WINCHESTER, Ind. — Four past Winchester Speedway winners and a whole host of hungry others will take on the legendary high banks for this Friday night’s June 27 USAC Silver Crown Rich Vogler Classic at the eastern Indiana speed plant well-known for its high speeds, high intensity and high drama.
Among the 19 entries in the field are four drivers who have previously tamed the 37-degree high banks in their USAC career.
FOUR PAST WINNERS
Kody Swanson enters as the winner of the past three USAC Silver Crown races at Winchester in 2022-2023-2024 and has captured the pole position in all four. He also enters as the most recent series winner on the pavement at WWT Raceway on June 14.
Current series point leader Justin Grant scored the win in a photo finish over Swanson in the inaugural Silver Crown round at Winchester in 2021. Brian Tyler makes his return to the series following a three-year absence. He captured a pair of USAC Sprint Car wins at the track in 1997-1998, and one more surprise entry.
HELLO NEWMAN
The surprise of the entry list is Kazmark Motorsports fielding Ryan Newman, an 18-time NASCAR Cup Series winner and the 2008 winner of the Daytona 500. Newman, the 1999 USAC Silver Crown champion, has experienced his share of USAC victories at Winchester, five in fact. He won four times in USAC Midget competition at Winchester between 1998-1999 and also added a USAC National Sprint Car victory in 1999.
Interestingly, Newman is the most recent driver to win four consecutive USAC features with a single series at Winchester Speedway. It’s a record Swanson is aiming to tie this Friday. Newman also swept both ends of the Rich Vogler Classic in 2000, which was a NAMARS sanctioned Sprint and Midget doubleheader that year.
ONE SPOT
Another pair of drivers would like to jump over the hump after garnering runner-up finishes in recent USAC Silver Crown outings at Winchester, including Logan Seavey (2nd in 2022) and Bobby Santos (2nd in 2023 & 2024). While Seavey is seeking his first career Silver Crown win on the pavement, Santos is among the most decorated pavement specialists in USAC history and is vying for his first win of the USAC Silver Crown season.
BACK TO THE BANKS
Previous Winchester USAC Silver Crown podium finishers Taylor Ferns (3rd in 2022) and C.J. Leary (3rd in 2024) will also take on the banks this Friday as will top USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender Jackson Macenko (10th in 2024).
Also back in the field for Friday are those who have previous Winchester Silver Crown starts. The list includes Nathan Byrd (11th in 2022 & 2024), Matt Westfall (13th in 2023), Gregg Cory (13th in 2024), Dakoda Armstrong (14th in 2024), Kyle Steffens (15th in 2024), Dave Berkheimer (19th in 2021) and Tyler Roahrig (22nd in 2024).
ROOKIES
Meanwhile, Jake Trainor and Colton Bettis are the lone drivers in Friday’s lineup without previous USAC Silver Crown racing experience at Winchester. But both have experienced racing teams behind them with Klatt Enterprises (Trainor) and Sam Pierce Racing (Bettis) routinely being among the fastest at Winchester for decades.
Both Trainor and Bettis have been dynamite on the pavement with Trainor recently garnering midget and sprint car wins on the asphalt, including May’s Little 500, at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, while Bettis has been a master on the Florida winged pavement sprint car circuit.
USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST
5 Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle, IN (C & A Motorsports)
6 (R) Jake Trainor/Medway, MA (Klatt Enterprises)
7 Kyle Robbins/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
8 Kyle Steffens/St. Charles, MO (Steffens Motorsports)
21 C.J. Leary/Greenfield, IN (Team AZ-Petty-Rossi Racing)
22 Logan Seavey/Sutter, CA (Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing)
31 Dave Berkheimer/Mechanicsburg, PA (Dave Berkheimer Motorsports)
32 Gregg Cory/Shelbyville, IN (Williams-Cory Racing)
40 Nathan Byrd/Goodyear, AZ (Meyer Auto Research)
41 Tyler Roahrig/Plymouth, IN (Newman Racing)
54 Matt Westfall/Pleasant Hill, OH (4 Kings Racing)
55 Taylor Ferns/Shelby Township, MI (Taylor Ferns Racing)
77 Kody Swanson/Kingsburg, CA (Doran Binks Racing)
81 Brian Tyler/Parma, MI (BCR Group)
91 Justin Grant/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 Ryan Newman/South Bend, IN (Kazmark Motorsports)
98 Bobby Santos/Franklin, MA (DJ Racing)
124 (R) Jackson Macenko/Cincinnati, OH (Brad Hayes Racing)
126 (R) Colton Bettis/Lutz, FL (Sam Pierce Racing)
