KODY SWANSON SOLIDIFIES OPEN WHEEL SHOWDOWN PLACE IN HISTORY WITH THIRD-CAREER $50,000 SPRINT CAR VICTORY
LAS VEGAS, NV (November 7, 2026) – Kody Swanson cemented his legacy among the great asphalt open wheel drivers in the United States, driving to his third career Fuel Winged Sprint Car $50,000 victory during Saturday’s OnlyBulls Open Wheel Showdown in Las Vegas. Combined with his 2026 Friday Non-Wing triumph and 2023 Midget win, Swanson has recorded a staggering five victories at annual pavement open wheel showcase at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Swanson was a part of a dynamic four-way fight for victory in the first half of the 100-lap feature, then darted away over a two-lap shootout at the finish to see the checkered flag first.
“Man it takes being surrounded by special people. It’s important to be driving a great race car. I’m so thankful god has blessed me with this 50M team. The race was wild. Davey (Hamilton, Jr.) rolled by us. I was chasing Mike (Murgoitio) through traffic. We were dicing through there,” Swanson said. “We caught lapped cars and I knew we were getting close to the end of halfway. I thought I had to be on the front row to have a chance to win it. So we went for it there on the outside there in lapped traffic. Managed to steal the lead away by the skin of our teeth. Had to get the lead and hope we could hang onto it and we did.”
Meridian, Idaho’s Mike Murgoitio led the way from the pole position for the fast paced first 45-laps of action. Murgoitio then squared off with Swanson and event promoter Davey Hamilton, Jr. in heavy lapped traffic. Hamilton took the lead around the high line on lap 46, then Swanson used the high side himself to drive past Hamilton to lead into the lap 50 break. 2023 Winged Sprint Car winner Aaron Willison gave chase as well in the exciting mix of drivers dueling for the win.
Swanson motored ahead when action resumed following the lap 50 race break. Swanson was comfortable ahead and within a few hundred feet of victory before 16-year-old AJ Luttmer spun in turn four to require a restart.
Swanson lined up alongside Hamilton for a green-white-checkered finish. Willison threw a hail-mary maneuver, driving around both Murgoitio and Hamilton in the final sprint to the finish. Kody Swanson claimed the $50,000 win over a charging Willison, Hamilton, Murgoitio, and 16th-starting JoJo Helberg.
Kyle Ray of Littleton, Colorado dominated every session of the weekend for the Larry Trigueiro Memorial for Super Modifieds, presented by Firstline Systems. Ray then delivered when it counted most, leading all 40-laps for the $10,000 feature win. One of the deepest and most wide-ranging fields of drivers in West Coast Super Modified racing history battled behind him. 2024 winner Otto Sitterly of Canajoharie, New York crashed on lap 13 in a battle with Utah’s Natalie Waters. Anthony Esberg tagged Sitterly nose first while Brian Otts spun into the turn four wall. Only Waters was able to rejoin the event.
Speed Tour Super Modified incoming points leader Jimmy White of Kamloops, British Columbia suffered a hard crash into the turn two wall on lap 28 but he was uninjured.
Ray then dominated the final 12 laps for the decisive win with New York’s Dan Connors, Jr. earning second position. Tyler Thompson of Fulton, New York finished third followed by Vermillion, Ohio’s Tyler Shullick and Medina, Ohio’s Mike McVetta. Waters recovered to finish seventh.
Aaron McMorran of Las Vegas joined Kody Swanson as the only other multiple time winner of an Open Wheel Showdown, claiming his second career Klotz Synthetics Open Wheel Modified feature on Saturday night. The 75-lap feature paid $10,000 to the winner.
Pole Shuffle winner Kyle Tellstrom and fast-time qualifier Shelby Stroebel of Kuna, Idaho thrilled fans with a tight and competitive battle for the lead. The duo then collided racing into turn three on lap 28, ending both of their evenings and thrusting McMorran into control of the race.
McMorran held off Las Vegas’ Kyle Jacks and B-Feature winner Brody Whitbeck of New Mexico to round out the podium. Bountiful, Utah’s Eric Rhead and 2026 Colorado National Speedway champion Ryan Jones finished fourth and fifth.
Tracy, California’s Brenden Ruzbarsky overcame a challenging race with multiple restarts for the Sunrise Heavy Haul INEX Legends, winning his first career Open Wheel Showdown. Fast-time qualifier Gavin Ray of Las Vegas finished second while 2026 Colorado National Speedway champion Austin Steinke finished third. Ace Bowen of Spanish Fork, Utah and Gavin Wardle of Herriman, Utah rounded out the top-five finishers.
A late race tussle in the Sunrise Heavy Haul INEX Bandoleros bore fruit for a Las Vegas native with Austin French inheriting victory after 15-laps of racing. Californian Braxton Garcia dove underneath Idaho’s Kyro Phipps for the lead on a restart but spun, then was hit hard by Tayton Monroe. Neither Garcia nor Monroe were injured. French was placed into the top spot and never relinquished it for his first-career Open Wheel Showdown win. Utah’s Mariah Solomon finished second followed by Las Vegas’ Beau Paddack, Tucker Webster of Utah, and Izaak Mead of Longmont, Colorado.
About the Open Wheel Showdown:
The Open Wheel Showdown is the premier pavement open wheel event in the country, attracting top drivers and teams from across the country to compete for record-breaking purses and national attention.
Fuel Winged Sprint Cars
A Feature 1 (100 Laps): 1. 50M-Kody Swanson[2]; 2. 1M-Aaron Willison[3]; 3. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr[5]; 4. 17-Mike Murgoitio[1]; 5. 7H-JoJo Helberg[16]; 6. 26-Chase Cabre[4]; 7. 22A-Bobby Santos III[19]; 8. 99-Cory Lockwood[15]; 9. 15-Eric Humphries[13]; 10. 24R-Kyle Ray[10]; 11. 18-AJ Luttmer[9]; 12. 14C-Colton Bettis[20]; 13. 16G-Austyn Gossel[22]; 14. 33J-Jeff Montgomery[6]; 15. 57-Evan Margeson[8]; 16. 88-Chase Locke[11]; 17. 91Y-Darren Yates[21]; 18. 77L-Troy DeCaire[18]; 19. 44B-Brad Aumen[25]; 20. 92-Casey Tillman[7]; 21. 61-William Ginn[12]; 22. 91-Bryan Warf[14]; 23. 1R-Ryan Land[17]; 24. 66-Daryle Redlin[24]; 25. 94W-Geoff Wade[23]; 26. 41R-Cody Ridge[26]
Larry Trigueiro Memorial presented by Firstline Systems
A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 58-Kyle Ray[2]; 2. 41-Dan Connors Jr[4]; 3. 98T-Tyler Thompson[6]; 4. 96-Tyler Shullick[8]; 5. 22-Mike McVetta[9]; 6. 2K-Darin Snider[14]; 7. 1W-Natalie Waters[10]; 8. 98JR-Frankie Volz Jr[22]; 9. 3-Jason Otts[21]; 10. 12-Tim Skoglund[1]; 11. 2-Rich Castor[19]; 12. 98-Davey Hamilton Sr[3]; 13. 8-Jimmy White[12]; 14. 1-Nate Little[17]; 15. 31-Bobby Dalton[11]; 16. 52B-Rick Brophy[18]; 17. 7-Otto Sitterly[7]; 18. 13-Brian Otts[15]; 19. 00K-Anthony Esberg[16]; 20. 2U-Jeff Hillock[20]; 21. 4-Cody Castor[13]; 22. 3G-Roger Galleano[23]; 23. 32-Kevin Newton[5]; 24. 32X-Jim Birges[24]
Klotz Synthetics Open Wheel Modifieds
A Feature 1 (75 Laps): 1. 22-Aaron Mc Morran[8]; 2. 41-Kyle Jacks[3]; 3. 99-Brody Whitbeck[19]; 4. 66-Eric Rhead[5]; 5. 21-Ryan Jones[9]; 6. 1-Jimmy Petrie[17]; 7. 57K-Kylei Keown[20]; 8. 5-Cory Meeres[15]; 9. 69-Forest Smith[24]; 10. 7C-Cameron Austin[25]; 11. 24G-Nathan Gasser[7]; 12. 6-Ben Williams[22]; 13. 5K-Kyle Tellstrom[1]; 14. 24S-Shelby Stroebel[2]; 15. 27L-Rich Lindgren[14]; 16. 32C-Chris Cox[13]; 17. 11-Jeff Longman[12]; 18. 15X-Sammy Nuno[21]; 19. 46-Cody Stickler[4]; 20. 12-Bruce Quale[26]; 21. 51-Cade Fox[18]; 22. 29W-Zach Webster[11]; 23. 9B-Donovan Barr[16]; 24. 87-Trystan Mucci[23]; 25. 29-Sam Jacks[6]; 26. 1L-Michael Luberda Jr[10]
Sunrise Heavy Haul INEX Legends
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 100-Brenden Ruzbarsky[2]; 2. 18-Gavin Ray[1]; 3. 14-Austin Steinke[4]; 4. 3-Ace Bowen[18]; 5. 69-Gavin Wardle[9]; 6. 25-Ryan Ford[10]; 7. 5J-Jhett Phipps[7]; 8. 11-Chase Gilbertson[15]; 9. 19A-Austin Nester[26]; 10. 7K-Kennzzie Brown[24]; 11. 57-Ryllie Dickinson[25]; 12. 98-Matt Barrett[22]; 13. 92-Alex Roe[6]; 14. 15-Danny Medina[21]; 15. 32P-Daniel Pooley[23]; 16. 68-Connor Podloski[3]; 17. 50-Ryan Phipps[8]; 18. 32-Cody Milan[20]; 19. 03-Darrell Stewart[19]; 20. 23G-Ryat Gorringe[13]; 21. 21-Patrick Geiger[11]; 22. 88-Dylan Wardle[16]; 23. 16-Tyler Menroe[17]; 24. 88B-Chase Bohanon[5]; 25. 6P-Paxton Guiles[12]; 26. 711-Tripp Goodrich[14]
Sunrise Heavy Haul INEX Bandoleros
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 9-Austin French[6]; 2. 28R-Mariyah Solomon[8]; 3. 7-Beau Paddack[14]; 4. 5T-Tucker Webster[5]; 5. 23M-Izaak Mead[11]; 6. 78-Paizleigh Lopez[13]; 7. 74-Casey Piplic[10]; 8. 15S-Declan Shaw[15]; 9. 28P-Hayden Powers[21]; 10. 95J-Jaxon Muhler[9]; 11. 6-Kyro Phipps[1]; 12. 57G-Braxton Garcia[2]; 13. 16-Tayton Monroe[18]; 14. 17M-Dylan Mancini[3]; 15. 25-Edward Shupe[19]; 16. 99-Brookelynn Torrez[17]; 17. 88A-Jhett Allen[16]; 18. 2-Cru Bowen[4]; 19. 28-Chandler Gasser[12]; 20. 3P-Rico Pina[20]; 21. (DQ) 3-Logan Torrez[7]
