SWANSON SCORES! WINS PARAGON’S USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK RETURN

📸 Rich Forman

Paragon, Indiana (July 29, 2026)………It had been 28 years since Paragon Speedway last hosted a USAC Indiana Sprint Week event, and for most of Wednesday night’s feature, Jake Swanson raced out to a lead that was 28 light years ahead of the competition. Or so it seemed.

But when the race tightened up in the waning laps due to a caution and an unexpected wrestling match with the turn four cushion, the Anaheim, California native still wasn’t going to give up the bag, leading all 30 laps to capture the $10,000 victory in round number six of nine of USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented by K & N Filters at the Belle Sheppard Birthday Bash.

Swanson’s triumph was his first at Indiana Sprint Week since winning at Lincoln Park Speedway in 2023. Furthermore, his ninth career USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship victory moved him to 60th place on the all-time list alongside Mario Andretti, Pat O’Connor, Hunter Schuerenberg, and Robbie Stanley.

It was also Swanson’s first USAC score of any kind since February at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park. Over the course of Indiana Sprint Week, victory has been knock, knock, knockin’ on Swanson’s door with finishes of 2nd, 5th, 5th, 3rd, and 10th throughout the past week, which had the team within striking distance of the upper crust of the ISW title race.

“This thing's on rails right now,” Swanson beamed. “We've been working and grinding, trying to get this package to this level and to this point. I’ve got a lot of great people like Snake Enterprises who has helped me just kind of massage on this thing and fine-tune a lot of little things to help us get more efficient and get better and get faster.”

Swanson and Paragon’s 3/8-mile paperclip shaped dirt oval have been a picture perfect match for each other in 2026. Back in March, Swanson picked up a marquee win in the non-sanctioned No Way Out 40. The Indiana Sprint Week round was icing on the cake for him and his Daming Swanson Motorsports/Inland Rigging – Snake Enterprises/DRC/1-Way Chevy No. 5T.

After missing out on a heat race transfer spot in each of his past three USAC Indiana Sprint Week appearances at Kokomo, Lawrenceburg, and Circle City over the past few nights, Swanson had to race his way into the main event by winning three consecutive semi-features. But on Wednesday, Swanson hustled through the pack in his heat race, charging from his sixth starting spot to win the thing decisively. In the end, it set up Swanson to become the first driver since Derek Davidson in 1998 to win an Indiana Sprint Week feature event at Paragon.

Starting fourth in the feature, Swanson was out in front of the mayhem that ensued near the conclusion of lap one. In a battle for the seventh spot, Mitchel Moles and Robert Ballou collided at the exit of turn four, with the contact sending Ballou on a sharp left turn directly into the path of Trey Osborne. Both Ballou and Osborne endured damage that sent them to the Indy Metal Finishing Work Area for repairs before returning to the tail of the field. Ballou wound up 13th at the finish line, while Osborne pulled off after five laps with a 24th place result. Moles continued on without issue.

On the second attempt at a start, Swanson found his preferred path. First, he cleared fellow row two starter Justin Grant off the second turn. Then, Swanson hit the bottom line in turns three and four and swiftly glided by both Gunnar Setser and Hunter Schuerenberg to lead the opening lap by a little more than a car length.

Meanwhile, Grant swiped second from Schuerenberg on the third lap as he dove low into turn three with the two banging sidewalls in the process. Kyle Cummins followed suit to third as he charged under Schuerenberg on the back straight on lap six.

By lap 10, Swanson’s lead was already a full straightaway over Grant and Cummins, who were a distant 3.6 seconds behind. After carving his way in and around lapped traffic, Swanson’s lead was a whopping 6.270 seconds by lap 22 when the caution was displayed for Zack Pretorius (20th) who jumped the turn three cushion and got briefly airborne before landing and coming to a stop while Grant took evasive action to avoid contact.

In a way, Swanson was a bit perturbed to see the yellow flag. However, it also allowed him to prove his prowess to himself on this particular night.

“I hated to see the caution come out, but honestly, I'm glad because then I would have wondered, ‘well, would he have beat me?’ Was I that good? You just never know,” Swanson pondered.

As it turned out, Swanson really was that good, but things sure got interesting for a split second down the stretch. First, Cummins got to second on the lap 23 restart when he gracefully used the low line in turns three and four to get the spot.

However, on the exit of turn four, Grant snagged the cushion and ricocheted into Cummins. The two touched wheels, elevating Cummins’ right rear tire up off the track surface, while the nose of his car was pointed toward the outside wall. Somehow, Cummins managed to straighten himself out and continue onward in second place. With five laps remaining, Brady Bacon also surged past Grant to work his way into the third spot.

Once again, Swanson was gone. His lead was 1.666 seconds and growing as the sands running through the hourglass became less visible. However, the fine line of the turn four cushion nearly cost Swanson everything with three laps remaining. The curb grabbed his right rear tire on lap 28 and threw his car to the right while sending him bouncing three times before he could regain control. As a result, Cummins reentered the picture and was just a few car lengths off Swanson’s back bumper for the race lead.

“It was a fine line, for sure,” Swanson said of the cushion. “It was so ledgy and the curb was only getting bigger and sketchier, and I knew we were going to be a little tight for it. I really didn't think the racetrack could stick around this long. So, we were kind of on the tight side, and honestly, I was just trying to hang on the whole time. I was trying to run because I figured that if I got to racing with somebody, it was going to be hard for me to recover because I was just so snug.”

That said, Swanson was perfect from there on out, executing the final two laps with precision to win the race by a 0.861 second margin over Kyle Cummins with Brady Bacon third, Justin Grant fourth and Mitchel Moles fifth. Incidentally, all five top five finishers also now reside inside the top five of the Indiana Sprint Week standings, with Cummins reemerging as the leader by 11 points. Moles led by one marker entering the Paragon event.

Swanson grabbed the lead at the start of the feature and never let go, leading all 30 laps to earn the K & N Filters Clean Air Award. Furthermore, he also turned the fastest lap of any driver in the feature. On the second go around, he turned a lap of 15.726 seconds en route to victory and an Eclipse Claims Consulting Fastest Lap bonus.

Kyle Cummins was the LearnLab Fastest Qualifier for the seventh time during the 2026 USAC National Sprint Car season. It was also the 23rd of his career with the series, tying him for 21st place all-time alongside Indiana Sprint Week champions Logan Seavey and Jon Stanbrough.

C.J. Leary rushed through the field from 21st to 12th, with his +9 run earning him the night’s Rod End Supply Hard Charger honors.

Hunter Maddox jumped into a new ride for Steve Rone and Matt Thompson for the event. After qualifying 31st in the 46-car field, he then raced from seventh to fourth to transfer through his heat race. With that, he was the recipient of the Hard Work Award. Maddox was also the lone driver starting outside of the invert to transfer into the main event, which earned him the Haymaker Award courtesy of The Hayloft.

Eli Wilhelmus advanced from 15th to sixth in the semi-feature. Though he came up two spots shy of a transfer spot, he was the biggest mover, which got him a bonus as the Vogel Real Estate Heading Home 1st Award winner.

Colin Parker charged all the way up to the fifth spot the semi-feature, putting him just one spot short of the final transfer position. But he did earn a bonus from Eclipse Claims Consulting as the First Semi Non-Transfer.

It was full moon fever, quite literally, during the preliminary events of Wednesday’s racing program at Paragon. Five drivers got upside down between qualifying and the heat races. Logan Prickett and Todd Moule got upside down in a big way during time trials. Jack Hoyer and Todd Hobson got on their respective lids in separate heat race one accidents. Tony Helton was the final flip victim of the night during the fourth heat. All five drivers were able to climb out and walk away.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 29, 2026 – Paragon Speedway – Paragon, Indiana – The Belle Sheppard Birthday Bash / 39th Annual USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented by K & N Filters – 3/8-Mile Dirt Track

LEARNLAB QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-14.462; 2. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-14.741; 3. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.790; 4. Jake Swanson, 5T, Daming Swanson-14.862; 5. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-14.879; 6. Todd Hobson, 77, Wingo Bishop-14.912; 7. Gunnar Setser, G5, Setser-15.036; 8. Hunter Schuerenberg, 3R, Rock Steady-15.054; 9. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-15.076; 10. Chase Stockon, 92, Sertich-15.082; 11. Harley Burns, 16, Britt Aero-15.082; 12. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-15.095; 13. Brady Bacon, 20, Dyson-15.120; 14. Ricky Lewis, 41, Lewis-15.156; 15. Hayden Reinbold, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-15.168; 16. Jack Hoyer, 11, Hoyer-15.183; 17. Zack Pretorius, 9z, Pretorius-15.206; 18. R.J. Miller, 34m, Miller-15.208; 19. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-15.238; 20. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-15.283; 21. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-15.303; 22. Kevin Thomas Jr., 15, BBI-15.322; 23. C.J. Leary, 53, Fox-15.343; 24. Chance Crum, 83c, Crum-15.347; 25. Trey Osborne, 6T, Osborne-15.352; 26. Eli Wilhelmus, 55, Wilhelmus-15.441; 27. Cale Coons, 63, Dooling/Curb-Agajanian-15.476; 28. Braxton Cummings, 71B, Cummings-15.494; 29. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-15.526; 30. Dalton Stevens, 2B, 2B Racing-15.542; 31. Hunter Maddox, 26, Rone/Thompson-15.555; 32. Brandon Spencer, 22, Spencer-15.593; 33. Cody Trammell, 34T, Trammell-15.666; 34. Kobe Simpson, 21K, Simpson-15.697; 35. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-15.705; 36. Troy Carey, 45N, Carey-15.726; 37. David Gasper, 77s, Sturgeon-15.792; 38. Colin Parker, 16K, Knight-15.876; 39. Tony Helton, 87, Helton-15.903; 40. Jake Scott, 33, Miller-15.962; 41. Michael Clark, 8, Clark-16.051; 42. Travis Oldfield, 38, Oldfield-16.057; 43. Jim Tribby, 9, Tribby-16.210; 44. Gabriel Gilbert, 10G, GGR-16.225; 45. Todd Moule, AU26, Moule-NT; 46. Logan Prickett, 37, Prickett-NT.

K1 RACEGEAR FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Robert Ballou (2), 2. Kyle Cummins (6), 3. Harley Burns (4), 4. Hunter Maddox (7), 5. Troy Carey (8), 6. Michael Clark (9), 7. Jack Hoyer (3), 8. Eli Wilhelmus (1), 9. Todd Hobson (5). NT

TJ FORGED SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2), 2. Cale Coons (1), 3. Gunnar Setser (5), 4. Jadon Rogers (4), 5. Briggs Danner (6), 6. Zack Pretorius (3), 7. Brandon Spencer (7), 8. Travis Oldfield (9), 9. David Gasper (8). 2:04.587

K & N FILTERS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (4), 2. C.J. Leary (2), 3. Mitchel Moles (6), 4. Hunter Schuerenberg (5), 5. Braxton Cummings (1), 6. Colin Parker (8), 7. R.J. Miller (3), 8. Jim Tribby (9), 9. Cody Trammell (7). 2:03.872

INDY POWERSPORTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jake Swanson (6), 2. Ricky Lewis (4), 3. Logan Seavey (5), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (3), 5. Wyatt Burks (1), 6. Chance Crum (2), 7. Kobe Simpson (7), 8. Tony Helton (8), 9. Gabriel Gilbert (9). NT

K1 RACEGEAR FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Trey Osborne (2), 2. Logan Calderwood (3), 3. Justin Grant (6), 4. Chase Stockon (5), 5. Dalton Stevens (1), 6. Hayden Reinbold (4), 7. Brandon Mattox (7), 8. Jake Scott (8). 2:07.511

FIVE STAR BODIES SEMI: (12 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Briggs Danner (1), 2. Hayden Reinbold (2), 3. Dalton Stevens (5), 4. Zack Pretorius (7), 5. Colin Parker (9), 6. Eli Wilhelmus (15), 7. Michael Clark (10), 8. Wyatt Burks (4), 9. Troy Carey (6), 10. Kobe Simpson (13), 11. Jake Scott (16), 12. Brandon Spencer (12), 13. Travis Oldfield (17), 14. Jim Tribby (18), 15. R.J. Miller (11), 16. Brandon Mattox (14), 17. Braxton Cummings (3), 18. Chance Crum (8), 19. Cody Trammell (19). NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jake Swanson (4), 2. Kyle Cummins (6), 3. Brady Bacon (7), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Mitchel Moles (5), 6. Hunter Schuerenberg (1), 7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 8. Ricky Lewis (16), 9. Harley Burns (14), 10. Chase Stockon (13), 11. Logan Seavey (12), 12. C.J. Leary (21), 13. Robert Ballou (8), 14. Hayden Reinbold (17), 15. Jadon Rogers (15), 16. Briggs Danner (11), 17. Cale Coons (22), 18. Dalton Stevens (23), 19. Charles Davis Jr. (19), 20. Hunter Maddox (24), 21. Zack Pretorius (18), 22. Logan Calderwood (20), 23. Gunnar Setser (2), 24. Trey Osborne (10). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Jake Swanson.

**Logan Prickett flipped during qualifying. Todd Moule flipped during qualifying. Jack Hoyer flipped during the first heat. Todd Hobson flipped during the first heat. Tony Helton flipped during the fourth heat.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kyle Cummins-2227, 2-Mitchel Moles-2099, 3-Justin Grant-2094, 4-Briggs Danner-1877, 5-Jake Swanson-1857, 6-Logan Seavey-1763, 7-Chase Stockon-1742, 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1705, 9-Robert Ballou-1697, 10-C.J. Leary-1681.

USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PRESENTED BY K & N FILTERS POINTS: 1-Kyle Cummins-363, 2-Mitchel Moles-352, 3-Justin Grant-347, 4-Jake Swanson-334, 5-Brady Bacon-329, 6-Robert Ballou-274, 7-Logan Seavey-266, 8-C.J. Leary-260, 9-Jadon Rogers-245, 10-Gavin Miller-238.

USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Kevin Thomas Jr.-109, 2-Hayden Reinbold-106, 3-Robert Ballou-93, 4-Cale Coons-86, 5-Justin Grant-85, 6-Jacob Denney-84, 7-Chase Stockon-73, 8-Gavin Miller-71, 9-Briggs Danner-65, 10-Jake Swanson-59.

INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PARALLAX GROUP / PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Hunter Schuerenberg-33, 2-Jake Swanson-32, 3-Gavin Miller-32, 4-Justin Grant-28, 5-Cale Coons-27, 6-Mitchel Moles-25, 7-Robert Ballou-25, 8-Kyle Cummins-23, 9-Dalton Stevens-22, 10-Kobe Simpson-22.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 30, 2026 – Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, Indiana – 16th Don Smith Classic / 39th Annual USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented by K & N Filters – 1/2-Mile Dirt Track

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Brady Bacon (14.845)

LearnLab Fast Qualifier: Kyle Cummins (14.462)

K1 RaceGear First Heat Winner: Robert Ballou

TJ Forged Second Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.

K & N Filters Third Heat Winner: Brady Bacon

Indy Powersports Fourth Heat Winner: Jake Swanson

K1 RaceGear Fifth Heat Winner: Trey Osborne

Five Star Bodies Semi Winner: Briggs Danner

Eclipse Claims Consulting First Semi Non-Transfer: Colin Parker

Vogel Real Estate Heading Home 1st Award: Eli Wilhelmus

Rod End Supply Hard Charger: C.J. Leary (21st to 12th)

K & N Filters Clean Air Award: Jake Swanson (30 laps led)

Eclipse Claims Consulting Fastest Feature Lap: Jake Swanson (15.726)

Hard Work Award: Hunter Maddox