TULSA, Okla. - The final day of qualifying for the 31st annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals was one filled with emotion, as Justin Grant found victory lane for the first time in preliminary night competition.
He scored the win in a Clauson-Marshall mount one year after Bryan Clauson took his final checkered flag on the clay at Oklahoma’s Tulsa Expo Raceway.
“No, I can’t even try,” said Grant of putting the win into words. “But I’m not going to say I’m carrying on (Bryan Clauson’s) legacy at all. That would be not even a chance. He was incredible. He was such a big deal. I guess we didn’t really appreciate how big of a deal he was until we lost him. It’s incredible to see how many people are behind him and behind that. It is a lot pressure.”
Grant was the class of the field, leading all 25 laps of the A-Feature to become the third first time winner in four nights of racing.
He was stalked over the opening laps by Ronnie Gardner as the pair moved away from the rest of the field. Behind them, Daryn Pittman worked his way forward and was able to close on Gardner for second. Pittman would take the spot on lap 18.
As the laps clicked off, Pittman was able to close the gap on the leader, but couldn’t get close enough to make a run at the lead as Grant scored the win.
Pittman finished in second, with Gardner in third, locking both into Saturday’s main event. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished in fourth, followed by Michael Faccinto in fifth.
Damion Gardner, D.J. Netto, Dave Darland, Tim McCreadie and Wayne Johnson rounded out the top ten.
Saturday marks the final night of the 31st annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. For updates and more info, visit ChiliBowl.com.
Chili Bowl Nationals
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, OK
Qualifying Night 4 Results – Jan. 13, 2017
A-Feature
1. 39BC-Justin Grant
2. 21-Daryn Pittman
3. 68-Ronnie Gardner
4. 17BC-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
5. 35F-Michael Faccinto
6. 71G-Damion Gardner
7. 3C-D.J. Netto
8. 11AG-Dave Darland
9. 47X-Tim McCreadie
10. 2C-Wayne Johnson
11. 21K-Cory Kruseman
12. 73X-Jac Haudenschild
13. 67-Tanner Thorson
14. 84X-Chad Boat
15. 17R-Alex Schutte
16. 14K-Chris Cochran
17. 25H-Anton Hernandez
18. 67K-Holly Shelton
19. 37-Nick Knepper
20. 05B-Steve Buckwalter
21. 28A-Ace McCarthy
22. 51R-Brody Roa
23. 1ST-J.J. Yeley
24. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer
