500 Sprint Car Tour Hits the Road for First Points Race of Inaugural Campaign

Just two weeks after the 74th Annual Lucas Oil Little 500 Presented by UAW, the 500 Sprint Car Tour hits the road for its first points earning race of the inaugural championship season. This Friday, June 10th the Series will head to Plymouth, Indiana and the Plymouth Motor Speedway. The event will be the first Non Winged Sprint Car race in the track’s history.

The 500 Sprint Car Tour presented by Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Part Stores, in its first championship season, has attracted some of the best names in pavement Sprint Car racing. One of the names to watch will be Plymouth, Indiana native and reigning Lucas Oil Little 500 Champion, Tyler Roahrig. Roahrig will be returning to his home track in the same car that he won in just two weeks ago. Nicknamed “The Rocket”, Roahrig is a two-time Little 500 winner and is also a three-time Tony Elliott Classic winner. He will look to add 500 Sprint Car Tour Champion to his list of accomplishments. Roarhig this past Saturday at Plymouth Speedway won the first leg of the Grand Slam Outlaw Late Model Series.

Fellow competitors to keep a close watch on will be six-time USAC Silver Crown champion, Kody Swanson, 2020 Little 500 and Tony Elliott Classic winner, Bobby Santos III, and the only female to finish on the podium in a USAC Silver Crown event, Taylor Ferns.

Swanson (Kingsburg, Calif.) is no stranger to pavement Sprint Car racing, having won six USAC Silver Crown championships and being a three-time winner of the prestigious Lucas Oil Little 500 Presented by UAW. Along with Roahrig and Bobby Santos II, Swanson was named to Racing America's most versatile drivers in short track racing. Having won an Indy Pro 200 series event, and almost winning is the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) at Eldora Speedway, Swanson is setting his sights on further building his resume with a championship in yet another discipline of racing.

Bobby Santos III (Franklin, Mass), who as stated earlier was listed as one of the most versatile drivers in short track racing, is hoping to build on momentum from a Carb Night Classic victory as he prepared his Non Winged Sprint Car for the return to pavement racing at Plymouth Motor Speedway. A championship caliber driver, Santos has earned championships in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the USAC National Sprint Car pavement series. A championship in the inaugural 500 Sprint Car Tour would be another accolade added to an already impressive resume. Santos III will return this weekend with the same car that flipped down the front stretch at the Little 500. 

Taylor Ferns (Shelby Township, Mich.) has proven to be one of, if not the best female racers in the history of pavement Sprint Car racing. Having set the record as the highest female finisher in USAC Silver Crown history with a 4th place finish, she surpassed her own record with a 3rd place finish in the 2022 Carb Night Classic at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Ferns’ 3rd place finish makes her the only female in USAC Silver Crown history to finish in a podium position. 

Other entries for this weekend's event include Kyle O’Gara (Camby, Ind.), Davey Hamilton Jr. (Boise, Idaho), Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, Ind.), Chris Jagger (Warsaw, Ind.), Tony Main (Farmland, Ind.), and Derek Bischak (Angola, Ind.).

2022 marks the first season of pavement racing at Plymouth Motor Speedway since 2012 and Friday’s event will be the first Non Winged Sprint Car race in the track’s history. The Friday Night of Features event will include the Midwest Modified Tour, Street Stocks, Front Wheel Drives, Hornets, and Mini Stocks along with the 500 Sprint Car Tour presented by Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Part Stores. Grandstands open to spectators at 4pm with racing beginning at 7pm. For fans who may not be able to attend, the action can be seen LIVE on MAVTV Plus.

ENTRY LIST: 

02 Cord Ehrhart/Antwerp, Ohio (Ehrhart)

1 Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle, Indiana (C&A Motorsports)

4B Cory Butler/Baltimore, Ohio (Butler)

11 Tom Paterson/Argos, Indiana (Paterson)

14 Davey Hamilton Jr/Boise, Idaho (Kirk Morgan)

18 Travis Welpott/Pendleton, Indiana (Welpott Racing)

22A Bobby Santos III/Franklin, Massachusetts (DJ Racing)

31 Derek Bischak/Angola, Indiana (Performance Assurance Inc.)

44 Kody Swanson/Kingsburg, California (Doran Enterprise)

53 Justin Harper/Denver, Indiana (TCJ Racing)

55 Taylor Ferns/Shelby Township, Michigan (Taylor Ferns Racing)

56 Tyler Roahrig/Plymouth, Indiana (Tyler Roahrig)

67 Kyle O’Gara/Beech Grove, Indiana (SFH Racing Development)

74 Tony Main/Farmland, Indiana (Glen Main)

76 Tom Snedaker/Elkhart, Indiana (Snedaker)

77 Quintin Saayman/Bapsfontein, Gauteng, SA (Saayman)

80 Billy Wease/Fishers, Indiana (Wease)

127 Chris Jagger/Warsaw, Indiana (Jagger)