GRAND OPENING: GRANDVIEW LAUNCHES USAC EASTERN STORM TUESDAY IN MEMORY OF THE ROCKET

Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania (June 9, 2022)………Homeward bound to Eastern Storm’s origins.

The USAC AMSOIL Sprint National Championship’s Eastern Storm opens at Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway on Tuesday night, June 14, as the 15th running of the six-race tour opens where it all began a decade-and-a-half ago.

Grandview’s 40-lap, $6,000-to-win Jesse Hockett Classic pays homage to the racer known as “Rocket” who captured the victory in the 2009 USAC Eastern Storm main event at Grandview.

USAC Eastern Storm was organized back in 2007 when Bruce Rogers and Bob Miller approached USAC about a return to Berks County.  Levi Jones won the inaugural Eastern Storm that marked the first USAC event in Berks County since Paul Pitzer took the USAC win at the Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds in April of 1979.  Since 2007, Grandview has opened the Eastern Storm annually, presenting 14 events.

The on-track action gets spicy with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars hustling around Grandview’s 1/3-mile dirt oval.  No inch is given and, often, it takes a brand of bravery and machismo, as well as a slide job or several, to work your way to the front.

The story line heading into Grandview will have all eyes on Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) who won four consecutive USAC National Sprint Car features at Grandview between 2017-2021 only to have Justin Grant rip the rug out for his own first career victory in the June 2021 Eastern Storm return with Bacon running second.

Bacon, a four-time USAC National Sprint Car champ, has not finished outside of the top-ten in any of his nine Grandview USAC Sprint starts, with a 2nd in 2021, plus 5th place results in 2007 and 2014, an 8th in 2016 and a 9th in 2013.

Grant (Ione, Calif.) has earned three career USAC National Sprint Car top-fives at Grandview, with a victory during the 2021 Eastern Storm round in addition to a 4th in 2014 and a 5th in 2017.  The 2020 USAC Silver Crown champ was 8th in his Grandview appearance during 2019 and 10th in 2018.

Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) enters Grandview as the defending Eastern Storm champ.  The two-time Eastern Strom titlist in 2015 and 2021 comes in owning a string of seven-straight top-eight finishes, including a personal-best 3rd and a 5th in 2021, plus three 6th place finishes in that span in 2016-17-19, and 8th place results in 2014 & 2018.  In 12 Grandview USAC Sprint Car starts, the 2015 USAC National Sprint Car champion has finished inside the top-ten in 10 of them, finishing 6th in the series’ debut at the track in 2007, 9th in 2012 and another 3rd in 2011.

C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) possesses just three top-five finishes at Grandview, but they were both impressive performances.  The 2019 USAC National Sprint Car champ finished 2nd behind Bacon at Grandview in both 2017 and 2019.  The 2019 Eastern Storm champ took 6th with a solid run in April of 2021.

Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) will compete in the Chris Dyson-owned No. 20, a familiar winning ride during Eastern Storm.  Meseraull finished a best of 4th at Grandview in 2016 and 9th in 2018.

Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) has made five starts in USAC National Sprint Car competition at Grandview over the past decade.  His first and his most recent, have been his best thus far, finishing 10th in both 2013 and 2021.  In his two most recent appearances.

There’s a boatload of strong local contenders who will be vying for a first USAC National Sprint Car victory and they’ll be testing themselves versus the veterans of the sport as well as the USAC national series top-Rookie, two-time February Ocala feature winner Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.), plus 2020 USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Jadon Rogers (Worthington, Ind.) and Korbyn Hayslett (Troy, Ohio), all of whom are making their Eastern Storm debuts.

Representing the east coast’s top dawgs, Steven Drevicki (Reading, Pa.) captured the championship for the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Cars presented by Capitol Custom Trailers in three consecutive seasons between 2018-2020.  He’s finished a best of 13th with the USAC National Sprint Cars at Grandview in 2019.

Reigning USAC East Coast Sprint Car champion Alex Bright (Collegeville, Pa.) took 8th and 9th in his two USAC National Sprint Car attempts at Grandview in 2021.  Meanwhile, current USAC East Coast point leader Briggs Danner (Allentown, Pa.) was the fastest qualifier in April of 2021 while finishing 9th and 6th, respectively, in his two Grandview go’s.  Danner also scored the victory in the USAC East Coast round at Grandview in May of 2021.

Timmy Buckwalter (Douglassville, Pa.) was victorious with the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars at Grandview in May 2019.  He earned personal-best USAC National Sprint Car results at Grandview in 2021 with an 8th and a 9th.  He’s been a frequent winner in the 358 modifieds at Grandview and will be pulling double-duty in both divisions on Tuesday night.

They’ll be facing off with USAC National Sprint Car winners Shane Cottle (Kansas, Ill.), 6th at Grandview back in 2013; Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.), 13th in June of 2021 at Grandview; plus Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.), a 5th place finisher in his Grandview debut of 2021.

The 2020 USAC National Most Improved Driver Brandon Mattox (Terre Haute, Ind.), 11th in his first Grandview start that same night, is making a comeback to the east as is Charles Davis Jr. (Buckeye, Ariz.), the 2018 USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion, who returned to Pennsylvania after a nearly three-decade hiatus last year to finish 14th at Grandview’s Eastern Storm round, and he’ll be back again in 2021.  Alex Banales (Lafayette, Ind.), a Rookie on the USAC National Sprint Car trail, is aiming to crack his first Grandview feature starting field this Tuesday night along with several more.

Joining USAC’s national Stars are the 358 modifieds, which take part in qualifying leading up to the $3,000-to-win 30-lap feature that is part of the Tri-Track Series.  On race night, gates open at 5pm Eastern with racing slated to begin at 7:30pm.

Adult admission tickets are $30, children 6 to 11 are $10 and children 5 and under will be admitted free. Pit passes are $35 for members and $40 for non-members.

Advance tickets are available by calling (443) 513-4456. 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.

All Eastern Storm events will be streamed live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-539, 2-Emerson Axsom-534, 3-Robert Ballou-521, 4-Brady Bacon-511, 5-C.J. Leary-489, 6-Chase Stockon-483, 7-Logan Seavey-473, 8-Jason McDougal-443, 9-Matt Westfall-366, 10-Jake Swanson-354.

2022 USAC EASTERN STORM SCHEDULE:

June 14: Grandview Speedway | Bechtelsville, PA

June 15: Bridgeport Motorsports Park | Swedesboro, NJ

June 16: Selinsgrove Speedway | Selinsgrove, PA

June 17: Williams Grove Speedway | Mechanicsburg, PA

June 18: Port Royal Speedway | Port Royal, PA

June 19: Bloomsburg Fair Raceway | Bloomsburg, PA

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:

4-Brady Bacon

2-Bryan Clauson & Levi Jones

1-Daron Clayton, Bobby East, Justin Grant, 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)

2021: Brady Bacon (4/22) & Justin Grant (6/15)

TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:

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

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

10 Laps - 4/22/2021 - Alex Bright - 2:24.412

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

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

4/22/2021 FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (3), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2), 3. Robert Ballou (13), 4. Tanner Thorson (6), 5. Jake Swanson (5), 6. C.J. Leary (12), 7. Alex Bright (8), 8. Timmy Buckwalter (4), 9. Briggs Danner (10), 10. Chris Windom (7), 11. Brandon Mattox (1), 12. Paul Nienhiser (11), 13. Justin Grant (14), 14. Chase Stockon (16), 15. Thomas Meseraull (20), 16. Matt Westfall (18), 17. Joey Biasi (9), 18. Ricky Lewis (17), 19. Carmen Perigo (15), 20. Kenny Miller III (22), 21. Steven Drevicki (19), 22. Isaac Chapple (21), 23. Mark Smith (23) (P). NT

6/15/2021 FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (1), 2. Brady Bacon (5), 3. Tanner Thorson (3), 4. Kevin Thomas Jr. (6), 5. Robert Ballou (9), 6. Briggs Danner (8), 7. Chris Windom (13), 8. Alex Bright (2), 9. Timmy Buckwalter (10), 10. Matt Westfall (4), 11. Chase Stockon (15), 12. Jake Swanson (7), 13. Logan Seavey (18), 14. Charles Davis Jr. (14), 15. C.J. Leary (19), 16. Shane Cottle (17), 17. Paul Nienhiser (22), 18. Isaac Chapple (21), 19. Brandon Mattox (11), 20. Nash Ely (20), 21. Steven Drevicki (12), 22. Mark Smith (16). NT