By T.J. Buffenbarger
Gas City, IN – (October 7th, 2011) – Justin Grant continued his dream season Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway by winning the Jack Himelick Fall Finals season closing feature event. Grant took the lead shortly after a mid-race restart from Jonathan Hendrick, holding him of through lapped traffic to claim the victory.
“I was working the cushion and got along side of (Hendrick), and he started working his way up to the top on the straightway,” said Grant after the feature. “I had to get out of the gas to keep it out of the fence, but that allowed me to be able to turn under him and take the lead.”
For Grant the victory continues a dream season with the Hery family that owns the team he drives for.
“Even if we run bad we have fun. No matter if I win or crash we load up being friends. It makes racing with them so much fun.”
Hendrick and Wes MacIntire started on the front row for the 25-lap feature event. McIntire got the jump at the start and took the lead over Hendrick and Jon Siscoe. That lead was short lived though as Hendrick immediately applied pressure and took over the lead down the back stretch on lap four.
Grant, who started in eigth, was already up to fifth by the end of the first lap using the top side of the track. Grant quickly moved past Jamie Fredickson for fourth before making a diving pass between turns three and four to pass Siscoe for third on lap six and set out after the leaders.
Using the slower cars to his advantage Grant disposed of Macintire for second and started pressuring Hendrick for the lead when the caution appeared on lap 12 for a spin by Rick Horne. Hendrick utilized a lapped car between himself and Grant to pull away during the restart. Grant was close when the caution appeared on lap 15 for a spin by Kevin Studley in turn two.
Grant continued to work the top side after the restart for a way around Hendrick. The dueo raced side by side for two laps before Grant crossed over in turn two to tak the lead.
Hendrick, Macintire, and Siscoe all remained right with Grant though through slower traffic. Grant was up for the challenge and led the rest of the way to the checkered flag. Hendrick held off a last lap charge by Macintire for the runner up spot with Siscoe and Fredrickson rounding out the top five.
Hendrick, 2011 Gas City track champion Brett Burdette, and Chris Gurley won heat race events for the 23 car field.
Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, IN
Jack Himelick Fall Finals
Friday October 7th, 2011
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 68 – Jonathan Hendrick, 2. 83 – Wes Macintire, 3. 12 – Ted Hines, 4. 40 – Justin Grant, 5. 10e – Scotty Weir, 6. 71c – Joshua Clemmons, 7. 57 – Kevin Studley, 8. 05 – George Wessel. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 17b – Brett Burdette, 2. 57 – Jon Siscoe, 3. 78 – Adam Brykett, 4. 18 – Travis Welpott, 5. 42 – Conner Donelson, 6. 21 – Travis Hery, 7. 29 – Logan Jarrett, 8. 74 – Tony Main. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 12 – Chris Gurley, 2. 58 – Jamie Fredrickson, 3. 21 – Tyler Hewitt, 4. 22 – Kyle Simon, 5. 42 – Rick Horne, 6. 11A – Nevil Algieo, 7. 23 – James Page. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main
A-Main (25-Laps): 1. 40 – Justin Grant, 2. 68 – Jonathan Hendrick, 3. 83 – Wes Mcintire, 4. 57 – Jon Siscoe, 5. 58 – Jamie Fredrickson, 6. 10E – Scotty Weir, 7. 12G – Chris Gurley, 8. 78 – Adam Brykett, 9. 17B – Brett Burdette, 10. 18 – Travis Welpott, 11. 22s – Kyle Simon, 12. 42 – Conner Donelson, 13. 71c – Josh Clemmons, 14. 12H – Ted Hines, 15. 29 – Logan Jarrett, 16. 21H – Tyler Hewitt, 17. 57s – Kevin Studley, 18. 11 – Nevil Algieo, 19. 21 – Travis Hery, 20. 05 – George Wessel, 21. 23 – James Page, 22. 42H – Rick Horne. DNS: 74 – Tony Main.
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