Justin Grant’s winning performance wasn’t exactly how he drew it up, so to speak, during Friday night’s USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season opener at Florida’s Ocala Speedway.

In fact, once Grant took the lead from Brady Bacon five laps from the finish line, he would rather have just driven away scot-free to victory while not having to dwell on any mixed feelings about a subsequent victory celebration.

Nonetheless, on occasion in the sport of auto racing, the best laid plans can go awry. Soon after taking, losing, then retaking the lead from Bacon on lap 26, Grant’s car kicked sideways in turn four, directly into the path of Bacon. Bacon attempted to avoid the idle Grant but clipped his right front tire into Grant’s left rear. As a result, Grant’s car got reignited, then straightened out and continued on while Bacon took the brunt of the misfortune, spinning to a stop.

Henceforth, Grant (Ione, Calif.) traveled the final five laps on the 3/8-mile dirt track toward victory in his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink – Bow Foundation – TOPP Industries/Maxim/Kistler Chevy.

The parallels of this year’s season opener and the 2023 lid lifter at Ocala are uncanny. A year ago, Bacon performed a half-spin in turn four, then carried onto victory where he surpassed Jack Hewitt on the series’ all-time win list. For Bacon, that particular performance moved him into a tie for the all-time lead in career Winter Dirt Games victories with five alongside Damion Gardner. Similarly, this time around, Grant’s victory was his fifth in the yearly annual event, elevating him to the top line with Bacon and Gardner.

Grant’s score was monumental in the USAC record books as well with this being the 46th feature win of his USAC National Sprint Car career, tying himself with Hewitt for a share of fifth place on the all-time list.

The win proved to be Grant’s ninth in his last 18 USAC National Sprint Car starts dating back to July of 2023. Furthermore, it was Grant’s first season opening triumph with the series since 2017, also at Ocala.

Winning Quote From Justin Grant

“That’s really, really cool (To tie Jack Hewitt) I got to do a stint in Ohio driving for Mark Hery. I learned a lot and learned a lot of racecraft there, and I was able to develop a lot of what I do now racing around Ohio racetracks with Mark. Jack was always around in those days. It’s cool to tie him and it’s really cool that we have those lists so that we can look back at the heroes and legends of our sport. Being able to climb up the list among these giants is an absolute dream come true. I never thought I’d win a single USAC Sprint Car race, so to be climbing up through there with those guys and to be tied with Jack Hewitt on the all-time wins list, it means a lot and it’s very special to me.”

USAC Sprint Car Results Friday At Ocala Speedway

1. Justin Grant (4)

2. C.J. Leary (3)

3. Logan Seavey (5)

4. Robert Ballou (10)

5. Briggs Danner (8)

6. Jake Swanson (1)

7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (6)

8. Chase Stockon (7)

9. Kyle Cummins (15)

10. Jadon Rogers (9)

 11. Daison Pursley (12)

12. Mitchel Moles (13)

13. Joey Amantea (17)

14. Carson Garrett (19)

15. Alex Bright (14)

 16. Brady Bacon (2)

17. Tom Harris (21)

 18. Matt Westfall (20)

 19. Tye Mihocko (23)

20. Zach Daum (16)

21. Brandon Mattox (24)

22. Timmy Buckwalter (18)

 23. Mark Smith (22)

24. Sterling Cling (11). NT