ANDERSON, Ind. – In his sixth career Pay Less Little 500 start, Tyler Roahrig dominated the second half of the 73rd edition Saturday night to claim his first win in the historic non-winged sprint car event.
The Plymouth driver led 254 of the final 260 laps to put the CB Fabricating-sponsored car into victory lane.
Roahrig started in the middle of the front row and took the lead for the first time on lap 241 from Caleb Armstrong. He remained on the point until the leaders made their final pit stops on lap 387, surrendering the point briefly to Scott Hampton.
Hampton had stayed on the track, while Roahrig beat the brothers Swanson – Kody and Tanner – out of the pits.
Six laps later, following a restart, Roahrig charged to the front and pulled away from three-time Little 500 champion Kody Swanson and his younger brother Tanner.
He opened up a comfortable margin at that point, but much of Roahrig’s lead was wiped out when Travis Welpott spun on the front straight with 30 laps remaining. At that point, there were three cars on the lead lap.
That allowed Kody and Tanner Swanson to restart right on the tail tank of Roahrig’s car for a run to the checkers. But Roahrig pulled away and navigated traffic with ease, winning by more than four seconds as he was never challenged by Kody Swanson.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Roahrig said after the victory. “I’m still in race mode. We went to lap 200 on our first set of tires and the car really wasn’t great, and I don’t know if it was the cooler temperatures, but after changing tires both times we pitted, the car was on rails.”
Roahrig who finished third in 2020, said a year ago that was a confidence booster. Now, he’s got an even bigger boost.
“I felt like I knew what it took to win after last year,” he said. “I had a real calming feeling all day, never felt like that before this race.”
Kody Swanson, who was seeking to win three races on Saturday after winning USAC Silver Crown and midget races at Lucas Oil Raceway, had to settle for second place.
“We gave it everything we had and it just didn’t work out for us tonight,” Swanson said. “We were second best at the end.”
Swanson said his Doran Enterprises dropped a cylinder on lap 160.
“The car was really strong early in the race and finished on seven cylinders,” he said. “I’m thankful for a great run for the team.”
Tanner Swanson – driving for Nolen Racing, the team his brother departed – ran in the top three for the second half of the race after starting fifth.
“The team did an incredible job,” Tanner Swanson said. “It was a good night, disappointing but we’ll take it. The guys made great pit stops and ran with the front runners. We have nothing to hang our heads about.”
Hampton, the first car laps down, finished fourth ahead of Caleb Armstrong. Brady Bacon captured rookie of the race honors, finishing ninth after starting 20th in the field.
There were 13 cautions and 14 cars running at the finish. Defending race winner Bobby Santos III was eliminated on lap 274 when he tangled with two other cars in turn one.
The finish:
1. Tyler Roahrig; 2. Kody Swanson; 3. Tanner Swanson; 4. Scotty Hampton; 5. Caleb Armstrong; 6. Brian Gerster; 7. Jerry Coons Jr.; 8. Derek Bischak; 9. Brady Bacon; 10. Travis Welpott; 11. Bryan Gossel; 12. Tommy Nichols; 13. Justin Harper; 14. Jacob McElfresh; 15. Billy Wease; 16. Nick Hamilton; 17. Bobby Santos III; 18. Mike Anderson; 19. Christian Koehler; 20. Cody Karl; 21. Brian Vaughn; 22. Shane Hollingsworth; 23. Chris Neuenschwander; 24. Dameron Taylor; 25. Dakoda Armstrong; 26. Kyle O’Gara; 27. Issac Chapple; 28. Kyle Hamilton; 29. Brian Tyler; 30. Eric Gordon; 31. Shane Butler; 32. Kenny Schrader; 33. Aaron Pierce.
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May 30, 2021 at 08:54PM
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In His Sixth Start, Roahrig Conquers The Little 500 - SPEED SPORT - SPEED SPORT
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