Justin Grant Hustles To Chili Bowl Qualifying Night Victory Friday

Story By: BYRAN HULBERT / TULSA, OK – Justin Grant found the cushion early and never left it during Friday’s 25 lap Vacuworx Qualifying Night A-Feature in the 32nd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire.

Rolling past 2008 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals Champion, Damion Gardner, on Lap 17 to claim his second consecutive Friday night victory for Clauson-Marshall Racing in the NOS Energy No. 17bc, Grant was ultimately pursued to the checkered flag by Spencer Bayston with Andrew Felker charging from 11th to grab the final transfer spot from Gardner on the final lap.

I’m always thinking about going high,” commented Grant on his line of choice. “I knew the bottom would be slowing down. It was getting pretty thin there so I figured I could just bail off to the top and make up some ground on them.”

Rolling off the grid second to Chad Boat, the Lawson Rock and Oil No. 84x bolted to the lead and took command of the cushion on the start. Setting the pace for four laps, Damion Gardner rolled the hub on the fourth lap to jump from third to first. Keeping pace over Boat with the pair staying within a half-second of each other, Grant began closing for the runner-up spot before the caution flew on Lap 14.

Taking advantage of the slow pace set by Damion to the start, Grant jumped to the runner-up position with Kasey Kahne in tow. With the cushion deep at both ends of the Tulsa Expo Raceway, Grant let momentum work to his favor with his move for the point coming on Lap 17 with the high-side pass off the second turn.

Leaving Damion to contend Spencer Bayston the following lap, the KKM No. 97k took second on Lap 18 and would begin to close the gap on Grant, but time was not on the side of the Indiana driver as Justin Grant picked up the win.Bayston in second was joined on the podium by Missouri’s Andrew Felker. Suffering a crash that damaged the frame on Monday, Felker counted himself lucky to even be racing the Chili Bowl.

“I managed to make about three-quarters of a lap in practice and flipped it,” explained Felker. “We took it to a chassis shop, and they normally work on Micros, so as they were straightening it, it sprung out of the braces and actually flipped off the table so it’s been quite a week.”

Damion Gardner ended up fourth with Kasey Kahne fifth. Pole Starter, Chad Boat, slipped back to finish sixth with New York’s Tim McCreadie picking up 10 positions to finish seventh. Bricen James was eighth with Sheldon Haudenschild and Dave Darland making up the top-ten.

The B.C. Forever Pole Shuffler powered by Pizza Express will see 11 rounds of competition to set the first 12 starting spots in Saturday’s 55 lap A-Feature. The Pole Shuffle will take place following the D-Features. Saturday, January 13, 2018 gets underway with Hot Laps for twin N-Features at 9:30 A.M. The first competitive green flag is set to drop at 10:00 A.M. Opening Ceremonies, Parade of States, and more will take place at 6:00 P.M. with the event going live on the MAVTV Motorsports Network at 7:30 (CT).

General Admission tickets, which double as a Pit Pass, are sold at the event and are $60 on Saturday. The ticket never sells out.

For continued updates on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, fans can follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with @CBNationals. All official press, updates, and results on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire can be found online at http://www.chilibowl.com.

Results:

Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, Okla.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Vacuworx Qualifying Night

Car Count: 87
Event Count: 345

Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [4]; 2. 17BC-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, [8]; 3. 29M-Joey Moughan, [6]; 4. 91S-Bret Barney, [1]; 5. 25S-Alex Schriever, [3]; 6. 7FF-Johnny Kent, [5]; 7. 95T-Brandon (Buddy) Tubbs II, [7]; 8. (DNF) 57B-Bill Balog, [2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84X-Chad Boat, [4]; 2. 05L-Hunter Schuerenberg, [2]; 3. 5CB-Chase Briscoe, [3]; 4. 16R-Davey Ray, [8]; 5. 20-Tadd Holliman, [5]; 6. 23L-Lee Lengel, [7]; 7. (DNF) 7B-Austin Brown, [1]; 8. (DNF) 19W-Darren Jenkins, [6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 23M-David Budres, [1]; 2. 73S-Sheldon Haudenschild, [5]; 3. 45X-Bricen James, [8]; 4. 76Z-Zane Lawrence, [2]; 5. 11G-Mike Goodman, [3]; 6. 27B-A.J. Burns, [4]; 7. 15C-Carson Garrett, [7]; 8. 1P-Terry Nichols, [6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Dave Darland, [4]; 2. 28A-Ace McCarthy, [7]; 3. 4MR-Jake Morgan, [8]; 4. 69-Bryan Debrick, [1]; 5. 08-Kurt Blackaby, [5]; 6. 44-Don Droud Jr, [6]; 7. (DNF) 32-Kody Swanson, [2]; 8. (DNF) 1ST-Shane Cottle, [3]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 17R-Alex Schutte, [2]; 2. 37-Andrew Felker, [3]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn, [1]; 4. 21-Daryn Pittman, [4]; 5. 10W-George White, [5]; 6. 27Z-Zane Hendricks, [7]; 7. 46D-Danny Faria Jr, [8]; 8. 21H-Harlan Hulsey, [6]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 88N-D.J. Netto, [1]; 2. 83G-Matt Gilbert, [2]; 3. 88T-Tyler Nelson, [5]; 4. 21X-Shon Deskins, [4]; 5. 10J-Kyle Bellm, [6]; 6. 53-Brett Wilson, [7]; 7. 04-Nick Berry, [3]; (DNS) 69X-Alden Ostrom,

Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 1R-Thomas Meseraull, [2]; 2. 47X-Tim McCreadie, [3]; 3. 98-Clinton Boyles, [5]; 4. 20X-Noah Harris, [4]; 5. 12K-Landon Cling, [6]; 6. 71.5-Robert Bell, [8]; 7. 3DG-Dustin Gilbert, [7]; 8. 6B-Brad Kraus, [1]

Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 71G-Damion Gardner, [6]; 2. 67Z-Kasey Kahne, [4]; 3. 7-Shannon McQueen, [3]; 4. 3E-Max Adams, [5]; 5. 86C-Devin Camfield, [1]; 6. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff, [8]; 7. 3A-Bill Allen, [2]; 8. (DNF) 6-Bill Rose, [7]

Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 71K-Tucker Klaasmeyer, [6]; 2. 97K-Spencer Bayston, [1]; 3. 37M-Matt Mitchell, [5]; 4. 68-Ronnie Gardner, [2]; 5. 12-Billy Wease, [3]; 6. 3B-Austin Blair, [8]; 7. 59E-Dex Eaton, [7]; 8. (DNF) 10-Jason Walls, [4]

Heat 10 (8 Laps): 1. 39BC-Justin Grant, [4]; 2. 22A-Andy Malpocker, [2]; 3. 111-Donovan Peterson, [6]; 4. D33-Jacob Patton, [7]; 5. 3U-Mark Lowrey, [1]; 6. 5H-Jack Hawley, [3]; 7. 14S-Rick Young, [8]; 8. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky, [5]

Heat 11 (8 Laps): 1. 55K-Nick Knepper, [2]; 2. 2X-Brent Beauchamp, [4]; 3. 6K-Sterling Cling, [6]; 4. 80-Josh Hawkins, [5]; 5. 2DB-Dusty Ballenger, [7]; 6. 0-Johnny Murdock, [3]; 7. (DNF) 46X-Robert Spino, [1]

D-Features: Top 2 advance to corresponding C-Feature.

D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 95T-Brandon (Buddy) Tubbs II, [1]; 2. 3DG-Dustin Gilbert, [2]; 3. 21H-Harlan Hulsey, [4]; 4. 3A-Bill Allen, [3]; 5. 69X-Alden Ostrom, [6]; 6. 10-Jason Walls, [5]; (DNS) 04-Nick Berry, ; (DNS) 7B-Austin Brown, ; (DNS) 19W-Darren Jenkins, ; (DNS) 57B-Bill Balog,

D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Kody Swanson, [3]; 2. 15C-Carson Garrett, [1]; 3. 1P-Terry Nichols, [4]; 4. 1ST-Shane Cottle, [6]; 5. 6B-Brad Kraus, [8]; 6. 19U-Pierce Urbanosky, [7]; 7. 46X-Robert Spino, [5]; 8. (DNF) 59E-Dex Eaton, [2]; (DNS) 6-Bill Rose,

C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.

C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff, [4]; 2. 12K-Landon Cling, [2]; 3. 12-Billy Wease, [10]; 4. 10W-George White, [7]; 5. 3U-Mark Lowrey, [11]; 6. 14S-Rick Young, [13]; 7. 3DG-Dustin Gilbert, [16]; 8. 91S-Bret Barney, [5]; 9. 95T-Brandon (Buddy) Tubbs II, [15]; 10. 5H-Jack Hawley, [14]; 11. 27Z-Zane Hendricks, [8]; 12. (DNF) 7FF-Johnny Kent, [12]; 13. (DNF) 25S-Alex Schriever, [9]; 14. (DNF) 20X-Noah Harris, [1]; 15. (DNF) 68-Ronnie Gardner, [3]; 16. (DNF) 20-Tadd Holliman, [6]

C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 10J-Kyle Bellm, [1]; 2. 76Z-Zane Lawrence, [2]; 3. 11G-Mike Goodman, [9]; 4. 53-Brett Wilson, [8]; 5. 15C-Carson Garrett, [16]; 6. 32-Kody Swanson, [15]; 7. 44-Don Droud Jr, [11]; 8. 46D-Danny Faria Jr, [12]; 9. 08-Kurt Blackaby, [6]; 10. 71.5-Robert Bell, [3]; 11. 69-Bryan Debrick, [5]; 12. 0-Johnny Murdock, [14]; 13. 23L-Lee Lengel, [7]; 14. 86C-Devin Camfield, [10]; 15. (DNF) 27B-A.J. Burns, [13]; 16. (DNF) 3B-Austin Blair, [4]

Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.

Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1R-Thomas Meseraull, [3]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [5]; 3. 71G-Damion Gardner, [6]; 4. 45X-Bricen James, [4]; 5. 29M-Joey Moughan, [2]; 6. 88N-D.J. Netto, [1]; 7. 05L-Hunter Schuerenberg, [8]; 8. 5CB-Chase Briscoe, [9]; 9. 52-Blake Hahn, [10]; 10. 88T-Tyler Nelson, [7]

Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 84X-Chad Boat, [5]; 2. 55K-Nick Knepper, [3]; 3. 16R-Davey Ray, [1]; 4. 71K-Tucker Klaasmeyer, [6]; 5. 98-Clinton Boyles, [7]; 6. 83G-Matt Gilbert, [8]; 7. 4MR-Jake Morgan, [4]; 8. 7-Shannon McQueen, [9]; 9. 2DB-Dusty Ballenger, [10]; 10. (DNF) 111-Donovan Peterson, [2]

Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 37-Andrew Felker, [1]; 2. 67Z-Kasey Kahne, [3]; 3. 73S-Sheldon Haudenschild, [4]; 4. 21-Daryn Pittman, [10]; 5. 25-Dave Darland, [5]; 6. 37M-Matt Mitchell, [7]; 7. 17BC-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, [6]; 8. 3E-Max Adams, [9]; 9. 22A-Andy Malpocker, [8]; 10. 6K-Sterling Cling, [2]

Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 39BC-Justin Grant, [5]; 2. 97K-Spencer Bayston, [8]; 3. 47X-Tim McCreadie, [1]; 4. 2X-Brent Beauchamp, [3]; 5. 28A-Ace McCarthy, [6]; 6. 21X-Shon Deskins, [10]; 7. 80-Josh Hawkins, [9]; 8. 17R-Alex Schutte, [4]; 9. D33-Jacob Patton, [7]; 10. (DNF) 23M-David Budres, [2]

B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 47X-Tim McCreadie, [1]; 2. 17BC-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, [2]; 3. 37M-Matt Mitchell, [4]; 4. 17R-Alex Schutte, [7]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn, [10]; 6. 21X-Shon Deskins, [5]; 7. 29M-Joey Moughan, [3]; 8. 22A-Andy Malpocker, [9]; 9. 05L-Hunter Schuerenberg, [6]; 10. 7-Shannon McQueen, [8]; 11. 6K-Sterling Cling, [12]; 12. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff, [13]; 13. 88T-Tyler Nelson, [11]; 14. 12-Billy Wease, [15]; 15. 10W-George White, [16]; 16. (DNF) 12K-Landon Cling, [14]

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 2X-Brent Beauchamp, [1]; 2. 88N-D.J. Netto, [5]; 3. 98-Clinton Boyles, [2]; 4. 23M-David Budres, [10]; 5. 4MR-Jake Morgan, [4]; 6. 11G-Mike Goodman, [15]; 7. 5CB-Chase Briscoe, [7]; 8. 80-Josh Hawkins, [6]; 9. D33-Jacob Patton, [9]; 10. 53-Brett Wilson, [14]; 11. 111-Donovan Peterson, [11]; 12. 76Z-Zane Lawrence, [12]; 13. 2DB-Dusty Ballenger, [8]; 14. (DNF) 10J-Kyle Bellm, [13]; 15. (DNF) 83G-Matt Gilbert, [3]; (DNS) 3E-Max Adams,

A-Feature: Top 3 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature.

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 39BC-Justin Grant, [2]; 2. 97K-Spencer Bayston, [6]; 3. 37-Andrew Felker, [11]; 4. 71G-Damion Gardner, [3]; 5. 67Z-Kasey Kahne, [9]; 6. 84X-Chad Boat, [1]; 7. 47X-Tim McCreadie, [17]; 8. 45X-Bricen James, [13]; 9. 73S-Sheldon Haudenschild, [10]; 10. 25-Dave Darland, [15]; 11. 17BC-Ricky Stenhouse Jr, [19]; 12. 28A-Ace McCarthy, [12]; 13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [4]; 14. 37M-Matt Mitchell, [21]; 15. 88N-D.J. Netto, [20]; 16. 2X-Brent Beauchamp, [18]; 17. 16R-Davey Ray, [16]; 18. 21-Daryn Pittman, [14]; 19. 23M-David Budres, [24]; 20. 98-Clinton Boyles, [22]; 21. 71K-Tucker Klaasmeyer, [7]; 22. (DNF) 17R-Alex Schutte, [23]; 23. (DNF) 1R-Thomas Meseraull, [5]; 24. (DNF) 55K-Nick Knepper, [8]

Lap Leader(s): Chad Boat 1-4; Damion Gardner 5-16; Justin Grant 17-25
Hard Charger: Tim McCreadie +10