Two drivers have combined to win every USAC-sanctioned race held at Lucas Oil Raceway thus far in 2021. Those two drivers: Bobby Santos III and Kody Swanson. The two open-wheel stars now have their sights set on winning a potential $132,000 this Saturday during the inaugural Hoosier Classic.  

The Hoosier Classic will be a single-day tripleheader event that will feature a $10,000-to-win Sprint Car feature, $10,000-to-win Midget feature and $12,000-to-win USAC Silver Crown feature. If a driver manages to sweep all three races, they will take home a $100,000 bonus from Fatheadz. If a driver wins two of the three races, they will collect a $50,000 bonus.  

As the two dominant drivers at Lucas Oil Raceway and in pavement open-wheel racing in general, Santos and Swanson both have a realistic shot at the big payday.  

Swanson, who has 13 victories during his career at the track best known as “IRP,” hasn’t finished worse than second in five starts at the track in 2021. The Kingsburg, California native is hoping to be in the mix for all three races, but he knows how difficult it will be to win just one of them.  

“Each race will unfold differently,” Swanson said during an appearance on the Loudpedal Podcast. “I know the format has been announced and I think there’s going to be an invert with the Midgets and the Sprint Cars, so each race will be challenging. They’re hard to win on their own, let alone to win three in one night.” 

Originally scheduled to be a two-day show on Friday and Saturday, the staff at Lucas Oil Raceway shifted the event to Saturday only as a result of a poor weather forecast. Santos, who has 11 career wins at the Indianapolis oval, is thankful to have an opportunity to still compete in all three races.  

“I’m excited that Kasey (Coler) and everyone at IRP is doing what it takes to get our races in,” Santos said. “It doesn’t bother me [that it’s three races in one day]. I know in the past we’ve run some tripleheaders with the Midget, Sprint and Crown cars with USAC. I hope it’s 95 and humid, and let’s go racing.” 

In addition to Santos and Swanson, Tyler Roahrig, Tanner Swanson, Tayler Ferns and Kyle O’Gara are also entered for all three races on Saturday night. Additionally, there will be standouts like Justin Grant, Aaron Pierce, Logan Seavey and Thomas Mesaurall who will be attempting to win one or two races.  

“I know there’s going to be a bunch of guys going for the $100,000 and a bunch trying to spoil it trying to win the $10,000 or $12,000 in each of the divisions,” Kody Swanson said. “Hopefully it will be a really good night of racing.” 

While neither Santos or Swanson want to put the cart in front of the horse, they’d both like to have the problem of figuring out how to distribute the $132,000 prize.  

“The bonus goes to the driver, but I feel like we’re all in it together,” Swanson said. “If I’m so fortunate to win all three, I certainly wouldn’t have done it without any of them. My plan is that we’d put the total together and split it like we would with normal race winnings and divvy off the percentages to make sure everybody is taken care of. I hope that’s a good problem to have at the end of the night.” 

“Haven’t had that problem, but it’d be a nice problem to have,” Santos said. “I guess I’ll have to talk to the team and worry about that when it comes. To win one of those races I think is going to be special and be an honor. An opportunity to win all three would be pretty cool.” 

Race fans can watch all three races during the Hoosier Classic exclusively on FloRacing.