Swanson Forges To Fourth Consecutive Hoosier 100 Victory, Tying Al Unser

Winner Swanson, wife Jordan and son Trevor hold up four fingers to symbolize his four consecutive victories on the mile dirt track. [Joe Jennings Photo]

By Joe Jennings

INDIANAPOLIS – Kody Swanson made history in the 63rd Hoosier 100 when he won for the fourth consecutive time, putting him into a first-place tie with Al Unser. Unser’s fete took place in 1970-1973.

The action took place in the USAC Silver Crown event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds before a large crowd on Thursday night.

Driving the DePalma entry, Swanson won for the 21st time in the series, placing him just two behind leader Jack Hewett, who has 23 wins.

Swanson started from the pole and led the opening 25 laps until overhauled by Brian Tyler. The latter led the next 30 laps until crashing out after apparently running over a brake rotor thrown from another car. Tyler was uninjured but his car took a hard hit when he clobbered the wall in Turn 1.

Once Swanson assumed the lead, he was untouchable, pulling away to a 2.7 second advantage when the checkered flag dropped.

“This is very surreal. I was in tears beforehand as I didn’t know if I could handle the stress anymore,” said the emotional Swanson. “I knew it was possible because these guys give me such a great car. When Tyler got by me, I knew I couldn’t run that pace but I also didn’t want to run second.

“To win four in a row you have to get lucky some nights. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. I am happy to be here in victory lane.”

Shane Cockrum finished second and Tyler Courtney third.

Fourth went to Shane Cottle and fifth to Johnny Petrozelle, who came from 18th.

Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Jacob Wilson, Joe Liguori, David Byrne, Dave Darland from 28th and Austin Mundie from 24th.

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