4/1/2011
Sprint Source
TK Motorsports heads to Anderson, Indiana for April 3rd’s “Glen Niebel Classic”
(April 1, 2011) — This weekend, the new USAC Pavement Sprint Car series will make it’s debut at Anderson Speedway’s “Glen Niebel Classic.” With the USAC National Sprint car’s going to a “Dirt Only” schedule for the 2011 season, it left an opening for the rise of the Pavement Sprint car series, which will feature 10 events in it’s first year. The “Glen Niebel Classic” is a storied event, held at Anderson Speedway annually for many years in conjunction with the USAC National Sprint Cars. The 1/4 mile high-banked Anderson oval is a familiar place for many Sprint Car drivers, especially TK Motorsports’ Tanner Swanson.
In 2007, Tanner Swanson won the All-American Driver Challenge and the opportunity to compete for Tracy Trotter’s Calico Coatings team in the USAC Carolina Ford Focus series. Tanner won 4 Feature Events on his way to “Rookie of the Year”honors and the Series Championship, and made his first start at Anderson Speedway in the National Ford Focus event. While the young Swanson finished 3rd, it gave him valuable insight on the famous track. When he wasn’t competing on the Carolina Ford Focus tour, Tanner spent 2007 cutting his teeth in the USAC Western Sprint series driving the family owned TK Motorsports #17. Tanner picked up his first career Sprint Car win in only his 2nd start, and remains the youngest USAC Pavement Sprint Car winner in history. Fast forward to May of 2008, and the Glen Niebel Classic: Tanner got the opportunity to make his first career USAC National Sprint car start, and it was from behind the wheel of the RAM Engineering owned #50m. Tanner started 4th in the 100-lap event, and ran 2nd after the first lap. He trailed the leader for the first 50-laps, but a mistake in lapped traffic helped Tanner inherit the lead. Tanner ran a flawless final 50 laps, and helped himself go 1-for-1, winning in his 1st National Sprint start at just 17 years old.
It is now 2011, and TK Motorsports’ Swanson brothers are coming off of one of their best years yet. Last season, Kody and Tanner both earned their first career USAC Silver Crown victories, and won back-to-back USAC National Midget events at the then-named O’Reilly Raceway Park. The duo became the “first brothers in history to ‘sweep’ a USAC Silver Crown feature” when they finished 1st & 2nd at the”Great Lakes 150” in Marne, Michigan. At last year’s season finale, “Turkey Night” at Irwindale, the Swanson Brothers capped off their season with their TK Motorsports Sprint cars at the top of the board, as Tanner set a “New Track Record” in qualifying, and Kody picked up the feature event win.
This Sunday’s event will be the first for the TK Motorsports Sprint Cars in 2011, and while Tanner will be looking to make his return to Anderson Speedway Victory Lane, Kody will continue his pursuit of his first Sprint Car win in the state of Indiana.
To find out more about Tanner and Kody Swanson, visit their websites at http://www.tannerswansonracing.com/ and http://www.kodyswansonracing.com/ or become a fan at their Facebook page: Swanson Brothers-TK Motorsports.
To learn more about the “Glen Niebel Classic,” go to http://www.andersonspeedway.com/
Photo Credit: Ken Pamatat
Submitted By: Kody Swanson
