7/19/10
Swanson and Adamson Dominate Madera Features
by Gerald Laurie
The annual Al Pombo Classic at Madera Speedway on Saturday featured Supermodifieds and
BCRA Midgets. The show was comprised of qualifications, trophy dashes, heat races and feature
events for both classes.
The event started with Time Trials for the BCRA Midgets on the 1/3 mile banked asphalt oval.
Tanner Swanson (10) set fast time with a lap of 14.235 seconds. He was closely followed by older
brother Kody Swanson (15) at 14.341, and Nick Foster, Jr. (1) at 14.573.
Next to challenge the clocks were the 360 Supermodifieds. Fastest was Kenny Kinchen (5) at
13.555, followed by Kyle Vanderpool (1) at 13.726, and Lance Jackson (18) at 13.882.
The Open Supermodifieds were the final qualifiers and were led by Kody Swanson(72) at 12.776
over Jim Birges (32) at 12.858, and Lonnie Adamson (98) at 13.037.
The next order of business was the trophy dash sequence. The Bay Cities Racing Association
Midgets lined up with Floyd Alvis on the pole flanked by Nick Foster, Jr. The back row included
Kody and Tanner Swanson. At the drop of the green, Foster charged to the lead on the outside
followed by Tanner and Kody Swanson, Alvis had trouble accelerating at the start and dropped to
the back. Tanner Swanson made several attempts to pass down low and although he was able to
pull even, he could not complete the pass. Foster took the hardware over the Swansons and
Alvis.
The 360 Supermodified Dash featured Dan Vanderpool, Lance Jackson, Kyle Vanderpool, and
Kenny Kinchen. Again, the outside line proved faster as Jackson led lap one over Kinchen, Dan
Vanderpool and Kyle Vanderpool . Lap two saw Kyle pass his father for third and that was the
extent of the passing. Finish or was Jackson, Kinchen, Kyle and Dan Vanderpool.
The Open Supermodified Dash had Lonnie Adamson and Jim Birges on the front row and Kody
Swanson and Supermod Rookie Jeff Collins in the back. Once again, the high side provided the
momentum as Birges beat Adamson back to the line with Swanson and Collins close behind.
Adamson was all over the back of Birges’s car and then made a bonsai move down low on lap
four to snag the lead at the checkers. Birges, Swanson, and Collins rounded out the field.
The first midget heat was paced by Lonny Alton, followed by Danny Parker, Mike Donaldson, Bill
Lindsey, and Dillon Silverman. Silverman was a DNS with mechanical difficulties. The outside line
surged forward at the green and Parker led lap one over Lindsey, Alton, and Donaldson.
Donaldson pulled off on the backstretch on lap two. On the third go-around, Alton took second as
Lindsey headed for the pits. And that was the race. Parker won over Alton with Lindsey and
Donaldson in the infield.
The second eight lapper for the midgets lined up with Kody Swanson and Nick Foster, Jr. up
front and Floyd Alvis and Tanner Swanson in the rear. Alvis elected to start at the back as he was
still experiencing mechanical gremlins. Kody Swanson managed to break the string to take the
lead from the inside. Nick Foster dropped in to second followed by Tanner Swanson and Alvis.
Tanner made numerous attempts to get ahead of Foster, but Nick held the preferred racing line
and was able to hold him at bay. They finished as they started with Kody leading Foster, Tanner,
and Alvis.
The 360 Supermodified heat used a straight up start with Kenny Kinchen on the pole followed by
Kyle Vanderpool, Lance Jackson, Dan Vanderpool, and Jeremiah Bearden. At the green, Kyle
Vanderpool eked out an advantage to lead the first lap over Kinchen and Dan Vanderpool.
Jackson held fourth with Beardon chasing the herd. Kinchen made numerous challenges but
was unable to pass. On the seventh circuit, Kinchen went into turn three very hard and spun to a
stop in turn four. Jackson, whose vision was affected by the setting sun, locked down the
number 18 and stopped just shy of Kinchen’s stalled racer. The restart order was Vanderpool the
younger over Vanderpool the elder, Jackson, Beardon, and Kinchen. When green flag racing
resumed, Kinchen managed to move back to third by white flag time, but was able to advance no
further. Winner was Kyle Vanderpool over Dan Vanderpool, Kinchen, Jackson, and Bearden
The Open Supermodified Heat was also started straight up with Kody Swanson and Jim Birges
on the front. Lonnie Adamson and Jeff Collins occupied row two. George Greenway was
scheduled to start fifth but scratched with some heat related issues. Birges took the lead on lap
one with Swanson, Adamson, and Collins following. Adamson jumped around Swanson on lap
three as the 72 started getting very loose. Birges extended his lead over Adamson until lap five
when Adamson started eating some of the intervening territory. However, Lonnie was never able
catch the pink 32 and Birges won over Adamson, Swanson, and Collins.
It was now Main Event time. The BCRA Midgets of Mike Donaldson, Bill Lindsey, Floyd Alvis, and
Nick Foster, Jr. made up the first two rows. Kody Swanson, Tanner Swanson, Danny Parker ,
Lonnie Alton, and Dillon Silverman completed the field. Donaldson led lap one over Foster, Alvis,
K. Swanson and T. Swanson. Silverman beat feet for the pits and the end of the opening lap. By
lap two, Foster led over Kody, Donaldson, Alvis, and Tanner. Tanner moved to third on lap three
at the expense of Donaldson and Alvis. Kody took the lead from Foster on lap four and started
building his lead. Tanner was third by the fifth circuit. Meanwhile, Lindsey was having problems
and dropping back. On lap nine, the leaders caught him on the backstretch. Tanner Swanson and
Donaldson made contact with Lindsey as he tried to exit to the infield. All three cars were
eliminated and the red flag flew while the Ambulance Crew checked out those involved. On the
restart, Kody Swanson led over Foster, Alvis, Parker, and Alton .
With the exception of Alton getting lapped on the eighteenth lap, that was the race. Swanson won
over Foster, Alvis, Parker, and Alton.
Madera Speedway combines the 360 and Open Supermodifieds for the fifty-lap feature on these
Super Saturday programs. With the rookies (Bearden and Collins) electing to start in the rear, the
inverted line-up looked this. Dan Vanderpool, Lance Jackson, Kyle Vanderpool, and Kenny
Kinchen made up rows one and two. George Greenway, Lonnie Adamson, Jim Birges, and Kody
Swanson occupied rows three and four. Jeff Collins and Jeremiah Beardon occupied the tail end.
After the warm-ups, Greenway opted to start near the back and swapped places with Birges.
On lap one, Vanderpool led Jackson, Kinchen, Birges and Adamson. Birges split the 5 and 18
cars to move to second on lap two. Birges blew by Vanderpool for the lead a lap latter and
Kinchen followed him through. Order at three was Birges, Kinchen, D. Vanderpool, Adamson, and
Kyle Vanderpool with Greenway headed for the pits. Kody Swanson entered the top five at the
younger Vanderpool’s expense on lap four. Meanwhile, Birges was headed out of the local time
zone. Beardon went down a lap on the sixth circuit. Adamson finally passed Kinchen using the
lapped car as a pick and the order was Birges, Adamson, Kinchen, Swanson, and Dan
Vanderpool. Beardon headed for the pits on the leader’s ninth lap with the engine going off song.
Collins fell victim to the flying pink cloud of Birges on lap eleven with Jackson being lapped three
laps later. Order at lap fifteen was Birges over Adamson, Kinchen, Swanson, and both
Vanderpools (Dad over son). Birges lapped the Vanderpool family on the eighteenth go-around
as Adamson started to slowly make up a portion of the 1/3 lap distance between himself and
Birges. Lap nineteen saw Swanson finally overcome Kinchen’s blazing hot 360 and Collins
headed for the pits with a failed tie rod causing the left front to point south with the rest of the car
headed west.
Birges began slowing noticeably as the water temp headed upwards of 260 degrees and he tried
to cool the engine. When he realized Adamson was putting down some very fast laps, he took off
again only to see the temp spike and he headed for the pits on lap twenty-seven to keep from
burning down the power plant. At this point, the order became Adamson over Swanson and
Kinchen, all on the same lap, with Dan and Kyle Vanderpool filling the top five, albeit a lap down.
Kyle finally passed the old man on lap twenty-nine to move into fourth.
Adamson continued to lap cars at will, finally making Kinchen his victim on lap thirty-one. The
next ten laps were more of the same with Adamson on cruise control and Swanson desperately
picking through the lapped traffic to keep from being lapped himself. And then it was over. The
Supermods completed the fifty laps in 11 minutes, 1.862 seconds with what has to be a new track
record. I think this was the first non-stop, no yellow fifty lapper ever at the Central California
Speed Plant There is forty-lap non-stop record held by Mike Swanson (Kody and Tanner’s father),
that dates back to the late 80’s or early 90’s.
Lonnie Adamson and Kody Swanson completed the fifty laps with Kinchen in third two laps back,
and Kyle and Dan Vanderpool and Lance Jackson fourth through sixth, three laps in arrears. The
race was very fast, very clean, and very exciting for the fans and participants alike. Lonnie
Adamson has stepped into the number 98 S&S Motorsports Silsby and immediately returned to
his championship style of the 2000 and 2001 seasons.. Three wins in the first three outings is
very impressive. Kody Swanson has bagged two second place finishes in his first rides in Lance
Tatro’s Thornton Chassied Supermodified. He has won in virtually everything he has driven and a
Super win cannot be far away. Kenny Kinchen set a blistering pace in his 360 and stayed with the
open cars for thirty laps. His top 360 position by over a lap shows the strength of his team and
Kenny’s driving skill. Jim Birges just got faster and faster as the afternoon and evening went on,
only to be done in by the 106 degree temps. He says there is a major revamp of the cooling
system coming for the number 32.
All in all, the evening had some great racing, a little excitement, and a safe ending. Super Saturday
number five is on August 7th.
Swanson and Adamson Dominate Madera Features
by Gerald Laurie
The annual Al Pombo Classic at Madera Speedway on Saturday featured Supermodifieds and
BCRA Midgets. The show was comprised of qualifications, trophy dashes, heat races and feature
events for both classes.
The event started with Time Trials for the BCRA Midgets on the 1/3 mile banked asphalt oval.
Tanner Swanson (10) set fast time with a lap of 14.235 seconds. He was closely followed by older
brother Kody Swanson (15) at 14.341, and Nick Foster, Jr. (1) at 14.573.
Next to challenge the clocks were the 360 Supermodifieds. Fastest was Kenny Kinchen (5) at
13.555, followed by Kyle Vanderpool (1) at 13.726, and Lance Jackson (18) at 13.882.
The Open Supermodifieds were the final qualifiers and were led by Kody Swanson(72) at 12.776
over Jim Birges (32) at 12.858, and Lonnie Adamson (98) at 13.037.
The next order of business was the trophy dash sequence. The Bay Cities Racing Association
Midgets lined up with Floyd Alvis on the pole flanked by Nick Foster, Jr. The back row included
Kody and Tanner Swanson. At the drop of the green, Foster charged to the lead on the outside
followed by Tanner and Kody Swanson, Alvis had trouble accelerating at the start and dropped to
the back. Tanner Swanson made several attempts to pass down low and although he was able to
pull even, he could not complete the pass. Foster took the hardware over the Swansons and
Alvis.
The 360 Supermodified Dash featured Dan Vanderpool, Lance Jackson, Kyle Vanderpool, and
Kenny Kinchen. Again, the outside line proved faster as Jackson led lap one over Kinchen, Dan
Vanderpool and Kyle Vanderpool . Lap two saw Kyle pass his father for third and that was the
extent of the passing. Finish or was Jackson, Kinchen, Kyle and Dan Vanderpool.
The Open Supermodified Dash had Lonnie Adamson and Jim Birges on the front row and Kody
Swanson and Supermod Rookie Jeff Collins in the back. Once again, the high side provided the
momentum as Birges beat Adamson back to the line with Swanson and Collins close behind.
Adamson was all over the back of Birges’s car and then made a bonsai move down low on lap
four to snag the lead at the checkers. Birges, Swanson, and Collins rounded out the field.
The first midget heat was paced by Lonny Alton, followed by Danny Parker, Mike Donaldson, Bill
Lindsey, and Dillon Silverman. Silverman was a DNS with mechanical difficulties. The outside line
surged forward at the green and Parker led lap one over Lindsey, Alton, and Donaldson.
Donaldson pulled off on the backstretch on lap two. On the third go-around, Alton took second as
Lindsey headed for the pits. And that was the race. Parker won over Alton with Lindsey and
Donaldson in the infield.
The second eight lapper for the midgets lined up with Kody Swanson and Nick Foster, Jr. up
front and Floyd Alvis and Tanner Swanson in the rear. Alvis elected to start at the back as he was
still experiencing mechanical gremlins. Kody Swanson managed to break the string to take the
lead from the inside. Nick Foster dropped in to second followed by Tanner Swanson and Alvis.
Tanner made numerous attempts to get ahead of Foster, but Nick held the preferred racing line
and was able to hold him at bay. They finished as they started with Kody leading Foster, Tanner,
and Alvis.
The 360 Supermodified heat used a straight up start with Kenny Kinchen on the pole followed by
Kyle Vanderpool, Lance Jackson, Dan Vanderpool, and Jeremiah Bearden. At the green, Kyle
Vanderpool eked out an advantage to lead the first lap over Kinchen and Dan Vanderpool.
Jackson held fourth with Beardon chasing the herd. Kinchen made numerous challenges but
was unable to pass. On the seventh circuit, Kinchen went into turn three very hard and spun to a
stop in turn four. Jackson, whose vision was affected by the setting sun, locked down the
number 18 and stopped just shy of Kinchen’s stalled racer. The restart order was Vanderpool the
younger over Vanderpool the elder, Jackson, Beardon, and Kinchen. When green flag racing
resumed, Kinchen managed to move back to third by white flag time, but was able to advance no
further. Winner was Kyle Vanderpool over Dan Vanderpool, Kinchen, Jackson, and Bearden
The Open Supermodified Heat was also started straight up with Kody Swanson and Jim Birges
on the front. Lonnie Adamson and Jeff Collins occupied row two. George Greenway was
scheduled to start fifth but scratched with some heat related issues. Birges took the lead on lap
one with Swanson, Adamson, and Collins following. Adamson jumped around Swanson on lap
three as the 72 started getting very loose. Birges extended his lead over Adamson until lap five
when Adamson started eating some of the intervening territory. However, Lonnie was never able
catch the pink 32 and Birges won over Adamson, Swanson, and Collins.
It was now Main Event time. The BCRA Midgets of Mike Donaldson, Bill Lindsey, Floyd Alvis, and
Nick Foster, Jr. made up the first two rows. Kody Swanson, Tanner Swanson, Danny Parker ,
Lonnie Alton, and Dillon Silverman completed the field. Donaldson led lap one over Foster, Alvis,
K. Swanson and T. Swanson. Silverman beat feet for the pits and the end of the opening lap. By
lap two, Foster led over Kody, Donaldson, Alvis, and Tanner. Tanner moved to third on lap three
at the expense of Donaldson and Alvis. Kody took the lead from Foster on lap four and started
building his lead. Tanner was third by the fifth circuit. Meanwhile, Lindsey was having problems
and dropping back. On lap nine, the leaders caught him on the backstretch. Tanner Swanson and
Donaldson made contact with Lindsey as he tried to exit to the infield. All three cars were
eliminated and the red flag flew while the Ambulance Crew checked out those involved. On the
restart, Kody Swanson led over Foster, Alvis, Parker, and Alton .
With the exception of Alton getting lapped on the eighteenth lap, that was the race. Swanson won
over Foster, Alvis, Parker, and Alton.
Madera Speedway combines the 360 and Open Supermodifieds for the fifty-lap feature on these
Super Saturday programs. With the rookies (Bearden and Collins) electing to start in the rear, the
inverted line-up looked this. Dan Vanderpool, Lance Jackson, Kyle Vanderpool, and Kenny
Kinchen made up rows one and two. George Greenway, Lonnie Adamson, Jim Birges, and Kody
Swanson occupied rows three and four. Jeff Collins and Jeremiah Beardon occupied the tail end.
After the warm-ups, Greenway opted to start near the back and swapped places with Birges.
On lap one, Vanderpool led Jackson, Kinchen, Birges and Adamson. Birges split the 5 and 18
cars to move to second on lap two. Birges blew by Vanderpool for the lead a lap latter and
Kinchen followed him through. Order at three was Birges, Kinchen, D. Vanderpool, Adamson, and
Kyle Vanderpool with Greenway headed for the pits. Kody Swanson entered the top five at the
younger Vanderpool’s expense on lap four. Meanwhile, Birges was headed out of the local time
zone. Beardon went down a lap on the sixth circuit. Adamson finally passed Kinchen using the
lapped car as a pick and the order was Birges, Adamson, Kinchen, Swanson, and Dan
Vanderpool. Beardon headed for the pits on the leader’s ninth lap with the engine going off song.
Collins fell victim to the flying pink cloud of Birges on lap eleven with Jackson being lapped three
laps later. Order at lap fifteen was Birges over Adamson, Kinchen, Swanson, and both
Vanderpools (Dad over son). Birges lapped the Vanderpool family on the eighteenth go-around
as Adamson started to slowly make up a portion of the 1/3 lap distance between himself and
Birges. Lap nineteen saw Swanson finally overcome Kinchen’s blazing hot 360 and Collins
headed for the pits with a failed tie rod causing the left front to point south with the rest of the car
headed west.
Birges began slowing noticeably as the water temp headed upwards of 260 degrees and he tried
to cool the engine. When he realized Adamson was putting down some very fast laps, he took off
again only to see the temp spike and he headed for the pits on lap twenty-seven to keep from
burning down the power plant. At this point, the order became Adamson over Swanson and
Kinchen, all on the same lap, with Dan and Kyle Vanderpool filling the top five, albeit a lap down.
Kyle finally passed the old man on lap twenty-nine to move into fourth.
Adamson continued to lap cars at will, finally making Kinchen his victim on lap thirty-one. The
next ten laps were more of the same with Adamson on cruise control and Swanson desperately
picking through the lapped traffic to keep from being lapped himself. And then it was over. The
Supermods completed the fifty laps in 11 minutes, 1.862 seconds with what has to be a new track
record. I think this was the first non-stop, no yellow fifty lapper ever at the Central California
Speed Plant There is forty-lap non-stop record held by Mike Swanson (Kody and Tanner’s father),
that dates back to the late 80’s or early 90’s.
Lonnie Adamson and Kody Swanson completed the fifty laps with Kinchen in third two laps back,
and Kyle and Dan Vanderpool and Lance Jackson fourth through sixth, three laps in arrears. The
race was very fast, very clean, and very exciting for the fans and participants alike. Lonnie
Adamson has stepped into the number 98 S&S Motorsports Silsby and immediately returned to
his championship style of the 2000 and 2001 seasons.. Three wins in the first three outings is
very impressive. Kody Swanson has bagged two second place finishes in his first rides in Lance
Tatro’s Thornton Chassied Supermodified. He has won in virtually everything he has driven and a
Super win cannot be far away. Kenny Kinchen set a blistering pace in his 360 and stayed with the
open cars for thirty laps. His top 360 position by over a lap shows the strength of his team and
Kenny’s driving skill. Jim Birges just got faster and faster as the afternoon and evening went on,
only to be done in by the 106 degree temps. He says there is a major revamp of the cooling
system coming for the number 32.
All in all, the evening had some great racing, a little excitement, and a safe ending. Super Saturday
number five is on August 7th.
