Mechanical Issue Forces Danner Out
While Running Second
In His First USAC Silver Crown Asphalt Race
Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway
In the Doran-Swanson Racing #77
MADISON, Ill., June 9 — After battling back from seventh to second, the first pavement USAC Silver Crown race for 24-year-old Briggs Danner resulted in a 10th-place finish when he was forced to drop out three laps short of the halfway point due to a mechanical issue Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) near St. Louis, the fastest track on the series’ schedule.
It was also the first race for a Doran-Swanson Racing entry, which is a partnership between Doran Racing of Lebanon, Ohio, and the Mark Swanson Encore Team owned by Dale Swanson. Dale Swanson is no relation to driver Kody Swanson, although Kody Swanson won the series’ 2021 championship driving for three different teams — Doran Racing, the Mark Swanson Encore Team, and Chris Dyson Racing. The eight-time series champion is not driving in USAC Silver Crown races since he became the series’ director in the off season, but he's still driving in other events, like the Little 500 asphalt sprint car race which he won on May 22 driving for Doran Racing. Doran Binks Racing was the defending winner of Sunday’s race at WWTR with Swanson behind the wheel, and he also won this race in 2022 driving for Doran-Dyson Racing.
Sunday afternoon’s scheduled 66-lap/82.5-mile USAC Silver Crown race on the 1.25-mile paved oval was a companion event to the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 NTT IndyCar series race. Its official name was the Outfront Media USA Route 66 Classic presented by Welsch Heating and Cooling. Danner’s car is sponsored in part by Schneider Recycling and Fuelmart, and it’s powered by a Lanci Ford.
Danner qualified an impressive third Sunday afternoon with a time of 30.958 seconds, just 0.317 off pole winner C.J. Leary’s 30.641. Leary’s run did not break the series’ one-lap track record of 30.239 seconds (148.814 mph) set by Kody Swanson on Aug. 16, 2024 in the Doran Binks Racing #77. That mark is still the fastest official lap ever turned in a traditional USAC Silver Crown car.
Danner had his hands full at the start. Davey Hamilton Jr. and Dakoda Armstrong passed the Allentown, Pa.-based driver on the first lap to drop him to fifth, and then Justin Grant and Michael Lewis got by him on lap three to relegate him to seventh as the pack ran close together in the opening laps and he dealt with the dirty air inherent in such situations.
Brent Yarnal brought out a yellow that turned into a red with five laps down when he crashed into the outside wall in Turn 3. The red was needed to clean up a fuel spill and repair the wall. Yarnal reportedly suffered a fractured rib and ankle and was treated and released from a local hospital.
After three laps under yellow following the red, the green flew again on lap nine and Danner got back to work. It only took him two laps to pass Lewis and Armstrong and move back into the top five, and he was definitely the driver to watch at that point.
He wasn’t done moving up. On lap 14 Danner passed Grant, the series’ defending champion, to move into fourth, and three laps after that he was back in the position he started, third, by passing Bobby Santos III. That put only leader Hamilton and Leary ahead of him, and Hamilton was only 1.434 seconds ahead of him by lap 20.
Hamilton’s day came to an early end on the next lap, however, as he slowed on the backstretch with mechanical difficulties. That vaulted Leary into the lead and Danner into second. By lap 22 Danner was only 1.239 of a second behind Leary.
Danner cut that to under a second on lap 26 when he ran his fastest race lap with a 31.757, which was faster than Leary’s best lap at that time. On the following lap he was only 0.765 behind Leary, and the driver who was third, Grant, was 1.308 seconds behind Danner.
Unfortunately a puff of white smoke appeared at the back of Danner’s blue and orange car on lap 29 while he was second. Wanting the car to sustain as little damage as possible, he brought it to the pits with 30 laps complete.
Danner was one of four drivers to retire with mechanical issues while running first or second. Hamilton led laps two through 20 before retiring. Armstrong was second when he slowed with 35 laps complete. Grant was second when he ran into mechanical difficulties on lap 56. Hamilton ended up 11th, Danner 10th, Armstrong was ninth, and Grant placed eighth.
The race ended one lap short due to time constraints, and Leary won with 65 laps complete. Santos finished second and Jackson Macenko came from the rear to place third and get the hard-charger honors. Kyle Steffens, Mario Clouser, Lewis, and Kaylee Bryson were next in line.
Steffens ran the fastest lap of the race with a 31.460 on lap 51, which was 0.035 faster than Leary’s best lap. Danner was seventh in that category with his 31.757 on lap 26.
Earlier in the day in his first practice session ever at this track Danner was fifth in the single 45-minute practice session with a lap in 31.071 seconds. Wanting to get as much experience as quickly as possible, he ran more laps (27) than any other driver in the session. It paid off with the strong showing in qualifying and in the race.
The race was broadcast on Flo Racing and Amazon Prime.
The next USAC Silver Crown races are Saturday, June 20 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway and Thursday, June 25 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Ind. The complete schedule is posted at usacracing.com.
For more information see doranracing.com and follow Doran Racing and Briggs Danner Racing on Facebook.
BRIGGS DANNER: “It was a good experience. I think we would have had something for C.J. there at the end; I think we were keeping really good pace and we were in line to give him a run for his money.
“We’re not sure yet exactly what the problem was; we’ll determine that when we go through everything back at the shop.”
What was the biggest thing you learned?
“I was anticipating the draft, but at the start of the race I was surprised at how much more it sucked the car up when there are three or four cars ahead of you.
“I knew it was going to be fast. It actually didn’t feel quite as fast as I thought it would feel, but speed is all relative. It was faster than I’ve ever gone in a race car, for sure.
“Overall it was a real good learning experience. I tried to use practice to get things sorted out, and I was learning every lap of qualifying and the race. I look forward to coming back for the next one!
About Mission Foods:
The Gruma Corporation began in 1949 and is today the leading tortilla manufacturer worldwide. Mission Foods is a proud subsidiary of Gruma, and as the #1 tortilla company in the United States, manufactures a wide variety of authentic Mexican products. Five years ago it opened a state-of-the-art plant in Dallas, Texas, with the capacity to produce 30 million tortillas daily. Today Mission Foods is a global company, with special emphasis not only on the United States but also Mexico, Central America, Europe, China, Malaysia, and Australia. Its products include flour and corn tortillas; tostadas; low-carb, whole wheat, organic and gluten-free items; wraps; flatbreads such as naan, pita and roti; tortilla chips and organic chips; chicharrones; salsa, and dips. For more information see missionfoods.com.
For more information on Doran Racing, see DoranRacing.com.
The team also has a Facebook page.
Series information on USACRacing.com
|
