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