Grant Seeks Second Bettenhausen Win, Second Championship
Springfield USAC Event To Take Green Saturday Afternoon

[August 18, 2021] 

Ione, California’s Justin Grant reached a milestone in 2017 claiming his first 100-mile championship win at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Grant reached a second milestone when he captured his first USAC Silver Crown title in 2020. The USAC star is looking to repeat both milestones in 2021, winning the Saturday August 21 Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield would make Grant a two-time Springfield winner and go a long way to assisting him in his quest for a second national championship.

Long recognized as one of the stars of the USAC Sprint Car Series, Grant’s natural progression was to the bigger cars landing one part-time deal in 2012 with legendary championship owner/chief mechanic Bob Hampshire. The combination had limited success with Grant finishing 13th at the Hoosier Hundred and missing the Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield. The next season Grant secured a ride with Marc Longworth for the Hoosier Hundred and went from 18th to 6th, however rides for the other two miles failed to materialize.

Grant’s big break appeared in 2015 when he teamed with owner Chris Carli. A fifth in the Hoosier Hundred was followed by a pole at Springfield and a fourth at Du Quoin. Grant appeared on the cusp of breaking through for that elusive 1-mile dirt track win. The 2016 season saw the team make just 2 starts on the dirt miles, mechanical issues forced Grant out of the Hoosier Hundred and he ended up nineteenth at Du Quoin.

Grant got an even bigger break in 2017 as 1996 Indianapolis winning car owner Ron Hemelgarn joined forces with Carli. While the Hoosier Hundred was lost to rain the combination worked at Springfield starting on the outside of the front row and leading 79 of 100 miles to claim his first Silver Crown Series win as well as his first Bettenhausen 100. Grant won at Terre Haute in 2018 for his second series win again with Hemelgarn.

In the pandemic plagued 2020 season Grant had top finishes but no victories and joined legends such as Jimmy Caruthers and Billy Cassella as drivers who won the Silver Crown championship without the benefit of a win during the championship season. Grant has been a consistent performer in 2021 and pulled off his first pavement win in the big cars narrowly beating Kody Swanson to the line in the Vogler Classic at Winchester. However, an 18th place finish at Lucas Oil Raceway in the Hoosier Classic dropped him to third in the current standings.

Grant edged Kyle Larson for his second pole at Springfield last year and led the opening ten circuits. A win at Springfield would close the points gap to leader Kody Swanson with just three races remaining after the Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield.
 

Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the first Silver Crown Series race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and coincides with the 50th anniversary of the series itself. Practice for the big cars begins at 10 a.m. with Fatheadz Eyewear Qualifying at 11:30. The Bettenhausen 100 is scheduled to push off at approximately 2 p.m. Tickets are available by calling Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200 or at the Illinois State Fair Box Office.

The event is all part of a huge racing weekend in Central Illinois featuring Lincoln Speedway with MOWA Sprint Cars on Friday night, Silver Crown Saturday at the Springfield Mile, Jack Hewitt Night featuring POWRi Midgets at Macon Speedway Saturday night, and the ARCA Menards Series Sunday afternoon at the Springfield Mile.

Full information on the events can be found at www.trackenterprises.com.

[By Jay Hardin
Track Enterprises Staff]