The Left Turn
By: Ron Burt
ANDERSON, Ind., May 20th Kody Swanson was honored as the #1 driver of 2025 by the National Pavement Sprint Car Rankings. On Saturday night he put an exclamation mark on that honor by winning his fourth Little 500 at Anderson Speedway in Doran Racing’s Wilke Orthodontics/Glenn Farms No. 77 asphalt sprint car. Swanson took command of the 33 car field and led the first 158 laps before pitting and falling to 10th, he battled back, passed Davey Hamilton Jr. on the frontstretch on lap 473, and led the last 28 laps of the 78th annual Little 500 for his Ohio based team’s first victory in the biggest pavement sprint car race in the world. Swanson won this race in 2016, 2018, and 2019. The top 5 finishers were 1st Kody Swanson, 2nd Davey Hamilton Jr., 3rd Dakoda Armstrong, 4th Jake Trainor, and 5th Mario Clouser.
On May 22nd at Toledo Speedway the feature winners were Mike young in the Late Model Sportsmen division, this was his 2nd feature victory of the season and Josh Bunting won Factory Stocks feature.
Thursday, May 28, 2026, Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, the World of Outlaw Late Model Series made a stop, with all the national stars in attendance. 45 cars showed up to compete in the Lone Wolf 40, paying $12,000.00 to win the feature. Going into tonight’s event Brandon Sheppard has raced in 4 World of Outlaw Late Model events at Wayne County Speedway and has won 3.
Nick Hoffman set quick time tonight with a 16.012. The Outlaws had 4 qualifying heat races. Heat winners were Nick Hoffman, Daulton Wilson, Ricky Thornton Jr, and Hudson O’Neal. After the redraw Ricky Thornton Jr. won the pole for the feature and Daulton Wilson started on the outside of the front row. The top 4 from each heat race made the feature. Kyle Moore, the 2025 track champion at Wayne County Speedway, was in heat 4 and finished 8th out of the 11 car field. In the Last Chance Showdown race to make the feature Moore started 8th and could only work his way up to 5th, his Late Model night is over, but he will race his Modified and that feature pays $2,000.00 to win.
Ricky Thornton Jr. won the 40 lap event and had the $12,00.00 payday tonight. Nick Hoffman started 4th and was able to move up to 2nd. Rounding out tonight’s podium, Bobby Pierce. He fought hard to work his way up from 8th to finish 3rd. All these drivers will be back tomorrow and Saturday night racing on the newly redone ½ mile Mansfield Speedway. It was good meeting several of you from Defiance, Van Wert and Bryan that made the trip over to Orrville tonight. Wave me down, I’m always happy to talk racing if you see me.
Some upcoming races you should have on your calendar would be Ohio Sprint Week featuring the All Star Circuit of Champions and anyone that races a 410 Outlaw Winged Sprint Car. Ohio Sprint Week will have 8 races and one open date for a makeup if needed because of weather. Tracks include 6/12 Attica, 6/13 Sharon, 6/14 Millstream, 6/15 Wayne County, 6/16 Eldora, 6/17 Rain Date, 6/18 Waynesfield, 6/19 Fremont and 6/20 Atomic. First place prize money is $7,500.00 to win at each track but the last race at Atomic Speedway will pay the winner $10,000.00.
Flat Rock Speedway(asphalt) will run the rescheduled 100 lap Joy Fair 100 for ARCA Outlaw Super Late Models June 6th. Fans will get a bonus. The Turn 1 CRA Pro Series will also be at Flat Rock for a 125 lap feature event.
The 500 Sprint Car Tour Series (asphalt) will take to the high banks of Toledo Speedway, Sunday, June 14th at 3PM. Many of these drivers competed against each other at the recent Little 500 at Anderson Speedway. Anderson is a ¼ mile oval and Toledo is a half mile track. The race teams will need to adjust as the cars will reach higher speeds with more room to race at Toledo. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron Out! www.facebook.com/ohiosportsblitz
