GRANT ON PROWL FOR SECOND BETTENHAUSEN WIN
By: Jay Hardin - Track Enterprises Staff
Springfield, Illinois (September 18, 2019)………Following a strong run at Du Quoin in the Hemelgarn-NOS Energy Drink DRC powered Ford, 2017 Bettenhausen 100 winner Justin Grant appears poised for a strong run at a second Bettenhausen trophy this Sunday.
Grant gained six spots in four laps during the final ten miles at Du Quoin to finish second behind winner Jacob Wilson and the 28-year-old star looks to advance one more position in the final order at Springfield.
Grant is a terror on the USAC and Indiana sprint car scene with top runs in midget cars as well. His championship car breakthrough came at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in August of 2017. After qualifying on the outside of the front row, Grant got the jump on polesitter Jerry Coons, Jr. and led the first 36 miles before being passed by veteran Brian Tyler.
Tyler appeared to have the advantage until Grant caught and re-passed him on a lap 57 restart after a red flag due to a Zach Daum flip on the main chute. Grant was able to lead the final miles and gain his first, and to date, only 100-mile dirt track victory.
A win at Terre Haute in the Sumar Classic followed in 2018 as did a third at Springfield and a fourth at Du Quoin as Grant chased Kody Swanson for the 2018 title.
This season, Grant is second in points, just 39 behind Swanson entering the Bettenhausen, with only the finale at Eldora to follow. Grant has made all nine Silver Crown races to date with a 17th at Madison the only time he has finished lower than eighth. Grant has two thirds and three fourth place finishes in the eight races so far.
Justin Grant continues pursuit of a second Bettenhausen trophy and his first Silver Crown title Sunday, September 22 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield with pits opening and registration starting at 7am (Central), the ticket office and grandstands opening at 9am, the drivers meeting at 9:30am, Silver Crown practice from 10am to 11:10am, DIRTcar Modified hot laps/qualifying at 11:15am, Fatheadz Silver Crown Qualifying at 11:35am, Silver Crown Qualifying Race at 12:30pm, Modified feature at 1pm, pre-race ceremonies at 1:30pm and the Bettenhausen 100-mile race at 2pm.
Tickets will be available on raceday or by calling the Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200. Advance Tickets (Presale) are $25 for adults and $10 for children 11 and under. On race day, tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for children 11 and under. Infield tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for children 11 and under. Pit passes are $35 for adults and $20 for children 11 and under.
This Sunday’s Springfield race can be watched LIVE and on-demand on FloRacing, listened to via live audio on the USAC app as well as live timing and scoring on both the USAC app and the Race-Monitor app.
BETTENHAUSEN 100 100 ENTRY LIST (38 DRIVERS)
# / DRIVER / HOMETOWN / TEAM
07 JACOB WILSON/Crawfordsville, IN (Wilson Brothers Racing)
08 KYLE STEFFENS/St. Louis, MO (Kyle Steffens)
2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Patrick Lawson)
6 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Klatt Enterprises)
7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR Racing)
9 ®TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV (Chris Dyson Racing)
10 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (DMW Motorsports)
14 A.J. FIKE/Galesburg, IL (Dennis & Dave McQuinn)
15 ®CHAD KEMENAH/Alvada, OH (Hampshire/Kemenah Racing)
16 AUSTIN NEMIRE/Sylvania, OH (Nemire-Lesko Racing)
17 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (Goodnight-Byrd Racing)
18 TRAVIS WELPOTT/Pendleton, IN (Welpott/Gorman Racing)
20 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Gene Nolen Racing)
21 JEFF SWINDELL/Germantown, TN (Mark Swanson Encore Team)
23 TERRY JAMES/St. Louis, MO (Todd Satterthwaite)
24 MIKE HAGGENBOTTOM/Levittown, PA (John Haggenbottom)
31 ®DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer Racing)
33 ®RONNIE WUERDEMAN/Cincinnati, OH (Ronnie Wuerdeman)
34 TERRY BABB/Decatur, IL (Ken Morford)
39 MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight Racing)
40 DAVID BYRNE/Shullsburg, WI (Byrne Racing)
43 JOHN HEYDENREICH/Bloomsburg, PA (A.J. Felker)
44 DANNY LONG/Bonne Terre, MO (Danny Long)
47 ®AUSTIN MUNDIE/Dallas, TX (Patty Butler)
51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
53 STEVE BUCKWALTER/Royersford, PA (Five Three Motorsports)
54 MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (Westfall Motorsports)
56 KEVIN THOMAS, JR./Cullman, AL (Foxco Racing)
57 ®DALLAS HEWITT/Troy, OH (Dallas Hewitt)
66 BILL ROSE/Plainfield, IN (Bill Rose Racing)
71 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL (Hardy Boys Motorsports)
77 CHRIS URISH/Elkhart, IL (Chris Urish)
78 ERIC GORDON/Fortville, IN (Armstrong/Slinkard Racing)
81 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Curtis Williams)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
97 TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Hans Lein)
99 ®KOREY WEYANT/Springfield, IL (Scott Weyant)
123 ®JIMMY LIGHT/West Springfield, PA (Two-Three Motorsports)
® = USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year contender