From USAC
LAS VEGAS, Nv. (February 28, 2018) — Justin Grant of Ione, Calif. led all 25 laps to win Wednesday night’s USAC West Coast/Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint feature at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Grant passed pole starter Kevin Thomas Jr. in turn three and built a 2.5-second lead by halfway in his Kodiak Products/Beal’s Auto Body Sherman/Ford Michael Special. Thomas broke on lap four and runnerup Brody Roa lost a tire on lap five. Grant had built an eight-second lead by lap 21 then the second of two feature red flags flew for a flip by Michael Curtis. He resumed his lead on the restart and finished with a comfortable lead over second-place finished Dennis Gile.
Brady Bacon took third at the checkered flag ahead of Dalton Hill and Tyler Courtney.
“The car was amazing, a real rocket ship,” said Grant in victory lane. “I really didn’t even have to hustle it. I knew it was a good car and was looking forward to running it long before I got here.”
Brandon Halverson brought the first feature red when he flipped on lap two. Stevie Sussex was second before he pulled off the track on the restart on lap 22.
The “Shootout” continues with night two Thursday at Las Vegas.
USAC WEST COAST/SANDS CHEVROLET SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR “Special Event” RACE RESULTS: February 28, 2018 – Las Vegas, Nevada – The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 7th “FVP Showdown”
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY/BEAVER STRIPES QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Justin Grant, 77M, Michael-17.663; 2. Brady Bacon, 73, Ford-17.771; 3. Colby Copeland, 24, Copeland-17.807; 4. Tyler Courtney, 56, Phulps-17.842; 5. Brady Short, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-17.953; 6. Landon Cling, 54, Cling-17.988; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 42, Cheney-17.990; 8. Stevie Sussex, 34AZ, Grau-17.994; 9. Michael Curtis, 11C, Turner/Wheeler-18.027; 10. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-18.059; 11. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-18.064; 12. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-18.142; 13. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Davis-18.182; 14. Jake Swanson, 34, Grau-18.193; 15. Colton Hardy, 74, Williams-18.333; 16. Dalton Hill, 81D, Double D-18.448; 17. Brandon Halverson, 13MJ, Halverson-18.523; 18. Tanner Carrick, 83T, Carrick-18.706; 19. Koen Shaw, 88K, Shaw-19.049; 20. Larry Kesterson, F2, Kesterson-20.673; 21. Austin Ervine, 51, AJ-20.866; 22. Johnnie Butler, 54X, Butler-21.103; 23. Ryan Stolz, 72, Ford-NT; 24. Michael Fanelli, 2, Fanelli-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Grant, 3. Courtney, 4. Mihocko, 5. Hill, 6. Davis, 7. Shaw, 8. Butler. NT
KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS/ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Gile, 2. Sussex, 3. Short, 4. Bacon, 5. Swanson, 6. Halverson, 7. Stolz, 8. Kesterson. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INCORPORATED/ROD END SUPPLY THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Copeland, 3. Curtis, 4. Cling, 5. Carrick, 6. Hardy, 7. Ervine. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Dennis Gile, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dalton Hill, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. Jake Swanson, 7. Charles Davis Jr., 8. Brady Short, 9. Tye Mihocko, 10. Landon Cling, 11. Colton Hardy, 12 Koen Shaw, 13. Michael Fanelli, 14. Ryan Stoltz, 15. Johnnie Butler, 16. Stevie Sussex, 17. Austin Ervine, 18. Michael Curtis, 19. Brody Roa, 20. Kevin Thomas Jr., 21. Tanner Carrick, 22. Brandon Halverson, 23. Colby Copeland, 24. Larry Kesterson. NT
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**Kesterson flipped during the second heat. Halverson flipped on lap 2 of the feature. Curtis flips on lap 22 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Grant.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS/RACING OPTICS HARD CHARGER: Michael Fanelli (24th-13th)
NEXT USAC WEST COAST/SANDS CHEVROLET SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: March 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada – The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 7th “FVP Showdown”