Santos wins USAC Silver Crown Series Casey's General Stores 100

Bobby Santos waited to make his move. He knew running a hundred miles in a USAC Silver Crown Championship car is difficult. Santos knew the Iowa Speedway track so he waited — managing his car, fuel, tires and the 7/8-mile payment oval Saturday.

Then he shot to the front and ran in front the final 54 laps to capture the 2015 Casey’s General Stores 100. It was Santos’ first USAC Silver Crown Series car win, coming at a track he has posted USAC Midget races three times — 2009, 2010 and 2012.

“Man, a hundred miles in these cars is very difficult mechanically," Santos said. "I'm actual more proud as a mechanic than I am a driver in this deal. I helped put this car together with the guys in the shop."

Casey’s General Stores Victory Lane lets fans celebrate along with the winning driver and team as they enjoy Casey’s Pizza. Santos savored his slice after capitalizing on a restart with two laps to go and cruising to his first USAC Silver Crown Series win of 2015.

“There's nothing better than pizza in Victory Lane," Santos said. "I'm a picky eater, and one of my first midget wins here was supreme pizza. And I told them, 'Next year, bring back pepperoni.' We won the race the next year and they brought back pepperoni. It was pretty cool. Can't complain about the cheese today, though — it was good."

Santos battled front-running Chris Windom most of the race. Windom roared to the lead on Lap 9 past Aaron Pierce as pole-winner and USAC Silver Crown Series points leader Kody Swanson wasn’t able to take advantage of his starting spot.

Pierce had the fastest time in practice laps, but Swanson, who is the 2014 Silver Crown Series champion, won the pole with a lap time of 22.407 seconds, which is 140.581 mph. Swanson holds the one-lap Iowa Speedway track record of 146.212 mph set in 2012.

In USAC’s first appearance at Iowa Speedway since 2012, Santos had his first lead on a restart on Lap 25 before Windom went to the front again. Following another caution restart, Santos pushed his car to the front of the pack on Lap 46 and never relinquished it Saturday.

David Byrne finished second followed by Windom and Pierce. Austin Nemire placed fifth and A.J. Fike, who won a Silver Crown race at Iowa in 2010, claimed sixth place.

Swanson retired early in the race with car problems and did not finish the race on the track, officially taking 12th. Kyle Hamilton’s No. 33 hit the outer wall of the Speedway’s backstretch going into Turn 3 on Lap 15. Hamilton climbed out of the car on his own.

More on Saturday’s USAC Silver Crown Championship Car Series race in Monday’s Newton Daily News.