Justin Grant threepeats in Chili Bowl Prelims - MotorSportsTalk

Justin Grant won his preliminary night of the Chili Bowl Nationals for the third year in a row. Grant started on the pole in Friday night’s A-Main, which put him in the perfect position to lead all 25 laps.

“This one was a lot of work,” Grant said at ChiliBowl.com. “You know, I’ve been really fortunate to win some decent races and most of them have been showing up and walking in at three o’clock in the afternoon with my helmet bag and jumping in the car and just doing that and going home.

“It started with a truck, trailer, and a credit card. And a lot of 12-, 14-hour days leading up to this, a ton of work. It just very validating that we could pull off a win. Those guys believed in me probably more than I did myself.”

Tanner Thorson was the only driver that could challenge Grant in his dominating display. He put himself in a position to make the pass on Grant several times. Eventually Thorson had to settle for second. His consolation is that also locked him into Saturday’s Feature. Thorson finished .168 seconds behind at the checkers.

Thorson reeled in the race leader when they battled in clean air. When traffic became a factor on Lap 12, Grant had the clear advantage.

Chad Boat advanced from eight to complete the podium. He was followed by NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who started to the outside of Grant. Tucker Klaasmeyer moved from fifth to eighth.

Kasey Kahne failed to advance from the B-Main after finishing sixth.

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Friday’s Results

1. Justin Grant
2. Tanner Thorson
3. Chad Boat
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5. Tucker Klaasmeyer
6. Alex Schutte
7. Daryn Pittman
8. Dave Darland
9. Spencer Bayston
10. Grady Chandler
11. Sean Dodenhoff
12. Luke Icke
13. DJ Netto
14. Kevin Thomas Jr.
15. Chris Andrews
16. Hunter Schuerenberg
17. Austin Liggett
18. Ethan Mitchell
19. Steve Buckwalter
20. Shane Cottle
21. Korey Weyant
22. Terry Nichols
23. Kyle Bellm
24. Brad Loyet

Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”