GRANDVIEW LAUNCHES KEYSTONE INVASION APRIL 22

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania (April 15, 2021)………It’s so good, we have to go twice!

The first of two trips out east, and two visits for the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars to Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway this season, arrives Thursday night, April 22, as the opener for the inaugural Keystone Invasion, featuring four races in four nights at Grandview, Big Diamond Speedway (April 23), BAPS Motor Speedway (April 24) and Path Valley Speedway Park (April 25).

The biggest storyline coming into Grandview’s 40-lapper is Brady Bacon’s prowess of the 1/3-mile dirt oval, which has seen him win three consecutive USAC National Sprint Car races at the track.  The three-time series champ from Broken Arrow, Okla. won in 2017-18-19, with last season’s run being “COVID-ed” out.  Bacon has not finished outside of the top-ten in any of his seven Grandview USAC Sprint starts, with 5^th place results in 2007 & 2014, an 8^th in 2016 and a 9^th in 2013.

Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.) reigned as the king at Grandview by winning in 2014.  He also topped time trials as the fastest qualifier in both 2017 and 2019.  He also finished 10^th in 2010 and 5^th in 2013 and has rolled sevens in each of his last three Grandview starts with a 7^th place finish in 2017-18-19.

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) has snagged a USAC National victory at Grandview in his career, but that came in a midget in 2019.  Windom has been banging on the door year-after-year for a first Sprint Car victory at Grandview and hasn’t finished outside the top-seven there since 2008!  He finished as the runner-up in both 2008 & 2011 and has taken 3^rd in four consecutive tries at Grandview in 2016-17-18-19.  The career USAC Triple Crown champ was 4^th in both 2010 & 2012 and 7^th in both 2013-14.

Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) has been a frequent frontrunner at Grandview with four consecutive top-five finishes in his last four starts, including a 2^nd in 2016, 4^th in 2017, 2^nd again in 2018 and 5^th in 2019.  The 2021 season opening winner in Ocala, Fla. also finished 3^rd in 2012 and 9^th in 2014 at Grandview, and his qualifying time there of 13.360 sec. from 2012 still stands as the all-time USAC National Sprint Car one-lap track record.  He was 6^th in the midget race at Grandview in 2019.

Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) enters Grandview with a string of five-straight top-8 finishes, including three 6^th place finishes in that span in 2016-17-19, and 8^th place results in 2014 & 2018.  In 10 Grandview USAC Sprint Car starts, the 2015 series champion finished inside the top-ten in eight of them, finishing 6^th in the series’ debut at the track in 2007, 9^th in 2012 and his personal best, a 3^rd in 2011.

Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) has earned two career USAC National Sprint Car top-fives at Grandview, with bests of 4^th in 2014 and 5^th in 2017.  The 2020 USAC Silver Crown champ was 8^th in his most recent Grandview appearance in 2019 and 10^th in 2018.

C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) owns just two top-ten/top-five finishes at Grandview, but they were both impressive performances.  The 2019 USAC National Sprint Car champ finished 2^nd behind Bacon at Grandview in both 2017 and 2019.  His most recent trip to the east was highly successful, scoring the Eastern Storm title in 2019.

Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) will compete in the four Keystone Invasion races in the Tim Hogue owned No. 39, a familiar ride during Eastern Storm for drivers such as Dave Darland, Jerry Coons Jr., Richard Vander Weerd and others in recent years.  Meseraull finished a best of 4^th at Grandview in 2016 and 9^th in 2018.

Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) has made three starts in USAC National Sprint Car competition at Grandview over the past decade.  His first has been his best thus far, finishing 10^th in 2013.  In his two most recent appearances, he was 11^th in 2017 and 12^th in 2018.

Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) does have Grandview experience in his USAC career, winning his heat race and finishing 4^th there with the NOS Energy Drink National Midgets in 2019.  He’s the leading Rookie in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car standings, and his Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports car finished 2^nd in its most recent go at Grandview with driver C.J. Leary in 2019.

Steven Drevicki (Reading, Pa.) enters as the dominator of the East Coast Regional Sprint Car racing scene in recent years, capturing the championship for the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Cars presented by Capitol Custom Trailers in three consecutive seasons between 2018-2020, earning 12 victories along the way.  The 2014-15 ARDC Midget champion raced with the USAC National Sprint Cars at Grandview in 2019 where he was 13^th and, with the National Midgets there in 2019, was 17^th.

Timmy Buckwalter (Douglassville, Pa.) got off to a hot start with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars at Ocala, Fla. this past February, recording fast time during Fatheadz Qualifying on both nights.  At Grandview, Buckwalter was victorious with the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars in May 2019.  That same season, during Eastern Storm, he took 21^st after flipping wildly down the main straightaway during the feature.

Fellow Pennsylvanians Joey Biasi, Kyle Lick and Carmen Perigo have all been regulars with the USAC National Sprint Cars at Grandview.  Biasi (Mary D, Pa.) has made six starts between 2012-19, finishing 15^th in 2012, 2014 and 2019.  Lick (Lehighton, Pa.) was the 20^th place finisher in both 2018 and 2019.  Wingless Sportsman Sprint superstar Perigo (Stoystown, Pa.) has twice made starts, finishing a best of 18^th in 2019.

Add those to a number of drivers eying first-time Grandview USAC National Sprint Car feature starts, including 2021 Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway USAC East Coast Sprint Car winner Briggs Danner (Allentown, Pa.), 2017 USAC West Coast Sprint Car champion Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.), 2020 USAC National Most Improved Driver Brandon Mattox (Terre Haute, Ind.), USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year contenders Paul Nienhiser (Chapin, Ill.) and Carson Garrett (Littleton, Colo.), Eastern Storm veteran Craig Pellegrini (Buena, N.J.) and two-time USAC National Sprint Car feature starter Brandon Spithaler and more.

On Thursday, 358 Modifieds will also be on the event card.  Gates open at 5pm Eastern with the drivers meeting at 6pm and cars on track at 6:30pm.

Adult admission tickets are $30, children 6 to 11 are $10 and children 5 and under will be admitted free. Pit passes are $40.

Advance tickets are available by calling (443) 513-4456. Please speak clearly and provide your first and last name and the number of tickets you need. Tickets may be paid for and picked up at the WILL CALL window on race night. Advance ticket holders may enter the grandstands at 4:30pm. Advance tickets orders can be processed up to the day before the race. Advance tickets will NOT be available on race day. Bring exact change when purchasing your advance tickets, general admission tickets and Pit Passes.

The Grandview Keystone Invasion event will be streamed live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:

3-Brady Bacon

2-Bryan Clauson & Levi Jones

1-Daron Clayton, Bobby East, Jesse Hockett & Chase Stockon

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:

2007: Levi Jones (6/6)

2009: Jesse Hockett (6/2)

2010: Levi Jones (6/1)

2011: Bobby East (5/31)

2012: Bryan Clauson (6/5)

2013: Daron Clayton (6/5)

2014: Chase Stockon (6/3)

2016: Bryan Clauson (6/7)

2017: Brady Bacon (6/13)

2018: Brady Bacon (6/14)

2019: Brady Bacon (6/11)

TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:

1 Lap - 6/5/2012 - Kevin Thomas Jr. - 13.360 - 89.731 mph

8 Laps - 6/13/2017 - Isaac Chapple - 1:52.46 - 85.278 mph

10 Laps - 6/6/2007 - Mat Neely - 2:27.30 - 81.458 mph

12 Laps - 6/11/2019 - Jason McDougal - 3:01.48 - 79.268 mph

GRANDVIEW USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FEATURE RESULTS:

2007 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Levi Jones, 2. Brady Short, 3. Billy Pauch, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 8. Dave Darland, 9. Darren Hagen, 10. Jesse Hockett, 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 12. Josh Weller, 13. Jimmy Light, 14. Mike Martin, 15. Mat Neely, 16. Lucas Wolfe, 17. Bob Ream Jr., 18. Daron Clayton, 19. Chris Windom, 20. Kevin Swindell, 21. Brad Sweet, 22. John Heydenreich. NT

2008 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Jesse Hockett, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Dave Darland, 7. Levi Jones, 8. Chad Boat, 9. Damion Gardner, 10. Cole Whitt, 11. Brad Sweet, 12. Henry Clarke, 13. Billy Pauch, 14. Darren Hagen, 15. Robert Ballou, 16. Scotty Weir, 17. Bud Kaeding, 18. Josh Weller, 19. Kevin Swindell, 20. Steve Petry. NT

2010 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Levi Jones, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Henry Clarke, 8. Ricky Williams, 9. Bill Rose, 10. Chase Stockon, 11. Mark Bitner, 12. J.R. Berry, 13. Kyle Moody, 14. Johnny Mackison, 15. Shane Hmiel, 16. Kyle Robbins, 17. Jerry Coons Jr., 18. Josh Weller, 19. J.C. Bland, 20. Jeff Geiges, 21. Landon Simon, 22. Jonathan Swanson, 23. Steve Petry. NT

2011 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Bobby East, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Casey Shuman, 5. Dave Darland, 6, Jon Stanbrough, 7, Levi Jones, 8. Mark Bitner, 9. Tracy Hines, 10. Damion Gardner, 11. Bryan Clauson, 12. Travis Rilat, 13. Keith Bloom Jr., 14. Justin Grant, 15. Kevin Thomas Jr., 16. Kyle Moody, 17. Daron Clayton, 18. Kyle Robbins, 19. Brent Marks, 20. Hunter Schuerenberg, 21. Wes McIntyre, 22. Coleman Gulick. NT

2012 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Levi Jones, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. Chris Windom, 5. Jerry Coons, Jr., 6. Darren Hagen, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Hunter Schuerenberg, 9. Robert Ballou, 10. Jon Stanbrough, 11. Tracy Hines, 12. Bobby East, 13. Chase Stockon, 14. Mark Smith, 15. Joey Biasi, 16. Kyle Moody, 17. Mike Gular, 18. Damion Gardner, 19. Jonathan Hendrick, 20. C.J. Leary, 21. Mark Bitner, 22. Coleman Gulick. NT

2013 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Daron Clayton, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. Chase Stockon, 6. Shane Cottle, 7. Chris Windom, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Matt Westfall, 11. Tracy Hines, 12. Mark Smith, 13. Tyler Courtney, 14. Nick Drake, 15. Mark Bitner, 16. Joey Biasi, 17. C.J. Leary, 18. Trevor Utt, 19. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 20. Brent Marks, 21. Landon Simon, 22. Robert Ballou, 23. Billy Pauch, Jr. NT

2014 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Chase Stockon, 2. Jon Stanbrough, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Chris Windom, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 10. Hunter Schuerenberg, 11. Shane Cockrum, 12. Bryan Clauson, 13. C.J. Leary, 14. Mark Smith, 15. Joey Biasi, 16. Mark Bitner, 17. Trevor Kobylarz, 18. Dalten Gabbard, 19. Jarett Andretti, 20. Daron Clayton, 21. Chad Boespflug, 22. Landon Simon. NT

2016 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 3. Chris Windom, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Jarett Andretti, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Max McGhee, 8. Brady Bacon, 9. Tony DiMattia, 10. Dave Darland, 11. Shane Golobic, 12. Chad Boespflug, 13. C.J. Leary, 14. Chase Stockon, 15. Aaron Farney, 16. Jerry Coons, Jr., 17. Landon Simon, 18. Mark Smith, 19. Bret Mellenberndt, 20. Isaac Chapple, 21. Shane Cottle, 22. Joey Biasi. NT

2017 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5. Justin Grant, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Jerry Coons, Jr., 9. Tyler Courtney, 10. Jarett Andretti, 11. Matt Westfall, 12. Aaron Farney, 13. Thomas Meseraull, 14. Alex Bright, 15. Kyle Robbins, 16. Dave Darland, 17. Chad Boespflug, 18. Isaac Chapple, 19. Tony DiMattia, 20. Trevor Kobylarz, 21. Chandler Leiby, 22. Joey Biasi. NT

2018 FEATURE: (40 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (1), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 3. Chris Windom (4), 4. Tyler Courtney (12), 5. Jarett Andretti (6), 6. Chad Boespflug (2), 7. Chase Stockon (7), 8. Robert Ballou (10), 9. Thomas Meseraull (8), 10. Justin Grant (9), 11. Dave Darland (16), 12. Matt Westfall (18), 13. C.J. Leary (11), 14. Isaac Chapple (21), 15. Tony DiMattia (5), 16. Zach Daum (13), 17. Timmy Buckwalter (14), 18. Jerry Coons, Jr. (15), 19. Joey Biasi (17), 20. Kyle Lick (22), 21. Trevor Kobylarz (20), 22. Carmen Perigo (19). NT

2019 FEATURE: (40 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (2), 2. C.J. Leary (5), 3. Chris Windom (9), 4. Tyler Courtney (3), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 6. Robert Ballou (8), 7. Chase Stockon (6), 8. Justin Grant (1), 9. Jason McDougal (11), 10. Chad Boespflug (15), 11. Ryan Godown (18), 12. Carson Short (14), 13. Steven Drevicki (7), 14. Dave Darland (13), 15. Joey Biasi (16), 16. Bill Balog (20), 17. Isaac Chapple (22), 18. Carmen Perigo (12), 19. Trevor Kobylarz (17), 20. Kyle Lick (21), 21. Timmy Buckwalter (10), 22. Dustin Christie (19). NT