By T.J. Buffenbarger
TULSA (January 13, 2016) — Justin Grant continued the amazing run for Clauson/Marshall Racing at the 31st annual Chili Bowl Natioanls picking up the win on Vacuworx qualifying night on Friday. Grant started on the front row and led every lap in route to the victory.
For Grant the victory capped off an amazing week where he became the father of twins before traveling to Tulsa for the Chili Bowl to drive for Clauson-Marshall Racing.
“Amazing to win for this family and tonight, I really feel like I’ve had an amazing week. I had twins this week, and I was just along for the ride for that,” said Grant. “I got to piggyback the glory for having twins and these guys are so good I got to go along for the ride again. I feel like I got the glory, but a lot of other people are doing the hard work”. ”
Grant and Gardner started on the front row with Grant leading into turn one. Yeley, Garnder, and McCarthy raced three wide for second position when smoke started billowing out of the left side of Yeley’s motor and McCarthy spun in turn one and collected Holly Shelton to bring out the caution flag. Under caution Shelton’s teammate Tanner Thorson went to the work area with a flat left rear tire.
After the incident involving several front runners NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. moved up into the third spot for the restart.
Behind the lead trio Michael Faccinto moved under Wayne Johnson to take away the third spot. One lap later Daryn Pittman moved around Johnson for fourth.
By lap seven Faccinto started to close the gap on Stenhouse for second. Up front Grant opened a sizable advantage.
As the bottom groove started to wear out D.J. Netto and Daryn Pittman started to move to the front using the top fo the race track. Pittman moved around Faccinto for third on lap 13 and quickly caught Stenhouse for third. Pittman got a drive off turn two on lap 18 to take the spot from Stenhouse and Gardner to move up to second.
“The bottom is too hard to run, I just prefer to be on the top,” Pittman said about changing lines early in the feature. “I knew someone was going to get up there first, and I didn’t want to be too late. I finally caught the guy that was running fourth and went for it and went to the top.
As Pittman pulled away with the runner up spot Gardner and Stenhouse started dicing for the final spot to lock into Saturday’s feature.
By lap 23 Pittman started to close in on the back bumper of Justin Grant, but ran out of laps as Grant claimed the victory exclusively running the bottom of the race track.
“It was amazing on the bottom. I’ve never run that many laps consecutively on the bottom in my career,” said Grand following this victory.
Pittman was also pleased to lock into the biggest race in his home state and feels good about the longer feature distance on Saturday. .
“I’ve got a really fun car that is fun to drive every time we hit the race track. My car gets better the longer the race goes, and that has me excited tomorrow for 55-laps.”
Third place Gardner locked into his first career Saturday night feature at the Chili Bowl by rounding out the podium.
“I can’t believe this. The car was go good all night, it was just up to me to not make any mistakes,” said Gardner after the feature. “I really wanted to make the car tight for the main to make a run at it, but I didn’t want to dial myself out, so we went a little conservative and sure enough the bottom was good early. Then Pittman went by me and I wasn’t going to wait for someone else to drive by me, so I got up by him. I was running (Pittman) down a bit before we got into heavy lapped traffic. Then I was just trying to hit my marks.”
Gardner summed up the relief of being locked into Saturday’s finale.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my racing career. I get to sleep in, drink some beer tonight, party with the hommies, and do this pole shuffle and maybe get a few more spots.”
31st Annual Chili Bowl Nationals
River Spirit Exposition Center
Vacuworx Qualifying Night
Tulsa, OK
Friday January 13, 2017
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 71G – Damion Gardner [1]; 2. 10B – Rick Shuman [2]; 3. 05B – Steve Buckwalter [7]; 4. 88 – Chad Wheeler [4]; 5. 2AG – Rickie Gaunt [8]; 6. 87F – Sean McClelland [3]; 7. 96CM – Brett Becker [5]; 8. 2J – Cody Lampe [6]; 9. 9M – Cory Mallo [9]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 11AG – Dave Darland [3]; 2. 51R – Brody Roa [1]; 3. 98 – Clinton Boyles [5]; 4. 25S – Alex Schriever [2]; 5. 10J – John Hunt [6]; 6. 101 – Chuck McGillivray [7]; 7. 29 – Derek Childs [9]; 8. 56B – Tyler Brehm [8]; 9. 6B – Brad Kraus [4]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 25H – Anton Hernandez [5]; 2. 3C – D.J. Netto [6]; 3. 39BC – Justin Grant [8]; 4. 28A – Ace McCarthy [9]; 5. 84X – Chad Boat [3]; 6. 06 – Andy Baugh [7]; 7. 11R – Shane Watts [2]; 8. 10X – Tom Doherty [4]; 9. (DNF) 22X – Payton Williams [1]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 35F – Michael Faccinto [6]; 2. 80 – Josh Hawkins [1]; 3. 17R – Alex Schutte [8]; 4. 24S – Landon Simon [2]; 5. 11C – Chett Gehrke [4]; 6. 15L – Ashley Hazelton [3]; 7. 93L – Trey Lambert [7]; 8. 55 – Tom Everhart [5]
Heat Race #5 (8 Laps): 1. 71.5 – Robert Bell [1]; 2. 7 – Shannon McQueen [7]; 3. 0R – Holly Porter [4]; 4. 83S – Shane Weeks [5]; 5. 12R – Brian Rieck [6]; 6. 0 – Johnny Murdock [3]; 7. 27Z – Zane Hendricks [2]; (DNS) 22E – David Stephenson
Heat Race #6 (8 Laps): 1. 17BC – Ricky Stenhouse Jr [7]; 2. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer [3]; 3. 8C – John Carney II [4]; 4. 37 – Nick Knepper [8]; 5. 59E – Dex Eaton [2]; 6. 21R – Ryan Truitt [1]; 7. 77C – Kevin Schawitsch [6]; 8. (DNF) 69J – Earl McDoulett Jr [5]
Heat Race #7 (8 Laps): 1. 21 – Daryn Pittman [1]; 2. 14K – Chris Cochran [3]; 3. 8GQ – Jimi – Ray Quin [6]; 4. 22A – Andy Malpocker [2]; 5. GO – Shane Cockrum [5]; 6. 1P – Terry Nichols [4]; 7. 83G – Matt Gilbert [8]; 8. 37F – Tim Kent [7]
Heat Race #8 (8 Laps): 1. 21K – Cory Kruseman [2]; 2. 87JR – Troy Rutherford [4]; 3. 2C – Wayne Johnson [5]; 4. 57C – Chad Boespflug [6]; 5. 27S – Andy Shouse [1]; 6. 20X – Noah Harris [7]; 7. 00 – Tristan Lee [8]; 8. 89 – Nick Bailey [3]
Heat Race #9 (8 Laps): 1. 32D – Danny Jennings [1]; 2. 68 – Ronnie Gardner [8]; 3. 4J – Tim Crawley [3]; 4. 47X – Tim McCreadie [5]; 5. D33 – Joey Moughan [7]; 6. 4B – Shane Sellers [2]; 7. 5GS – Garrett Stout [4]; 8. (DNF) 17KT – Ryan Secrest [6]
Heat Race #10 (8 Laps): 1. 67 – Tanner Thorson [1]; 2. 73X – Jac Haudenschild [7]; 3. 12W – Billy Wease [5]; 4. 9A – Jason Walls [2]; 5. 22H – John Heydenreich [3]; 6. 4F – Chad Frewaldt [8]; 7. (DNF) 79 – Blake Nimee [4]; 8. (DNF) 20 – Tadd Holliman [6]
Heat Race #11 (8 Laps): 1. 1ST – J.J. Yeley [3]; 2. 3N – Jake Neuman [1]; 3. 95 – Chris Andrews [2]; 4. 67K – Holly Shelton [7]; 5. 3F – Davey (D.J.) Hamilton Jr. [5]; 6. 83 – Kurt Blackaby [8]; 7. D6 – Dakota Gaines [6]; 8. 51A – Ryan Jamison [4]
D Feature #1 (10 Laps): 1. 79 – Blake Nimee [4]; 2. 96CM – Brett Becker [3]; 3. 93L – Trey Lambert [1]; 4. 37F – Tim Kent [6]; 5. 9M – Cory Mallo [10]; 6. 77C – Kevin Schawitsch [2]; 7. (DNF) 17KT – Ryan Secrest [5]; 8. (DNF) 6B – Brad Kraus [9]; 9. (DNF) 55 – Tom Everhart [8]; 10. (DNF) 10X – Tom Doherty [7]; (DNS) 11R – Shane Watts; (DNS) 22E – David Stephenson
D Feature #2 (10 Laps): 1. 89 – Nick Bailey [10]; 2. 27Z – Zane Hendricks [5]; 3. 2J – Cody Lampe [6]; 4. 5GS – Garrett Stout [3]; 5. 21R – Ryan Truitt [1]; 6. 51A – Ryan Jamison [9]; 7. 56B – Tyler Brehm [4]; 8. (DNF) D6 – Dakota Gaines [2]; 9. (DNF) 20 – Tadd Holliman [7]; (DNS) 69J – Earl McDoulett Jr; (DNS) 22X – Payton Williams
C Feature #1 (12 Laps, Taking Top 4): 1. D33 – Joey Moughan [1]; 2. 10J – John Hunt [2]; 3. 9A – Jason Walls [4]; 4. 22H – John Heydenreich [9]; 5. 27S – Andy Shouse [11]; 6. 25S – Alex Schriever [3]; 7. 87F – Sean McClelland [13]; 8. 101 – Chuck McGillivray [7]; 9. 3F – Davey (D.J.) Hamilton Jr. [6]; 10. 59E – Dex Eaton [10]; 11. 00 – Tristan Lee [12]; 12. 96CM – Brett Becker [16]; 13. 83 – Kurt Blackaby [5]; 14. 79 – Blake Nimee [15]; 15. 0 – Johnny Murdock [14]; 16. (DNF) 20X – Noah Harris [8]
C Feature #2 (12 Laps, Taking Top 4): 1. 84X – Chad Boat [8]; 2. 88 – Chad Wheeler [1]; 3. GO – Shane Cockrum [5]; 4. 24S – Landon Simon [3]; 5. 22A – Andy Malpocker [10]; 6. 1P – Terry Nichols [12]; 7. 11C – Chett Gehrke [6]; 8. 4F – Chad Frewaldt [4]; 9. 89 – Nick Bailey [15]; 10. 06 – Andy Baugh [7]; 11. 4B – Shane Sellers [14]; 12. 83G – Matt Gilbert [11]; 13. 27Z – Zane Hendricks [16]; 14. 15L – Ashley Hazelton [13]; 15. 29 – Derek Childs [9]; 16. (DNF) 12R – Brian Rieck [2]
Qualifying Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. 67 – Tanner Thorson [1]; 2. 71G – Damion Gardner [2]; 3. 21K – Cory Kruseman [3]; 4. 17R – Alex Schutte [4]; 5. 17BC – Ricky Stenhouse Jr [6]; 6. 7 – Shannon McQueen [5]; 7. 98 – Clinton Boyles [7]; 8. 4J – Tim Crawley [10]; 9. 10B – Rick Shuman [8]; 10. 0R – Holly Porter [9]
Qualifying Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 28A – Ace McCarthy [3]; 2. 2C – Wayne Johnson [7]; 3. 37 – Nick Knepper [1]; 4. 11AG – Dave Darland [4]; 5. 35F – Michael Faccinto [6]; 6. 73X – Jac Haudenschild [5]; 7. 51R – Brody Roa [8]; 8. 95 – Chris Andrews [10]; 9. 8C – John Carney II [9]; 10. 71.5 – Robert Bell [2]
Qualifying Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 21 – Daryn Pittman [2]; 2. 1ST – J.J. Yeley [4]; 3. 68 – Ronnie Gardner [6]; 4. 3C – D.J. Netto [5]; 5. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer [1]; 6. 87JR – Troy Rutherford [3]; 7. 12W – Billy Wease [7]; 8. 80 – Josh Hawkins [8]; 9. 57C – Chad Boespflug [9]; 10. 83S – Shane Weeks [10]
Qualifying Race #4 (10 Laps): 1. 39BC – Justin Grant [5]; 2. 67K – Holly Shelton [7]; 3. 14K – Chris Cochran [1]; 4. 05B – Steve Buckwalter [4]; 5. 47X – Tim McCreadie [10]; 6. 25H – Anton Hernandez [6]; 7. 32D – Danny Jennings [2]; 8. (DNF) 8GQ – Jimi – Ray Quin [3]; 9. (DNF) 2AG – Rickie Gaunt [9]; 10. (DNF) 3N – Jake Neuman [8]
B Feature #1 (15 Laps): 1. 14K – Chris Cochran [3]; 2. 25H – Anton Hernandez [1]; 3. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer [4]; 4. 51R – Brody Roa [5]; 5. 4J – Tim Crawley [7]; 6. 8GQ – Jimi – Ray Quin [8]; 7. 7 – Shannon McQueen [2]; 8. 57C – Chad Boespflug [10]; 9. D33 – Joey Moughan [13]; 10. 12W – Billy Wease [6]; 11. 71.5 – Robert Bell [12]; 12. 10J – John Hunt [14]; 13. 9A – Jason Walls [15]; 14. 0R – Holly Porter [11]; 15. (DNF) 22H – John Heydenreich [16]; 16. (DNF) 10B – Rick Shuman [9]
B Feature #2 (15 Laps): 1. 47X – Tim McCreadie [3]; 2. 37 – Nick Knepper [1]; 3. 73X – Jac Haudenschild [2]; 4. 84X – Chad Boat [11]; 5. 3N – Jake Neuman [12]; 6. 32D – Danny Jennings [6]; 7. 88 – Chad Wheeler [14]; 8. 8C – John Carney II [9]; 9. 24S – Landon Simon [15]; 10. 98 – Clinton Boyles [5]; 11. 95 – Chris Andrews [7]; 12. 80 – Josh Hawkins [8]; 13. GO – Shane Cockrum [13]; 14. (DNF) 83S – Shane Weeks [10]; (DNS) 87JR – Troy Rutherford; (DNS) 2AG – Rickie Gaunt
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 39BC – Justin Grant [1]; 2. 21 – Daryn Pittman [8]; 3. 68 – Ronnie Gardner [2]; 4. 17BC – Ricky Stenhouse Jr [7]; 5. 35F – Michael Faccinto [9]; 6. 71G – Damion Gardner [12]; 7. 3C – D.J. Netto [11]; 8. 11AG – Dave Darland [15]; 9. 47X – Tim McCreadie [18]; 10. 2C – Wayne Johnson [4]; 11. 21K – Cory Kruseman [13]; 12. 73X – Jac Haudenschild [22]; 13. 67 – Tanner Thorson [10]; 14. 84X – Chad Boat [24]; 15. 17R – Alex Schutte [14]; 16. 14K – Chris Cochran [17]; 17. 25H – Anton Hernandez [19]; 18. 67K – Holly Shelton [6]; 19. 37 – Nick Knepper [20]; 20. 05B – Steve Buckwalter [16]; 21. 28A – Ace McCarthy [3]; 22. 51R – Brody Roa [23]; 23. (DNF) 1ST – J.J. Yeley [5]; 24. (DNF) 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer [21]