SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Kody Swanson will chase after his ninth career USAC Silver Crown national championship with a bit of a different team setup throughout the 2025 season.
Swanson will once again return to the Doran Binks Racing No. 77 on the pavement track portion of the schedule. On the dirt, the Kingsburg, California native will be the new driver of the John Haggenbottom No. 24.
After competing full time in the USAC Silver Crown series in 2023-2024 on both the dirt and pavement for Doran Binks, the team has decided to focus its efforts on its pavement programs.
“I started with the team as a pavement only program in 2021, so I feel like we’ve come full circle again and will focus on the USAC Silver Crown pavement events and the Little 500, just like we did at the beginning,” Swanson stated. “I’m grateful that we were able to expand that effort the past two years to run the entire series, and to score the championship together last season. I definitely appreciate the chance we have to continue together on the pavement this year.”
Left momentarily without a dirt ride, Swanson and Haggenbottom have teamed up for the dirt races. While it is technically a new team for Swanson, in a way, it’s a reunion of sorts to Swanson’s five-year run as the driver of the DePalma Motorsports No. 63, a span which led to four Silver Crown titles and 21 victories.
Through Swanson and Haggenbottom’s mutual friendships with former DePalma Motorsports stalwarts Bob Hampshire and Clark Lamme, they’ve gotten to know each other and race against each other, and will now get the opportunity to race with each other.
“It’s a neat opportunity to race together, and we’ll have car that is very similar to the 63 that Hampshire and Lamme worked on together all those years ago,” Swanson explained. “I’m also reunited with an engine that helped me win a Silver Crown title a few years back and appreciate that Bob (Hampshire) and Jesse (Himes) are still looking after it and keeping it in great shape.”
Competing for a championship with split teams is rare, but not unprecedented. In fact, Swanson captured the 2021 USAC Silver Crown title while competing for Doran on pavement and Chris Dyson Racing on dirt.
One aspect Swanson notes as a positive is that each team can come into an event fresh without having just been out on the road running on the other surface.
“Racing has challenges in every way, even for us in the short track world trying to run multiple divisions,” Swanson said. “You end up with different teams as you try to cover different divisions. Having a split schedule can be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to this. I’ve run on pavement with the Doran Binks team for a long time, and the good part for me is I’ve had relationships with a lot of these folks. Even if I haven’t raced the Haggenbottom No. 24, I’ve been around those guys. We’ve got mutual friends, and for being a new situation, I feel like there’s a lot of familiarity there.”
On dirt, Swanson will pilot the John Haggenbottom No. 24, utilizing a Maxim chassis with a Hampshire Chevy while carrying sponsorship from Radio Hospital, Belmont’s Garage, Kreider Manufacturing, John Venturella and TJ Forged Wheels.
On pavement, Swanson will be at the wheel of the Doran Binks No. 77, with a Lanci Ford engine underneath the hood of a Beast chassis. Team principles include Kevin Doran, Dan Binks and Ken Keilholz while sponsorship comes from Mission Foods, Wilke Orthodontics, Glenn Farms, RMT and TJ Forged Wheels.
Swanson will make his debut in Haggenbottom’s car on Sunday, April 13, on the dirt at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track. The following weekend, on Saturday, April 19, Swanson will return to the cockpit of the Doran Binks Racing ride on the pavement of Ohio’s Toledo Speedway.
