Kyle Hamilton had been within reach of a win in Anderson Speedway’s Pay Less Little 500 for three-straight years entering Saturday’s 2017 edition of the race, scoring three top fives and a podium in successive tries amid a supreme streak of consistency in the track’s marquee event.
In the end, it would take only one long green-flag run to elevate the Klatt Motorsports driver’s results to a new level.
Hamilton played tire strategy perfectly and hunted down the leaders over a lengthy caution-free run in the race’s late stages to claim the victory in the 69th Annual Pay Less Little 500, his first-career victory in the event.
As a result, the Hoosier was able to enjoy a tradition seen at only a couple races around the world – a taste of milk in victory lane.
“I’ve never gotten to drink milk after a win,” Hamilton told Short Track Scene. “Indy’s a bit of a long shot, but I figured at the Little 500 we could pull it off. We finally got it today.”
Hamilton started the race in the middle of the front row, but it was pole sitter Caleb Armstrong that stole the show early on, leading the opening 101 laps of the event amid of a flurry of lapped traffic after the race signature three-wide start.
Armstrong’s fast pace eventually eventually faded, forcing the New Castle, Indiana native to concede the top spot to Hamilton on Lap 102. The local shoe ultimately spun on Lap 121, instigating a pileup that resulted in Aaron Pierce flipped upside-down on the quarter-mile oval’s backstretch.
Pierce was unhurt in the incident.
Wilson had fallen back to 7th when Caleb Armstrong spun from the lead and Pierce goes airborne (he's ok). pic.twitter.com/Fc9XNWFY7X
— Josh Hanson (@JoshHanson18) May 28, 2017
From there, the list of contenders slowly began to trickle down.
Two-time winner Chris Windom was eliminated when he blew his motor on lap 145. Brian Gerster crashed out on Lap 226, and Jerry Coons, Jr. suffered the same fate on Lap 262.
In typical Little 500 fashion, attrition was the prevailing story early on. 10 caution flags and a red flag flew in the opening 300 laps, prompting teams to try a litany of differing pit strategies.
Hamilton surrendered the lead on Lap 194 to come to pit road for his first stop, a move that ultimately left Shane Cottle in the race lead for nearly 100 laps. However, Cottle quickly faded out of contention after losing the top spot on lap 285.
In his place came Kody Swanson.
The defending winner of the event, Swanson dove under Cottle to take the lead down the front straightaway. He then proceeded to drive off, with veteran Bobby Santos III rising up to follow him in second.
Hamilton ran in the back half of the top five during this stint, having lost ground during his pit stop. The lack of track position ultimately prompted the move of the race – a pit stop under caution on Lap 351.
Given the nature of pit stops at Anderson, Hamilton lost a lap during his stop. But an unexpected green-flag run stretching for 113 laps afterward allowed the Danville, Indiana native to methodically regain his lap and reel in the leaders.
“I didn’t think things were going to go in my favor when I was sitting in third and the leaders had a lap on me, but I smelled blood in the water when I noticed the leaders hadn’t pitted yet,” Hamilton said. “We went on a long green-flag run, and their tires were shot. They were out of fuel. I was able to just reel them in and gain a whole lap.”
By the time the field reached lap 450 of the 500-lap scheduled distance, Hamilton was in position to early soar to the victory. Having already rejoined the lead lap, the Klatt Motorsports shoe maneuvered his No. 5 machine around Santos for second, and quickly caught Swanson to challenge for the race lead.
The caution that Swanson and Santos needed would ultimately come too late, and at the expense of one of the two drivers. Swanson was battling with Hamilton for the top spot when a lack of space caused by Cottle rejoining the racetrack after stops led to contact in Turn 1, sending the 2016 Little 500 champion spinning and forcing a yellow.
Swanson came to pit road, but lost multiple laps in the process. Santos pitted from the lead lap, but was unable to avoid losing a lap in the process.
And just like that, Hamilton was in cruise control.
Santos and Swanson both battled and made contact with Hamilton under the ensuing green-flag run, but the Hoosier held onto his machine each time.
“I knew if I had to that I was going to give up the spot because I had a lap on them, and I knew Kody (Swanson) wasn’t too happy with me,” Hamilton said. “I kind of expected the bump from him, so I bailed and went to the top, let everybody by and then slid down and rode out the last couple laps.
“It’s unfortunate what happened with Kody down in Turns 1 and 2. It was just close racing for the lead 460 laps into a 500-lap race. Anything can happen. We both laid it in there and got into each other. I knew he was mad. He gave me the bumper, deserved to. But he didn’t take me out, so we’re happy with it.”
In the end, Hamilton crossed the line 5.9 seconds clear of Santos to take the biggest win of his young career. Tony Stewart followed in third to claim a podium in his first Little 500 start.
“It’s kind of a weird feeling,” Hamilton said. “You come here so many times, and we’ve been so close but never pulled it off. I’ve wondered when it was going to be my day. Things have to go perfectly in your favor here. You’ve got to time pit stops right. You have to stay out of lapped traffic. There are just so many variables.”
“This is a big win for my career. I can’t really put it into words yet. I think it’ll probably settle in a little bit tomorrow or Monday. But to be standing on the podium with Tony Stewart – who used to dominated this – and be standing on the podium as a winner, it’s a special moment for a young guy like me.”
While Hamilton enjoyed the success of a major victory, Santos rued another Little 500 win that got away.
“I’m sure I’ll be happier tomorrow, but right now I’m just disappointed in second,” Santos told Short Track Scene. “A lot of work goes into this race, so I’m just disappointed to come so close.
“I wish we would’ve gotten a yellow about 40 laps sooner, but that’s the way the race goes. It’s tough. Still, we had a good run. I have to thank my team. They did a good job.”
Stewart, a three-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, was content to salvage a podium finish for Hoffman Racing.
“It took a while to figure out what I could do,” Stewart said. “The Hoffman’s know the strategy here. With 150 laps to go I had Kody (Swanson) in my sights to get the lap back.”
Swanson and Mickey Kempgens rounded out the top five, with Armstrong, Scotty Hampton, Shane Cottle, Jacob Wilson and Ken Schrader completing the top 10.
11 cautions flags and one red flag flew during the course of the event, shortening the 33-team field to just 17 cars by races end. There were six lead changes among five drivers over the course of the race, with Swanson leading a race-high 183 circuits.
- Kyle Hamilton
- Bobby Santos III
- Tony Stewart
- Kody Swanson
- Mickey Kempgens
- Caleb Armstrong
- Scotty Hampton
- Shane Cottle
- Jacob Wilson
- Kenny Schrader
- Shane Butler
- Brian Vaughn
- Jason Fuller
- Travis Welpott
- Isaac Chapple
- xxx
- Nick Hamilton
- Russ Gamester
- Don Hamilton
- Jerry Coons
- Brian Tyler
- Brian Gerster
- Shane Hollingsworth
- Tyler Roahrig
- Mark Hall
- Dvey Hamilton Jr.
- Chris Windom
- Aaron Pierce
- xxx
- Chris Neuenschwander
- CJ Leary
- Austin Nemire
- Donnie Adams
Aaron Bearden is a contributing writer for Short Track Scene. Having grown up watching NASCAR and IndyCar, Bearden began following short track racing during his high school years before starting a blog about racing in college. A writer for Frontstretch and Motorsports Tribune, Bearden also covers NASCAR, IndyCar and other forms of open wheel racing.