Tim Bertrand, owner of Bertrand Motorsports, is pleased to announce he has signed Kody Swanson to drive for his team at four premier midget events in 2023.
Swanson will drive a Bertrand Motorsports Beast with a Stanton engine in the Carb Night Classic at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) in Brownsburg, Ind., on Friday, May 26; the Boston Louie Seymour Memorial at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway on Saturday, July 15; the Twin 25 midget races at IRP on Saturday, Aug. 12, and the Howard Companies Championship Saturday at IRP on Oct. 21. All three of the events at IRP are marquee events of the United States Auto Club (USAC) and part of the National Pavement Midget Championship, while the Boston Louie Seymour Memorial is a cornerstone of the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) schedule each year.
It will mark the second year of Swanson’s participation with the Southwick, Mass.-based team, which has won 11 NEMA championships. The team finished first and second in the NEMA championship this year with Avery Stoehr of Lakeville, Mass., and Randy Cabral of Plymouth, Mass., respectively.
Swanson, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., who resides in Indianapolis, is the winningest driver in USAC Silver Crown history with seven championships. He and his brother, Tanner, are tied for the most USAC Silver Crown victories ever at IRP with seven. Kody Swanson also sewed up the inaugural championship of the 500 Sprint Car Tour in October at IRP.
Bertrand said he plans to field three cars, and possibly a fourth, in the events at IRP. Cole Carter of Brownsburg, Ind., and Nathan Byrd of Goodyear, Ariz., will be Swanson’s teammates in those races.
The team owns seven pavement midgets in all. It will continue to field two full-time in NEMA events for Stoehr and Cabral. Cabral has won eight NEMA championships driving for Bertrand Motorsports; Stoehr has won two for the team, and Todd Bertrand, Tim’s brother, was the NEMA champion in 2020. The team is second on the all-time NEMA win list with 101 feature victories.
Bertrand Motorsports has won the Boston Louie Seymour Memorial eight times, including this year with Stoehr.
The team’s primary sponsor is project44, a software company based in Chicago which is the world’s leading advanced visibility platform for shippers and third-party logistics firms. It helps thousands of the world’s largest brands make their supply chains work.
Other sponsors include Esslinger, Bass Plating, Plas Tec Coatings, Eibach Springs, TJ Forged, ARS, CSI, JRC Transportation and Stanton.
“There were many reasons we hired Kody,” Bertrand said. “He’s the all-time USAC Silver Crown winner and a master at IRP, and winning a race at IRP is definitely on my bucket list. It’s something I’ve been aiming to do my whole career. It would rank up there with any other victory we’ve had in our team’s history.
“I would say that being involved with him this year has fast-forwarded our program about five to 10 years,” Bertrand continued. “The knowledge he brings about the cars and the tracks and open-wheel cars in general brings us to a new level. We were a threat for a win or a podium at every race this year, but we had some mechanical issues that caused our results on paper to not really match Kody and the car’s actual performances. We’re headed into the new year much more aware of how to fix some of the issues we had, and we’re really excited about next year.
“Another reason is that we really enjoy working with him and the Dorans and with the Swanson family; they’re first-class individuals,” added Bertrand. (Swanson’s four Silver Crown victories this year and the 500 Sprint Car Tour championship came driving Doran Racing-fielded cars.) “Part of the reason I do this is to be with good people, and that’s something that he and his team and his family bring to the table.”
“I’m excited to return to the Bertrand Motorsports team in 2023,” said Swanson. “It was great to get to know them this year, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to have raced with them. They have a great team atmosphere, and I enjoy working with everyone that is part of it. While our final results weren’t what we hoped for, we made real progress throughout our first season, and I felt like we were still in contention for a podium finish in each race. So I’m looking forward to continue building on what we’ve learned so far, and giving it our best shot in the upcoming season.
“I’m thankful for the chance to compete in the Boston Louie race,” Swanson continued. “The Bertrands have such a long history of success in the NEMA series, and with winged midgets, so I’m really looking forward to being able to try my hand at this new discipline with them.”
Towing halfway across the country to race adds to the challenge, and Bertrand said that his team couldn’t make the IRP events without the help of his father, Gil. “He drove back and forth from Connecticut to Indianapolis to support this operation,” he said. “Between testing; working on the cars; going to Doran’s shop in Lebanon, Ohio, and towing to the races at IRP, we wouldn’t be able to do this without my dad.”
Bertrand also singled out longtime TQ midget racer John Smith and veteran midget and TQ racer Rich Tolerico for their help; Glen Cabral, longtime crew member; Nick Makrianis; Andy Weeks; Brandon Igo, Kevin Park, and of course, his family: wife, Cara; daughter, Norah; brothers Todd and Patrick; sister-in-law, Mariah, and niece and nephew, Ellie and Tucker.
“Kody brings a couple of great helpers too,” he added. “Ryan Roberts has been with Kody for a long time, as has Clark Lamme. His wife, Jordan, is his spotter. We’ve put together a little crew of people we’re both comfortable with to help build the best-possible crew that we could for this effort, and we’re all looking forward to 2023.”
For more information on Bertrand Motorsports, follow it on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram (BertrandMotorsports) and Twitter (BertrandMS). For more information on Swanson, see kodyswansonracing.com and shopkodyswanson.com and follow him on Facebook (KodySwansonRacin) and Twitter and Instagram (kodyswanson).
Bertrand Motorsports PR
