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GRANT GROOVES AT WESTERN WORLD OPENER
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Justin Grant poses with a pair of bulls after winning Friday's 'Western World Championships' Night 1 USAC AMSOIL National/CRA Sprint Car feature at Arizona Speedway. (Adam Mollenkopf Photo)
GRANT GROOVES AT WESTERN WORLD OPENER
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
San Tan Valley, Arizona.....November 2, 2018 - In a nutshell, the opening night of the 51st "Western World Championships" is a microcosm of the way the 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season has unfolded for Justin Grant and TOPP Motorsports.
Just when you began to count this pair out, here they are, back with gusto in the autumn of Friday night's 30-lapper at Arizona Speedway and in the autumn of the racing season.
After relinquishing the lead twice - on lap 7 and lap 18 - Grant didn't let himself get thrown far from the bull. He grabbed it by the horns and charged back into contention, for the final time with five laps remaining, escaping between Tyler Courtney and the outside turn two wall like a matador side stepping the brunt of a bull's charge to score his third USAC National Sprint Car feature victory in his last four starts.
It was the Ione, California native's 11th win with the series, moving him past Tony Stewart on the career wins list and into a tie for 45thalongside Daron Clayton, Greg Leffler and Chase Stockon.
Grant began the race from the pole position, initially crawling the bottom into turn one to get past outside front row starter C.J. Leary for the lead. By the time Grant got to turn three, he went topside as Kevin Thomas, Jr and Damion Gardner gave chase on the bottom.
Thomas dug his way to the lead off the fourth turn on the seventh lap to snare the lead. But his time up front was already fleeting as Grant charged back on the outside off turn two the following lap and slammed the door in turn three to yank the low line away from Thomas.
Grant shuffled his line, going to the shelf between turns one and two and skimming the bottom of three and four, searching the 3/8-mile dirt oval for any potential gains while Thomas and Gardner see-sawed the runner-up spot.
At the halfway mark, Logan Williams got sideways between turns one and two as the front runners bore down on him. While Williams was able to right his ship, Gardner and Thomas got bogged up just enough that allowed fourth-running Courtney to capitalize and skedaddle his way around both from fourth to second in one fell swoop off turn four. Moments later, seventh-running Jason McDougal was found turned around in turn two to bring out the feature's lone stoppage.
On the ensuing restart, Courtney and Gardner both stuck their hands in the cookie jar between turns one and two, racing three-wide with leader Grant momentarily before Grant was able to pop his way out of the crowd and escape with the lead.
A lap later, though, the story would take a turn as Courtney used a massive run off the cushion in turn four to blast past Grant like his shoes were stuck in mud.
However, stories have chapters. And Grant was more than eager to write a different ending than one might have suspected based on Courtney's 10 victories this year. But, Grant had no cliffhanger or sequel in mind. This one was going to have a concise, fairytale ending.
Grant never let Courtney stray too far as they both religiously ripped the topside. Once traffic came into play, Courtney came off the top to split between the lapped cars of Danny Faria, Jr. and Tye Mihocko between turns three and four, which allowed Grant to draw nearer. Courtney tried the 7/10 split again in turn one while Grant nailed his boots up top.
As Courtney slid across the track toward the turn two wall on the 26th lap, Grant had two choices: lift and relent the position or gas it up and go like hell. He chose the latter and escaped with the lead with roughly the width of a dime to spare between he and contact.
Courtney took one final shot at Grant on the final lap with a slider into turn one. Grant stamped the throttle, banging off the turn two concrete as he jetted back around Courtney one final time to bring home a 0.892 second victory over Courtney, Gardner, Chris Windom and Thomas.
'On tracks like this, you end up being a sitting duck when you're the leader and the track is moving around. Once (Courtney) got by us, I jumped up there behind him and he left us half a hole over there and I wasn't planning on losing this race tonight.' - Justin Grant (Rich Forman Photo)
Grant was an user of the entire racetrack on this night, from the bottom to the top, searching and scouring the land like Amerigo Vespucci for 30 laps. Once he got passed just after halfway, he found the fast way around, but all he needed was a little bit of daylight that he could use to get by Courtney and conquer the land they call victory lane.
"We were leading early and then went to the bottom," Grant recalled. "On tracks like this, you end up being a sitting duck when you're the leader and the track is moving around. Once (Courtney) got by us, I jumped up there behind him and he left us half a hole over there and I wasn't planning on losing this race tonight! This 4 car has been amazing and I'm having a blast. I've won a lot of races against the concrete and on the fence. I don't know if I've ever run one that hard on the concrete and hit it quite that many times."
Unlike Grant, Indianapolis, Indiana's Courtney was simultaneously racing for a feature win as well as a series title. While he did gain six points on Thomas with four races remaining on the National trail, he felt like this was one he let slip away.
"I threw one away tonight," Courtney admitted. "I got a little impatient there in traffic and wasted a lot of time with lapped cars. You just can't make mistakes like that when you're racing against guys that are at the top of their game."
A pair of title races were in play tonight. The National Sprint points have tightened up slightly with Thomas now holding a 28-point lead over Courtney with Windom 60 markers behind the leader. The CRA standings have shrunk as well with Brody Roa holding the edge by nine points over Gardner.
Contingency award winners Friday night at Arizona Speedway were Brody Roa (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Chris Windom (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), R.J. Johnson (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Dave Darland (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Thomas Meseraull (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jake Swanson (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).
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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 2, 2018 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 51st"Western World Championships"
QUALIFYING: 1. Thomas Meseraull, 77m, Michael-15.204; 2. Logan Seavey, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-15.257; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-15.279; 4. Jason McDougal, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-15.305; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson Marshall Newman-15.309; 6. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-15.358; 7. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.362; 8. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-15.377; 9. Damion Gardner, 4x, Alexander-15.390; 10. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-15.422; 11. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.431; 12. Dave Darland, 12, Ballou-15.440; 13. Jake Swanson, 34AZ, Grau/Burkhart-15.501; 14. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-15.525; 15. Danny Faria, Jr., 42, Cheney-15.552; 16. Stevie Sussex, 12A, Allen-15.569; 17. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.594; 18. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-15.653; 19. R.J. Johnson, 92, Sertich-15.685; 20. Danny Sheridan, 15, Johnson-15.711; 21. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-15.836; 22. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-15.851; 23. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-15.892; 24. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-16.159; 25. Joel Rayborne, 12B, Blair-16.167; 26. Logan Williams, 5x, Jory-16.170; 27. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.181; 28. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-16.236; 29. Tye Mihocko, 5T, Mihocko-16.376; 30. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-16.398.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Roa, 2. Gardner, 3. Chapple, 4. Meseraull, 5. Courtney, 6. Swanson, 7. Mihocko, 8. Rayborne. 2:42.24
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Windom, 2. Seavey, 3. Bacon, 4. Bernal, 5. A. Williams, 6. Rossi, 7. L. Williams. 2:39.60
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Johnson, 2. Stockon, 3. Leary, 4. Thomas, 5. Faria, 6. Gansen, 7. C. Williams. 2:36.99
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Darland, 2. McDougal, 3. Hodges, 4. Grant, 5. Sussex, 6. Sheridan, 7. Gile. 2:29.45
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. A. Williams, 3. Rossi, 4. Faria, 5. Mihocko, 6. L. Williams, 7. Gansen, 8. C. Williams, 9. Gile, 10. Rayborne, 11. Sheridan, 12. Sussex, 13. Swanson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (1), 2. Tyler Courtney (7), 3. Damion Gardner (9), 4. Chris Windom (10), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 6. C.J. Leary (2), 7. Brody Roa (15), 8. Brady Bacon (13), 9. Dave Darland (12), 10. Logan Seavey (5), 11. R.J. Johnson (17), 12. Chase Stockon (11), 13. Thomas Meseraull (6), 14. Isaac Chapple (18), 15. Matt Rossi (19), 16. Austin Williams (8), 17. Josh Hodges (20), 18. Cody Williams (23), 19. Danny Faria, Jr. (14), 20. Tye Mihocko (22), 21. Ryan Bernal (16), 22. Joel Rayborne (24), 23. Logan Williams (21), 24. Jason McDougal (3). NT
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**Sussex flipped during the semi.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Grant, Lap 6 Thomas, Laps 7-17 Grant, Laps 18-25 Courtney, Laps 26-30 Grant.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brody Roa (15th to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Thomas Meseraull
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Jake Swanson
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Chris Gansen
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-2464, 2-Courtney-2436, 3-Windom-2404, 4-Bacon-2136, 5-Darland-2117, 6-Leary-2104, 7-Stockon-2084, 8-Grant-2022, 9-Robert Ballou-1771, 10-Chapple-1418.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Roa-1422, 2-Gardner-1413, 3-A. Williams-1211, 4-C. Williams-1092, 5-Swanson-1022, 6-Johnson-994, 7-Max Adams-943, 8-Faria-890, 9-L. Williams-858, 10-Gansen-793.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: November 3 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 51st "Western World Championships"
SUNSHINE TOPS WESTERN WORLD PRACTICE NIGHT
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
#7BC Tyler Courtney was the fastest on 'Western World' practice night. (Rich Forman File Photo)
SUNSHINE TOPS WESTERN WORLD PRACTICE NIGHT
San Tan Valley, Arizona.........Tyler Courtney led all drivers in practice Thursday night at Arizona Speedway in preparation for the 51strunning of the "Western World Championships" Friday and Saturday night, November 2-3.
Courtney, of Indianapolis, Ind., ripped around the 3/8-mile with the top time of 14.943 seconds aboard his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/NOS Energy Drink - Priority Aviation/Spike/Rider Chevy. Jason McDougal was the only other driver under 15 seconds at 14.958. Justin Grant was third ahead of Chris Windom, Brady Bacon, Thomas Meseraull, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Chase Stockon, Isaac Chapple and Dave Darland.
The open practice featured cars and drivers competing in both the USAC AMSOIL National/CRA Sprint Car event as well as the Southwest Sprint Car race. A handful of drivers took laps in both their 410 and 360-powered rides Thursday night, including C.J. Leary, Thomas, Stockon and Darland.
Make sure to catch all the action from both nights of "Western World" live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and/or listen to the live audio feed on the USAC app.
On both nights of Western World, the pits open at 2pm and front gates at 3pm. The drivers meeting is at 4:30pm with cars set to hit the track at 5:25pm Mountain time.
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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR PRACTICE RESULTS: November 1, 2018 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 51st"Western World Championships"
1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson Marshall Newman-14.943; 2. Jason McDougal, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-14.958; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-15.096; 4. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-15.195; 5. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-15.202; 6. Thomas Meseraull, 77m, Michael-15.237; 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-15.304; 8. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.307; 9. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-15.355; 10. Dave Darland, 12, Ballou-15.369; 11. Stevie Sussex, 12A, Allen-15.592; 12. Danny Sheridan, 15, Johnson-15.684; 13. Tye Mihocko, 5T, Mihocko-15.707; 14. Colton Hardy, 74, Hardy-15.723; 15. C.J. Leary, 33-15.870; 16. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 73, Ford-15.877; 17. Shon Deskins, 7, Deskins-15.926; 18. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-16.042; 19. Chase Stockon, 1AZ-16.144; 20. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-16.217; 21. Nick Aiuto, 27, Aiuto-16.255; 22. Caleb Saiz, 42, Saiz-16.269; 23. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.432; 24. Joel Rayborne, 12x, Rayborne-16.586; 25. #68-16.611; 26. Travis Oldfield, 38, Oldfield-16.612; 27. Spencer Hill, 11w, Hill-16.707; 28. Matt Lundy, 98, Lundy-16.762; 29. Dave Darland, 2, Yeley-16.763; 30. J.R. Bonesteel, 0, Yeley-16.872; 31. #72-17.258.
DEPALMA MOTORSPORTS LEAVES ON TOP AFTER 5 STRAIGHT SILVER CROWN TITLES
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
DePalma Motorsports set a record in 2018 with their fifth-straight USAC Silver Crown owner's title with Kody Swanson as the driver. (Gene Crucean Photo)
DEPALMA MOTORSPORTS LEAVES ON TOP AFTER 5 STRAIGHT SILVER CROWN TITLES
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Lima, Ohio (October 9, 2018)......... DePalma Motorsports, one of the most iconic and successful teams in the history of the USAC Silver Crown series, is riding into the sunset on top of their game, announcing that their 2018 championship season was the last for the Lima, Ohio-based team.
It concludes a magical five-year run with Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. DePalma Motorsports itself won the Silver Crown owner title each year they had Swanson as their full-time driver between 2014 and 2018. Swanson himself won Silver Crown driving titles in the DePalma No. 63 in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.
The accomplishment of five consecutive series titles set by the team had never been seen before in the series, snapping the series record for streaking (four) set by Bob East/Tony Stewart Racing between 2002 and 2005 as well as Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, which grabbed four in a row from 2010 to 2013.
Along the way, Swanson and the DePalmas rewrote the record book, one of which Silver Crown participants will be chasing for years and years. Regardless of dirt or pavement, the combo was always up front.
This past year, Swanson and the DePalmas won five-straight races, breaking Jack Hewitt's long-standing, 32-year-old record of four-straight Silver Crown wins set in 1986. The last of Swanson's five wins, at Indiana's Salem Speedway, was the ultimate. Kody drove to his 24th career victory in the Silver Crown Champ Car Series, overtaking the top spot on the all-time win list.
With all that said, the accolades and the broken records have put the DePalmas at the pinnacle of the sport, but it's the people of racing that car owner Tony DePalma is going to miss the most.
"I've met a lot of good people in this sport and built a lot of great relationships," DePalma said. "It's been a pleasure to know a lot of people in this sport and it's really one of the most rewarding things besides, obviously, winning races. It's been really neat to get to know Kody's family and friends over the last several years. It's also fun to get to know our competitors. Yeah, they're the people we competed against, but most of them I view as friends. That's the most rewarding thing."
DePalma returned to Silver Crown racing in 2002, inheriting his uncle Ralph's stable of race cars after his passing. DePalma owned cars had notable runs with driver Mike Brecht in the "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Speedway, turning in a 3rd in 2004 and a 2nd in 2006.
Following his father Jim's passing, the cars were mothballed so to speak before the family team returned in 2010, then hit the circuit full steam when they put Swanson full-time in the seat for the 2014 season and quickly found the magic touch that Tony's father and uncle used to claim the 1984 Silver Crown owner title with driver Dave Blaney.
The familiar sight of the No. 63 up front has been commonplace, and it will certainly be a change to see for those in the stands and those on the track, but also to the DePalma team.
"No doubt about it, we're going to miss it," DePalma admitted. "'We're going to miss the camaraderie, the anticipation and the anxiety of competing. We were always pretty stoked and focused, and it was a standing joke of 'hey, pass the bottle of antacid.' We were really uptight about each and every race, but that's part of the reason we did well is because we put so much into it."
The team put all they had into it and then some as they raised their game to exemplary heights. However, DePalma felt now was the right time to make the exit for a myriad of reasons.
"I saw my kids starting to miss things with their kids; that was one piece of it," DePalma began. "There are other things I want to pursue and have started to put into motion a little bit. I'm missing some of the things I shouldn't be missing. Long story short, what took me over the edge was, what a better exit point than this? We were going to have to exit at some point in time anyway. Maybe it's premature, but I've always believed, when I've looked at athletes in various sports, I've always scratched my head thinking 'why didn't you get out when you were on top?'"
As crazy as it seems now, Kody was still seen as primarily a "pavement specialist" at the time and was tabbed as the driver for the blacktop while he searched for rides on the dirt to prove himself as a capable shoe. He recorded a 2nd, 5th and another 2nd in the first three pavement outings for DePalma during that initial season together in 2013. For 2014, Kody was handed the keys to both the pavement and dirt rides and he hasn't missed a beat since, reeling off 21 wins together with the DePalmas, more than any other driver/team combination in the history of the series.
"These last five years and the relationships that my family and I have had with the DePalma family and this team have been career and life changing," Swanson said. "When we met, I may have been more at a breaking point than a crossroads in my career, and along with a few other key people, this family and race team gave me a chance to continue and an incredible opportunity to be part of something special. Over the years we were blessed to gel as a team, but developed further than that, and into a family of our own. Everyone that has been involved has gotten along together so well. We have developed relationships personally that treat each other like family, maybe even better in some cases, and has become a team that almost any and every other would pale in comparison to."
"I am extremely grateful to have raced and become friends with each and every member of this team, and for the sacrifices that each of them, and their families, have made as part of this team," Swanson continued. "It has been such a unique situation, and something not easily found in an entire team across any sport. Everyone involved gave it their all, without hesitation, and wanted to compete together for all the right reasons. We all wanted to do our best, and everyone put in all the effort they could to try to win races together. You simply can't ask for anything more than that in a team, and what we've been able to accomplish together has been incredible and something I am so thankful for my family and I to have been a part of."
MONEYMAN GRANT CASHES 10K ONCE AGAIN AT THE BURG
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Justin Grant captured his second $10K-to-win USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature in the last three nights Saturday at Lawrenceburg Speedway's 'Fall Nationals.' (Rich Forman Photo)
MONEYMAN GRANT CASHES 10K ONCE AGAIN AT THE BURG
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Lawrenceburg, Indiana.....September 29, 2018 - Justin Grant's wait to win his second USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature of the season didn't take nearly as long as it took to get his first.
Following his first series victory in nearly 16 months on Thursday, the Ione, Calif. native only had to endure two more nights to tally up his next triumph, Saturday's "Fall Nationals" at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
The waiting may be the hardest part, but patience does reap its own rewards in the end. For the second time in three nights, Grant pocketed 10-grand by virtue of his victory in the TOPP Motorsports/TOPP Performance Race Parts - The Bow Foundation/Maxim/TOPP Gaerte.
"It's been a rough year and we can definitely use the money at the Grant household. We're happy to have it," Grant said with a laugh. "To win one race that pays anything against these guys right now is awesome. To win a couple big ones in a single weekend, you can't ask for better than that. I feel like a sprint car driver again. I'm having a blast and remembering why I do this stuff now."
Grant pushed to the lead from his outside front row starting spot around pole sitter Dave Darland on the initial lap, but any early momentum he gained was stifled when C.J. Leary found trouble in turn one on the second lap, sending him into a wild flip and a not-so-graceful landing. Leary, who had earlier set fast time, won his heat and had moved from sixth to fourth on the opening lap, gingerly exited his war-torn machinery and would ultimately have to take a visit for X-rays on his neck and back.
On the ensuing restart, second-running Bacon put his tail up on the fence and used a diamond move to run Grant down like a cheetah tracking down a gazelle, blowing by Grant for the lead midway down the back straightaway. Grant fought back, trying to slide underneath Bacon, but each time, Bacon's diamond shined brighter than 10 karats, pulling away and stretching out his lead until Brandon Spithaler's turn four spin and small flare-up flame brought out the caution on lap 12. Grant now had a reprieve and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.
"I was running the bottom in (turns) three and four and shortcutting it to the cushion, staying out of the holes getting into one," Grant recalled. "But I was kind of hanging off two. I knew I was hanging there, but I didn't know if you could run in above the holes or through the holes into one and two and diamond down. And I knew Leary had gotten into the fence in one, so I figured that's what he had done. So, I was a bit hesitant to try it. When Brady drove by us doing the diamond off two, I followed him for a few laps and figured out how our car wanted to get through there to do it right. I felt like we were nipping at his lead a little bit."
Grant immediately rared back his axe and took his first swing in turn one on the lap 12 restart, sliding up in front of Bacon briefly for the point. Bacon got back by, but Grant had wrapped his lasso to the #99 of Bacon by then. When push came to shove at the exit of turn four on the 13th lap, Grant was there to capitalize and move his way back into the lead.
"On the restart, I was able to get in, slide him and chalk him up," Grant remembered. "He went to block the slider into three and got to bouncing and we were able to sneak by. I felt like his car was a little better in turns one and two and I was freed up enough to run three and four hard and he just got to bouncing. Once we figured out how to use the holes in one and two and get the diamond down off two, I felt really good and I didn't know if anybody had anything for us once we got rolling in that line. I couldn't do it faster than how I was doing it. Every time during the cautions, I started to settle down in the seat and I reminded myself I've got no stake in points in this deal and I really need the money. It's 10-grand to win. If there's a night to hang one in the fence trying to win, this is the night."
As Bacon tussled with Courtney for the second spot, Grant gained some leeway to a one-second-plus lead until lap 22 when lapped traffic came into play. Grant was in expert mode as he navigated through the back part of the field, keeping Bacon at an arm's length distance entering the final five laps.
The distance became closer and nearer, with Bacon cutting the interval to eight tenths, six tenths and, finally, four tenths. On the final lap, Bacon had one more bullet in the chamber as he followed Grant into turn one. However, his right rear caught the outer concrete, took a hop and skip that was enough for Grant to gain back his breathing space, which he used to secure his second USAC National Sprint Car victory of the season (and the weekend) and the 10th of his career, tying him with Tony Stewart for 48th all-time.
'It's been a rough year and we can definitely use the money at the Grant household. We're happy to have it. To win one race that pays anything against these guys right now is awesome. To win a couple big ones in a single weekend, you can't ask for better than that. I feel like a sprint car driver again. I'm having a blast and remembering why I do this stuff now.' - Justin Grant (Ryan Sellers Photo)
After a seven-month dry spell in USAC competition since Grant and TOPP paired up at the beginning of the 2018 season, the two have finally found the recipe for success that so many felt this combo was capable of all along.
"We've been gaining on them a little bit around Indiana Sprint Week time," Grant explained. "The big kick is we found stuff with the cars and got our engine program ripping a lot better. The motors are hitting really hard now and it's just letting me do a lot of stuff that I couldn't do before. I can get in the cushion and I've got enough motor to get myself out of trouble now. Between that, having a few good runs and getting some confidence going, we're feeling like we know what we're doing again."
Bacon finished second ahead of Courtney, Chris Windom and Kevin Thomas, Jr. Windom had to move to a backup car after a violent flip during qualifying in his primary, picking up hard charger honors after racing from 18th to 4th. Thomas, meanwhile, had his point lead clenched up to 34 points over Courtney in second and 62 in front of Windom in third.
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Lawrenceburg Speedway were C.J. Leary (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Carson Short (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Indy Race Parts Semi Winner), Dakota Jackson (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Brian VanMeveren (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Chris Windom (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 29, 2018 - Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - "Fall Nationals"
QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.877; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-13.946; 3. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-13.954; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.998; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-14.028; 6. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.105; 7. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-14.122; 8. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-14.181; 9. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-14.207; 10. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-14.238; 11. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.267; 12. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-14.271; 13. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-14.351; 14. Carson Short, 5B, Briscoe-14.383; 15. Dickie Gaines, 44, Soudrette-14.391; 16. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-14.457; 17. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.506; 18. Justin Peck, 04, Burton-14.535; 19. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-14.549; 20. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.563; 21. Dallas Hewitt, 18H, Keen-14.585; 22. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-14.741; 23. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-14.754; 24. Garrett Abrams, 32A, Abrams-14.808; 25. Brandon Spithaler, 77, Gagliardi-14.942; 26. Frank Rodgers, 11, Rodgers-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Leary, 2. Jackson, 3. Grant, 4. Cottle, 5. Stockon, 6. VanMeveren, 7. T. Thomas, 8. Spithaler, 9. Bilbee. 2:00.05
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Short, 2. Westfall, 3. Andretti, 4. Darland, 5. K. Thomas, 6. Windom, 7. DiMattia, 8. Rodgers, 9. Courtney. NT
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Bacon, 2. Gaines, 3. Hodges, 4. Peck, 5. McDougal, 6. Chapple, 7. Hewitt, 8. Abrams. 1:57.93
INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Windom, 3. Chapple, 4. Hewitt, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Spithaler, 7. Bilbee, 8. VanMeveren, 9. DiMattia, 10. Abrams, 11. Rodgers. 2:58.67
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Brady Bacon (4), 3. Tyler Courtney (7), 4. Chris Windom (18), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 6. Dave Darland (1), 7. Jarett Andretti (11), 8. Chase Stockon (3), 9. Isaac Chapple (8), 10. Josh Hodges (9), 11. Dallas Hewitt (19), 12. Tyler Thomas (20), 13. Dakota Jackson (13), 14. Nick Bilbee (16), 15. Matt Westfall (14), 16. Justin Peck (15), 17. Jason McDougal (12), 18. Shane Cottle (10), 19. Dickie Gaines (17), 20. Brandon Spithaler (21), 21. C.J. Leary (6). NT
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**Windom flipped during qualifying. Leary flipped on lap 2 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Grant, Laps 2-12 Bacon, Laps 13-30 Grant.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (18th to 4th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dakota Jackson
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Brian VanMeveren
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Brian VanMeveren
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-2397, 2-Courtney-2363, 3-Windom-2335, 4-Bacon-2081, 5-Darland-2063, 6-Leary-2043, 7-Stockon-2038, 8-Grant-1947, 9-Robert Ballou-1771, 10-Chapple-1383.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 5 - Lake Ozark Speedway - Eldon, Missouri
GAS CITY USAC SPRINT RESULTS: Sept. 28, 2018
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Kevin Thomas, Jr. scored his sixth USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory of the year Friday night at Gas City, moving himself into the top-20 all-time in series wins with 23, equaling legends A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey. (Rich Forman Photo)
THOMAS A REBEL WITH A CAUSE AT GAS CITY’S JAMES DEAN CLASSIC
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Gas City, Indiana……September 28, 2018 – James Dean was a rebel, one not exactly keen on following the rules. At least that’s how the 1950s movie star’s iconic roles were portrayed on the silver screen.
Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway’s “James Dean Classic,” Kevin Thomas, Jr. showed his rebellious side, not being content to follow in second. Instead, he strayed from the path and created his own way to glory for his sixth USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory of the year, moving himself into the top-20 all-time in series wins with 23, equaling legends A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey.
Thomas ran second behind Isaac Chapple in his Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green – Jonathan Byrd/DRC/Speedway Chevy for the first 25 circuits of the 30-lap feature, but steadily worked the top line until it became his red carpet, then drove around Chapple for the lead with five laps remaining to capture his second career USAC win at the quarter-mile dirt oval and first since 2013.
“Being in the second spot makes you move around, even if you don’t want to, and even if the bottom is the preferred line or the top, whatever it may be,” Thomas explained. “You have to move around and search, maybe use a slower line, but make it faster. We searched and searched and searched, tried two, three, four different times, different lines, different corners. It’s not that we even found the faster line. I think he just slipped up a little bit there in turns three and four and that let us get by. We were just on the right part of the racetrack at the right time.”
Thomas started fourth, yet managed to get up to the front in quick fashion as he and outside front row starter Chapple split around pole sitter Jason McDougal heading into turn one to occupy the top-two spots with Chapple up front and Thomas trailing just behind.
The two would be Elmer’s-glued to each other for the first two-thirds of the event as Chapple worked the middle-to-low line and Thomas danced around, top and bottom, in search of his own groove that would carry him to the front.
By the 19th lap, Thomas’ began to enjoy the fruits of his labor, finally finding consistent bite up top, relentlessly carving out the top groove to close within striking distance of Chapple while heavy lapped traffic loomed. However, the traffic game would be scrapped from the table when Dallas Hewitt spun to a stop off the banking between turns three and four, forcing Thomas to reset his gameplan on the fly.
“We were closing in on traffic pretty fast,” Thomas recalled. “You’re sizing him up when you’re in clean air. When you see lapped traffic, you start thinking other things. Is this line blocked whenever I get there or am I going to have to follow him? You know around about how many laps you have left, at least within two or so. I knew we were closing in on halfway and I started seeing lapped traffic. I didn’t want to get stuck and then have to ride around on the bottom and not be able to maneuver. Then the caution came out and then you have to reset. You have to do what you’ve been doing to get past him. On restarts, we weren’t that good because the top didn’t have the momentum right off the bat, so it took me a minute to get to him. If I follow him and he makes a mistake, then we both make a mistake.”
Once racing resumed, Thomas picked up right where he left off, ripping the top, while Chapple was nearly flawless on the bottom, taking the shortest road travelled in search of his first career series victory, just two races removed following the 2016 series Rookie of the Year’s best career finish of third at Eldora.
All it took was one less-than-perfect corner entry for Chapple and Thomas was there to pounce, driving around Chapple for the point on the outside on lap 26 to snare the lead before cruising away virtually unchallenged for victory while a chaotic final two-lap scramble behind him developed.
C.J. Leary got by Chapple for second with two to go, then McDougal put in his bid to steal away third from Chapple on the final lap. The two seemingly locked horns entering turn three. Still entangled, the seventh-place car of Josh Hodges plowed into McDougal. Chapple broke free and managed to drive away while McDougal and Hodges saw their solid days at the office crumble to a stop on the bottom of turns three and four. McDougal and Hodges were relegated to 18th and 19th place finishes, respectively, as a result. Meanwhile, Dallas Hewitt found himself upside down in turn two, an incident from which he walked away unscathed.
Leary ran second ahead of Chapple, Chris Windom and Chase Stockon to round out the top-five.
Thomas bounced back from a less-than-stellar result the night before at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway where he scored a tenth and saw his point lead vanish. But the Cullman, Ala. driver was jubilant as he got back on the proverbial horse at Gas City, earning his second win in the last four series races after a three-month winless drought. The recent outings have helped him surge to a 37-point lead entering Saturday’s “Fall Nationals” at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway ahead of Tyler Courtney who had a tumultuous night, starting and finishing 17th. Windom sits third, 59 points out of the lead.
Contingency award winners Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway were Tyler Courtney (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Isaac Chapple (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Kyle Cummins (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Dustin Ingle (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Matt Westfall (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Brady Bacon (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Kyle Cummins (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 28, 2018 – Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Indiana – “James Dean Classic”
QUALIFYING: 1. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-11.988; 2. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.016; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-12.078; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.144; 5. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-12.242; 6. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-12.251; 7. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-12.263; 8. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-12.272; 9. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-12.293; 10. Thomas Meseraull, 00, Meseraull-12.297; 11. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.302; 12. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-12.327; 13. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.346; 14. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-12.347; 15. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-12.382; 16. Carson Short, 5B, Briscoe-12.422; 17. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-12.427; 18. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-12.442; 19. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-12.453; 20. Dustin Ingle, 2DI, Ingle-12.493; 21. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-12.495; 22. Dallas Hewitt, 18H, Keen-12.553; 23. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-12.603; 24. Garrett Abrams, 32A, Abrams-12.603; 25. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-12.731; 26. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-12.748; 27. Billy Cribbs, 16, Cribbs-12.782; 28. Shane Cockrum, 24p, Paul-12.900; 29. Luke Harbison, 40, Harbison-13.261; 30. Frank Rodgers, 11, Rodgers-13.312; 31. Jack James, 99J, James-13.353; 32. Bob McMillin, 5m, McMillin-13.358; 33. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Boyles, 3. Windom, 4. Cottle, 5. Grant, 6. Westfall, 7. T. Hewitt, 8. Harbison. 2:03.21
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chapple, 2. D. Hewitt, 3. Bacon, 4. Leary, 5. Hery, 6. Meseraull, 7. Rodgers, 8. VanMeveren. NT
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Cummins, 2. K. Thomas, 3. McDougal, 4. DiMattia, 5. Goodnight, 6. Hodges, 7. Cribbs, 8. James. 2:03.79
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Ingle, 2. Darland, 3. Short, 4. Stockon, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Cockrum, 7. Abrams, 8. McMillin. 2:05.02
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Grant, 2. Hodges, 3. T. Thomas, 4. Westfall, 5. Meseraull, 6. T. Hewitt, 7. Abrams, 8. Cockrum, 9. Cribbs, 10. Hery, 11. Rodgers, 12. Harbison, 13. McMillin, 14. James, 15. VanMeveren, 16. Goodnight. 2:30.38
FEATURE: (30 laps – starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 2. C.J. Leary (5), 3. Isaac Chapple (2), 4. Chris Windom (6), 5. Chase Stockon (3), 6. Dave Darland (12), 7. Kyle Cummins (18), 8. Justin Grant (7), 9. Tyler Thomas (8), 10. Clinton Boyles (20), 11. Shane Cottle (9), 12. Matt Westfall (13), 13. Brady Bacon (14), 14. Carson Short (16), 15. Tyler Hewitt (22), 16. Tony DiMattia (15), 17. Tyler Courtney (17), 18. Jason McDougal (1), 19. Josh Hodges (11), 20. Dallas Hewitt (21), 21. Dustin Ingle (19), 22. Thomas Meseraull (10). NT
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**D. Hewitt flipped on lap 30 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Chapple, Laps 26-30 K. Thomas.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Kyle Cummins (18th to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Brady Bacon
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Matt Westfall
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Garrett Abrams
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-2330, 2-Courtney-2293, 3-Windom-2271, 4-Leary-2006, 5-Darland-2003, 6-Bacon-2002, 7-Stockon-1982, 8-Grant-1871, 9-Robert Ballou-1771, 10-Chapple-1334.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 29 – Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – “Fall Nationals”
GRANT FINALLY REACHES “THE TOPP” AT SMACKDOWN VII
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Justin Grant captured his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory of the year in Thursday night's 'Sprint Car Smackdown VII' at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway. (Travis Branch Photo)
GRANT FINALLY REACHES "THE TOPP" AT SMACKDOWN VII
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana......September 28, 2018 - Fifty-nine races. 482 days. That's how long it had been since Justin Grant last reached USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory lane coming into Thursday night's "Sprint Car Smackdown VII" finale at Kokomo Speedway.
Likewise, it had been 43 races and 398 days since TOPP Motorsports last found victory lane themselves, incidentally enough at the "Smackdown" finale in 2017 with driver Tyler Courtney.
Fittingly, the conclusion of this 40-lap main event came down to Grant and Courtney, but it was Grant who ultimately pulled through to become the first driver in 2018 to win in all three USAC National divisions: Silver Crown, National Sprint and National Midget.
After a tumultuous year that's been plagued by misfortune and a seemingly endless cloud of bad luck, twas time for the turnstiles of fortune to change. Over their last handful of outings, Grant and the TOPP team discovered a little bit of lightning in a bottle, but still, that black cloud remained steadfast, casting a shadow of doubt.
The sun finally broke through those clouds for a change, and shined brightly on the Ione, Calif. native driver and the Rochester, Indiana-based team as they persevered for their first USAC win since pairing up at the beginning of the season.
"These last couple weeks, this TOPP Motorsports car has really been ripping and it's been a lot of fun to drive," Grant explained. "This race has always eluded me. I'm so excited to be up here and so happy to do it for these guys. They've got an awesome racecar. It's about time I lived up to their results from last year. It's been a rough year, but I told a few people this week that if I didn't win a race all year, but I got to win Smackdown, it would all be worth it."
Grant made his initial overture as a prime contender when he was victorious in the "King of the Hill" two-car shootout, which placed him on the pole for the feature. Grant appeared to have a nice jump on the start, yet Dave Darland was able to beat him to the point in turn one. Grant powered back, returning the favor by gracing the low line into turn three, then sliced up in front of Darland to retake the lead. From that point forward, Grant was nearly unattainable, laying down a one-second lead on Darland and the rest of the field in the early stages.
Just past midway, Grant was carving up lapped traffic like a Thanksgiving Day turkey as he dipped low and swung high to split his way through the blockade of racecars. A near close call came just moments later as he slid into turn two near Clinton Boyles. Grant's rear bumper and Boyles' front bumper sliced each other, but neither was worse for the wear and remained on course without harm.
Meanwhile, current third-place runner and defending race winner Courtney played the role of Pacman, chomping the interval down until he was in the same vicinity as Darland on lap 22 where he dove to the bottom, three-wide alongside Darland and Boyles, emerging at the exit of turn two with the second position and seeking the lead as Grant no longer was able to hide.
Once Courtney got to second, he was like Heinz - in catchup mode - as he cut tenths off here and there like a butter knife through a stick of Land O'Lakes. But, suddenly, Courtney's charge was placed on hold. Fifth-running Chris Windom had encountered a flat right-rear tire on his ride, which sent him to the work area for a fresh set of rubber during the night's lone yellow flag.
'It's been a rough year, but I told a few people this week that if I didn't win a race all year, but I got to win Smackdown, it would all be worth it.' - Justin Grant (Travis Branch Photo)
For the lap 30 restart, lapped traffic was clear, and an open track became a warm, welcomed sight. However, Grant and Courtney were separated by the lapped car of Scotty Weir. Grant set sail smoothly, cutting through the middle of the track, then running a consistent line of the top in turns one and two and the bottom in turns three or four while Courtney proceeded to swap lines to take on the challenge of reeling in Grant.
Courtney was only able to make up so much down the stretch as Grant was spot-on lap-after-lap, never missing a beat on his way to a 1.036 second win and a $10,000 payday. Courtney took second ahead of Hard Charger C.J. Leary, Rookie of the Race Jason McDougal and Brady Bacon.
"That's the best I've ever felt at this place," Grant admitted. "The car was on rails. I could use the cushion if I wanted to and I could rip right below it if I felt like it. It was really incredible. It was fun to drive. Lapped traffic had me pretty worried, but I felt like we were pretty good, and I could pick my way through. Restarts had me more worried than anything. Tyler's been a roll this year and a lot of times that momentum will let you do things you normally couldn't do. I was a little worried about holding him off on restarts, but it all worked out."
Contingency award winners Thursday night at Kokomo Speedway were Logan Seavey (Simpson Race Products/Competition Suspension, Inc. First Qualifying Race Winner & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Justin Grant (Capitol Custom Trailers & Coaches King of the Hill Winner), C.J. Leary (KSE Racing Products/Elliott's Custom Trailers & Carts Hard Charge & B & W Auto Mart Pass Master & Chalk Stix/Indy Race Parts Second Qualifying Race), Chris Windom (Weld Cool Move of the Race), Chad Boespflug (STIDA.com Hard Luck Award) and Jason McDougal (Wilwood Brake Kit & Arizona Sport Shirts/Kick-It Rookie of the Race).
Tyler Courtney retook the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car point lead with 10 events remaining. The Indianapolis, Ind. driver now holds a seven-point advantage over Kevin Thomas, Jr., who finished 10th. Windom is third in the standings, making up a little bit of ground, trailing by 58 points behind Courtney.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 28, 2018 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Sprint Car Smackdown VII"
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey (#5B Briscoe), 2. Kyle Cummins (#3c EZR/Cummins), 3. Scotty Weir (#22 Simon), 4. Dakota Jackson (#3 Jackson), 5. Carson Short (#5CB Briscoe), 6. Landon Simon (#24 LSR), 7. Brian VanMeveren (#24x VanMeveren). NT
CHALK STIX/INDY RACE PARTS SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary (#30 Leary), 2. Chase Stockon (#32 32 TBI), 3. Jarett Andretti (#18 Andretti), 4. Clinton Boyles (#57 Hazen), 5. Isaac Chapple (#52 LNR/Chapple), 6. Tyler Hewitt (#97x One More Time), 7. Shane Cottle (#5G Goacher), 8. Corey Smith (#66s CS). 2:11.57
CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS & COACHES "KING OF THE HILL" 2-CAR SHOOTOUTS: (3 laps each) Round 1: Jason McDougal (#71p Daigh/Phillips) defeats Tyler Courtney (#7BC Clauson Marshall Newman). Dave Darland (#36D Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian) defeats Brady Bacon (#99 Bacon). Tyler Thomas (#2E Epperson) defeats Kevin Thomas, Jr. (#69 Dynamics). Justin Grant (#4 TOPP) defeats Chris Windom (#5 Baldwin). Round 2: Darland defeats McDougal. Grant defeats T. Thomas. Final Round: Grant defeats Darland.
FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (1), 2. Tyler Courtney (5), 3. C.J. Leary (10), 4. Jason McDougal (4), 5. Brady Bacon (6), 6. Chris Windom (8), 7. Dave Darland (2), 8. Tyler Thomas (3), 9. Chase Stockon (12), 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (7), 11. Jarett Andretti (14), 12. Dakota Jackson (15), 13. Logan Seavey (9), 14. Kyle Cummins (11), 15. Scotty Weir (13), 16. Carson Short (17), 17. Isaac Chapple (18), 18. Clinton Boyles (16), 19. Tyler Hewitt (20), 20. Corey Smith (23), 21. Brian VanMeveren (21), 22. Shane Cottle (22), 23. Landon Simon (19). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Grant.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/ELLIOTT'S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS HARD CHARGER: C.J. Leary (10th to 3rd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Logan Seavey
B & W AUTO MART PASS MASTER: C.J. Leary
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1-Courtney-2256, 2-K. Thomas-2249, 3-Windom-2198, 4-Bacon-1959, 5-Darland-1941, 6-Leary-1929, 7-Stockon-1916, 8-Grant-1816, 9-Robert Ballou-1771, 10-Chapple-1261.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 28 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - "James Dean Classic"
LEARY LEAVES NOTHING ON THE TABLE IN ELDORA SILVER CROWN VICTORY
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
C.J. Leary captured Saturday night's USAC Silver Crown race during the '4-Crown Nationals' at Eldora Speedway. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
LEARY LEAVES NOTHING ON THE TABLE IN ELDORA SILVER CROWN VICTORY
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio.........C.J. Leary felt he gave one away earlier Saturday night in the USAC Sprint Car portion of the 37th "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Speedway.
When the time came for him to set foot in his USAC Silver Crown car for the season finale, he made it his life's mission to not let another golden opportunity slip through his fingers.
"The top was so treacherous, I kept making little mistakes and throwing the right front into it," Leary recalled. "I thought I gave the race away three or four times. This racecar was bad fast, and I had a bad fast sprint car too. But the driver stepped on it in that one."
Leary's hunger was palpable after finishing second in the sprinter. You would've had to use a jackhammer to crack that lingering "What if" thought out of his head throughout the 50-lap Silver Crown finale. He wasn't going to let anything go to chance; he was going to put this race in his own hands and be on the attack on the cushion. Although, the cushion at this particular moment of the night was an unmovable concrete wall.
"I'm always one to bang the boards," Leary admitted. "The top's the best place to run here at Eldora. The guy who can throw his nut sack over his shoulder and just haul it around here is normally the winner. I'm just glad to be standing down here and have the car in one piece after banging off the fence for the 50 laps."
Leary had his work cut out for him, starting the race from the eighth position in his Chuck & Tammi Leary/Leary Construction - GreenTech Lubricants/DRC/1-Way Toyota, while Shane Cottle took off from the pole to lead early despite a rough going for others in the field that created a bevy of stoppages within the first eight laps.
On the third lap, David Byrne flipped into the catchfence between turns three and four to bring out the first red flag. Chris Windom, the victor of the two most recent series races, had a rear end break on him just as he was poised to snag the race lead on the seventh circuit. A lap later, defending race winner Tyler Courtney's bid to sweep the three USAC divisions in a single night came to an abrupt end after tagging the turn one wall and flipping. Both Byrne and Courtney were uninjured.
As he had done throughout the night, Leary was on a mission, sliding into second past Jerry Coons, Jr. in turn one on the 15th go-around. By the time the two hit the back straight, Kevin Thomas, Jr. entered the fray and also ripped past Coons to move into third. Thus began what would be a familiar refrain for the remaining 33 laps - Leary and Thomas side-by-side!
As the two found their distinctive grooves - Leary heaving his car around the top against the outside wall and Thomas keeping his car straight as an arrow through the middle - they were able to cut Cottle's lead down substantially from a second-plus to pretty much nil within a handful laps.
Leary pulled the bow first, sliding by Cottle momentarily in turn two on lap 30 with Thomas crashing the party as well. Cottle re-emerged with the lead at the line as the trio crossed the stripe three-wide.
Shuffle, repeat, shuffle, repeat like an old five-disc CD changer your grandparents might still own, that was the name of the game. Thomas initially gained the lead on lap 31, controlled three laps before Leary blasted by around the outside. Two laps later, Leary repainted the turn one wall with rubber after blasting the concrete, allowing Thomas to sneak back by for another three-lap stint at the front.
'I'm always one to bang the boards,' Leary admitted. 'The top's the best place to run here at Eldora. The guy who can throw his nut sack over his shoulder and just haul it around here is normally the winner. I'm just glad to be standing down here and have the car in one piece after banging off the fence for the 50 laps.' (Rich Forman Photo)
Leary again was pestering Thomas around the top, coming back to snare the lead on lap 39, but for nary one trip around the half-mile - by a half-car-length - before bouncing off the turn one wall again, handing the race back over to Thomas for one lap. Leary once again roared back to reclaim the lead the following time around, then led for four laps before battering the turn one wall again, allowing Thomas to take the advantage with six laps remaining.
Leary was relentless, ripping the topside around Thomas off turn four coming to the stand with three laps to go, beating Thomas by the mere diameter of a wheel. Thomas, never doubting, made one last ditch run at Leary into turn one, nearly getting the deed done, but Leary cleared Thomas by as much as the thickness of a five o'clock shadow exiting turn two.
All that stood in Leary's way between he and a first series victory since Terre Haute in 2016 was a triumvirate of lapped cars. However, they were all hugging the bottom, which was more of a bugaboo to Thomas' middle line than it was to Leary skimming the fence.
Leary was untouched the remainder of the way to win his second career Silver Crown race by a half-second over Thomas, a second-place finisher for the third race in a row. Pole sitter Cottle finished third in front of an impressive fourth-place run in Jason McDougal's series' debut while new, four-time series champ Kody Swanson rounded out the top-five.
"Winning these Silver Crown races are the crown jewel," Leary said. "Winning sprint car races are cool, but these are my favorite races to run. This is a dream come true tonight."
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 21-22, 2018 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 37th "4-Crown Nationals" presented by NKT.TV
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-16.764; 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-16.888; 3. Chris Windom, 17, Nolen-16.935; 4. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-16.993; 5. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-16.993; 6. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-16.998; 7. Jason McDougal, 9, Dyson-17.002; 8. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-17.011; 9. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-17.118; 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr. 56, Foxco-17.146; 11. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-17.179; 12. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-17.250; 13. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-17.306; 14. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-17.333; 15. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-17.543; 16. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott/Gorman-17.554; 17. Mike Haggenbottom, 124, Haggenbottom-17.714; 18. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-17.765; 19. Aaron Schuck, 53, Five-Three-18.034; 20. Chris Fetter, 89, Fetter-18.513; 21. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-19.076; 22. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-NT, 23. Dave Darland, 43, Felker/Nix-NT.
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. C.J. Leary (8), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (10), 3. Shane Cottle (1), 4. Jason McDougal (7), 5. Kody Swanson (5), 6. Jerry Coons, Jr. (2), 7. Justin Grant (12), 8. Brady Bacon (4), 9. Kyle Robbins (11), 10. Jacob Wilson (16), 11. Austin Nemire (15), 12. Bill Rose (20), 13. Steve Buckwalter (#53) (19), 14. Matt Goodnight (9), 15. Mike Haggenbottom (17), 16. Dave Darland (23), 17. Travis Welpott (14), 18. Chris Fetter (18), 19. Dave Berkheimer (21), 20. Aaron Pierce (22), 21. Tyler Courtney (6), 22. Chris Windom (3), 23. David Byrne (13). NT
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**Byrne flipped on lap 3 of the feature. Courtney flipped on lap 8 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Cottle, Laps 31-33 Thomas, Laps 34-35 Leary, Laps 36-38 Thomas, Lap 39 Leary, Lap 40 Thomas, Laps 41-44 Leary, Laps 45-46 Thomas, Laps 47-50 Leary.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/LARRY RICE HIGH PERFORMANCE HARD CHARGER: Kevin Thomas, Jr. (10th to 2nd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Steve Buckwalter
FINAL USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-641, 2-Grant-559, 3-Windom-526, 4-Byrne-462, 5-Coons-433, 6-Robbins-372, 7-Welpott-348, 8-Goodnight-344, 9-Bobby Santos-329, 10-Nemire-327.
