|
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media Lawrenceburg, Indiana (July 25, 2026)………One year ago during the USAC Indiana Sprint Week round at Lawrenceburg Speedway, Justin Grant left the track in an ambulance following a gnarly series of flips that resulted in a broken left foot. On Sunday night, Grant (Ione, California) left the 3/8-mile dirt oval with the trophy after tracking down racelong leader Kyle Cummins, then slid past him in turn one with two laps remaining to become the first repeat winner of 2026 USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented by K & N Filters. For the most part, Lawrenceburg has been kind to Grant throughout his career. In fact, his eighth career USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship victory on Sunday made him the winningest driver in the series’ history at the track, surpassing Dave Darland. Yet, for those last several laps, Grant took it up even another notch in pursuit of victory at a place where he has thousands of laps and has accrued so much success, which really says something. “That was as hard as I’ve run around this place, I think, ever,” Grant revealed. “Especially when it’s slick to a big curb like that. Kyle and I were both pretty bailed out there trying to win the race.” Despite how it all unfolded last year with the pain, the surgeries, the rehab, the toll, and everything else that came along as a result of the injury, Grant’s love for Lawrenceburg never wavered. “Lawrenceburg Speedway has always been my friend. We just had a little spat here last year,” Grant said with a laugh. “I’ve always loved this place. I’ve loved racing here since I was driving the 40 car for Mark Hery and the 5 car for Ken Baldwin back in the day. I love Lawrenceburg. I even loved it the night I left in an ambulance. This place is awesome and it’s a throttle smashers’ delight around here.” It seemed fitting for Grant that his very first USAC national win in 2012 came during Indiana Sprint Week at Lawrenceburg, and so did his 101st. In an ironic twist of fate, in both cases, he led just the final two laps, then punctuated it by saluting the crowd with a “hat shake” by unstrapping his helmet and holding it above his head during the cool down lap. “It was super special to win my first one here,” Grant reminisced 14 years later. “Against all odds, I’ve won 100 more, and to come back and win another one here at Lawrenceburg Speedway, it’s super special. I couldn’t do it with a better group of people. People who have been with me for a long time. I just really appreciate each and every one of them.” Grant’s latest winning performance marked his 13th career Indiana Sprint Week victory, moving him into sole possession of third place all-time behind only Dave Darland (20) and Jon Stanbrough (16). Overall, it was his record extending 69th career USAC National Sprint Car triumph. The non-stop green-to-checkered feature took just 7:39.455 to complete and earned Grant a $10,000 reward for his efforts aboard his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink – TOPP Industries – LA Poly/Maxim/Stanton Chevy No. 4. Starting third on the grid, Grant initially fell to fourth behind Cummins, Mitchel Moles, and C.J. Leary for the first three circuits of the 30-lap feature. By lap four, Grant had surpassed Leary through the middle of turns one and two. On the ninth lap, Grant had raced by Moles for second, then went to work on chasing down Cummins. From that point onward, Cummins found himself in the midst of traffic. Just prior to the midway point, Grant had erased Cummins’ 1.5 second advantage and now sat just a handful of car lengths off his back bumper. Standing five links back, Grant went for the slider entering turn three on the 18th lap, pulling himself even alongside Cummins, but was unable to stick the pass. That put Cummins on high alert, but at the same time, also spent one piece of valuable ammunition in Grant’s arsenal. “Kyle and 3p made me work awfully hard for that one,” Grant explained. “I slid him, but I didn’t want him to know I was there because I knew he had more in the tank. I thought I had enough to slide him and didn’t get him cleared. Then, I’m like, ‘oh boy, you just made your life a lot harder now.’ So, I had to sit up in the seat.” For the next 11 trips around The Burg, Grant shadowed Cummins lap after lap after lap. But on lap 29 of 30, Grant aimed toward the bottom of turn one and fired off an all or nothing slider. It stuck. Once Cummins checked up, Grant was able to escape with only the white flag and the checkered flag left in his sight. “I was pretty much all or nothing from the time the green flag dropped,” Grant said. “I was hammering and really trying not to let him get away from me in lap traffic. He did a really, really good job and I caught a few breaks with lapped cars kind of peeling off after he went by them and I was able to close back to him. So, anything I caught wrong, I got given back to me when guys would peel down off the bottom. Then, I made a couple big moves across the middle. Fortunately, (crew chief) Jeff Walker and I have been working really hard on it, but it finally stuck across the middle and I could throw bombs from like from like the next town over.” Grant took control from there, leading the final two laps and crossing the start/finish line 0.615 seconds ahead of Kyle Cummins with Jake Swanson third, Mitchel Moles fourth and Brady Bacon fifth. After enduring a USAC National Sprint Car winless drought of 19 races without a series victory that spanned 2.5 months, Grant has now won two of the last four. Now, he feels like he’s right back on track. “We’ve won a few races and we’ve been running okay, but tonight’s the first time I got out of the race car and thought, ‘oh, that’s our race car. We’ve got it back.’ I’m really, really happy for that,” Grant said. Kyle Cummins was in full control of the feature for all but the final two laps. As the leader of the most laps (28 of 30), he was the honoree of the K & N Filters Clean Air award. Furthermore, for the third consecutive night, he turned the fastest lap of the feature. His time of 14.532 seconds on lap five earned him another bonus courtesy of Eclipse Claims Consulting. Utilizing a “backup” car, Briggs Danner set fast time in LearnLab Qualifying for the sixth time during the 2026 USAC National Sprint Car season, and for the 10th time in his career, putting him 54th all-time alongside Sonny Ates, Jim Hurtubise, and Thomas Meseraull. Hunter Schuerenberg advanced from his 24th starting position to finish 16th in the feature. His +8 performance netted him the Rod End Supply Hard Charger award. He began the night by qualifying 32nd out of the 44 cars on hand, but despite it all, he overcame it to race his way into the big show, which earned him recognition as the Hard Work award winner. He was also the lone driver outside of the inversion to transfer into the feature, racing his way from 12th to fourth in the semi to earn a feature starting spot. That got him his second Haymaker award of Indiana Sprint Week courtesy of The Hayloft. James Turnbull II advanced 14th to 10th in the semi-feature, earning him a Heading Home 1st bonus from Vogel Real Estate as the driver advancing the furthest without making the feature event. Jesse Vermillion came one spot shy of qualifying for his first USAC National Sprint Car feature in six years. He finished fifth in the semi and was the recipient of the Eclipse Claims First Semi Non-Transfer bonus. One night after winning the Indiana Sprint Week at Kokomo Speedway, Kevin Thomas Jr.’s car suffered mechanical problems from qualifying on. He was unable to start his heat race, the semi-feature or the feature event. The issues ended his streak of 122 consecutive USAC National Sprint Car feature starts, which had been the 16th longest streak in series history. The 44 USAC National Sprint Cars on hand were the most for a USAC Indiana Sprint Week event at Lawrenceburg since 2014.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 26, 2026 – Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – 39th Annual USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented by K & N Filters – 3/8-Mile Dirt Track LEARNLAB QUALIFYING: 1. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-13.839; 2. Brady Bacon, 20, Dyson-13.850; 3. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.864; 4. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.917; 5. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-13.963; 6. Jake Swanson, 5T, Daming Swanson-13.982; 7. C.J. Leary, 53, Fox-14.050; 8. Todd Hobson, 44, Soudrette-14.078; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 15, BBI-14.097; 10. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-14.151; 11. Gunnar Setser, G5, Setser-14.169; 12. Hayden Reinbold, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-14.188; 13. Chase Stockon, 92, Sertich-14.193; 14. Gavin Miller, 21AZ, Team AZ/Curb-Agajanian-14.210; 15. Austin Nigh, 97, Ninety Seven-14.230; 16. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-14.237; 17. Ricky Lewis, 41, Lewis-14.240; 18. Dalton Stevens, 2B, 2B Racing-14.243; 19. Shawn Westerfeld, 4J, Fischesser/Owen-14.265; 20. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.344; 21. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-14.346; 22. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.361; 23. Cale Coons, 63, Dooling/Curb-Agajanian-14.362; 24. Garrett Abrams, 32, Abrams-14.368; 25. Jack Hoyer, 11, Hoyer-14.382; 26. Zack Pretorius, 9z, Pretorius-14.388; 27. Todd Moule, AU26, Moule-14.430; 28. Ryan Barr, 21B, Barr-14.466; 29. Dustin Webber, 9, Webber-14.500; 30. Jesse Vermillion, 5v, Vermillion-14.546; 31. Kobe Simpson, 21K, Simpson-14.555; 32. Hunter Schuerenberg, 3R, Rock Steady-14.566; 33. Trey Osborne, 6T, Osborne-14.581; 34. Kole Kirkman, 18K, Dice-14.774; 35. Colin Parker, 16K, Knight-14.892; 36. James Turnbull II, 5, Baldwin/Fox-14.905; 37. Kyle Johnson, 99J, Johnson-14.921; 38. Dakota Earls, 15E, Earls-14.989; 39. Troy Carey, 45N, Carey-15.072; 40. Travis Oldfield, 38, Oldfield-15.398; 41. Blake Vermillion, 73, Vermillion-15.726; 42. Brennon Marshall, 43, Miller-NT; 43. Nate Carle, 14c, Carle-NT; 44. R.J. Miller, 34m, Miller-NT. K1 RACEGEAR FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Robert Ballou (2), 2. Gunnar Setser (4), 3. Briggs Danner (6), 4. Logan Seavey (3), 5. Jake Swanson (5), 6. Todd Moule (1), 7. Hunter Schuerenberg (7), 8. Kyle Johnson (8). 1:57.071 TJ FORGED SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Cale Coons (2), 2. Hayden Reinbold (4), 3. Brady Bacon (6), 4. C.J. Leary (5), 5. Ryan Barr (1), 6. Ricky Lewis (3), 7. Dakota Earls (8), 8. Trey Osborne (7). 1:58.459 K & N FILTERS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Mitchel Moles (6), 2. Garrett Abrams (2), 3. Dustin Webber (1), 4. Todd Hobson (5), 5. Chase Stockon (4), 6. Dalton Stevens (3), 7. Kole Kirkman (7), 8. Troy Carey (8). 1:59.176 INDY POWERSPORTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (6), 2. Jack Hoyer (2), 3. Gavin Miller (4), 4. Shawn Westerfeld (3), 5. Jesse Vermillion (1), 6. Colin Parker (7), 7. Travis Oldfield (8), 8. Kevin Thomas Jr. (5). 1:58.371 K1 RACEGEAR FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jadon Rogers (5), 2. Kyle Cummins (6), 3. Kobe Simpson (1), 4. Zack Pretorius (2), 5. Austin Nigh (4), 6. Brandon Mattox (3), 7. James Turnbull II (7), 8. Blake Vermillion (8). 2:00.568 FIVE STAR BODIES SEMI: (12 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jake Swanson (1), 2. Chase Stockon (3), 3. Austin Nigh (4), 4. Hunter Schuerenberg (12), 5. Jesse Vermillion (6), 6. Ryan Barr (5), 7. Todd Moule (10), 8. Dalton Stevens (8), 9. Brandon Mattox (9), 10. James Turnbull II (14), 11. Colin Parker (11), 12. Kole Kirkman (13), 13. Dakota Earls (15), 14. Travis Oldfield (16), 15. Troy Carey (18), 16. Kyle Johnson (17), 17. Blake Vermillion (19), 18. Ricky Lewis (7), 19. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2). 2:58.619 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (3), 2. Kyle Cummins (2), 3. Jake Swanson (10), 4. Mitchel Moles (4), 5. Brady Bacon (5), 6. Briggs Danner (6), 7. Robert Ballou (8), 8. C.J. Leary (1), 9. Jadon Rogers (7), 10. Gunnar Setser (12), 11. Gavin Miller (14), 12. Hayden Reinbold (13), 13. Shawn Westerfeld (17), 14. Chase Stockon (18), 15. Logan Seavey (16), 16. Hunter Schuerenberg (24), 17. Garrett Abrams (19), 18. Kobe Simpson (23), 19. Zack Pretorius (21), 20. Todd Hobson (11), 21. Dustin Webber (22), 22. Jack Hoyer (20), 23. Austin Nigh (15), 24. Cale Coons (9), 25. Ricky Lewis (25-P). 7:39.455 (P) represents a provisional starter FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-28 Kyle Cummins, Laps 29-30 Justin Grant. **Nate Carle flipped during hot laps. Wyatt Burks flipped during qualifying. USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kyle Cummins-2086, 2-Mitchel Moles-1959, 3-Justin Grant-1959, 4-Briggs Danner-1801, 5-Jake Swanson-1721, 6-Chase Stockon-1655, 7-Logan Seavey-1641, 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1601, 9-Robert Ballou-1587, 10-C.J. Leary-1586. USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PRESENTED BY K & N FILTERS POINTS: 1-Kyle Cummins-222, 2-Justin Grant-212, 3-Mitchel Moles-212, 4-Jake Swanson-201, 5-Brady Bacon-181, 6-Gavin Miller-180, 7-C.J. Leary-165, 8-Robert Ballou-164, 9-Briggs Danner-152, 10-Jadon Rogers-152. USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Kevin Thomas Jr.-105, 2-Hayden Reinbold-103, 3-Robert Ballou-93, 4-Jacob Denney-84, 5-Justin Grant-75, 6-Cale Coons-75, 7-Chase Stockon-70, 8-Briggs Danner-65, 9-Gavin Miller-62, 10-Jake Swanson-54. INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PARALLAX GROUP / PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Hunter Schuerenberg-23, 2-Gavin Miller-22, 3-Jake Swanson-21, 4-Robert Ballou-20, 5-Chase Stockon-16, 6-Jesse Vermillion-16, 7-Mitchel Moles-15, 8-Jadon Rogers-15, 9-Todd Moule-15, 10-Dalton Stevens-15. NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 27, 2026 – Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, Indiana – 39th Annual USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented by K & N Filters – 1/4-Mile Dirt Track
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS: Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Kyle Cummins (13.863) LearnLab Fast Qualifier: Briggs Danner (13.839) K1 RaceGear First Heat Winner: Robert Ballou TJ Forged Second Heat Winner: Cale Coons K & N Filters Third Heat Winner: Mitchel Moles Indy Powersports Fourth Heat Winner: Justin Grant K1 RaceGear Fifth Heat Winner: Jadon Rogers Five Star Bodies Semi Winner: Jake Swanson Eclipse Claims Consulting First Semi Non-Transfer: Jesse Vermillion Vogel Real Estate Heading Home 1st Award: James Turnbull II Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Hunter Schuerenberg (24th to 16th) K & N Filters Clean Air Award: Kyle Cummins (28 laps led) Eclipse Claims Consulting Fastest Feature Lap: Kyle Cummins (14.532) Hard Work Award: Hunter Schuerenberg The Hayloft Haymaker Award: Hunter Schuerenberg |
