For former winners, Little 500 'keeps the fire burning'

During the course of their racing careers, three former winners of the Unified Group Services Little 500 put being victorious at Anderson Speedway at the top of their lists.

Kody Swanson, a multiple champion in USAC Silver Crown competition, scored Little 500 wins in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

“That first win was special for me,” Swanson said, adding it was the first for Hoffman Racing.

“I don’t know if I realize how special that one was,” he continued. “The win for Gene Nolen was really, really special. He had been after a win for a long time.”

Swanson said he had been friends with Nolen even when he raced for a competing Sprint Car team.

“Maybe that’s the one that I realize how special it was, maybe even more so than the first win,” he said.

Swanson said a fourth Little 500 win would rank high in his career.

“My goal is to win a fourth,” he said. “It’s a hard race just to get to the end. It’s a hard race to put yourself in a position to win and harder to go out compete against the other guys and gals.”

Tyler Roahrig, a winner and champion in pavement Sprint Car racing and Outlaw Late Models, won back-to-back Little 500 races in 2021 and 2022.

“The Little 500 win is the biggest one of my career,” Roahrig said. “I definitely want more, as always. It’s a race that keeps that fire burning.”

Roahrig said the team has been in a position to contend for a win every time at the Little 500 for the past six years.

“The last few years we struggled with our race pace, but I feel we made some gains at the end of last year,” he said. “We got a win in the Tony Elliott Classic and that was a step in the right direction.”

Bobby Santos III is a proven winner in Modifieds, Super Modifieds, Winged and non-win Sprint cars. He won the Little 500 in 2020.

“The Little 500 win is right at the top,” Santos said. “It’s a race that I feel tortured me for quite a few years, which made it harder and harder to win.

“It’s a race that I wanted to win,” he continued. “The win meant a lot. It’s a crown jewel of pavement Sprint Car racing.”

Santos said he wanted a win in the Little 500 and believed he could have scored a win or two before actually accomplishing the feat in 2020.

“I’ve had great pit stops every year,” he said. “We did win that race in 2020 on strategy, and before that we could have won with speed.”

Santos said between lapped traffic, mental mistakes, every aspect of the race makes it the most difficult one.

“That’s what makes it so rewarding when you do have success,” he said. “There are more aspects in that race than in 10 other races combined. It means a lot.”