By: Scott Smith INDIANAPOLIS (May 12, 2011) – Thursday Night Thunder made a triumph return to the Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis oval and Kody Swanson was able to narrowly defeat his brother Tanner in the 30-lap feature race. The two racers were front to back most of the night with each driver having to contend with slower traffic during the race. On lap 28 Kody made a pass for the lead, was able to make it stick and went on to take the checkered flag. “I didn’t qualify quick time and that was probably my doing by just missing it a little bit but man that thing was great in the race and it was a pleasure to drive and I’m glad to finally win a national Sprint Car race,” said Kody following the win. “It means a lot to me, to the guys as well and hopefully this is the first night of a great thing for Tanner and I here at Lucas Oil Raceway as well as the fans with Thursday Night Thunder.” Finishing second is never the preferred position for a racer but for Tanner, the 2010 Night Before the 500 Midget winner, he can take solace in finishing behind his brother and eyes his return at the end of the month. “Last year I didn’t know on Monday that week that I had a ride for the Night Before the 500 and coming in winning the deal was awesome but there is definitely more pressure this year to return,” said Tanner. “Now the purse is bumped up from $6,000 to win to $20,000 to win so everybody will be bringing there ‘A’ game here and hopefully I will be able to bring mine.” Kody is the Pavement Sprint point’s leaders following the event with 136 points with Bobby Santos in second at 121 points, Jacob Wilson in third with 114, Tanner in fourth at 111 and Bobby East in fifth with 110. Thursday Night Thunder will return to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis on July 7th, Aug. 18th, Sept. 8th, 22nd and October 13th. “We want to thank the fans that came to the first Thursday Night Thunder race of 2011 and the return of this storied franchise to the facility,” said Wes Collier, general manager of Lucas Oil Raceway. “They witnessed a great race and saw two of the rising talents in USAC show why they moving up through the ranks of the racing world.” Thursday Night Thunder Results FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. Tanner Swanson, 3. Jacob Wilson, 4. Bobby Santos III, 5. Kyle Larson, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Aaron Pierce, 8. Bobby East, 9. Brian Gerster, 10. JoJo Helberg, 11. Caleb Armstrong, 12. Chris Windom, 13. Russ Gamester, 14. Brian Olson, 15. Luis Ramos III, 16. Joe Swanson, 17. A.J. Fike, 18. Jeremy Frankoski, 19. Mario Marietta. 10:33.38 -------------------------------- FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 Hines, Laps 12-27 Wilson, Laps 28-30 K.Swanson. NEW AMSOIL PAVEMENT SPRINT POINTS: 1-K.Swanson-136; 2-Santos-121; 3-Wilson-117; 4-T.Swanson-111; 5-East-110; 6-Gerster-91; 7-Windom-90; 8-Pierce-83; 9-Fike-79; 10-Gametser-75. (Courtesy of USAC)
