Swanson was holding down the top spot in the standings, but the affable Californian knew Indiana Sprint Week would be the ultimate litmus test. Grant claimed three wins, with Swanson, Axsom, Cummins and Leary also joining in the fun. When rain at Tri-State Speedway brought ISW to a premature end, Bacon had wrapped up his fifth Sprint Week title without winning a feature.
Grant was still the reigning champion but in his biography were close misses at crunch time. Reunited with his old mentor Jeff Walker, Grant simply caught fire. When Grant swept all three nights of the Kokomo Smackdown at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway, he pulled within nine points of Bacon.
A trip to the Southwest began with USAC’s first visit to the famed Devil’s Bowl Speedway since 1985. Bacon showed he wasn’t ready to back down by scoring in the Lone Star State. A planned two-day trip to Texarkana 67 Speedway was hampered by rain. However, one night was salvaged and many were thrilled to see Matt Westfall nail down his first USAC win in more than 17 years. Grant led the standings by nine markers.
The series didn’t leave Indiana again. Seavey had suffered through a character-building year in the sprint car ranks. However, in mid-September he held the keys to Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis. The next night at Tri-State, Bacon moved into second place on the all-time USAC sprint car win list with his 53rd career victory. Still, he trailed Grant by nine points.
Needing to respond, Grant turned in a dominant performance during the James Dean Classic at Gas City Speedway. He took a 15-point advantage to Eldora’s 4-Crown Nationals. As memorable as the night would be for Seavey, it was equally so for Bacon.
Unfortunately for Bacon it was for all the wrong reasons. A crash in qualifying, a shot of methanol in his eyes and mechanical woes resulted in a 22nd-place finish, putting Grant in the driver’s seat for the title.
The Oct. 7 race at Lawrenceburg Speedway was the last for promoters Dave and Kim Rudisell and it turned out to be the final race of the sprint car campaign.
Grant scored his 11th triumph of the year in his 400th series start. He had done enough to back up his 2022 championship and solidify his place among USAC legends.
Axsom’s fine year netted a third-place finish in the standings with Jake Swanson and Leary rounding out the top five in points.
All mourned the death of 2022 Lawrenceburg track champion Justin Owen, who perished in an April accident at his home track.
This story appeared in the Dec 13, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
