Matt Weaver
The path to the Golden Driller runs through Logan Seavey and Kevin Swindell.
If there was any doubt that the Swindell Speedlab No. 39 would once again be amongst the elite, it was erased on Tuesday in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Invitational Race of Champions. The defending Chili Bowl winners posted the fastest lap in qualifying and quickly overcame a four-car inversion to win the race with little doubt.
It took 10 laps for Seavey to methodically pick off Jesse Love, Tyler Courtney and Chase Briscoe before sailing away. He became just the third driver in the 15 year Race of Champions to win the exhibition showdown the next January.
“Man, when you have cars that are just so fast, you don’t have to force the issue and it makes it really easy as a driver,” Seavey said in Victory Lane. “I was just so comfortable that I knew, you know, even though 25 laps here is short … that we were already right there. Sunshine [Courtney] was struggling as the cushion got bigger, and I just knew as soon as he bobbled once that I would have a good enough run [through the corner] to slide him.
“Really, I was able to approach things the same way when I got to Briscoe. I didn’t have to force the moves I made; if I didn’t have them, I didn’t take them. But when I took the chance, I went for it and I put him away quick … and you can’t do that unless your car’s just better than the guys in front of you. That’s what it takes.”
It’s just a continuation of a story that started in this building last January and continued with Abacus Racing in USAC competition, where Seavey won a national championship but also the Silver Crown championship and a clean sweep of the USAC 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora.
“I’ve been able to perform all year [outdoors] with the Abacus [Racing] guys [in USAC competition], and now to come here to Tulsa with this thing … it’s just so hard to beat us when Kevin is on his game,” Seavey said of his car owner and crew chief. “I was just lucky to be the one driving it tonight.”
Tyler Courtney fended off Cannon McIntosh at the line as they completed the podium ahead of Chase Briscoe and Karter Sarff in a pair of cars owned by the Cup Series regular.
The only challenged Seavey faced was the cage stand celebration in Victory Lane.
Race of Champions A-Feature (25 laps): 1. 39-Logan Seavey [4], 2. 57-Tyler Courtney [2], 3. 71p-Cannon McIntosh [9], 4. 5cb-Karter Sarff [8], 5. 5-Chase Briscoe [1], 6. 88-Tanner Thorson [13], 7. 29s-Hank Davis [10], 8. 1s-Spencer Bayston [6], 9. 41-Corey Day [12], 10. 47x-Zach Daum [7], 11. 58-David Gravel [11], 12. 84-Jesse Love [3], 13. 67k-Brent Crews [5], 14. 19r-Ricky Thornton Jr. [18], 15. 91k-Kaylee Bryson [14], 16. 1-Sammy Swindell [15], 17. 71-Jade Avedisian [16], 18. 19-Tim McCreadie [19], 19. 2j-Justin Grant [17], 20. 3w-Brandon Waelti [20].
Lap Leader(s): Chase Briscoe 1-12, Logan Seavey 13-25.
Hard Charger: 88-Tanner Thorson (+7)
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
