Little 500 Practice Recap
The 78th Annual Unified Group Services Little 500 Presented By ED Martin Automotive Group officially kicked off Wednesday afternoon with Practice Day. Race teams had three hours of track time to dial their cars in for Thursday’s CB Fabricating Pole Day and Saturday’s Little 500.
It was familiar faces galore on top of the leaderboard when 5:00 came and went, with all four former Little 500 winners entered claiming the top four spots on the board. Three-time Little 500 winner Kody Swanson led the way with a time of 10.989, just ahead of two-time race winner Tyler Roahrig with a 10.994. Defending race winner Jake Trainor, 2020 winner Bobby Santos III, and fellow 2026 Little 500 Hall of Fame inductee Shane Hollingsworth rounded out the top-five.
With four Little 500 poles under his belt, Swanson has a chance to tie Frank Riddle and Dave Steele for most poles all-time tomorrow afternoon.
“I think we have a chance and that’s what you come here for. It’s only Wednesday and there’s a lot of fast cars here, I think we were only a half a hundredth quicker than Tyler Roahrig, but it’s hard to be as fast as him,” said Swanson. “I’m happy to be in the mix at this point. There’s a lot at stake tomorrow and then 500 to go on Saturday.”
“It’s such a challenging week but that’s what makes it such a fun week. I’ve been fortunate to drive such great racecars and we have one here this weekend for Doran Enterprises.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the speed shown by Brian Vaughn. The driver from nearby Shirley, IN was in the top three in practice speeds for most of the afternoon before ending the day sixth on the time charts.
Ahead of what is tentatively scheduled to be the final Little 500 attempt of his career, Vaughn is looking forward to what’s ahead tomorrow during Pole Day and the rest of the week for his No.71 team.
“We’ve done a lot of work over the offseason, probably not as much as we should have. The car feels really good and I think it’s got more speed in it for tomorrow,” said Vaughn. “We’ve been striving for this but it’s been a struggle to have the outcome and the speed for this race.
“I’m pretty confident about getting into the top 15. My goal when we started this year was to qualify in the first few rows and I think we’ve got a car that can do it pretty easily”
Little 500 week continues tomorrow with CB Fabricating Pole Day. Practice will be from 11:30-1:15, with first round qualifying taking place from 1:30-3:30. The top 15 qualifiers will be locked into Saturday’s 78th Annual Unified Group Services Little 500 Presented By ED Martin Automotive Sales.
Grandstand admission is free for fans Wednesday through Friday and race day tickets are reserved seating only. Click Here to purchase tickets.
The event, including practice and qualifying, will also be streamed live on Racing America. For more information on the Little 500, visit us at andersonspeedway.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Little 500 Practice Day Results
1. Kody Swanson – 10.989
2. Tyler Roahrig – 10.994
3. Jake Trainor – 11.010
4. Bobby Santos III – 11.025
5. Shane Hollingsworth – 11.031
6. Brian Vaughn – 11.032
7. Jackson Macenko – 11.038
8. Davey Hamilton Jr – 11.049
9. Mario Clouser – 11.055
10. Derek Bischak – 11.060
11. Dakoda Armstrong – 11.067
12. Kyle O’Gara – 11.080
13. Landon Butler – 11.089
14. Billy Wease – 11.093
15. Donnie Adams Jr – 11.122
16. Justin Grant – 11.128
17. Michael Lewis – 11.138
18. Travis Welpott – 11.179
19. Logan Seavey – 11.200
20. Ryan Newman – 11.223
21. Josh Poore – 11.225
22. Anthony Nocella – 11.235
23. Colin Grissom – 11.260
24. Tony Main – 11.404
25. Colton Bettis – 11.405
26. Rylan Gray – 11.484
27. Justin Harper – 11.502
28. Chris Schmelzle – 11.569
29. Garett Saunders – 11.592
30. David Goodwill – 11.598
31. CJ Leary – 11.661
32. Rob Keesling – 11.664
33. Shane Butler – 11.794
34. Jerry Kobza – 14.326
