The 34th annual Rich Vogler Classic took place on Sunday afternoon with the USAC Silver Crown Series at the tight short-track of Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana. A total of 14 cars were entered for the 100-lap feature. To note, caution laps counted until Lap 98 of 100. After qualifying on the pole and holding off a fierce late-race rally from Dakoda Armstrong, pole-sitter Briggs Danner led every lap of the race to take home the 34th annual Rich Vogler Classic.
Once qualifying was concluded earlier in the morning, Danner earned his first career pole position in the USAC Silver Crown Series with a lap time of 14.972 seconds. Danner was also fastest in practice as well. Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman was on the entry list as well. Newman has earned five career USAC victories at Winchester, all of which came in Sprint Cars and Midgets combined. In the previous outing in 2025, he finished in the fifth position.
“That was an awesome deal for sure,” Danner said to Flo Racing on the frontstretch. “When you look back at all the races of Kevin (Thomas Jr and Kody Swanson) that have ran here and the stats of laps led, and quick times, it’s definitely big shoes to fill. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be able to produce the same results. After yesterday, I was a little nervous. I felt like I had a lot of learning to do, but yesterday’s practice helped me out a lot.
“Happy for the crew guys that put in a lot of effort on this deal. They probably worked a little bit harder than they’re used to, but just a super cool deal. Cool for everyone involved to tick this one off. I feel like every time I get in this car, I have the ability to produce results. If it’s not up front, it’s probably my fault, so happy to check this off.”
The only driver not participating on the entry list was Dave Berkheimer, as he had a DNF prior to the race beginning.
Eventually, the green flag flew, and Danner maintained the top spot with C.J. Leary following closely in second. With five laps complete, it was Danner, Leary, Armstrong, Newman, and Mario Clouser in the top five as the field settled in position. The first caution of the race came out with 87 laps to go for the No. 92 of Newman for a flat right-rear tire. His team replaced the tire and put a new one on.
At 82 to go, the race went back green with Danner, Leary, Armstrong, Clouser, and Justin Grant the top five. Armstrong briefly looked on the inside of Leary for second, but went back in line to stay in the third position. Newman would fall back to 10th after repairs to his tire. Unfortunately, Newman’s day would be cut short as he reported engine problems and was already multiple laps down. The team elected to retire early so it wouldn’t hurt the car much further.
With 71 laps to go, Kaylee Bryson’s No. 11 car had a problem as she came to a stop on the bottom of Turns 3 and 4. The issue was a flat right-rear tire. The second yellow came out just shortly afterward with 70 to go. Her team was able to replace the tire and get her back out there as well. Once again, the race went green with 65 to go with Danner, Leary, Armstrong, Clouser, and Grant your top five. The third yellow came out with 53 to go for Nathan Byrd, who had heavy right-side damage in Turns 1 and 2.
With 50 laps to go signaling the halfway point, the top 10 was Danner, Leary, Armstrong, Clouser, Grant, Tyler Roahrig, Kyle Steffens, Brian Tyler, and Gregg Cory. Eventually, the race went green with 42 to go. Armstrong again looked to pass Leary on the entry of Turn 3, but couldn’t make it work.
However, the green-flag run would be cut short as No. 8 of Steffens suffered a flat right-rear tire, bringing out the caution with 34 to go. The race resumed with 29 to go with Danner and Leary in the first-second position, respectively. With 15 to go, Danner pulled out with a sizable lead. However, there was a three-car battle for the second position with Leary, Armstrong, and Grant jockeying for position.
Armstrong finally made the pass work on Leary for second after Leary had a brief misstep inside 10 to go. Afterward, Armstrong set his eyes on the leader of Danner and cut his lead down significantly as Danner couldn’t get through lap traffic. Eventually, Danner did and was able to control the lead and went on to secure the victory after leading all 100 laps.
After holding off Armstrong’s late rally, Danner was simply saving his car for the finish.
“Towards the end of the race, I was just kind of saving,” Danner added to Flo Racing following his victory. “I knew I had a pretty good gap and Kevin was doing a good job on the radio helping me run a smart race. All those yellows were not exactly what I wanted to see. I felt like I would get into such a great rhythm about three to four laps in, and I just kept taking it easy on the car, and tires, I kept pulling away. Just wanted to get into rhythm there and finish this one off. 100 laps goes by pretty quick.”
Leary leads the championship points standings over Grant by 36 points.
Official Race Results Following The 34th Annual Rich Vogler Classic At Winchester Speedway
- Briggs Danner
- Dakoda Armstrong
- C.J. Leary
- Justin Grant
- Mario Clouser
- Brian Tyler
- Tyler Roahrig
- Robert Tyler
- Kyle Steffens
- Kaylee Bryson
- Gregg Cory
- Nathan Byrd
- Ryan Newman
- Dave Berkheimer
Up Next – The next event for the USAC Silver Crown Series is slated for Saturday, August 8 at Iowa Speedway on NASCAR race weekend. However, the USAC National Sprint tour kicks off Indiana Sprint Week on Thursday, July 23 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All live on Flo Racing.
