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Michael Self is fifth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings after nine races.

He was prepared to race in the ARCA Series, moving his way up in stock car racing, perhaps setting up deals to race in the NASCAR Truck or Xfinity Series.

But Bob Bruncati, a long-time owner in the K&N Pro Series West with a two-car team, needed a driver. The series was at Tucson Speedway in Arizona for the first race of the K&N Pro Series West. Self was at the track coaching another driver. One of Bruncati’s drivers wasn’t able to race. Bruncati asked Self if he was interested in driving his car.

“I need someone to drive the 9 car full time this year. Are you interested?,” Self said Bruncati asked him. At first, Self refused the offer. “I don’t have any money, I don’t have any sponsorship to bring to this.”

But Bruncati, one of the few owners in all of NASCAR who prefers talented drivers over well-funded drivers in his cars, wasn’t looking for money.

“It’s all expenses paid. It’s a free ride,” Self said Bruncati told him. “I just need someone to come in and do a good job for me and go compete.”

Self said, “Obviously I am interested in it.”

That started a productive union. Self has finished in the top 10 in all eight races for Bruncati and his Sunrise Ford team. Self is in fifth place in the K&N Pro Series West standings after nine races. He missed one race, the race in Tucson because he didn’t take a NASCAR drug test. He passed the drug test to race in the ARCA Series, but Self had to wait a week before he could race in the K&N Pro Series West.

While Self and Sunrise Ford team have plenty of top 10 finishes to celebrate, the K&N Pro Series West has been dominated by Bill McAnally Racing and its three-car team. Todd Gilliland leads the K&N Pro Series West standings. Chris Eggleston and Derek Kraus round out the top three. The McAnally cars have been tough to beat.

Michael Self prepares for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway in June.

Gilliland won the most recent K&N Pro Series race at Iowa Speedway. It was his fifth win in the K&N Pro Series West and his sixth overall this year in the K&N Pro Series. He also won an East Series race.

Self was sixth at Iowa Speedway. It was a respectable result, but one that he wasn’t particularly pleased with.

“Sixth is a fine result, but I’ve won that race before,” Self said. “Run competitively there in the Arca race a week before. I don’t want to go finish sixth and say. ‘Man that was awesome, that was a great night.’ To me winning is a great night. I think it was a really hard-fought night.”

There have been races that Self has finished ahead of the McAnally cars. He was third in one of the twin races at Irwindale Speedway in California and fourth, finishing ahead of all three McAnally drivers, at Sonoma Raceway in California.

“I was proud of that,” Self said about his third-place finish at Irwindale. “I thought we could build on that. Had some momentum there. That’s been kind of one of our better runs this season.”

Self said he wants to win a race or two before the season is over. He likes some of the tracks the K&N Pro Series West will visit in the next few weeks and likes his team’s chances. The next race is at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., on Aug. 12.

“Looking ahead on the schedule, going to Monroe, going to some of these half miles, we’re going to have to be on our game, figure something out to compete with the McAnally cars,” Self said. “We still got time. I’m not satisfied sitting fifth in points. I think all thing considered right now that’s pretty good.”

Self wants to move up in the K&N Pro Series West standings. The championship is probably out of reach, but breaking up the McAnally’s hold on the top three is not.

Michael Self leads a pack of drivers in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway.

More importantly, Self doesn’t want to waste a chance to prove he can win races at this level of NASCAR. He has plenty of confidence in the Sunrise Ford team and resources that are available to him.

“To have this opportunity that I have is amazing,” Self said. “I am racing probably 17 or 18 times this year between K&N and ARCA and that’s great compared to what I’ve been doing the past few years, that’s awesome.I want to bring that over to the West side. I want to do it for Bob and for that team as well for myself.”

Kyle Busch celebrating his first win of the season at Pocono Raceway.

“It's pretty cool, finally being able to get the monkey off our back, get to Victory Lane this year,” Busch said. “It's been a long time coming. It's well documented, it's been over a year, but it's finally very rewarding to achieve victory, especially here at Pocono.”

This was Busch’s first career win at Pocono, in which he snapped a career worst, 36 race winless streak in the process. He led 5 times for a total of 75 laps in the win, gaining 50 points and 6 playoff points. Busch won the first stage of the race, giving him the extra playoff point.

With this win, Toyota now has 100 NASCAR Cup Series wins, stemming back to the 2007 season when the company made their debut in NASCAR. Kyle Busch had Toyota’s first win in 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This was his 176th career NASCAR Race, going across all 3 platforms of NASCAR.

For Busch, Charlotte Motor Speedway is now the only track where he has not won a Cup Series points race. Busch has now never gone a full season without winning a race, with seven top-5 finishes and a second place finish at the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kevin Harvick finished in second place and did not lead during the race. Harvick has also never won at Pocono, in 34 career races.

“Yeah, there was no battle,” Harvick said. “He was way faster than we were. There was no battle. I mean, he was in a league of his own there at the end. Just got through traffic good. Got to us, got around us, gone.”

Martin Truex Jr. finished in third place, who led twice for 31 laps.

Kyle Busch burning his tires off after his first win of the season at Pocono Raceway

Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings with 823 points and 29 playoff points. Kyle Larson is in second place with 738 points and 13 playoff points. Kevin Harvick is in third place with 726 points and 8 playoff points.

The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be the I Love New York 355 at Watkins Glenn International.

Drew Skillman won the Pro Stock final over Erica Enders at Pacific Raceways in Washington

When asked after winning the Pro Stock portion of the races at Pacific Raceways in Washington why he continues to race, even when the results are not the best, he said, “mental illness.” “Anyone that does this has something wrong with them,” Skillman said.

Little has gone wrong for Skillman’s Pro Stock team for more than a month. For the first half of the season, the teams in the Pro Stock division were very close. About 10 teams and drivers were challenging for wins at every event. Nine different drivers won events in the first half of the season. Skillman emerged as the top driver in recent events, winning three of the past four and nearly sweeping the Western Swing in Colorado, California, and Washington. “We really thought we were going to sweep the swing,” Skillman said. “We really thought we had the car to do it. We missed it by two rounds. But we made up for it here.”

Skillman won the events at Bandimere Speedway in Colorado and Route 66 Raceway in Illinois. He added his third win of the season at Pacific Raceways in Washington where he beat two-time Pro Stock champion Erika Enders in the final. “I got lucky on that one,” Skillman said, humble as always. “I’m pretty calm in the car. Nothing really fazes me in the car. I was trying to kill the tree and apparently, I did not.”

Pro Stock driver Drew Skillman has won three out of the last four events

The next NHRA race is at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. Skillman won the Pro Stock event at Brainerd last year. “We have some stuff in the pipeline that should be very, very good for the Countdown,” Skillman said. “Definitely be at the top of the page every time.”

The 63 car Kody pilots in Dirt Silver Crown racing for DePalma Motorsports. (Credit: Rich Forman)

It is more common than not that car racers usually belong to one racing team, but it isn’t always the case. Take the example of Kody Swanson. During his career as a racer, he has raced for more than 30 teams.

Currently, he is concentrating on DePalma Motorsports, Epperson Racing, and K&L Racing.

“There is no conflict between teams. Each team runs either in a different series or under a different schedule,” said Swanson. DePalma Motorsports competes in the USAC Silver Crown Series, Epperson Racing focuses on sprint car races in Indiana, and K&L concentrates on dirt sprint racing in Ohio. His racing exploits include dirt tracks and pavement.

“Racing for a number of teams is probably more common in open wheel, but not to the extent that I do it,” he said. “I run for six or seven different teams a year and run in maybe 40 races. A lot of guys in the Midwest in this type of situation will focus on dirt sprint car events. I probably run in more different series and different car types than most. I do a lot of crossing over between pavement and dirt, sprint cars, and Silver Crown. Not every team can commit to running a full schedule, so I feel fortunate to work with a number of them so that I can continue to race as much as I can.”

He prefers racing for several teams rather than for one or for his own racing team.

“There is a lot that goes into running your own team,” continued Swanson. “Considering the amount of time and finances it would take, you’d probably need to focus on one series and one type of car. Right now, running for different teams allows me to compete in a number of different types of cars and series.”

The Family Business

Born in Kingsburg, California, in 1988 and currently a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, Swanson followed his grandfather and father into racing. His father, Mike, started racing in 1981. His father and Kody’s grandfather, Bill, started shortly after. Both found success in racing highlighted most by Mike’s wins and championships in SuperModifieds under the USAC and SMRA banners. Considering family history, it was no surprise that both Kody and his brother Tanner jumped at the opportunity to get into racing themselves.

The Swanson family started TK Motorsports (TK for Tanner and Kody), when the brothers began racing in 2000. At that time, Kody was 12 years old, and Tanner 9. They each competed in junior and micro sprint car events before Kody turned pro and moved into sprint car racing in 2005 when he was 17. He started racing for other teams in 2006.

During his career he has won events in seven different types of Open-Wheel race cars, including: Pavement Sprint Cars, Pavement Midgets, Dirt Silver Crown, Dirt Midgets, Pavement Silver Crown, Dirt Sprint Cars, and Wing Pavement Sprint Cars.

• 17 - USAC Silver Crown Series

• 4 - National Pavement Sprint Cars

• 2 – USAC National Midget Series

• 13 – USAC Western Sprint Series

• 7 – USAC Western Midget Series

• 6 – Non-Wing Dirt Sprint Cars

• 5 – Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series

• 2 – USAC Rocky Mountain Sprint Series

• 1 – USAC Western Classic Sprint Series

• 1 – USAC D1 Midget Series

• 1 – Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series

• 1 – Bay Cities Racing Association

He has collected a total of 60 wins so far. He counts the Little 500 in 2016 and the three consecutive Hoosier 100s in 2014, 2015, and 2016 as his most important victories.

He competes in racing events all over the US from Phoenix, Arizona to New York and Florida. Although he participates in a number of different series, he is most known for racing the USAC Silver Crown Series. His 17 victories in that series are second best of all time.

Strategically Plans His Schedule

The 2 car Kody races for Epperson Racing. (Credit: Jordan Swanson)

“I’m fortunate that my employer allows me to work on a flex-hour time schedule,” said Swanson. “So as far as a race is concerned, I try to be strategic about planning a schedule. I’m fortunate that the teams I’m driving for have been willing to work with me and with one another to fit a sensible schedule.

“So, if I have a Silver Crown Race coming up and I need to be at the DePalma Motorsports shop to help with the preparation of the car, then I will try to schedule a race that is on the way to the shop. So I can go and race on a Friday and Saturday night and be only an hour or so away from the shop. The DePalma team arranges for me to stay in an apartment in the shop or with someone who has an empty room or basement at their home.

“K&L Racing frequently participates in races at the Waynesfield Raceway Park in Ohio that is only 60 miles or so from the DePalma Motorsports’ facility in Findlay, Ohio,” he continued. “So I can schedule a race there.”

The sprint car Kody races in Pavement Silver Crown events for DePalma. (Credit: Chris Pedersen)

Swanson noted that the race shop in Finlay, Ohio is about 220 miles from Indianapolis, Indiana where he lives. Still he makes the trip there every two weeks to work on the car with the DePalma crew. He is also responsible for tire selection as well as the shock and spring package that are used on the car he drives.

He volunteered that arranging his schedule for the year can be a difficult undertaking.

“I schedule my races on an Excel spreadsheet that has a list of every related series that the teams I race for compete in,” explained Swanson. “It serves as my file of options. Some of those races may not actually be available for me to compete in because the team may have had a problem and is not available for that race. So I check the spreadsheet for an alternative.

“It’s tough to schedule things far in advance. So my confirmed schedule is set only a few weeks ahead of time,” he added.

Uses Videos To Prepare For Races

He watches videos to prepare for events. His wife records races he competes in from the grandstand and he also searches for videos to watch when he needs to prepare to race at tracks he hasn’t run before.

“If I’m scheduled to race at a new track I will search for videos of races at that track about a week or so before I race,” he said.

He finds videos on YouTube. He also subscribes to Loud Pedal TV, which records and catalogs USAC races, and watches videos on JackFlash.com.

“They do a great job recording and cataloging open wheel events,” he said.

The 2017 Season

Swanson has competed in more than 20 races so far this season. He has collected five feature wins, scoring victories driving for each of the teams he is racing for this season.

According to Swanson, there are about 15 to 20 more events on his schedule.

Kody Swanson celebrates win in the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series for DePalma Motorsports

K&N has been sponsoring Swanson since 2006. He uses K&N carbon sprint air filter boxes and oil filters.

“My relationship with K&N started when I was racing for my family team,” he said. “There was a pretty big open wheel sprint car event that I won, which was held in conjunction with the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show and Convention in 2006. I met a lot of manufacturers there including K&N and my relationship with them started then. They worked with me while I raced for the family team and when I branched out into other teams. They were willing to come along and support me. As time has passed, it has been great to continue the relationship.”

Kasey Kahne and his crew celebrating his win at the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

"The career is big, for sure—but the win and the history here," Kahne said. "To win at this track is unreal. We used to always be really close. We lost to Jeff (Gordon) and we lost to Tony (Stewart); just some fast cars back then."

Kahne had a great restart coming off of the second overtime, after a record 14th caution, NASCAR was forced to call the race with Kahne in the lead which secured his first win in almost 3 years. This was the 18th win of Kahne’s career, leading twice for a total of 12 laps. Kahne received 40 points and 5 playoff points. Kahne pitted on Lap 150, and missed a wreck which eliminated Erik Jones, Kurt Busch, and Clint Bowyer from the race.

“I was really happy. Unbelievable to win at Indianapolis,” Kahne said. “Unbelievable to win a Cup race. It's been a while. It feels really good for myself and my confidence. I know it's great for our team. We needed it as a team.”

Kahne moved to Indianapolis in 1999, got on a bus and took a tour around Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“They bused us around the track. Got to feel the track in a bus” Kahne said. “That was a really cool day. That was in 1999. That was a blast to be part of that with my dad. Then to be able to race here starting in 2004. Came close to winning some races early on, led a lot of laps in 2012 or 2013. Was close again. To pull it off this year, it's unbelievable.”

Brad Keselowski finished in second place, losing the lead in the second overtime off of an incredible move by Kahne. Keselowski was motivated to get the first win for team owner Roger Penske at the Brickyard 400.

“You know, we just have to take our result and move on,” Keselowski said. “But really close. We weren't the fastest car today, but our team did a hell of a job executing. I wish I could have executed a little bit better to bring home the win. I'm not sure what that would have taken.”

Kasey Kahne celebrating his 3 year winless drought being over with win at Indianapolis

Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings with 780 points and 29 playoff points. Kyle Larson is in second place with 732 points and 13 playoff points. Kevin Harvick is in third place with 683 points and 8 playoff points.

With this win, Kasey Kahne secured a spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be back at Pocono Raceway at the Overton’s 400.