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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Chris Windom won his first Gas City I-69 Speedway USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature in his 20th try at Thursday night's James Dean Classic.
(Gene Crucean Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Gas City, Indiana (September 26, 2019).........Gas City I-69 Speedway had greeted Chris Windom on numerous occasions throughout his USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car career, 19 to be exact, since his debut at the quarter-mile dirt oval in 2007.

It's unfair to say that the track had been unkind to the Canton, Ill. driver over the years, with nine top-five finishes in those 19 previous starts coming into Thursday night's second running of the James Dean Classic. Yet, that one single, solitary victory had remained elusive.

Windom had trekked the road to Gas City many a time, but this time, he drove off as a winner there in USAC competition with a sterling performance, leading all 30 laps to score his fourth series victory of the season and the 25th of his career which tied Steve Butler and Jay Drake for 20th all-time.

Ultimately, Windom's persistence paid off, and now he can call himself a USAC winner at Gas City, finally.

"It seems like I've had countless podiums here," Windom recounts. "We've run 2nd or 3rd almost every USAC race here. To get that first one's pretty cool."

Windom set the tone right from the get-go, recording sixth quick time which would, if everything went to his plan through the prelims, would net him a starting spot up front. As it turned out, it was from the pole. But a good starting spot alone does not make or break a night, there's several variables to endure throughout 30 laps. Yet, being in the proverbial and literal driver's seat at the front of the field for the drop of the green does have its kicks.

"I knew I had to get a good jump on that initial start because the track was so hooked up," Windom explained. "It seemed that, if your car was good and you could get out and click off good laps, it was going to be tough to get by you."

That proved to be fortuitous for the 2017 series champ as he raced side-by-side with outside front row starter Kevin Thomas, Jr. through turns one and two at the start. Windom surged ahead under Thomas on the back straightaway and led entering the third turn. There, Thomas made slight contact with the rear bumper of Windom, forcing Thomas to get on the binders, dropping him from 2nd to 4th as Justin Grant and 2019 Gas City track champ Thomas Meseraull slipped by to snare 2nd and 3rd, respectively, at the conclusion of the opening lap.

A three-car tussle between Grant, Meseraull and Thomas ensued as Windom opened up a half second lead. Meseraull drove to 2nd by Grant on the fourth lap and held onto the spot until exiting the fourth corner on the sixth lap when both Grant and Thomas slipped by, and Meseraull began to slow dramatically with smoke billowing from his ride. The seven-time Gas City winner this year slid his car backward into the infield on the front straightaway as a small and brief fire broke out from the engine compartment, prematurely ending his night.

When racing resumed, Windom put on the same song and dance, running middle to bottom as he incrementally distanced himself from Grant as the race crossed the halfway point, which is where lapped traffic came into play. Windom worked his way under heat race winner Cole Ketcham first, then worked around the outside of Cody White and Dave Darland, all while maintaining a fairly healthy eight-tenths of a second advantage over Grant.

"I felt like I was setting a pretty fast pace around the middle to bottom," Windom remembered. "I was a little nervous to go to the top with how thick the cushion was. You don't have a choice when you catch lapped traffic. If you follow them, somebody's going to find a way around, so I moved to the top and we were maneuvering through lapped traffic pretty well."

Once Windom reached first-time USAC feature starter Harley Burns, Windom sought high and low, tiptoeing on his path to avoid getting caught out, sliding up and allowing the now not-so-distant Grant and Thomas, who were right on his rear bumper, to drastically close up the gap. Windom was eventually able to drive around Burns as were Grant and Thomas just moments before 7th running Scotty Weir spun in turn four, necessitating a yellow flag and bringing about a clear road ahead for Windom.

"You're always going to have that in lapped traffic," Windom said. "So, we did the best we could there, and we caught cautions at the times I wanted them. It doesn't seem to normally work out that way, but it did tonight. We just had to stay out front and hit our marks, and not get in too heavy of lapped traffic and make a wrong decision because, at that point, your kind of a sitting duck when you're the leader."

Chris Windom's fourth USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory of the season was also the 25th of his career which tied him with Steve Butler and Jay Drake for 20th all-time.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

Windom, who was back in his team's DRC chassis tonight, found it to be a better fit for Gas City with how tight and hooked up the track can get. As it turned out, they were the ones hooked up on this night in the Parallax Group-Goacher Racing/NOS Energy Drink - Parallax Power Supply/DRC/Claxton Mopar, pulling away on the restart and appeared headed for victory.

However, with just three laps remaining, the night's KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Jason McDougal, clobbered an orange cone sitting amidst the infield tires at the exit of turn four, dropkicking the inanimate object into the middle of the racing surface. That forced the yellow flag to be displayed and the field to be restacked once again.

For Windom, the holdup was simply momentary as he once again burst away on the lap 28 restart, cruising to victory by a 0.808 margin, while letting the three trailing drivers duke it out for the runner-up spot, which reigning series champ Tyler Courtney snagged with a big drive around the outside of Grant off turn four on the final lap to get the 2nd spot by a wheel, or .056 sec, over Grant with Thomas a car length behind in 4th. Chase Stockon, in his record 287th consecutive series start, rounded out the top-five.

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway were C.J. Leary (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Cole Ketcham (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Scotty Weir (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Justin Grant (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Tye Mihocko (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Jason McDougal (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Harley Burns (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Dustin Smith (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 26, 2019 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - 2nd James Dean Classic - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-12.121; 2. Thomas Meseraull, 00, Whitney-12.174; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-12.219; 4. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-12.299; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-12.364; 6. Chris Windom, 5G, Parallax/Goacher-12.441; 7. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-12.479; 8. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.491; 9. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-12.555; 10. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-12.557; 11. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-12.561; 12. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio-12.568; 13. Harley Burns, 16K, Knight-12.574; 14. Cole Ketcham, 41, Ketcham-12.614; 15. Scotty Weir, 39G, Goodnight-12.634; 16. Cody White, 26w, White-12.720; 17. Max Adams, 57, Hazen-12.720; 18. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-12.733; 19. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-12.751; 20. Dustin Ingle, 2DI, Ingle-12.767; 21. Tyler Hewitt, 1, RL-12.830; 22. Corey Smith, 66s, CS-12.841; 23. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.856; 24. Dave Darland, 43m, Tibbits-12.867; 25. Shane Cottle, 19c, Cooley-12.966; 26. Dustin Clark, 75, Clark-12.996; 27. Jack James, 99, James-13.422; 28. Dustin Smith, 77, Smith-13.582.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Isaac Chapple, 4. Cody White, 5. Shane Cottle, 6. Tyler Hewitt, 7. Harley Burns. 2:08.98

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Cole Ketcham, 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Jason McDougal, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Dustin Clark, 6. Matt Goodnight, 7. Corey Smith. 2:03.85

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Scotty Weir, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Tye Mihocko, 4. Tyler Courtney, 5. Chad Boespflug, 6. Matt Westfall, 7. Jack James. 2:04.18

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Dustin Ingle, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Max Adams, 6. Anthony D'Alessio, 7. Dustin Smith. 2:04.03

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Chad Boespflug, 2. Max Adams, 3. Harley Burns, 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Matt Goodnight, 6. Shane Cottle, 7. Dustin Smith, 8. Dustin Clark, 9. Anthony D'Alessio, 10. Corey Smith, 11. Jack James, 12. Tyler Hewitt. 2:28.28 (New Track Record)

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Chris Windom (1), 2. Tyler Courtney (7), 3. Justin Grant (3), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2), 5. Chase Stockon (8), 6. C.J. Leary (6), 7. Brady Bacon (4), 8. Jason McDougal (17), 9. Isaac Chapple (9), 10. Max Adams (15), 11. Scotty Weir (14), 12. Matt Westfall (20), 13. Tye Mihocko (18), 14. Matt Goodnight (10), 15. Harley Burns (12), 16. Cody White (16), 17. Cole Ketcham (13), 18. Dustin Ingle (19), 19. Dave Darland (21), 20. Chad Boespflug (11), 21. Thomas Meseraull (5), 22. Dustin Clark (23), 23. Shane Cottle (22). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Chris Windom

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Jason McDougal (17th to 8th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Tye Mihocko

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Dustin Smith

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Harley Burns

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,903, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,792, 3-Brady Bacon-1,710, 4-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,708, 5-Justin Grant-1,704, 6-Chris Windom-1,702, 7-Chase Stockon-1,649, 8-Jason McDougal-1,436, 9-Carson Short-1,361, 10-Isaac Chapple-1,110.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 28, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 38th 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.tv - 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

#3R Kyle Cummins battles #19AZ C.J. Leary for the lead en route to his victory in Saturday night's Haubstadt Hustler at Tri-State Speedway.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Haubstadt, Indiana (September 14, 2019).........In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes and Kyle Cummins winning at Tri-State Speedway in 2019.
Cummins, of Princeton, Ind., continued his immaculate season at the quarter-mile dirt oval in Haubstadt, Ind., winning his seventh race in seven tries this year at Tri-State, and picking up his second career Haubstadt Hustler victory after collecting Saturday night's $10,000-to-win 40-lap feature co-sanctioned by the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and the Brandeis Midwest Sprint Car Series.

Despite the blistering run of success, which now includes three USAC victories in 2019, Cummins was cautious to call his shot ala Babe Ruth entering the night.

"I felt like after winning this many in a row here, I was bound to lose because everything's been going right and we really haven't had a real bad night," Cummins admitted. "Throughout a whole season, the more good nights you have, the bad ones are right around the corner."

That was certainly not the case in the final results, though the beginning of the main event saw him jump quickly to the lead on the second lap past USAC Sprint Rookie of the Year point leader Dustin Christie, then fall back to second as USAC Sprint point leader C.J. Leary bolted to the front around the outside of Cummins between turns one and two on the third circuit, where he'd hold down the fort for the remainder of the first quarter the feature.

Traffic was thick entering the 10th lap for Leary as he swung high and dove low to split his way to the nearest escape route away from Cummins, but to no avail, as his lead diminished and Cummins was prime to strike on the 12th lap when Leary got himself sideways in the middle of turns three and four. Cummins slipped by underneath off turn four to assume control up front.

The evening's lone red flag arrived on the 16th lap when previous night's Terre Haute winner, Saturday's Fatheadz Eyewear fast qualifier and fourth-running Justin Grant, ramped over the infield tire off turn four and spiraled through the air before landing upside down along the main straightaway where he'd climb from the wreckage unharmed.

The lapped car of three-time Haubstadt Hustler winner Kevin Thomas, Jr. separated Cummins and Leary on the lap 17 restart. Leary ably disposed of Thomas quickly around the top in turn one, but Cummins had scooted away to a one second advantage by that point, forcing Leary into catchup mode right off the bat.

Just after halfway, Cummins was rapidly approaching the throes of lapped traffic, allowing Courtney to rip by Leary for second, then carve deeply into Cummins' advantage, whittling the interval down to a quarter of a second. On the 27th lap, Cummins met the side-by-side duo of Christie and Brian Karraker, both on the cusp of being put a lap down while battling for position. Cummins was briefly stifled behind the pair before opting for the top at the entry of turn three with Courtney now less than a car length off Cummins' rear bumper.

Traffic will certainly be a part of the equation with 25 cars going 40 laps on a quarter-mile bullring. Although Cummins has attained more success and completed more laps at Tri-State than anybody on track this night, there's nothing that can completely prepare an individual for the decisiveness it takes to maneuver through it without a hindrance. But that's just the type of challenge Cummins was ready to embrace.

"One time I thought (a car in front of me) had spun out," Cummins remembered. "I'm not sure who it was, but I was crossed up as much as I could be, and I thought they had spun out. I really had to backpedal, and when I came off the corner there, I thought, 'man, I'm really scrubbing off some speed.' I didn't know where they were running, so I decided to get away from the bottom and run a couple laps around the top. Then, we got to the next group and they were running the top. It seemed like if you pressured them a little bit, they would slide up. I didn't feel like (Courtney) was going to pass around the top if they were there too."

Courtney tried with all his might, riding high into turn one and diamonding off two to get a run on Cummins. Yet, Cummins wasn't about to give Courtney an open door to the front as the defending USAC Sprint champ harassed Cummins, doing everything but passing the new all-time winningest MSCS driver with the laps dwindling.

With three laps to go, heartbreak befell fourth-running Jason McDougal who slowed to a stop in turn two after charging from his 21st starting position. For Cummins, though, it was a godsend to get to step out of the line of traffic for good for the final dash to the finish.

Cummins and the crew on his Rock Steady Racing/Debra Corn Foster Care - Lucas Oil Center Oil-Lube-Wash/Mach 1/Foxco Chevy went with a slightly different plan of attack. With track conditions changing, it threw the team for a bit of a loop.

Saturday night at Tri-State Speedway, Kyle Cummins earned his second career Haubstadt Hustler win, with the first coming in 2016.
(David Nearpass Photo)

"We kind of did a couple things differently from what we normally do," Cummins explained. "Once I moved up there (to the top), I didn't know I was as good as I was. Once I got up there on the restart again, it felt good. I couldn't pass the lapped cars for a while. They were running two-by-two and I was just trying to pick my way through and get in the right spot. Thankfully, we got that last caution to get them out of the way, and we were able to run my own line those last couple of laps."

For the sprint to the checkered, Cummins' plan was to throw it into the corners knowing his competition was going to have to pull off something special to get by.

"When I went through (turns) one and two, I couldn't believe how good it stuck," Cummins exclaimed. "I'm like, 'this is where I'm going to be,' and if they're going to pass me, they're going to have to slide me or something. I was a little nervous. I got a little loose coming out of turn two on the last lap, and it's happened multiple times where a guy throws a big haymaker slider. I got into three and actually got a little tight. I'm just glad they weren't right on me. It felt good to make some money tonight."

From there, Cummins buttoned up his sixth career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory, four of which have come at Tri-State Speedway, by a margin of 0.879 sec. over Tyler Courtney, C.J. Leary, Kendall Ruble and Chris Windom.

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Tri-State Speedway were Justin Grant (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), C.J. Leary (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Dustin Christie (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Kyle Cummins (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Chris Windom (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Carson Short (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) & Stephen Schnapf (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 14, 2019 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - Haubstadt Hustler co-sanctioned by the Brandeis Midwest Sprint Car Series

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.961; 2. Kent Schmidt, 5K, KO-14.004; 3. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-14.036; 4. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-14.065; 5. Critter Malone, 5s, KO-14.115; 6. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.153; 7. Chayse Hayhurst, 20, Hayhurst-14.185; 8. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-14.226; 9. Brian Karraker, 23, Karraker-14.309; 10. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.312; 11. Shane Cottle, 38, Williams-14.335; 12. Kendall Ruble, 17, Ruble-14.344; 13. Chris Windom, 5G, Parallax/Goacher-14.370; 14. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-14.376; 15. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-14.391; 16. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-14.400; 17. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-14.414; 18. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-14.454; 19. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.488; 20. Donny Brackett, 4B, Brackett-14.501; 21. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.520; 22. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.623; 23. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-14.641; 24. Scotty Weir, 39, Goodnight-14.698; 25. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-14.806; 26. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-14.878; 27. Collin Ambrose, 2, Ambrose-15.332; 28. Sam Scott, 7, Scott-15.620; 29. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-15.984; 30. Ryan Bond, 7R, Bond-NT; 31. Brady Short, 11p, Short/Pottorff-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Kendall Ruble, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Stephen Schnapf, 6. Carson Short, 7. Jason McDougal, 8. Ryan Bond. 2:19.38

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Dustin Christie, 2. Josh Hodges, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Max Adams, 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Isaac Chapple, 8. Scotty Weir. 2:21.60

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Cummins, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Critter Malone, 4. Kent Schmidt, 5. Brady Short, 6. Brian VanMeveren, 7. Aric Gentry, 8. Sam Scott. 2:22.18

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Brian Karraker, 3. Chayse Hayhurst, 4. Donny Brackett, 5. Dakota Jackson, 6. Collin Ambrose, 7. Eric Perrott. 2:20.09

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2. Brady Short, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dakota Jackson, 5. Jason McDougal, 6. Carson Short, 7. Stephen Schnapf, 8. Isaac Chapple, 9. Brian VanMeveren, 10. Aric Gentry, 11. Scotty Weir, 12. Sam Scott, 13. Collin Ambrose, 14. Eric Perrott.

FEATURE: (40 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kyle Cummins (3), 2. Tyler Courtney (4), 3. C.J. Leary (1), 4. Kendall Ruble (5), 5. Chris Windom (10), 6. Critter Malone (11), 7. Chase Stockon (9), 8. Brady Bacon (19), 9. Brady Short (18), 10. Josh Hodges (6), 11. Stephen Schnapf (23), 12. Max Adams (14), 13. Carson Short (22), 14. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (17), 15. Donny Brackett (16), 16. Kent Schmidt (15), 17. Dustin Christie (2), 18. Jason McDougal (21), 19. Brian Karraker (8), 20. Chayse Hayhurst (12), 21. Dakota Jackson (20), 22. Justin Grant (13), 23. Isaac Chapple (24), 24. Collin Ambrose (25), 25. Shane Cottle (7). NT
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**Justin Grant flipped on lap 16 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Dustin Christie, Lap 2 Kyle Cummins, Laps 3-11 C.J. Leary, Laps 12-40 Kyle Cummins.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (19th to 8th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Carson Short

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Stephen Schnapf

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Chris Windom

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,835, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,720, 3-Brady Bacon-1,647, 4-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,637, 5-Justin Grant-1,629, 6-Chris Windom-1,626, 7-Chase Stockon-1,585, 8-Jason McDougal-1,381, 9-Carson Short-1,361, 10-Isaac Chapple-1,058.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 28, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - "4-Crown Nationals"

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Justin Grant captured the victory in Friday night's Jim Hurtubise Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Terre Haute, Indiana (September 13, 2019).........Justin Grant remembers going a long way in his first visit to the Terre Haute Action Track in 2010.

Friday night, the Ione, Calif. native showed he's come a long way in another aspect since his humbling introduction to the famed western Indiana half-mile nearly a decade earlier, winning the 20th running of the Jim Hurtubise Classic for USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars, his first Sprint Car win of any kind at the track.

"In my first race here in 2010, I sailed it out of the park in turn one and I smashed a guy's Buick or Plymouth, or something, whatever it was," Grant recalled. "I made it a long way out there too. Terre Haute had my number for quite a while and it's taken me nine years to finally get a win here, but we did it, and it feels really good. At one point, it was probably my worst track on the tour. To come here and win, it means a lot to me personally."

Grant, a 2018 Sumar Classic Silver Crown winner at Terre Haute, had a topsy-turvy turn of events to begin his night. Shortly after racing from 5th to 1st to win the first heat race, on his cooldown lap, Grant encountered trouble, without warning, that nearly spelled complete disaster.

"We had a left front radius rod come apart, and you can't steer," Grant explained. "The axle rolls back and falls off the arm. I lifted off of (turn) two, and halfway down the back stretch, it started squirrelling all around and I thought 'Whoa, we got a problem here.' I knew the front end was falling out, and when you get on the brakes, it just folds them up. I was just trying to coast it to a stop; I got it whoa'd down pretty slow, then it dropped, and the frame rail dug in and it just turned me right into the inside wall. Luckily, it just front-bumpered into it. No harm, no foul. We brought it back, put a bolt in it and we were ready for the feature."

If the incident would've occurred one lap earlier, the outcome and the progression of the night could've been disastrously different. However, on this particular night, in the first ever USAC National event held simultaneously on Friday the 13th and with a full moon hovering overhead, perhaps good fortune was on his side.

Grant rolled off for the 30-lap feature from the third position, but it took no time flat for him to race his way into the lead, grooving the bottom past pole sitter Nick Bilbee in the first turn to secure the lead while 7th starting Jason McDougal charged all the way to 2nd by the conclusion of the opening lap, but a full second behind Grant.

In the ensuing laps, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Brady Bacon and Tyler Courtney had worked their way around McDougal to occupy positions 2-3-4 and formed a triumvirate in their pursuit to run down Grant with seven laps completed.

Grant was introduced to lapped traffic by the tenth lap, allowing Thomas to close the gap to under a second. The lapped cars of Dustin Christie and Aric Gentry battled for position in their own right, but Grant escaped from Thomas for the time being, maneuvering around the outside of Christie off turn four, then dove low, sliding by Gentry at the entrance of turn one.

Thomas kept Grant in check, and as Grant slid into the fluff on the outside of turn two on the 11th lap, Thomas used a massive run to drive by Gentry and charge into turn three side-by-side momentarily to the inside of Grant. Grant withheld the challenge and remained in control past halfway, until lap 18, when Thomas went on the attack once again, throwing a monster slider on Grant who was able to stand his ground and firm his grip of the lead as he split the lapped cars of Steve Thomas and Dustin Smith to sneak away and increase the interval to 2.5 seconds.

From that point forward, the crystal clear message was sent to Grant. There was no more time to be conservative and ride around as Grant stood up in the seat and regularly entered above the cushion as he began to assert his authority and rebuild his advantage.

Courtney, who had won three of the last five USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car features at Terre Haute entering the night, had carved his way into second under Thomas on the 21st lap. Meanwhile, Grant was sitting pretty up front with a comfortable lead in his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink - Bow Foundation - Challenger Construction/Maxim/Claxton Chevy.

With just five laps remaining, however, Grant's two-plus second lead was deleted when two-time Jim Hurtubise Classic winner and 4th running Brady Bacon encountered trouble and heavy right-side damage, coming to a rest against the turn one wall.

"I didn't want to see that," Grant said of the yellow flag. "I knew I had gotten through lapped traffic pretty quickly for as thick it was. We were honestly in a pretty good rhythm. Here, you never want to see a yellow when you're leading. The front stretch is so long and so slick, and if you slide yourself, there's nothing off of two and you're a sitting duck. You can't block the slider; you just hope you get a good enough restart and you can beat the slider to the center."

Justin Grant's 16th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory moved him into a tie with Damion Gardner for 33rd on the all-time win list. The victory vaulted Grant past Bobby East, Cory Kruseman, Jud Larson and Brian Tyler on the same list.
(David Nearpass Photo)

Grant was fully prepared for the challenge that was going to be presented to him at the drop of the green flag from Courtney, the defending series champion. Courtney reared back on the start and fired his machine to the bottom in hope to slide up in front of Grant by turn two. Grant never wavered, kept his right foot on the throttle and squeezed through to the miniscule peak of daylight between Courtney to his inside and the concrete wall to his outside.

Courtney took his shot and sold out for the lead in the process, as Grant shot back out to a half-second advantage while Thomas took advantage of Courtney's loss of momentum exiting the second turn to move back to second. In the final laps, Thomas utilized a line lower than Grant's top side ride but wasn't able to get close enough to fire off a slide job for the top spot.

Grant, meanwhile, raced to his third USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car points win of the season by 0.925 of a second over Thomas, Courtney, Fatheadz Eyewear fast qualifier Chris Windom and series point leader C.J. Leary.

Grant's 16th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory moved him into a tie with Damion Gardner for 33rd on the all-time win list. The victory vaulted Grant past Bobby East, Cory Kruseman, Jud Larson and Brian Tyler on the same list.

Chase Stockon, who started 2nd and finished 7th in Friday's feature, reached a milestone by making his record 285th consecutive USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature start since the 2012 season, surpassing the previous record of 284 set by Levi Jones.

Contingency award winners Friday night at the Terre Haute Action Track were Chris Windom (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Justin Grant (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Carson Short (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Bill Rose (Indy Race Parts Semi Winner), Dustin Smith (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Eric Perrott (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 13, 2019 - Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, Indiana - 20th Jim Hurtubise Classic

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-20.094; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-20.175; 3. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-20.176; 4. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-20.230; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-20.233; 6. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-20.275; 7. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-20.288; 8. Carson Short, 21, RCM-20.302; 9. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-20.437; 10. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-20.458; 11. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-20.520; 12. Bill Rose, 6, Rose-20.528; 13. Dustin Smith, 77, Smith-20.652; 14. Mitch Wissmiller, 29, Barker-20.703; 15. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-20.835; 16. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-20.889; 17. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-20.957; 18. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-21.117; 19. Kyle Robbins, 17R, KR-21.134; 20. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-21.532; 21. Steve Thomas, 20, Thomas-21.913; 22. Jake Simmons, 3, Simmons-21.932; 23. Paul May, 71m, May-21.978; 24. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-22.026; 25. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-23.370; 26. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-NT; 27. Patrick Budde, 90, Budde-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Jason McDougal, 5. Brian VanMeveren, 6. Kyle Robbins, 7. Jake Simmons, 8. Dustin Smith. 2:46.85

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Carson Short, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. Josh Hodges, 5. Mitch Wissmiller, 6. Max Adams, 7. Aric Gentry, 8. Tye Mihocko. 2:48.36

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Nick Bilbee, 4. Isaac Chapple, 5. Dustin Christie, 6. Bill Rose, 7. Steve Thomas, 8. Eric Perrott. NT

INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (10 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Bill Rose, 2. Dustin Smith, 3. Aric Gentry, 4. Max Adams, 5. Tye Mihocko, 6. Kyle Robbins, 7. Steve Thomas, 8. Eric Perrott, 9. Jake Simmons. 3:41.71

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (3), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 3. Tyler Courtney (9), 4. Chris Windom (6), 5. C.J. Leary (4), 6. Jason McDougal (7), 7. Chase Stockon (2), 8. Nick Bilbee (1), 9. Josh Hodges (11), 10. Carson Short (8), 11. Max Adams (17), 12. Isaac Chapple (15), 13. Dustin Smith (13), 14. Kyle Robbins (19), 15. Dustin Christie (18), 16. Aric Gentry (22), 17. Steve Thomas (21), 18. Brady Bacon (10), 19. Tye Mihocko (20), 20. Brian VanMeveren (16), 21. Mitch Wissmiller (14), 22. Bill Rose (12). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Justin Grant

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Tyler Courtney (9th to 3rd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dustin Smith

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Eric Perrott

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Dustin Smith

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,771, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,653, 3-Justin Grant-1,606, 4-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,602, 5-Brady Bacon-1,598, 6-Chris Windom-1,568, 7-Chase Stockon-1,533, 8-Jason McDougal-1,354, 9-Carson Short-1,324, 10-Isaac Chapple-1,035.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 14, 2019 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - "Haubstadt Hustler" - Co-Sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars salute the crowd four-wide
at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track.
(Dave Olson Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Terre Haute, Indiana (September 9, 2019).........Friday's Jim Hurtubise Classic begins a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car doubleheader weekend in the Hoosier state this Friday, September 13, at one of USAC's longest-tenured venues, the Terre Haute Action Track, which hosted its first USAC Sprint Car event more than six decades ago, in 1957.

Friday's race honors the most successful USAC Sprint Car driver in those early years at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds half-mile, Jim Hurtubise, who won five-straight between 1960 and 1962. "Herk," a 1993 inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, first had an event in his name at the Terre Haute Action Track in 1990, less than a year following his passing, a race won by Jack Hewitt.

This year, the event enters its 20th running with two-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion Brady Bacon scoring the most recent victory at the Hurtubise Classic last September. Bacon has had a notable run of success in the event as one of three drivers to win the Hurtubise Classic on multiple occasions, first winning in the Fall of 2014 aboard the Dynamics, Inc. No. 69. The Terre Haute USAC one-lap track record holder from Broken Arrow, Okla. aims to become the first driver to pilot the Dynamics, Inc. to victory lane at Terre Haute twice following previous singular victories by Robbie Stanley (1993), Tracy Hines (2003) and Jerry Coons, Jr. (2010).

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) is one of the three multiple-time Hurtubise Classic winners alongside Hewitt and Bacon, capturing three in 2011-2016-2017. With one more victory on Friday, he would surpass Hewitt as the winningest Hurtubise Classic driver of all-time. Windom has won four times overall in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition at Terre Haute and once in Silver Crown, plus his latest triumph there at the western Indiana dirt oval, scoring an MSCS win in August.

The very first win of Chase Stockon's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car career came right at Terre Haute during the 2012 Jim Hurtubise Classic. The current Fort Branch, Ind. resident who grew up in nearby Sullivan, Ind., has three USAC Sprint wins overall at Terre Haute, including the Tony Hulman Classic in May of this year. This Friday, he hopes to become USAC's ultimate ironman. One more start would be his 285th consecutive with the USAC National Sprint Car division, surpassing Levi Jones for the longest such streak in series history.

READING (PA) FAIRGROUNDS MARCH 29, 1964 USAC SPRINTS
Jim Hurtubise in the # 96 Holynski Engineering Special (Mike Calla Wheels of Speed Photo)

Tyler Courtney was the victor in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car division's most recent visit to Terre Haute in July during Indiana Sprint Week where he led the final nine laps for the victory. In fact, the Indianapolis, Ind. native swept the event, earning quick time in qualifying, winning his heat and pulling off the trifecta in the A-Main. Courtney has won three of the last five at Terre Haute and is the most recent winner in the series, in August at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway.

The last driver to win at Terre Haute before Courtney began his run of three out of five at the beginning of the 2018 season is Kevin Thomas, Jr. Thomas (Cullman, Ala.) has won twice at the Action Track in USAC National Sprint competition. He emerged victorious after a scintillating battle with Dave Darland during the final laps of the ISW round in 2013, then reigned supreme near the end of 2017. Like Courtney, he's gunning for his first Hurtubise Classic win, where he finished 5th a year ago.

So is C.J. Leary, who's stood in victory lane once before with USAC at Terre Haute after scoring his first career National series win in a Silver Crown car at the Sumar Classic in 2016. Leary was 9th and 6th in his two Terre Haute starts this year en route to the 121-point lead in the series standings he holds entering Friday's race. The Greenfield, Ind. driver was quick time in qualifying at Terre Haute in May, one of his series-leading eight this year. He led the first five laps and finished 4th in the 2018 Hurtubise Classic.

Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) led 21 laps and finished 2nd in the series appearance at Terre Haute in July. He took 5th in May and is 4th in the series standings entering Friday's event at Terre Haute where he has not yet won at in USAC competition. He owns two USAC National Sprint points-paying wins this season as well as a special event at Kokomo in August.

Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.), a winner in both USAC's National Sprint Car and Midget series in 2019, earned a 7th place finish in his Terre Haute USAC Sprint Car debut in 2018. He was 10th in his first Hurtubise Classic appearance last Fall and took 7th again in his return to Terre Haute this past May.

Isaac Chapple (Willow Branch, Ind.) took 13th in his most recent Hurtubise Classic ride last September. The 2016 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year was the hard charger at Terre Haute back in May, finishing 10th. He was 12th during the series return in July and resides 10th in the series standings.

The 163rd USAC Sprint Car event at the Terre Haute Action Track will also have the DIRTcar Modifieds on hand. Pits open at 3pm Eastern, grandstands at 4pm and cars on track at 6:30pm. Adult grandstand tickets are $25 while adult infield tickets are $15. Kids 11 and under are free. Pit passes are $35 apiece.

The Jim Hurtubise Classic will have live, flag-to-flag coverage on FloRacing. You can listen to live audio of the broadcast for free on the USAC app or follow along with live updates
on https://www.facebook.com/usacracing/ and https://twitter.com/USACNation/ with live timing and scoring available on both the USAC and Race-Monitor apps.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,702, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,581, 3-Brady Bacon-1,564, 4-Justin Grant-1,525, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,524, 6-Chris Windom-1,495, 7-Chase Stockon-1,472, 8-Jason McDougal-1,294, 9-Carson Short-1,273, 10-Isaac Chapple-991.

JIM HURTUBISE CLASSIC WINS:
1. (3) Jack Hewitt (1990-91-95) & Chris Windom (2011-16-17)

3. (2) Brady Bacon (2014-18)

4. (1) Robert Ballou (2015), Jerry Coons, Jr. (2013), Tony Elliott (1998), Tray House (1994), Tony Jones (1999), Rusty McClure (1992), Jon Stanbrough (2010), Robbie Stanley (1993), Chase Stockon (2012), Kevin Thomas (1996) & J.J. Yeley (1997)

TERRE HAUTE ACTION TRACK USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS:
(161 Points Races)
1. (8) Gary Bettenhausen & Jack Hewitt

3. (6) Bubby Jones, Sheldon Kinser & J.J. Yeley

6. (5) Jim Hurtubise, Levi Jones, Jon Stanbrough & Rich Vogler

10. (4) Bud Kaeding, Roger McCluskey & Chris Windom

13. (3) Don Branson, Steve Butler, Pancho Carter, Daron Clayton, Jerry Coons, Jr, Tyler Courtney, Jay Drake, Cary Faas, Tracy Hines, Rick Hood, Joe Saldana & Chase Stockon

25. (2) Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Rollie Beale, Tom Bigelow, Dave Darland, Cory Kruseman, Johnny Rutherford, Dick Tobias, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Bruce Walkup & Greg Weld

36. (1) Billy Cassella, Steve Chassey, Bryan Clauson, Mel Cornett, Larry Dickson, Ed Elisian, Tony Elliott, Aaron Farney, A.J. Foyt, Richard Griffin, Chuck Gurney, Tommy Hinnershitz, Tray House, Chet Johnson, Tony Jones, Doug Kalitta, Frankie Kerr, Steve Kinser, Eddie Leavitt, Andy Linden, Bobby Marshman, Charlie Masters, Rusty McClure, James McElreath, Jim McElreath, Jim McWithey, Jan Opperman, Terry Pletch, Larry Rice, Eddie Sachs, Sam Sessions, Ron Shuman, George Snider, Robbie Stanley, Brad Sweet, Kevin Thomas & Bobby Unser

**J.J. Yeley = 1 Non-Points Special Event Win