By: Ron Burt
After 2 races on asphalt half mile tracks the USAC Silver Crown cars headed to their first race on dirt this year. Belleville, KS is one of the nation’s top dirt tracks. Most race fans thought national points leader and winner of the first two Silver Crown events Kody Swanson would have another lock on this night. There’s a sign on turn number 4 at Belleville that reads “where legends are made.” On this night a legend was made. We all knew one of the young guns with lots of top five finishes would finally wave a checked flag. Every week two female drivers have been in this mix. The time finally came, and history was made during qualifying. Kaylee Bryson surprised everyone as she had quick time with 17:264 won the pole. Kaylee became the first woman to win the starting pole in a USAC Silver Crown race.
But this was just the start of the evening. Social media around the racing community was on fire. Many of us tuned in to watch her taped delayed qualifying run and then switched over to watch the race live. After the 50 lap feature, holding the checkered flag, Kaylee Bryson cemented herself in the record books by becoming the first woman to win a USAC nationally sanctioned event in the 69-year history of the organization. The feature was tight with lead changes, and she took over the lead with 16 laps remaining, then had to fend off a furious charge led by C.J. Leary during the final laps to capture a dream victory for Bryson and her Sam Pierce/Sam Pierce Chevrolet team. Finishing behind Bryson was 2nd C.J. Leary, 3rd Mario Clouser, 4th Justin Grant, and 5th Daison Pursley. Series points leader Kody Swanson had car problems and finished 14th.
Attica Raceway Park hosted the World Of Outlaw Sprints last Friday. Several years ago, Michael “Buddy” Kofoid moved to Ohio to make a name for himself in sprint car racing, competing weekly at Attica Raceway Park. Buddy used that experience to perfection Friday, getting by Carson Macedo on the last lap to score his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of 2024. Behind your winner was 2nd Carson Macedo, 3rd Bill Balog, and 4th Brandon Spithaler. In the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint feature Sandusky, Ohio’s Bryan Sebetto took the lead from Brendon Torok on lap three and survived a late race caution to score his 15th career win in the 305 division at Attica.
Oakshade Raceway kicked off the 2024 race season on Saturday night with some exciting racing action on the new clay racing surface. Defending track champion Devin Shiels took advantage of Rusty Schlenk’s bad luck to pick up the first UMP DIRTcar Late Model feature win of the year. Sportsman driver Kolin Schilt drove to the feature win in a race the was only slowed by cautions a few times in the first handful of laps. Chane Stuckey with 2 laps remaining took the lead in the Dominator Stock feature and held on for the victory and $500. The Compact feature was the nightcap. Hillsdale, Michigan’s Cory Gumm took the lead after an early restart from Ryan Okuley. Okuley stayed right on Gumm’s rear bumper trying to battle back for the lead, but eventually faded just a bit until they caught lapped traffic. Gumm had to make some impressive moves, including squeezing between two lapped cars, to maintain his advantage over Okuley. Gumm held on to pick up the checkered flag with Okuley close behind. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron out!
