action. Friday night the Midgets shared the show with the Outlaws. Winged cars are notorious for heavily abusing the track and making it go very dry-slick and rubbered down. However, the track started much to my advantage. 
    In qualifying, turns one and two were rutted and hooked up. And turns three and four was just the oppisite, smooth, dry, and one-lined around the bottom. I favor tracks like these with two different ends. We Q'ed 3rd out of the 19 car field. 
    The heat race also went well. I started 3rd and was able to grab the lead for just a few laps, but then lost the lead and settled for 2nd. This scored us a 6th place starting spot for the feature. I fought hard to move forward in the feature, but the track just got away from us a little bit. It was a tough track, one lined around the bottom and very slick. I was running 5th for most of the race until one driver ran into the side of us nearly taking me out, and I fell back to 8th. I managed to get back up to P6. 

    It wasn't a bad night all in all. It was a strong points day and we had a fast racecar all night long. I'm looking forward to the second USAC Western States Midget race of the season in Bakersfield on April 7th. I'd like to thank Lucas Oil, Goodwine Glass, Honda Racing, PBH Indy, Crower Performance, One Day Signs, Ego Tactics, K&N Filters, and Oakley for all their support.

Jake Swanson

Jake's Debut in a 410 Sprint Car a Success!

Prelude

    Feburary 25th marked my very first race of the season, and my first race in a 410 sprint car. Perris Auto Speedway is home for the Swanson Motorsports Team, but we haven't had the opportunity to race there on a frequent basis because the USAC Midget Series doesn't travel there very often. However, we have been successful at Perris in the past. I won my first Ford Focus Midget race there in my first start in the class, and had more success when we ran the track later throughout the year.
    Perris is a big half-mile banked clay oval that's home for the USAC/CRA 410 Sprint Car Series. As a kid I can remember watching in awe as these guys tear up the PAS in some of the best dirt track racing you will ever see. I only hoped one day I would be fortunate enough to race against these guys. Finally, I got the chance.
    My dream was made possible thanks to car owner Larry Henry and crew chief Tony Jones. Larry is no stranger to car ownership and running a race team. He and good friend Bubby Jones (Ol' Bub) had a great deal of success in sprint car racing in the past. My new crew Chief, Tony Jones is the son of sprint car legend Bubby Jones. Tony also has a very impressive history in sprint car racing, winning many races races including the oval nationals, and also a championship at the PAS. I feel extremely fortunate to be teamed up with such awesome guys for my 410 debut.
    Before race day we only had a session of practice, which took place a couple weeks before, to shake down the car and try to get acclimated. I felt pretty confident after I had a few laps under my belt.

Race Day

    My mindset going into race day was simply to log laps, gain experience, and learn. If we could make the feature in our first night, I would feel accomplished. And sure enough, we did just that. Hot laps went well, I was still learning the car and the driving style it needed. Qualifying wasn't the best. I laid down 2 smooth laps, but they weren't fast enough. I Q'd 26th out of 37.
    Next up was the heat race. I was starting outside pole in a 9 car heat race, 4 transfer. At first I was a little nervous about it since I hadn't had much experience racing closely around other cars, but I gained confidence quick as soon as the green dropped. I jumped to an early lead, and fought hard to hang onto it. The #41 was feeling good, and so was I with nobody out in front of me. I continued to fight off the pack as the laps were winding down. Finally the #2 of Williams and #37 of Mitchell got by me in the closing laps, but I was able to hold onto 3rd ahead of Bernal. This put me straight through to the A-main. I was so happy we were able to accomplish that on our first night.
    In the feature I was starting 21st out of 23 cars due to my qualifying time. I continued to focus on logging laps and staying out of trouble. Keeping my nose clean was important in securing a good finish. The race went well and I got as high as 16th on the heavy track. With only a hand full of laps remaining, welds failed on the front axle. This sheared off the RF wheel as I entered turn 1. Thankfully, I got the car stopped without hitting anything and the damage was very minimal. It was just a weird part failure.
    I gained so much more knowledge and experience from this race. I absolutely can not wait to hop back in the #41 on March 31st for my 2nd USAC/CRA Sprint Car race. Unfortunately, we will not be able to attend many more races in this car due to lack of funding. We have lots of empty space on the bodywork of this race car for sponsors and partnership opportunities. Any and all help is accepted, so please help the #41 team reach it's full potential! I would like to thank all of our current sponsors on this car; Zanzabuku Sports Lounge, VGI Graphics, Goodwine Glass, K&N Filters, and Lucas Oil. I also have to thank Larry Henry and Tony Jones for giving me such a huge opportunity. I know we can run well and I'm excited to show everybody what the #41 team can do.
    Follow this blog, and check back every week for more updates on what the Swanson Motorsports Team is up to. Also, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!

Jake Swanson

www.jakeswanson.com

Chili Bowlin' 2012

    Swanson Motorsports competed in our first ever Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals this year, it was quite an adventure to say the least.
    Monday night practice went very smoothly, and the whole team was very excited and eager to race on Friday.
    However, Friday didn't go so well. An issue occured with a bad timing pick-up sensor which caused the engine to bounce between 2&4 cylinders inconsistently. Unfortunately, the problem made the car very difficult to drive, and Jake ended up climbing the inside berm and flipping down the back straight. Luckily, Jake walked away with only a concussion.
    Thanks to the whole crew, and some very generous help from fellow racers, Jake was able to get back out for Saturday. The team had their work  cut out for them though, Jake would have to start in the very last main, the K main.
    In order to transfer through a main, you must finish in the top 4. From there, you must start at the tail of the next main. Jake was able to transfer through 2 mains, in the 3rd main (the I main) he missed by just a nose, and that was the end of it.
    "It was a thrill to try to come from the very back, and see how far we could get in such a prestigious event. It's just too bad we had such bad luck on Friday," says Jake. The team ended up recieving the 2nd Place Hard Charger Award for passing the 2nd most cars out of everyone at the event.
    "I would like to thank all of my sponsors for their support and making this event happen for us; Lucas Oil, Goodwine Glass, Honda Racing, PBH Indy, CP Crower Performance, One Day Signs, Ego Tactics, K&N, Oakley, and JDR Graphics. A special thanks to Ty Hindman, Alex Frazin, Skeet Bushor, and Shannon McQueen Racing for their help. I sure hope we can do it again next year with all the knowlege we have now,we will be strong."