1,000 Greatest Drivers: Kody Swanson

The valedictorian of Silver Crown racing - both literally and figuratively.

As with all sprint car drivers, I had to do some research to cover today’s birthday boy, but I definitely found some interesting things. It wouldn’t surprise me if Swanson is the only driver on the entire list who was a high school valedictorian. I had no idea his team was historically linked with an Indy 500 winner from a century prior or that he was currently winning titles for a former sports car owner who won the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and 6 Hours of Watkins Glen all in the same season. I was also surprised to discover that his brother Tanner actually won his first race immediately before Kody did and they have similar winning percentages. But honestly, the fact that Tanner seemed to be just as dominant as Kody as a part-time driver is one of the reasons I am slightly more reserved in my praise. Since Kody’s firt title in 2014, they have nearly identical winning percentages yet obviously Kody was starting all the races Tanner won and Tanner didn’t start many of the races Kody won, so Tanner might actually be better. Nonetheless, I don’t think he’ll be making the list since the numbers aren’t there. Tanner winning a Silver Crown race or two as a part-timer every year or two probably isn’t enough for him to make any of my annual top 200 lists, but it’s definitely an interesting “what could have been”… I originally did not have his 2015 on my top 100 list and I had 2022 at C and 2023 at C- but I bumped all those up because I think his dominance within the Silver Crown category was too much for the ratings I previously gave him. I don’t think any USAC driver deserves an elite season unless they are simultaneously winning in all three top-tier USAC divisions, but he’s definitely had enough C+s to make the list.