Roahrig claims IRP Sprint Car Tour event
Oct. 23—CLERMONT — Tyler Roahrig passed Kody Swanson with five laps remaining to win the final 500 Sprint Car Tour event of the year Saturday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
With his second-place finish, Swanson claimed the inaugural 500 Sprint Car Tour championship over Dakoda Armstrong.
CJ Leary set fast time during qualifications and started from the pole position as the 23-car field started straight up.
Leary got the jump at the start with Kody Swanson jumping into the second spot at the start from the third row as Roahrig dropped back to sixth.
Swanson took the lead on Lap 3 with an outside pass of Leary entering Turn 3.
Roahrig moved into the third spot on Lap 15 with an inside pass of Bobby Santos III coming off the second corner.
With 10 laps remaining, Roahrig moved into the second spot and started to close on Swanson.
Roahrig got a strong run coming off the second corner to take the lead from Swanson and drove away to win by 1.5 seconds on Howard Companies night.
Kyle O'Gara come home in third followed by Santos and Armstrong.
"It wasn't the started I wanted," Roahrig said in victory lane. "I messed up and gave up a lot of spots.
"I was confident that the car would be good on a long run. It was fortunate the race went green to checkers."
Roahrig said he was able to close on Swanson in lapped traffic, and the cars were dancing around in traffic.
"It means a lot to be the champion," Swanson. "The entire Doran Racing Team put in a lot of effort. Wish we would have won more races and came up a little short tonight."
O'Gara started sixth and moved into the third spot with less than 10 laps remaining.
"The car got better throughout the race," he said. "We don't have short-run speed, so we try to set the car up for a long run."
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.
