August 26, 2024

GRANT BECOMES FIRST 4-TIME SMACKDOWN CHAMP

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Justin Grant (Ione, California) became the first four-time Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Sprint Car Smackdown champion on Saturday night at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana (August 24, 2024)………Simply put, over the course of the 13-year history of Elliott’s Custom Trailer & Carts Sprintcar Smackdown at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway, no one has done it better than Justin Grant.

On Saturday night, the Ione, California native ascended to even greater heights after leading the final 10 circuits of the 40-lapper to become the first four-time Smackdown Champion, duplicating the feat he had previously achieved in 2018, 2021 and 2023.

In the process, Grant earned his record-extending 11th career USAC AMSOIL Sprintcar National Championship feature victory at the Kokomo 1/4-mile dirt oval to earn a $35,000 payday – $30,000 for winning the race and an extra $500 for each of the 10 laps he led down the stretch.

Grant also moved up another notch in the record books. His 53rd overall USAC National Sprintcar victory moved him past Tom Bigelow and into sole possession of third-place all-time on the series’ win list in his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink – Bow Foundation – TOPP Industries/Maxim/Kistler Chevy.

Speaking of which, TOPP Motorsports also surpassed Steve Stapp for the third most career wins as an entrant in USAC National Sprintcar history. The team now stands at 51 series victories, trailing only Dynamics, Inc./Hoffman Auto Racing with 139 and Tony Stewart Racing with 71.

Overall, nine of Grant’s 11 career USAC National Sprintcar victories at Kokomo have come during Smackdown – seven prelim triumphs and four final nighters. Yet perhaps none of them have come in as unorthodox fashion as it did in his latest winning performance.

“I just absolutely love this place,” Grant exclaimed. “I’ve never spent that much time on the bottom of this place, but it’s all right. It’s nice to know we can do that too!”

It has admittedly been a trying year for Grant, who’s been stuck in the lower half of the series point standings for much of the year due to seven finishes of 20th or worse, and currently stands eighth, 430 points out of the lead, practically putting him out of contention for a third consecutive USAC National Sprintcar driving title.

However, Grant has still managed to win eight series races, second most in the series. But once Smackdown came around, Grant was once again in top form, winning his Thursday prelim, finishing third in the Friday prelim and capping off the weekend with another championship belt after starting fifth on the grid and after a bit of work by the him and the crew to make sure all facets were buttoned up to go after a repeat Smackdown score and a win in the opening race of the 2024 NOS Energy Drink Hoosier Trifecta.

“We swapped motors from this car to our spare car, went through it, then changed a bunch and did everything,” Grant explained. “We just weren’t happy with where we were at and went to work today to try and be a little better, and it sure paid off. I’ve had some rough spells this year, but I wake up every day and I get to be a racecar driver for a living and that’s incredible to me. I love it.”

Initially, 2016 Smackdown champion Kevin Thomas Junior had the dominant hand as he broke out to a two second lead by lap 10 after starting from the outside of the front row. However, while slicing his way through lapped traffic on lap 18, his car suddenly went up in smoke on the back straightaway, forcing him into the infield with what Thomas diagnosed as a puncture in the radiator.

“I had a great racecar, and I felt like I could’ve won that race,” a dejected Thomas stated. “Obviously, you don’t want to speak for what hasn’t happened but it’s tough to have $50 grand slip through your fingers like that or at least not have an opportunity to race it out to your abilities, but that is racing. This (stuff) ain’t fair.”

Despite finishing 23rd, Thomas still walked away from the night with $10,000 in earnings for leading the initial 17 laps on top of his $1,500 start money. However, it was of little consolation as Mitchel Moles became the new race leader just prior to the halfway point on lap 18. Earlier in the evening, Moles made a Cinderella run as the lowest seed (#8) in the King of the Hill duels, beating his competition in dramatic fashion to score the title.

However, at this juncture in the race, Grant was already finding his groove as he slotted into the second spot and began his pursuit of Moles with just a little more than half the race remaining.

“If I tried to pedal at all, I’d lose all my grip,” Grant pointed out. “I kind of found that while bombing and trying to pass guys into three. I could run in twice as hard as I thought I could and then make twice as much grip when I got there. The first time I did that – I think it was when I was getting by (Daison Pursley) – I was like, ‘oh, we’re really, really good.’ We started marching back forward, and we got a break there with (Thomas) blowing up. But I think our car was really good. It would’ve been a great race between us; he’s awfully good at scrumming the middle like that, but I’ve been getting better and better at it.”

Moles continued to pace the field through the backend of the field, but by lap 25, Grant was right on the heels of the Moles. On lap 31, Grant found daylight in turn one with a wide open lane on the bottom to surge past Moles and assume his new, but familiar spot as the Smackdown Saturday night race leader.

In a race that had gone clean and green throughout the first 33 laps, the action was halted for the first and only time on the 34th lap when 14th running Ricky Lewis snagged the turn two cushion, ramped up the wall and flipped upside down. It was a fairly close call for Grant as he was running side-by-side with Lewis at the moment of the incident, which Lewis walked away from without harm.

Grant had held a 0.876 second lead before the red, but during the ensuing laps after the restart with seven to go and a clear track ahead, Grant was unflappable. Turning his fastest lap of the race with three to go, Grant ultimately extended his advantage to 1.747 seconds at the finish line over Mitchel Moles, Robert Ballou and Logan Seavey with C.J. Leary rounding out the top-five.

Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, California) electrified the crowd with an astonishing run through King of the Hill earlier in the evening. After leading 13 laps and finishing as the runner-up in the feature, it was a career best Smackdown night for Moles en route to a 19,000 payday aboard his Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports/AME Electrical – Mesilla Valley Transportation/Spike/Stanton Chevy.

Third-place finisher Robert Ballou (Rocklin, California) completed the weekend with his best Smackdown championship night result since 2017. His result also marked his third-straight top-five finish on the final night of Smackdown at the wheel of his Ballou Motorsports/Suburban Subaru – Deaton’s Waterfront Services/DRC/Ott Chevy.

Kale Drake (Collinsville, Oklahoma) earned a $1,000 reward courtesy of Crume-Evans Insurance as the 2024 Smackdown Rookie of the Year. Drake finished 10th in the feature, his best career USAC National Sprintcar result to date.

Jadon Rogers (Worthington, Indiana) passed a total of 25 cars throughout the three nights of Smackdown. No driver passed more than Rogers who collected a $500 bonus as Smackdown’s ProSource Passing Master.

Hayden Reinbold (Gilbert, Arizona) is just getting started. This weekend, he made his USAC National Sprint Car debut, and on Saturday night, he was on the cusp of gaining the final transfer spot in the semi-feature before coming up one position short. For that, he collected a $300 bonus from The Frolic Bar & Grill as the first non-transferring driver.

Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) pocketed an extra $200 courtesy of J & J Trucking as the night’s hard charger, and also earned himself a new right rear Hoosier Tire for taking the final transfer spot in the semi-feature. Hunter Maddox (Bedford, Ind.) also received a new right rear Hoosier Tire as the winner of the C-Main.

It was a superb Smackdown kind of night for Brayden Clark (Tipton, Indiana) who advanced from fifth to first to win the semi-feature and make his way into his first Smackdown feature field. For his performance, he also earned the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night. Plus, he picked up another $100 bonus as the recipient of the ProSource Hard Work award.

For the second consecutive night, Max Adams (Loomis, California) ranked as the top finishing local driver in the field. Currently fourth in Kokomo Speedway’s point standings, Adams raced to an 11th place finish in the feature after starting back in 18th.

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINTCAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 24, 2024 – Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Indiana – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval – 13th Annual Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Sprintcar Smackdown

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-3 transfer to the feature) 1. Briggs Danner (#39 Hogue), 2. Stevie Sussex (#77s Sturgeon), 3. Brandon Mattox (#28 Mattox), 4. Todd Hobson (#77 Wingo), 5. Brayden Clark (#4c Clark), 6. Frankie Guerrini (#G3 F & F), 7. Cody Williams (IN) (#26 Williams), 8. Michael Daugherty (#3.14 Daugherty), 9. Saban Bibent (#98 Wedgewood). 2:14.954

ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-3 transfer to the feature) 1. Shane Cottle (#2E Epperson), 2. Ricky Lewis (#41 Stensland), 3. Max Adams (#63 F & F), 4. Hayden Reinbold (#19 Reinbold-Underwood), 5. Matt Westfall (#33m Marshall), 6. Rylan Gray (#06 Gray), 7. Austin Hawkins (#5A Hawkins), 8. David Gasper (#04 Burton). NT

T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-3 transfer to the feature) 1. Kale Drake (#2B 2B Racing), 2. Jake Swanson (#47 Eades), 3. Trey Osborne (#11T Osborne), 4. Kyle Shipley (#4u AJR), 5. Kobe Simpson (#21K Simpson), 6. Weston Gorham (#71w Gorham), 7. Matt Goodnight (#39G Goodnight), 8. Jack James (#99 James). 2:16.785

CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-3 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Cummins (#3p Petty), 2. Carson Garrett (#15 BGE Dougherty), 3. Jack Hoyer (#57H Hazen), 4. Jadon Rogers (#66 Amati), 5. Chase Stockon (#5s KO), 6. Cody Williams (CA) (#92 Sertich), 7. Hunter Maddox (#24m Maddox), 8. Max Frank (#25 Middle Class). NT

FIRST BILL & SANDY WEVER & THE GRANDKIDS KING OF THE HILL QUARTERFINAL: (3 laps) #8 Mitchel Moles (#19AZ Reinbold-Underwood) defeats #1 Justin Grant (#4 TOPP). 41.080

SECOND BILL & SANDY WEVER & THE GRANDKIDS KING OF THE HILL QUARTERFINAL: (3 laps) #5 C.J. Leary (#15x BGE Dougherty) defeats #4 Brady Bacon (#69 Dynamics). 41.005

THIRD BILL & SANDY WEVER & THE GRANDKIDS KING OF THE HILL QUARTERFINAL: (3 laps) #6 Robert Ballou (#12 Ballou) defeats Logan Seavey (#57 Abacus). 41.767

FOURTH BILL & SANDY WEVER & THE GRANDKIDS KING OF THE HILL QUARTERFINAL: (3 laps) #2 Kevin Thomas Jr. (#3R Rock Steady) defeats #7 Daison Pursley (#21AZ Team AZ). 41.212

FIRST BILL & SANDY WEVER & THE GRANDKIDS KING OF THE HILL SEMIFINAL: (3 laps) #8 Mitchel Moles defeats #5 C.J. Leary. 40.920

SECOND BILL & SANDY WEVER & THE GRANDKIDS KING OF THE HILL SEMIFINAL: (3 laps) #2 Kevin Thomas Jr. defeats #6 Robert Ballou. 40.553

BILL & SANDY WEVER & THE GRANDKIDS KING OF THE HILL FINAL: (3 laps) #8 Mitchel Moles defeats #2 Kevin Thomas Jr. 40.612

TRAILER ALARMS C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Hunter Maddox, 2. David Gasper, 3. Cody Williams (IN), 4. Max Frank, 5. Saban Bibent, 6. Matt Goodnight, 7. Jack James, 8. Michael Daugherty, 9. Austin Hawkins. 2:26.478

ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Brayden Clark, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Jadon Rogers, 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Hayden Reinbold, 6. Todd Hobson, 7. Kyle Shipley, 8. David Gasper, 9. Cody Williams (CA), 10. Hunter Maddox, 11. Weston Gorham, 12. Max Frank, 13. Cody Williams (IN), 14. Kobe Simpson, 15. Frankie Guerrini, 16. Rylan Gray. NT

FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (5), 2. Mitchel Moles (1), 3. Robert Ballou (4), 4. C.J. Leary (3), 5. Logan Seavey (6), 6. Brady Bacon (7), 7. Kyle Cummins (12), 8. Daison Pursley (8), 9. Shane Cottle (10), 10. Kale Drake (11), 11. Max Adams (18), 12. Jake Swanson (15), 13. Briggs Danner (9), 14. Stevie Sussex (13), 15. Matt Westfall (24), 16. Carson Garrett (16), 17. Brandon Mattox (17), 18. Chase Stockon (22), 19. Trey Osborne (19), 20. Ricky Lewis (14), 21. Brayden Clark (21), 22. Jack Hoyer (20), 23. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2), 24. Jadon Rogers (23). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-17 Kevin Thomas Jr., Laps 18-30 Mitchel Moles, Laps 31-40 Justin Grant.

**Ricky Lewis flipped on lap 34 of the feature.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINTCAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-2415, 2-Brady Bacon-2333, 3-Daison Pursley-2190, 4-C.J. Leary-2170, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-2097, 6-Mitchel Moles-2092, 7-Robert Ballou-2043, 8-Justin Grant-1985, 9-Kyle Cummins-1952, 10-Carson Garrett-1548.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 5, 2024 – RPM Speedway – Crandall, Texas – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval – Co-Sanctioned by the ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprints

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Crume-Evans Insurance Smackdown Rookie of the Year: Kale Drake (10th)

Smackdown ProSource Passing Master Champion: Jadon Rogers (25)

Bill & Sandy Wever & The Grandkids King of the Hill Champion: Mitchel Moles

Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Justin Grant (13.008)

Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Briggs Danner

Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Shane Cottle

T.J. Forged Third Heat Winner: Kale Drake

Car IQ Fourth Heat Winner: Kyle Cummins

Trailer Alarms C-Main Winner: Hunter Maddox

Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Brayden Clark

Hoosier Tire Last Semi-Transfer: Matt Westfall