Justin Grant Tops USAC Field @ Action Track USA
Buckwalter Wins 2nd of Year in 600 Sprints
Kutztown, PA (June 22)— Two drivers from opposite ends of the country won their respective feature races on Sunday night at Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds.
Justin Grant from Ione, CA, triumphed in the almost-non-stop 40 lap main for the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship series, while Tim Buckwalter became the first repeat winner of the season in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints 25-lap feature.
The event was the 2025 finale for USAC’s Eastern Storm Tour and, with his victory, Grant came from behind to win the Eastern Storm Championship which was sponsored by Levan Machine & Truck Equipment of Fleetwood, PA. The race win was worth $6,000 and the Eastern Storm title added another $5,000 to Grant’s bank account.
Bob Hilbert Sportswear presented Sunday’s racing program at Berks County’s Baddest Bullring, and the cars and stars of USAC’s AMSOIL National Championship did not disappoint.
The 40 lapper began with Gunnar Setser firing off the outside of row one to grab the early lead. Kale Drake chased Setser while fending off a challenge from Briggs Danner as Grant, running fourth, looked for an open lane to make his move.
Drake, from Collinsville, OK, utilized a lapped car as a pick on the ninth circuit, snatching the top spot from Setser off turn four. As the race neared its halfway mark, Grant charged into third, then slipped past Setser for the runner-up position on lap 16.
Drake deftly navigated lapped traffic, building a big lead that began to dwindle slowly when Grant secured second place and set sail after the race leader. As Grant pulled up to Drake in traffic, he seized the opportunity to duck under Drake and wrestle the top spot away with the duo blasting by the flag stand to complete lap 20.
Now it was Grant’s turn to motor away from his pursuers as the race continued in clean-and-green fashion. Drake threw out the hook and reeled in Grant once again as the leader got stuck behind some slower cars and the race entered its final quarter.
Grant mainained an advantage of a few car lengths until, with the white flag already behind him, the yellow appeared, for the first time, when a few cars got together in the middle of turns one and two. USAC rules mandate a green-white-checkered finish, so the race went to overtime.
On the restart, Drake suddenly developed mechanical woes that forced him to stop on the track, bringing out the yellow silk again. Jake Swanson was now the runner-up with Kevin Thomas Jr. and Kyle Cummins sitting third and fourth.
The final restart saw Grant dart off to a safe lead, which he kept for the final pair of romps around the clay, taking the checkered flag by nearly one second over Swanson (his first podium of the season), Thomas (the winner at Williams Grove on Friday), and Cummins (Thursday’s winner at Big Diamond). CJ Leary completed the top five.
“Yeah, I’m pretty good at the aggression thing, but not the counting thing,” laughed Grant during his victory lane interview, when informed that the race went 39 tours before the first caution flag. “You never know how many chances you will get to take the lead in one of these races, so you have to be aggressive and go for it.”
The Eastern Storm Tour was very good to Grant, as he pulled off victories at Bridgeport, NJ on Wednesday night, then triumphed again at Port Royal on Saturday before he culminated his week with the big win at Action Track USA on Sunday—which captapaulted him from third to first in Eastern Storm points. He actually tied Cummins for most points, but won the $5,000 championship on the first tie-breaker—number of wins during the Tour.
The Bob Hilbert Sportswear 25 lap feature for the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints had a little bit of Deja vu for those who witnessed (and took part in) last Wednesday’s main. But this time, the outcome was different.
Larry Kelleher set the pace in the early going, with Wednesday’s winner, Connor Mirabelli, roaring into the runner-up slot on lap three. Close behind the top two was a battle royal for third position among Zach Curtis, Christian Bruno, Kyle Lick and Tim Buckwalter.
Bruno and Buckwalter moved into third and fourth, respectively, on the seventh revolution. Buckwalter eventually muscled his way to third, past Bruno, as Mirabelli continued to harass Kelleher for the lead.
Throttling off turn four on the ninth trip around the oval, Kelleher’s car sputtered and slowed for a couple of seconds, allowing both Mirabelli and Buckwalter to scoot by him and into first and second.
Just as they had four nights earlier, Buckwalter hounded Mirabelli for the top spot. Unlike the previous Wednesday, this time he found a way to get past the No. 9x. As they headed for the crossed flags, Buckwalter ripped the lip in three and four, powering his way around Mirabelli for the lead.
Three cautions and one red flag marred Buckwalter’s path to victory during the second half of the race, but he would not be denied on this hot, humid Sunday evening. The wheel-twister from Douglassville, PA held off Mirabelli and a fast-closing Kyle Lick to record his second win of the season at Action Track USA, pushing his career total to 26 triumphs in the 600 Sprint class at the speedway (more than double of the driver in second).
Mirabelli continued his string of strong runs with a runner-up effort, and Lick was a solid third. Steady Connor Gross finished fourth and Bruno, who wrestled an ill-handling car due to a bent right-front wheel, notched a fifth place payday.
Berks County’s Baddest Bullring will now be dark until Wednesday, July 9, as the annual mid-season break occurs. On July 9, the Innovative Machine Technology USAC East Coast Sprint Cars make their first visit of the season to Action Track USA for the Iron Cowboy Classic. Joining the non-wing 360 Sprint Cars will be the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, along with the All Star and Junior Slingshots.
Grandstand gates will open at 5 p.m., and warm-ups begin at 6:15. Opening ceremonies and qualifying heats immediately follow the hot lap sessions.
RESULTS:
USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship, 40 laps: 1.Justin Grant, 2.Jake Swanson, 3.Kevin Thomas Jr., 4.Kyle Cummins, 5.CJ Leary, 6.Robert Ballou, 7.Briggs Danner, 8.Mitchel Moles, 9.Gunnar Setser, 10.Steve Drevicki, 11.Braydon Cromwell, 12.Hayden Reinhold, 13.Kayla Roell, 14.Kale Drake, 15.Olivia Thayer, 16.Logan Seavey, 17.Joey Amantea, 18.Jason Cherry, 19.Brody Adamsky.
Hyper Racing 600 Spints, 25 laps: 1.Tim Buckwalter, 2.Connor Mirabelli, 3.Kyle Lick, 4.Connor Gross, 5.Christian Bruno, 6.Anthony Tramontana, 7.James Roselli, 8.Zack Weisenfluh, 9.Billy Koch, 10.Jasper Zeigafuse, 11.Zac Curtis, 12.Dakota Barlet, 13.Korey Inglin, 14.Geoff Federspiel, 15.Ashen Glazer, 16.Evan Nolf, 17.Kenny Miller III, 18.Larry Kelleher, 19.Tyler Henry, 20.Chase Scott, 21.Trevor Gach, 22.Adam Buchel, 23.Ronnie Dawson, 24.Lukas Kostic, 25.Gabe Gerber, 26.Jacob Stitzel, 27.Jarid Kunkle, 28.Weston Doklan, 29.Dylan Hahn.
DNQ: Jacob Fisher, Dylan Kontra, Mike Gular, Chris Tittle, Matt Jarowicz, Brody Snyder, Jacob Severn, TJ Dilts, Kyle Herve, Anthony Schlosser, Adam O’Brien, Mark Manieri, Vincent. Gueci, Cole Perez, Amanda Buchel, Weston Doklan, Zach Jurcik, Jack Fraser, Fred Heinly, Jimmy Glenn, Richie Ptajzynski, Landon Smith, Tony Kosar, Ryan Rochelle, Geordan Marrero, Brianna Snyder, Peyton Knecht, Logan Dontonville, Michael Nolf, Alex Ruppert, Danny Buccafusca, Dylan Smith, Chase Wehr, Colton Colaluce, Kate Mattern, Cole Gerber.
