By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio (September 22, 2023)………Justin Grant scored the pole position for Saturday night’s USAC Silver Crown main event at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, part of the 41st running of the 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO.
Grant (Ione, Calif.) made the Honest Abe Qualifying run during Friday night’s preliminary program with a time of 17.076 seconds around the half-mile dirt oval in his Hemelgarn Racing/NOS Energy Drink – Super Fitness – Nick Bohanon LLC/DRC/Foxco Chevy.
It’s Grant’s second consecutive pole position with the series after also starting from the number one spot for the Ted Horn 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds on September 2. Grant’s ninth career Silver Crown pole position tied past series champions Chuck Gurney (1989) and Jason Leffler (1998) for ninth all-time.
The top-20 qualifiers were locked in through time trials with Dallas Hewitt (Troy, Ohio) making the final cut for Saturday’s event.
A subsequent 12-lap Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Qualifying race was held with the top-six transferring their way into Saturday’s feature. Jerry Coons Jr. (Tucson, Ariz.) captured the victory, thus making the cut for his 20th career Eldora 4-Crown Nationals USAC Silver Crown start. Wayne Johnson (Tuttle, Okla.) secured the final transfer spot by a car length over Joss Moffatt (Columbus, Ind.).
USAC Silver Crown National Championship point leader Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) will start sixth in Saturday’s field while Kody Swanson (Sutter, Calif.) will roll off eighth. Seavey leads Swanson in the standings by one single point entering Saturday, which serves as the penultimate race of the series’ season. Seavey has also won the past two Eldora Silver Crown features in 2021 and 2022.
Furthermore, Russ Gamester’s fifth place finish in the Qualifying Race secured his spot in Saturday’s feature lineup. It will be a milestone run for the Peru, Ind. native as he gets set to make his 212th career Silver Crown start, which will tie him with Brian Tyler for first place all-time.
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USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 22, 2023 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – 41st 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-17.076; 2. C.J. Leary, 6, Klatt-17.145; 3. Brady Bacon, 9, Dyson-17.264; 4. Jake Swanson, 10, DMW-17.336; 5. Chase Dietz, 86, Lee-17.444; 6. Logan Seavey, 22, Rice/Abacus-17.497; 7. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-17.516; 8. Kody Swanson, 77, Doran/Binks-17.534; 9. Mario Clouser, 92, Kazmark-17.696; 10. Carmen Perigo, 52, Stehman-17.735; 11. Chase Stockon, 69, Pink 69-17.764; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 24, Haggenbottom-17.813; 13. Emerson Axsom, 20, Nolen-17.926; 14. Trey Osborne, 81, BCR-17.943; 15. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-17.974; 16. Mitchel Moles, 97, Lein-18.023; 17. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-18.032; 18. Kaylee Bryson, 26, Pierce-18.043; 19. Matt Mitchell, 5, DMW-18.045; 20. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-18.117; 21. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-18.171; 22. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-18.227; 23. Sterling Cling, 07, Tosti-18.240; 24. Jerry Coons Jr., 55, Bateman-18.334; 25. Zach Hampton, 99, Armstrong-18.347; 26. Joss Moffatt, 37, Felker-18.361; 27. Wayne Johnson, 12, Two C-18.434; 28. Kyle Steffens, 08, Steffens-18.558; 29. Chris Fetter, 15, Fetter-18.572; 30. Trey Burke, 11, Hamilton/SRG-18.655; 31. Taylor Ferns, 555, Ferns-18.738; 32. Mark Bitner, 4, Yeska-18.803; 33. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-18.854; 34. Danny Long, 44, Long-18.866; 35. Tim Simmons, 3, Simmons-19.590; 36. Gary Dunkle, 34, Dunkle-20.704.
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Kyle Steffens, 3. Zach Hampton, 4. Trey Burke, 5. Russ Gamester, 6. Wayne Johnson, 7. Joss Moffatt, 8. Chris Fetter, 9. Taylor Ferns, 10. Dave Berkheimer, 11. Danny Long, 12. Tim Simmons, 13. Gary Dunkle, 14. Sterling Cling, 15. Mark Bitner. NT
FEATURE STARTING LINEUP: (50 laps)
ROW 1: 91 Justin Grant – 6 C.J. Leary
ROW 2: 9 Brady Bacon – 10 Jake Swanson
ROW 3: 86 Chase Dietz – 22-Logan Seavey
ROW 4: 54 Matt Westfall – 77-Kody Swanson
ROW 5: 92 Mario Clouser – 52 Carmen Perigo
ROW 6: 69 Chase Stockon – 24 Kevin Thomas Jr.
ROW 7: 20 Emerson Axsom – 81 Trey Osborne
ROW 8: 49 Brian Ruhlman – 97 Mitchel Moles
ROW 9: 7 Kyle Robbins – 26 Kaylee Bryson
ROW 10: 5 Matt Mitchell – 57 Dallas Hewitt
ROW 11: 55 Jerry Coons Jr. – 08 Kyle Steffens
ROW 12: 99 Zach Hampton – 11 Trey Burke
ROW 13: 51 Russ Gamester – 12 Wayne Johnson
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-548, 2-Kody Swanson-547, 3-Justin Grant-439, 4-Mario Clouser-380, 5-Taylor Ferns-366, 6-Kaylee Bryson-364, 7-C.J. Leary-358, 8-Bobby Santos-315, 9-Matt Westfall-315, 10-Trey Burke-278.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-152, 2-Logan Seavey-104, 3-Shane Cottle-102, 4-Robert Ballou-87, 5-Matt Westfall-86, 6-Justin Grant-85, 7-Brady Bacon-85, 8-Emerson Axsom-81, 9-Chase Stockon-69, 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-54.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 23, 2023 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – 41st 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Practice Fastest Driver: C.J. Leary (16.498)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Justin Grant (17.076)
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Qualifying Race Winner: Jerry Coons Jr.