It’s not hyperbole to suggest Logan Seavey enjoyed a legendary season in 2023.
On September 23, he became just the third racer in half a century to sweep all three USAC portions of the venerable 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway.
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Silver Crown
He joined Jack Hewitt in 1998 and Kyle Larson in 2011 but that was just the figurative meat and cheese of an epic sandwich that was a dream season that began in January with a victory in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals with Kevin Swindell and Bertrand Motorsports.
Then came the USAC campaign.
He won eight times in 27 National Midget Series starts, that included a Indiana Midget Week championship in June, and closing out the national championship by tying the legendary Jason Leffler with 22 consecutive top-10s.
He won three times in 11 USAC Silver Crown starts to finally take the championship from the legendary Kody Swanson. He became the first driver since Levi Jones in 2011 to win two of the three USAC championships in one season, something that carried with it a $50,000 bonus.
Seavey added two USAC National Sprint Car feature victories to his season total as well. He even contended for podiums in the scant Winged Sprint appearances his USAC schedule permitted including a top-10 at the High Limit race at Kokomo.
It was a legendary season for the ages.
“It’s really unbelievable,” Seavey told Sportsnaut on Friday. “Every time it seemed like we were losing our momentum, I’d win another race and we would be right back on a heater. I don’t even know how it kept happening like that.
“Our Sprint Car program slumped at times but it’s still a career year. I mean, I hope not, I hope we can top it and have a few more.”
What’s really remarkable about his season is that it came after a prolonged slump in 2022. It wasn’t his best work across the board. When he won the Chili Bowl, it was his first feature win in that division in over a year, and he even pondered if Swindell would have him back in their car in 2023.
“That paid off,” Seavey said with a chuckle, almost in disbelief still that it all worked out that way.
Seavey was asked if he did anything different from a slump season to a legendary season and he says most racers will try to convince themselves that their habits and mindset remained the same throughout. He says that is probably a little disingenuous for him.
“Like, when you’re on a big run and you feel that confidence, it makes a difference,” Seavey said. “It’s hard to explain and make it make sense but confidence is so hard to get. When things aren’t going well, you’re overanalyzing everything and it sometimes can snowball but when you’re winning, you’re just racing and trying to keep it going.
“I really saw that in my Silver Crown car, driving it with confidence this year. And then, just going to the gym. I’m talking to you from the gym parking lot now. I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in and that doesn’t hurt either.
“So, a lot of things are probably different from last year but it’s easy to feel confident in whatever you’re doing when you feel confident in your racing.”
Despite the accolades, Seavey says there is a lot he wants to accomplish on the USAC trail next season. He says he eventually wants to go winged racing but only if the right situation manifests itself. He says it would be cool if his current team owner Brent Cox wanted to take Abacus Racing winged racing with him.
In the meantime, he wants to win a pavement Silver Crown race and thinks his best chance in 2024 is on the high banks at Winchester. He wants to win the BC39 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Dirt Track. He wants to add a USAC Sprint Car championship to the Midget and Champ Car accomplishments.
Larson denied him a Hangtown 100 victory last month.
But he definitely wants to go winged racing someday, especially in this climate with World of Outlaws and High Limit Racing pushing each other and growing the overall stature of the discipline.
“What race car driver doesn’t grow up wanting to win the Knoxville Nationals, Kings Royal and all those big races,” Seavey said.
He says he has received a decent number of calls about going winged racing but also acknowledged that the industry respects his loyalty to his current teams and partners. It goes back to what he said about time and place for when he pursues a wing career.
“Look at how Sunshine did it,” Seavey said of Tyler Courtney. “He had a great USAC career and accomplished pretty much everything he wanted to do here and was able to pick that up really fast and is one of the best guys with a wing right now.
“He had the right people around him and was ready to commit to that racing and that’s the kind of position I want to be in too.”
All told, his current USAC success has been good to him this year.
“When you win a lot, you sell a lot more shirts and we did really good there after Chili Bowl and Eldora,” he said. “That’s our incentive to run well.
“I’m probably not as good as I should be when it comes to trying to get endorsements or sponsors and a year like this is probably one where I should capitalize on that. I got a lot more calls to run a wing this year but people know I’m settled in to run this program.
“I suck at selling myself to sponsors but winning like I did this year; it really helps the bottom line.”
Seavey is enjoying a quick holiday break but plans on turning right back around to begin anew for Tulsa Shootout and another Chili Bowl run with Swindell and Bertrand where it is going to be hard to top the start to 2023 and the season that followed it.
“I feel as good as you can,” Seavey said. “The only bummer is that we had such a great year at Abacus and they’re like, ‘man, I wish you could run with us at Chili Bowl but I already committed to Kevin before the season even started and they knew that.
“So hopefully they see that I’m loyal if nothing else. But I’m really confident going back there with Kevin. Excited.”
All told, Seavey is just proud of what he proved at both Tulsa last year and the overall season. He went from not winning a Midget race all year to winning the biggest Midget race of the year. He went from not even making the Chili Bowl feature the year before, worrying that he was going to get fired, to being asked back and winning the whole race.
He went from a tough Silver Crown defeat to winning the championship.
“It was about perseverance for sure,” he said. “Again, it goes back to having the right people in your corner. Our Sprint Car stuff too. I didn’t quit on them and no one quit on me. When you have confidence in yourself and the people around you, it makes the hard times easier and makes a year like this year even more special.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.