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FINALIST: Swanson Glad To Be Back Home
Success on 3 Midwest dirt tracks has him among Div. III leadersDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At the end of the 2007 racing season, Jeremy Swanson thought he was done racing. He had a new job in Chicago and was moving there from Iowa. He sold his Hobby Stock and his racing equipment and moved on from the black river bottom gumbo clay of Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa.
Less than half of the 2008 racing season had gone by when Swanson ended up back in Iowa. It turns out the “Second City” wasn’t for him.
“That ended up not being the best move I ever made,” Swanson said. “I got a great opportunity to move back and get back into racing.”
Swanson’s new job joined him with the thickest racing family in the Midwest, when he joined the sales department at Kosiski Auto Parts in Omaha, Neb. The Kosiski family operates several automotive related businesses, includes a half-dozen active racers, and operates I-80 Speedway at Nebraska Raceway Park in Greenwood, Neb.
He also hooked up with car builder Richard Rope, and helps build Rope’s XXXL Chassis, used in Hobby Stock racing.
Swanson, 27, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, has been as high as second in the NASCAR Finalist Division III standings behind I-80 Speedway racer Brad Derry, who has led the Division III standings for much of the season. Derry continues to lead the standings this week followed by Justin Shoemaker from Outlaw Motor Speedway in Muskogee, Okla., with Swanson third.
Here’s the twist: Derry is driving the car Swanson sold off at the end of the 2007 season.
“Brad’s a friend and we’ve raced together for a while,” Swanson said. “It’s ironic the way things worked out.”
The new NASCAR Finalist national recognition program focuses on the divisions outside of the Feature Division at each NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track. Points are kept separately for dirt and asphalt tracks. A NASCAR-licensed driver’s best 14 finishes are counted toward their final points total for the year.
Each track in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series designates its top division as its Feature Division, and assigns its remaining divisions a designation of II, III, IV or V. The Finalist Program was established this season to recognize the drivers in those latter divisions.
In addition to Derry’s continued Division III lead, dirt track NASCAR Finalist leaders entering this weekend include Division II Jesse Sobbing, I-80 Speedway, Greenwood, Neb.; Division IV, Joe Baker, I-80 Speedway; and Division V, Andy Wilkinson, Junction Motor Speedway, McCool Junction, Neb.
NASCAR asphalt leaders include Division II, Danny Johnson, Raceway Park, Shakopee, Minn.; Division III, Matt Galko, Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Conn.; Division IV, Danny Field, Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl; and Division V, Doug Schmitz, Raceway Park.
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While Swanson is fourth in the Northland Oil Pro Stock Division at Adams County Speedway, he has three wins so far this year and has also been making starts at I-80 where the division is called Pro Ams, and Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb. where they are called Street Stocks. His racing record entering this weekend is 17 starts, 3 wins, 7 top fives and 12 top 10s.
Swanson started racing at age 16 at Adams County Speedway in 1999.
“I went to the races with my dad, and the first time I worked on a car was helping Mike and Betsy Whitehead with their number 49 Late Model,” Swanson said. “I did that for two or three years. I’d help whoever would let me help. When I turned 16 I bought a half-built Hobby Stock and finished it with whatever I could borrow or get for free.”
Although a track championship has been elusive so far, Swanson grew to be a solid race car driver and now has about 30 feature event wins.
Swanson’s sponsors include Whitehead Machine Shop, Roger’s Painting Service, Cardinal Auto Sales and XXXL Chassis.
Crewing the car are Dru Williams, Jay Geruts, Mike and Betsy Whitehead, Richard Rope, Billy Rock, Adam Crawlick and Terry Kinman.
“We started out a little tentative this year, but things are turning out pretty good,” Swanson said.
The NASCAR Finalist points structure is the same as the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series featured division at each track. The feature winner receives two points for every car in the feature up to 20. Second place receives two fewer points and that distribution continues through the field. Race winners receive five additional bonus points. For example, if there were 20 cars in the feature, the winner would receive 45 points, second gets 38 and third 36. If there are 15 cars the winner receives 35 points, second gets 28 and third 26.
At season’s end, the top driver in each of the four asphalt and four dirt NASCAR divisions will receive invitations to the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series awards banquet December 10 in the Crown Ballroom in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., where they will be recognized.
