Justin Grant wins BC39 after teammate hits wall
INDIANAPOLIS — When opportunity knocked, Justin Grant answered and picked up the win in Saturday night’s Driven to Save Lives BC39 at the dirt track in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Grant was running second, right behind his RMS Racing teammate Thomas Meseraull as the pair went through Turn 4 on Lap 31 of the 39-lap race. As Meseraull’s No. 7X machine hit the cushion near the wall, the right side of Meseraull’s car got onto the wall and briefly rode on the top of the wall.
Grant avoided Meseraull’s car and picked up a lead that he would not relinquish. The California native backed up Friday’s victories in the preliminary night races to win Saturday night’s AMain.
Emerson Axsom drew pole position and led the first lap before Meseraull cleared the 19-year-old to take the lead outright. Shortly after Meseraull completed the pass, Daniel Whitley flipped the No. 58 machine in Turn 1. Damage to the catch fence required a red flag for repair work.
After racing resumed, Meseraull, Axsom and Grant had a three-way melee for the lead involving three wide passes, slide jobs and careful positioning before Meseraull took over the top spot around two-thirds of the way through the race.
Thursday night’s preliminary feature winner seemed to have the race under control until his late mishap, nearly collecting Grant in the process when going back to the track surface.
Grant put the pressure on his teammate and saw the angle Meseraull’s car was taking in the corner, so Grant placed the No. 2 entry right near the wall, allowing himself the opportunity to quickly dart to the left to avoid Meseraull’s machine. It worked.
“I knew once that happened and we got running, if the yellow didn't come out, we were home free,” Grant said. “Because (Meseraull) was about the only guy that I felt like could really keep pace with us late.”
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Grant figured that because his car handled much better once it had burned off much of its fuel load. As long as Grant remained near the lead battle at the start of the race, he knew the race would come to him, and it did.
Following Grant across the line was Axsom, who had picked up second place after Meseraull’s contact. The runnerup finish backed up Axsom’s third place finish in the Friday preliminary feature and gave the Franklin, Indiana, native a great birthday present.
“I wasn't happy to see (the contact), but I wasn't disappointed to gain a spot there,” Axsom said. “But what really sucked is it allowed Justin to get about a straightaway in front of us. At seven to go, you don't really have a chance to track a guy down.”
Logan Seavey finished third after starting 12th, but all eyes were on Meseraull after he finished fifth. One might have expected frustration to exude from the cockpit after the race, but Meseraull was all smiles upon reflection.
“This midget deal is as fun as it gets,” Meseraull said. “I'm living my best life as I like to say … but I make a living by finishing good. So finishing fifth pays a lot better than crashing the car. I was going for 20 grand and I was hanging it all on the line, but we'll take fifth place and pick up the pieces and get ready for the next one.”
Grant and Meseraull’s wins meant that RMS Racing swept all three feature races on the quarter-mile oval.