ust a few short days ago, Justin Grant wasn’t even planning to compete during Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Sprint Car Smackdown XIV at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway.

On Saturday night, the Ione, California native not only competed, but also pulled off one of the most miraculous and dramatic victories in USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship history as he became the first five-time Smackdown champion.

Borrowing a line from famed baseball announcer Vin Scully, “in a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”

For you see, just 27 days ago, Grant broke his left foot in a harrowing accident down the front straightaway at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Saddled with a boot strapped to his left leg and a carefully devised metal contraption connected to his foot in order to operate the brake pedal in his modified cockpit area, the pain, at times, was downright unbearable.

Somehow, through it all, Grant mustered the energy to work his way from the fifth starting position before taking over the lead on the white flag lap after near racelong leader Briggs Danner collected the turn two wall amid a side-by-side battle for the top spot.

When all was said and done, Grant even found the strength to perform a cage stand atop his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink – TOPP Industries – LA Poly/Maxim/Kistler Chevy in victory lane.

“I wasn’t planning on running this week; I didn’t think I could do it,” Grant revealed after collecting $31,000 for his score. “We talked about it and decided to come up Thursday to at least make an attempt and see if I felt competitive. We just kept getting more and more comfortable and getting the car more comfortable for me. We were working on setups, so that I could drive it a little bit differently. I had to change my driving style a fair bit.”

To add on to everything else, Grant’s victory was his 62nd in USAC National Sprint Car competition, which tied Dave Darland for the number one spot on the all-time series feature win list.

“It’s incredible,” Grant exclaimed. “There’s just so much tonight. Tying Dave for all-time wins is incredible. Just to be here racing is incredible. Tonight is special. I can’t believe we were good enough to win. I’m just so, so excited to win this. I almost can’t believe it. I was wanting to do a couple of donuts just so I could have time to stop crying on the cool down lap.”

Grant’s Smackdown championship night triumph was his fifth overall, but also his third-in-a-row, which tied Darland in another category. Darland and Grant are now the only two drivers to win the event in three consecutive years after Darland achieved the feat in 2013-2014-2015.

It all seemed impossible just a short time ago as Grant was laid up in the hospital with his toes above his nose. Almost from the moment the incident occurred, Grant’s prevailing thought turned to how quickly he could be back in the seat of a racecar. Perhaps Saturday’s heroics on the 1/4-mile dirt oval were unlikely, but as Grant explained, his wife, Ashley, was one who never doubted him in his ambition to defy the odds.

“She’s the only one who never doubted that I’d be back in a racecar,” Grant said. “We were there in the hospital that night and she’s telling the doctors, ‘he’s going to race tomorrow, so you better figure something out.’

While Grant did return to racing less than 48 hours later in late July’s USAC Indiana Sprint Week round at Kokomo, Grant didn’t quite feel comfortable. He hot lapped and qualified but did not partake in the remainder of the racing program. Over the next four successive nights, he opted to sit out in order to recover and recuperate before making his way back to the racetrack in subsequent USAC Silver Crown starts, incredibly finishing second at Salem Speedway and fourth at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

But as everyone has learned through this process, never count out JG.

“I’m in a lot of pain,” Grant stated point blank. “If there was any way I could be at this event and put on a show, it’s what I was going to do. I didn’t know if I could run this weekend, so I went ahead and made sure my Thursday hot laps were as exciting as they could be in case that’s all I did. I love being here; I love racing, and I’m just happy to be doing it.”

Results USAC National Sprint Cars Kokomo Sprint Car Smackdown Finale

1. Justin Grant (5)

 2. Kyle Cummins (2)

 3. Logan Seavey (8)

4. C.J. Leary (1)

5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (6)

6. Mitchel Moles (3)

7. Chase Stockon (16)

8. Clinton Boyles (19)

 9. Kale Drake (7)

10. Cale Coons (9)

11. Carson Garrett (13)

12. Gunnar Setser (12)

13. Ricky Lewis (18)

14. Chelby Hinton (10)

15. Kobe Simpson (23)

16. Jadon Rogers (17)

17. Chance Crum (22)

18. Harley Burns (26-P)

19. Kayla Roell (25-P)

20. Briggs Danner (4)

21. Hayden Reinbold (11)

22. Kyle Shipley (15)

23. Rylan Gray (24)

24. Jake Swanson (14)

25. Wyatt Burks (21)

 26. Shane Cottle (20). NT