From IMS:
| INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, July 23, 2026) – Justin Grant joined an elite club of United States Auto Club legends Thursday night at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, earning his 100th career national feature victory in the opening race of the 39th USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented by K&N Filters. Grant, from Ione, California, became the fifth driver to reach the century mark in USAC national series competition, joining A.J. Foyt, Rich Vogler, Mel Kenyon and Dave Darland.This was Grant’s second consecutive victory in this USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship race. It also was the fourth consecutive year Grant drove to a victory and his fifth win overall on the 1/5th-mile dirt oval inside Turn 3 of the famed IMS oval. He won an opening night feature in the BC39 USAC Midget National Championship event in 2023 and 2025 and won the BC39 main feature in 2024. “It’s been an incredible career for me to live through and experience,” Grant said. “I’ve been so fortunate and so blessed. To win at IMS with this TOPP Motorsports team, I’m speechless. Couldn’t think of a better place to win No. 100.” Grant led 29 of the 35 laps in the No. 4 TOPP Motorsports car, pulling away in the closing laps from runner-up Jake Swanson in the No. 5T Daming Swanson Motorsports machine. Grant earned $10,000. Logan Seavey finished third in the No. 57 Abacus Racing entry, followed by 2026 BC39 Presented by Avanti Windows & Doors winner Briggs Danner in the No. 39 Hogue Racing Enterprises machine. Shane Cottle rounded out the top five in the No. 34 Jeff Olson car. Grant and Swanson were the class of the field throughout the entire feature after starting from pole and third, respectively. Their differing tactics became apparent from the drop of the green flag, as Grant rode the tackier cushion of dirt around the high line of the oval while Swanson stayed glued to the bottom of the track. Swanson’s strategy paid off on Lap 4 when he powered past Grant exiting Turn 2. But on Lap 10, Swanson lost momentum on the low line exiting Turn 2, and Grant pounced on the lead on the back straightaway while staying on the high line.Grant never trailed thereafter despite three cautions, rocketing away on the high line on every restart. He also learned an important lesson when he sampled the low line earlier in the race. “You had to run really hard and make a lot of your speed on entry here,” Grant said. “You’ve got to be really focused. I wasn’t really set up to run on the tires (low line) like that. I bailed out (of the low line) probably a little earlier than I needed to, but I just felt like I was a sitting duck down there. “So, I just got up, got the top cleaned off, got my momentum and my rhythm up there. Once I got the lead, I felt really good.” Swanson eventually moved to the high line after a restart with about five laps to go, but Grant was too strong to catch. “I knew the days were numbered there on the bottom,” Swanson said. “I rode down there as long as I could because I went up there and tested it, and I really didn’t feel all that great up there. So, I knew once I got to pacing with Justin, I was going to have a hard time staying with him.” |
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 