Swanson Wins the Pole for Saturday’s Phoenix Copper Cup
Phoenix, Arizona………Kody Swanson set the mark in Friday’s qualifying session to capture the pole position for Saturday’s “Phoenix Copper Cup” USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series event at ISM Raceway.
Swanson, of Kingsburg, California, was the last car to make a qualifying attempt when he laid down the fastest lap of the session, defeating 2017 race winner Bobby Santos by just a tick under four-hundredths of a second with a lap of 25.326 seconds/142.146 mph around the one-mile tri-oval. Swanson’s lap was just nine-thousandths of a second off the track’s one-lap Silver Crown record of 25.317 seconds, set by the late Dave Steele in 2004.
Swanson, the three-time Silver Crown champion, has 19 career series victories (2nd all-time), but is eying his first win at Phoenix. In his last two visits to the track in 2009 and 2017, Swanson finished in the runner-up position.
Swanson will be joined on the front row by Santos of Franklin, Mass. In the ensuing rows lie Aaron Pierce (Muncie, Ind.), David Byrne (Shullsburg, Wis.), Kyle Hamilton (Danville, Ind.) and Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) who occupy the first three rows for the 100-mile event.
Saturday’s race begins at 3:15 pm Pacific. Download the USAC app to listen to all the action live from the track’s public address system and the voices of Pat Sullivan and Dean Strom.
Saturday’s full docket is as follows: 1 pm: Silver Crown Drivers Meeting. 1:55-2: 05 pm: Silver Crown Shake Down. 2:05-2: 15 pm: Silver Crown to Pit Road. 3:15 pm: “Phoenix Copper Cup” 100-mile Silver Crown Race.
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES QUALIFYING RESULTS: April 6, 2018 – Phoenix, Arizona – ISM Raceway – “Phoenix Copper Cup”
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-25.326; 2. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-25.363; 3. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-25.438; 4. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-25.550; 5. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-25.623; 6. Chris Windom, 17, Nolen-25.653; 7. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-25.836; 8. Eric Gordon, 21, Armstrong-25.893; 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 20, Nolen-25.986; 10. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-26.012; 11. A.J. Russell, 3, Finkenbinder-26.384; 12. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott/Gorman-26.569; 13. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Gerhardt-27.450; 14. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-27.466; 15. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-27.476; 16. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-27.624; 17. Toni Breidinger, 80, Breidinger-27.914; 18. Jesse Dunham, 126, Pierce-28.262
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Sources: Richie Murray/USAC PR