Kody's interview after the dash win

Advice taken

 “When our team first asked Kody Swanson to drive, it was as a son of Mike’s (Kody’s Father). However, the second time it was because we loved what we had seen the first time he drove the car.  After this last race… he will drive our car because we believe he has proven himself the best fit for our team (I was going to say “the best driver for our car”… that would indicate my faith in him over myself… not sure I’m ready to say that, but perhaps inevitably it may be). Now when it comes to racing talent, we all want to believe that we have it. I know that is true for most of us drivers.  But the ability to drive fast, and the ability to perform at an elite level truly defines racing talent… it appears more rare that prevalent. But talent like Kody and Tanner’s is rare, and that is undeniable… so choosing either of them based on those facts alone is a no-brainer. Kody’s ability to understand and give the kind of feedback he does to the team is unlike any I have ever heard. But as talented as he is, I forget that he is still only 22 years old and still has room in his racing toolbox.  For Kody, it was a matter of asking him to change his approach to passing, not just to be more aggressive (Which contradicts why I choose Kody to drive…because he is the more conservative of the two brothers), but his approach, his finish, and his set up. If you were there last Saturday night… you know he listened, learned, or already had the tools and busted open the toolbox to show them off.”

If talent always determined race outcomes… then that would explain the long list of wins for Kody and the Tatro Racing Pit Crew. “We have had our fair share of bad luck… I mean bad luck as being that which is absolutely unavoidable by preparation.  And we have had our fair share being unlucky that was preventable as well”. But Saturday night was just “Bad Luck” for the team. The evening started with Kody qualifying 3^rd quick. “That wasn’t a bad time for us, but let’s be realistic… we are
 still figuring out Kody, and he is still figuring out us. Consistency will come with familiarity”.  The evening continued with Kody winning the dash, but was strongly challenged by Adamson.  The Heat Race was next, but here the team used old tires to help set up the car for where they predicted the car would be at the end of the main event. Kody finish in third placed.  For the main event, here is where Kody busted out the tools… When the green flag dropped, and the cars entered the first turn, Dan Vanderpool made a move to set up a hard exit, Kody move up and went three wide to pass four cars in the first set of turns. After Kody cleanly cleared, Adamson and Northammer brought the race to a red flag, as Adamson was in the wall. On the restart, Kinchen went inside of Hinz and the two touched and reintroduced the red. “I am really not sure exactly what happened” Kinchen said, “An opening was starting to appear, and I was trying to time the opening and then I’m not sure if Larry’s opening closed, or what, but by the time I had seen him change his direction, it was too late for me to avoid him… I called Larry to let him know that I did try to avoid him, but I simply did not make it”.  Kinchen, who is known for his “Panther-like reflexes”, said “That it wasn’t a matter of not seeing the issue, it was a matter of physics and the car simply cannot react in 300 milliseconds (the speed of human thought (for some people)). The green flag went single file this time, and Kody started his set up in turn 1, completed a two-car pass by turn three and took the lead from Jackson by the exit of 4.  Birges, who was making pace to stay with Kody followed closely but had not found any mistakes allowing him to overtake Kody. Several laps later Birges and Kody had built a commanding lead over the rest of the field, while Kinchen had built that same lead over the rest of the 360s. Bad luck waved its weary wand as Kody and Jim flew down the back straightaway in a glaze of water or oil being left by the #30 car. No flag was thrown, so the battle continued. As Kody entered turn 3, the magneto started to die and did within seconds forcing him to give up the lead and out of the race. Birges took the lead and won his second main event of the year. Kinchen set pace, and allowed the fight between Vanderpool, Jackson, and K. Vanderpool to happen behind him. “They told me where everyone was and to just take care of the equipment, so I backed off the edge and just tried to hit my marks” Kinchen indicated. Although there were only four 360s that finished, the quality of the racing between them was highly entertaining. The fight between Jackson and Danny was great… I watched how Danny worked to try different strategies to pass Jackson… for many laps, Jackson simply had the track position and the exit speed to prevent Danny from completing the pass. And for those of you who watched Danny and Jackson beat on each other the prior race, they drove against each other side by side for 15 laps without a single bump… awesome job!  For Kyle, another strong showing between winning the dash, and holding off his Father for second in the main. For Kenny, congrates on two in a row (and yes! We finally see the picture). And to Tanner who won the Sprint Car Main Event earlier in the evening.

 
Tatro Racing would like to say thanks to the Swanson family and supporters for making our experience with Kody remarkable.