Spoiler alert! Grant wins the 50th USAC sprint race in Knoxville – Speedway Digest

Justin Grant was in one of the longest slumps of his career, but he played just the right notes, keys and chords to secure his 50th USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship victory in the opening race of the Avanti Windows & Doors Corn Belt Clash on Friday night at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa.

In his last nine series starts this year, Grant (Ione, Calif.) had finished 13th or worse in seven of them, slogging through last month’s schedule with an average finish of 15.7. Coming to Knoxville, the two-time reigning series champion had fallen to eighth in the point standings, an incredible 256 points behind the leader.

Apparently, all was not well with the trusty TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink – Bow Foundation – TOPP Industries/Maxim/Kistler Chevy. What started in the shop led to problems on the track that soon became major headaches and remorse for everyone involved.

“We’ve had a bit of a whirlwind,” admitted Grant. “I’ve been working on these things every day all week and we’ve had a few issues with the instruments. Things haven’t been as they should be. But I’m very happy that two weeks feels like a low point. We’re very happy that we have a race car that’s this rocket-like. I feel like we’ve got it back and I feel like I’m a race driver again.”

On Friday night, Grant led the first 13 laps of the 25-lap main event before Brady Bacon took the lead on laps 14 and 15. But after a caution, Grant held his ground, righted the ship and steered himself back to the lead with a slide job on the lap 16 restart. From there, Grant withstood the attacks of Chase Johnson and Bacon to take his fifth USAC National Sprint Car win of the season, tying points leader Logan Seavey for the championship.

Grant’s triumphant performance was his second on Knoxville’s 1/2-mile dirt oval, having previously scored points in 2017. He is now one of only four drivers to reach 50 wins in the USAC National Sprint Car Series. Grant now trails only Dave Darland (62), Brady Bacon (54) and Tom Bigelow (52).

While it was certainly easy to get discouraged during this period, Grant never seemed to waver in that regard all Friday night. In fact, no one ever stopped believing in him while he held on to that sentiment. Well, most people, anyway.

“This team always believes in me,” Grant admitted. “My wife Ashley always believes in me. And so do my kids. They told me every week how good Logan (Seavey) and Brady (Bacon) are, and I was getting really sick of that. So it feels so good to be back on the winning track here.”

Grant started from the outside of the front row and led the entire first half of the race with Bacon constantly chasing him. On lap nine, the two leaders weaved through lapped traffic and broke away from the rest of the field in a two-car breakaway.

“I was good at first,” Grant recalled. “I was really comfortable, but then when the track got slick and edgy, it got scary. Knoxville is scary. It’s fast. It’s almost angled up there; you’re standing on the curb and there are little weird holes in the pad.”

On lap 13, Bacon attempted to attack Grant for the first time in turn three, but his slider attempt went just wide. However, Bacon managed to stay right on his line with Grant as the two briefly went wheel-to-wheel before Grant took the lead in turn four.

Nonetheless, Bacon stayed on the gas and was level with Grant by the end of the front straight on lap 14 before sliding across the track in front of Grant and taking the spot. One lap later, the yellow flag was shown for fifth-place finisher CJ Leary, who suddenly slowed down because a left rear shock had come loose, sending a shower of sparks flying from the rear of the car. Earlier in the evening, Leary had become the fourth driver to record 50 career fast qualifying times in the USAC National Sprint Car Championship.

On the subsequent restart on lap 16, the red flag was waved when Wesley Smith (9th) hit the fence of the second turn, causing him to roll over several times before coming to a stop. He was able to get out of his car but was out of the race.

And just as things were going downhill for Grant, he immediately forged a new plan and put himself in the perfect mindset to get back to where he wanted to be when he started again.

“I kind of sat down in the seat and tried not to crash the thing,” Grant recalled. “Brady slid off me and I was moping for a lap or two and thought, ‘we’re not going to win again.’ Then we rolled through lapped traffic and I thought, ‘I should sit up and drive the thing, you still have a chance.’ We got a yellow card and I was able to slide him there on the restart.”

Grant attacked the bottom of the first turn and slid past Bacon with just 10 laps remaining. Chase Johnson, making his first series start of the year, slid past Daison Pursley and Bacon at the bottom to move from fourth to second.

Grant had built up a 1.3-second lead throughout until the final incident of the evening, with three laps to go, forced a red flag. Dakota Earls (25th) hit the padding in turn two, spinning 90 degrees, digging in his left wheels and flipping six times before the rollercoaster ride abruptly ended. Earls climbed out of the car under his own power.

Meanwhile, it started to rain. Under the yellow flag, the field of participants was instructed to fly over the course to prevent it from being swallowed up by Mother Nature. After a few minutes, the humidity had subsided and the final sprint to the finish line could continue.

Johnson’s left rear tire was noticeably flat on the restart as he made one last attempt at his first USAC National Sprint Car victory. As time wore on, however, he fell to fifth place and Bacon was once again Grant’s most keen challenger. The stage was set for the two most winning driver/team combinations in USAC National Sprint Car history to battle for the win.

Bacon tried to pass Grant again on the final lap in turn three, but was only able to tie briefly. Grant accelerated out of the top of turn four and beat Bacon by just under three car lengths – 0.247 seconds to be exact – prompting Grant to remark, “If you come to Knoxville and beat Brady Bacon, I think you’ve accomplished something.”

Pursley finished third, while 2023 Corn Belt Clash winner Jake Swanson finished fourth from 13th on the grid. Johnson posted his best finish to date in the USAC National Sprint Car to round out the top five.

Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) continued his incredible winning streak in the USAC National Sprint Cars in Knoxville. In 10 career starts since 2010, Bacon has finished in the top two in eight of those starts. On Friday night, he earned his fourth consecutive podium finish and second consecutive second-place finish in Knoxville in his Dynamics, Inc./Next Level Metal – Davis Brothers Trucking – Hutson John Deere/Triple X/Rider Chevy.

Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Oklahoma) was once again a force as he earned his third consecutive third-place finish in the series with his AZ Racing/Apache Transport – Oak Craft Elegant Cabinetry/DRC/1-Way Chevy team. In his last seven USAC National Sprint Car starts this season, Pursley has never finished worse than sixth.

JJ Yeley (Phoenix, Ariz.) earned his first top-10 finish in USAC National Sprint Car competition since July 2009 during the Indiana Sprint Week round at Terre Haute (Indiana) Action Track. Yes, that was just three starts ago, albeit 15 years in between, but Yeley was impressive once again Friday night. Yeley started 23rd and finished 10th, earning Hard Charger honors for the evening in Knoxville in the driver’s seat of his Yeley Racing/Avanti Windows & Doors – CK Electric – Apache Transport/Spike/Stanton Chevy.

USAC PR

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