KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Justin Grant netted $8,000 for his win on night one of the Corn Belt Clash Friday at the Knoxville Raceway.
The driver of the TOPP Motorsports No. 4 had to outduel Brady Bacon and a series of cautions and red flags to net his second career win at the Sprint Car Capital of the World.
In 360 action, Jamie Ball won for the tenth time in his career, but for the first time since 2021.
Grant led Mitchel Moles, Bacon, C.J. Leary and Daison Pursley early in the 25-lap USAC main event. Bacon quickly moved into the second spot, while Pursley moved into fourth, setting the top five for the first ten laps, when Grant entered lapped traffic.
Bacon reeled the leader in, and on lap 14, used a slidejob in turns one and two to take the point. The perennial Knoxville favorite looked to be on his way before Leary slowed to a stop, surrendering the fourth spot with ten to go. That restart saw Wesley Smith tumble in turn two.
On the second try at green, Grant shot across turns one and two, sliding in front of Bacon to take back the lead. Meanwhile, Pursley followed in third, while Chase Johnson and Moles completed the top five. Chase Stockon slowed with five laps to go to bring another caution.
With the field jumbled again on the restart, Johnson shot the low side of turn two to jump from fourth to second. Bacon battled back by Johnson, but that was negated when Dakota Earls flipped in turn two with three to go, bringing the final slowdown. He was uninjured.
Grant was able to stay out front, wile Bacon slid by Johnson again for second coming for the white flag. A last ditch effort at Grant fell short by .247 seconds at the line. Pursley surged to third, followed by Jake Swanson and Johnson.
“It feels very good to get back in victory lane,” said Grant of his fifth USAC win of the year and the 50th in his career. “We have a rocket ship of a racecar. I was good early. I felt really comfortable. It got slicked and curbed up. It’s scary here at Knoxville. It’s fast and you’re up there on the curb. There were holes up in the cushion and I kind of got sitting back down in the seat trying not to crash the thing. Brady slid me, and I had a lap or two of the mopes. We got a yellow, and I was able to slide him there on the restart. If you come to Knoxville and you beat Brady Bacon, I feel like you’ve done something.”
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, Iowa, May 31, 2024
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-18.807; 2. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-18.976; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-19.034; 4. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-19.086; 5. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-19.090; 6. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-19.102; 7. Xavier Doney, 74, Doney/Lawson-19.138; 8. Wesley Smith, 44, Smith-19.163; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-19.195; 10. Chase Johnson, 4J, Ford-19.265; 11. Jake Swanson, 2B, 2B Racing-19.389; 12. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-19.405; 13. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-19.432; 14. Jadon Rogers, 17GP, Dutcher-19.485; 15. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-19.489; 16. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-19.571; 17. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-19.620; 18. Logan Calderwood, 73, Ford-19.652; 19. Korbyn Hayslett, 1H, Hayslett-19.716; 20. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-19.805; 21. Kobe Simpson, 21K, Simpson-19.921; 22. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-19.986; 23. J.J. Yeley, 2, Yeley-20.013; 24. A.J. Johnson, 93, Germar-20.061; 25. Dakota Earls, 15E, Earls-20.207; 26. Eric Schulz, 38, Grein-20.332; 27. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-NT (Time of 18.777 disallowed due to an illegal left rear tire).
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Johnson, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Xavier Doney, 4. Robert Ballou, 5. C.J. Leary, 6. Kyle Cummins, 7. Charles Davis Jr., 8. Korbyn Hayslett, 9. Dakota Earls. 2:41.436
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Wesley Smith, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Jadon Rogers, 5. Justin Grant, 6. Jake Swanson, 7. J.J. Yeley, 8. Eric Schulz, 9. Hunter Maddox. 2:44.986
T.J. FORGED / CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Joey Amantea, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Carson Garrett, 5. Mitchel Moles, 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 7. Kobe Simpson, 8. Logan Calderwood, 9. A.J. Johnson. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Brady Bacon (4), 3. Daison Pursley (5), 4. Jake Swanson (13), 5. Chase Johnson (7), 6. Xavier Doney (10), 7. Mitchel Moles (1), 8. Logan Seavey (8), 9. Kyle Cummins (17), 10. J.J. Yeley (23), 11. Robert Ballou (15), 12. Matt Westfall (9), 13. C.J. Leary (6), 14. Carson Garrett (26), 15. Kevin Thomas Jr. (12), 16. Hunter Maddox (20), 17. Jadon Rogers (16), 18. Joey Amantea (14), 19. Chase Stockon (3), 20. Charles Davis Jr. (22), 21. Korbyn Hayslett (19), 22. Kobe Simpson (21), 23. Logan Calderwood (18), 24. Eric Schulz (25), 25. Dakota Earls (24), 26. Wesley Smith (11). NT