Justin Grant celebrated his birthday in fine fashion, passing Cory Eliason for the lead on lap 24 of 30 and driving off to victory on the opening night of the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ Western World Championship at Arizona Speedway Friday night.
The win was the second of the season for Grant and the 22nd for a Toyota-powered driver in USAC competition in 2021.
Grant and Eliason led the field to the green flag, with Eliason moving to the front as Grant fell in behind him, with Logan Seavey, Buddy Kofoid and Tanner Carrick rounding out the top five,
Eliason, making his first USAC midget start, would quickly begin pulling away from the field and dominated the early going. The only thing that was able to slow him down were caution flags and it was a late yellow that would give Grant the opportunity he would need.
Grant, who had fallen to third behind Seavey, would regain the position when Seavey suffered a flat right rear tire with eight laps remaining. On the following restart, Grant would challenge for the lead and coming back to the flag stand, Eliason held a slight lead, but Eliason would bobble coming through turns one and two, giving Grant the opening he needed to take the lead. Behind Grant, Kofoid and Kevin Thomas Jr., each were able to move past Eliason.
Down the stretch, Kofoid made a big run for the lead, but Grant would hold him off and go on to take the checkered flag, with Kofoid finishing second, Thomas placing third and Eliason was fourth as Toyota-powered drivers captured the top-four finishing positions on the night.
Three more Toyota drivers earned top-10 finishes, with Chris Windom in sixth, Carrick placing ninth and Daison Pursley bringing it home in tenth.
With Kofoid finishing four spots higher than Windom, the two are now dead locked for the USAC point lead with eight races remaining.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series will close out the Western World Championship at the Arizona Speedway Saturday night.
Quotes:
Justin Grant, RMS Racing: “This RMS team has been giving me a great car all year. This thing was awesome. It could go anywhere. They gave me everything I needed. I just got to the top and picked my spot on the cushion. It feels good to get the win. It’s my birthday and we’ll probably splurge and have a cupcake, then it’s back to work to get ready for tomorrow.”
Buddy Kofoid, KKM: “It’s crunch time with the championship. It’s good to run second and get some points. Hats off to Justin. Hopefully, we can come back tomorrow and get a win. I can’t do it without all of these KKM guys and I wouldn’t be here without Toyota and Mobil 1.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers USAC Arizona Speedway Friday Results
Justin Grant – 1st
Buddy Kofoid – 2nd
Kevin Thomas Jr. – 3rd
Cory Eliason – 4th
Chris Windom – 6th
Tanner Carrick – 9th
Daison Pursley – 10th
Bryant Wiedeman – 11th
Cannon McIntosh – 12th
Thomas Meseraull – 13th
Chance Crum – 14th
Jade Avedisian – 16th
Brenham Crouch – 17th
Taylor Reimer – 18th
Logan Seavey – 20th
Kaylee Bryson – 21st
Emerson Axsom – 25th
Toyota Racing PR
