By Bob Buffenbarger
ROSSBURG, Ohio (May 5, 2023) — Justin Grant put on a rim riding clinic in route to winning the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series portion of LetsRaceTwo at Eldora Speedway. Grant from Ione, California took the lead from Kyl e Cummins and drove away from the field only to have his sizeable lead erased by a caution flag with five laps to go. Grant overcame the last caution to open up his lead again and survive bouncing off the fence on the final lap to claim the $10,000 top prize.
The significance of winning on a slick Eldora surface to it’s unforgiving concrete wall was not lost on Grant.
“To win at Eldora Speedway is awesome on any occasion,” said Grant. I’ve won here when it’s heavy and I want here on it’s slick and it’s so fun to win when it’s just absolutely glass like against the wall.”
Kyle Cummins took the lead at the start of the 30-lap main event. Grant made his presence known immediately moving up into third spot on the first lap and taking the runner up position from Matt Westfall on lap three.
On lap eight Grant caught Cummins as they separated themselves from the rest of the field. Grant made his move for the lead on lap nine in turns three and four. After exchanging the lead with Cummins back and forth for two laps, Grant drove to the top spot and eventually opened up a 6.540 second lead.
Grant’s advantage went by the wayside when Dalton Stevens stopped on the backstretch to bring out the caution flag. This setup a five-lap dash to the finish. After a brief challenge by Cummins, who bumped the wall trying to take the lead during the restart, Grant was up to the challenge pulling away from the field, only to bounce off the turn two wall on the final lap.
Grant kept is composure and finished the final lap for the victory. Brady Bacon took second position away from Cummins. Emerson Axsom and Kevin Thomas Jr. rounded out the top five.
USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series
LetsRaceTwo
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, Ohio
Friday, May 5, 2023
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.778; 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-16.848; 3. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.891; 4. Emerson Axsom, 47BC, Clauson Marshall-16.928; 5. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-16.930; 6. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-16.933; 7. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-17.004; 8. Jake Swanson, 21AZ, Team AZ-17.023; 9. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-17.122; 10. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-17.278; 11. Scotty Weir, 23K, NIKSTE-17.304; 12. Max Adams, 5x, Adams-17.398; 13. Dallas Hewitt, 21, Hewitt-17.452; 14. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-17.502; 15. Daison Pursley, 5p, KO-17.513; 16. Logan Seavey, 2B, 2B Racing-17.522; 17. Zack Pretorius, 9z, Pretorius-17.658; 18. Kody Swanson, 98, Wedgewood-17.763; 19. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Ensign-17.860; 20. Ryan Barr, 21B, Barr-17.869; 21. Dalton Stevens, 99x, Stevens-17.932; 22. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-18.099; 23. Jadon Rogers, 5, Baldwin/Fox-18.167; 24. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-18.201; 25. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-18.269; 26. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-18.347; 27. Matt Goodnight, 39G, Goodnight-18.459; 28. Brian Hayden, 2H, Hayden-18.620; 29. Evan Mosley, 27, Barkdull-18.695; 30. Jack James, 99, James-18.757; 31. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-18.793; 32. Tim Creech, 31c, Creech-18.895; 33. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-18.966; 34. Ivan Glotzbach, i1, Glotzbach-18.995; 35. Keith Sheffer II, 86, Sheffer-19.336.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Dalton Stevens, 3. Dallas Hewitt, 4. Briggs Danner, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Zack Pretorius, 7. Evan Mosley, 8. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 9. Aric Gentry. 2:14.56
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5. Kody Swanson, 6. Brandon Mattox, 7. Jack James, 8. Ivan Glotzbach. 2:15.95
T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Cummins, 2. Mitchel Moles, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Jadon Rogers, 5. Geoff Ensign, 6. Scotty Weir, 7. Matt Goodnight, 8. Hunter Maddox, 9. Keith Sheffer II. 2:18.48
CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Jake Swanson, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Emerson Axsom, 4. Max Adams, 5. Chase Stockon, 6. Ryan Barr, 7. Brian Hayden, 8. Tim Creech. 2:18.83
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Kody Swanson, 3. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Scotty Weir, 6. Brandon Mattox, 7. Ryan Barr, 8. Matt Goodnight, 9. Zack Pretorius, 10. Brian Hayden, 11. Aric Gentry, 12. Tim Creech, 13. Keith Sheffer II, 14. Evan Mosley, 15. Hunter Maddox, 16. Ivan Glotzbach, 17. Jack James, 18. Geoff Ensign. 3:43.12
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (6), 2. Brady Bacon (9), 3. Kyle Cummins (1), 4. Emerson Axsom (4), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (11), 6. Scotty Weir (12), 7. C.J. Leary (2), 8. Kody Swanson (17), 9. Jake Swanson (7), 10. Mitchel Moles (5), 11. Chase Stockon (20), 12. Dallas Hewitt (14), 13. Robert Ballou (8), 14. Brandon Mattox (22), 15. Briggs Danner (10), 16. Daison Pursley (15), 17. Matt Westfall (3), 18. Logan Seavey (16), 19. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (21), 20. Jadon Rogers (19), 21. Carson Garrett (23-P), 22. Max Adams (13), 23. Dalton Stevens (18). NT
(P) represents a provisional starter.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 Kyle Cummins, Laps 10-30 Justin Grant.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-384, 2-Brady Bacon-343, 3-Emerson Axsom-340, 4-C.J. Leary-338, 5-Kyle Cummins-322, 6-Kevin Thomas Jr.-306, 7-Chase Stockon-276, 8-Jake Swanson-270, 9-Logan Seavey-257, 10-Mitchel Moles-248.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-17, 2-Kevin Thomas Jr.-17, 3-Chase Stockon-16, 4-Carson Garrett-15, 5-Robert Ballou-12, 6-Brady Bacon-10, 7-Kyle Cummins-10, 8-Logan Seavey-10, 9-Matt Westfall-10, 10-Brandon Mattox-10.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: May 6, 2023 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Track – #LetsRaceTwo – Bubby Jones Master of Goin’ Faster Series Presented By Spire Sports + Entertainment Race #1
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Brady Bacon (16.558)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Brady Bacon (16.778)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Matt Westfall
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Robert Ballou
T.J. Forged Third Heat Winner: Kyle Cummins
Car IQ Fourth Heat Winner: Jake Swanson
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Brady Bacon
Irvin King Hard Charger: Kody Swanson (17th to 8th)