SELINSGROVE, Pa. – A year ago, we were amid an absence of 50 years between the first and second USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car appearances at Pennsylvania’s Selinsgrove Speedway.
Come this Thursday night, June 16, we will have only had to wait another 364 days before USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship racing returns to the half-mile for Eastern Storm round three.
It was 364 days ago in which Justin Grant only had to wait a mere 48 hours between Eastern Storm win number one and Eastern Storm win number two.
Two days after his initial Eastern Storm triumph, after a near decade of trying, the Ione, Calif. driver collected the second of his career, leading the final seven laps at the track which had last hosted a USAC National Sprint Car event in 1971.
Grant took the lead from Windom seven laps from the finish, then withstood multiple Robert Ballou slide job attempts during the final restart to win. Funny enough, it was Grant who initiated the drive to bring USAC Sprint Car racing back to Selinsgrove following a half-century absence. Later in the 2021 season, Grant collected a 5th in Silver Crown action at Selinsgrove.
The debut USAC Silver Crown National Championship race took place at Selinsgrove in 2020 and was won by Shane Cottle who made an incredible charge from the 23rd starting position to the victory. Cottle finished 11th in the sprinter there during Eastern Storm 2021.
Logan Seavey captured the USAC Silver Crown 75-lapper at Selinsgrove in 2021 and took 20th in his lone Eastern Storm Sprint Car run there in 2021.
Brady Bacon can also count himself as a winner at Selinsgrove, as the 2014 Eastern Storm king captured the 2020 USAC East Coast Sprint Car feature. At Selinsgrove, he’s been 7th and 8th, and was 5th during Eastern Storm a year ago.
C.J. Leary holds the USAC Silver Crown track record at Selinsgrove in a USAC Silver Crown car. The 2019 Eastern Storm champ started from the pole in Silver Crown action at Selinsgrove in both 2020 and 2021, and finished 2nd in the main event both years. He ran 3rd in the 2021 Eastern Storm Sprint Car feature.
Robert Ballou, the 2015 and 2021 Eastern Storm champion, was leading the 2020 USAC East Coast Sprint Car feature at Selinsgrove with seven laps remaining when he flipped. He found much better fortune during Eastern Storm in 2021, finishing as the runner-up.
Alex Bright won with the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars twice at Selinsgrove in 2021 en route to the championship and took 6th with the USAC national series during the same year.
Current USAC East Coast point leader Briggs Danner has won races with the series in both 2021 and 2022. His USAC National Sprint Car record at Selinsgrove includes the eight-lap track record for the series at 2:51.33.
Three-time USAC East Coast Sprint Car champion Steven Drevicki took the runner-up spot in a 2020 race at Selinsgrove, and finished 14th during Eastern Storm in 2021.
Sportsman superstar Carmen Perigo has finished inside the top-10 twice in USAC national competition at Selinsgrove in 2021, 8th in the Sprint Car and 9th in the Silver Crown. Fellow Pennsylvanian Mark Smith, 9th during his 2021 Eastern Strom run, is a four-time sprint car track champion at Selinsgrove and turned in a 5th with USAC East Coast this year. Timmy Buckwalter is set to make his Selinsgrove Eastern Storm debut on Thursday.
USAC East Coast stalwart Kenny Miller III finished 5th with the East Coast series in 2021 while Joey Amantea took 3rd this past May.
Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.) made a couple fine appearances at Selinsgrove in 2021 with a 3rd in the Silver Crown main event and 7th in the sprint car. Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) was rock solid at Selinsgrove in 2021, finishing 7th with the Crown car and 13th aboard the sprinter.
Also returning to the Selinsgrove lineup are 2020 USAC National Most Improved Driver Brandon Mattox who finished 16th in 2021 as well as USAC National Sprint Cars’ Ironman, Chase Stockon, 17th in 2021. Also on board is 2018 USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion Charles Davis Jr., 19th in 2021.
Shane Cockrum joins the Eastern Storm lineup in time for Selinsgrove where he ran 4th with the USAC Silver Crown series in 2021. He joins a group of Selinsgrove first-timers, a group that is highlighted by two-time 2022 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature winner Emerson Axsom, two-time Eastern Storm winner Thomas Meseraull, 2020 USAC National Sprint Car rookie of the year Jadon Rogers, USAC National Sprint Car Rookie Alex Banales, Korbyn Hayslett, veteran Dallas Hewitt as well as Eldora Speedway’s four-time late model and two-time modified champion, Brian Ruhlman.
Thursday’s Eastern Storm event at Selinsgrove features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and Winged 410 c.i. Sprint Cars.