India Under-19s 106 (Karan Lal 37, Hossain 3-8) beat Bangladesh Under-19s 101 (Akbar Ali 23, Ankolekar 5-28) by five runs

Left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar broke Bangladesh's spirited late resistance to help India defend 106, taking them to a seventh Under-19 Asia Cup title with a five-run win in a rain-interrupted, nerve-wracking encounter in Colombo. Needing 29 runs to win after being reduced to 78 for 8 in 21.1 overs, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Rakibul Hasan put up a patient 23-run stand, taking Bangladesh close to their maiden title, before Ankolekar struck twice in the 33rd over to finish with figures of 5 for 28 in eight overs.

India started poorly after they elected to bat, reduced to 8 for 3 by seamers Sakib and Mrittunjoy Chowdhury within the first six overs. A 45-run stand between Dhruv Jurel and Shashwat Rawat helped rebuild the innings, before offspinner Shamim Hossain broke through, picking Rawat and next batsman Varun Lavande in the same over.

Karan Lal at No. 8 then shored up India after having walked in at 61 for 6 in the 20th over, hitting the day's highest score of 37, which played a major part in getting India to a three-digit score. He was the last batsman to be dismissed, bringing the Indian innings to a close in 32.4 overs. Chowdhury and Shahin Alam cleaned up the tail to finish with three wickets each.

In reply, Bangladesh too were dealt early blows with fast bowlers Akash Singh and Vidhyadhar Patel striking in succession to reduce them to 16 for 4 in 4.1 overs. India seized control when Bangladesh captain Akbar Ali and Chowdhury - who were the only ones to cross 20 in the innings - fell within a space of three balls. However, that led to the fight back by Sakib and Rakibul for the ninth wicket, with the duo batting for 11.2 overs.

Ankolekar ended the stand by trapping Sakib in front, leaving Bangladesh needing just six runs with one wicket remaining, and the match still poised on knife's edge. It ended two balls later, when Ankolekar bowled No. 11 Shahin Alam to wrap up a win for India. Ankolekar also finished as the tournament's highest wicket-taker, with 12 wickets in three matches.

Zimbabwe chose to bowl v Aghanistan

Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza decided to field after winning the toss against Afghanistan in the second match of the tri-series. Masakadza said that they wanted to win this game to ensure that their last two games don't become dead rubbers.

Afghanistan are currently on a hot streak in T20 cricket, having been undefeated for ten games since the start of last year. They have also won all seven of their previous games against Zimbabwe. For this game, they have handed a debut to wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Zimbabwe meanwhile have dropped Timycen Maruma and Tony Munyonga and brought in Regis Chakabva and 23-year old left-arm spinner Ainsley Ndlovu who is making his T20 international debut.

Zimbabwe: 1 Brendan Taylor (wk), 2 Hamilton Masakadza (capt), 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Regis Chakabva, 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Tinotenda Mutombodzi, 8 Neville Madziva, 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Ainsley Ndlovu, 11 Tendai Chatara

Afghanistan: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Karim Janat, 3 Najeeb Tarakai, 4 Asghar Afghan, 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 9 Rashid Khan (capt), 10 Fareed Ahmed, 11 Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain has been asked to return home from the CPL immediately. He had originally gone to the West Indies with a no-objection certificate that said he could play the entire tournament for Trinbago Knight Riders but it has now been revoked by the PCB with the aim of bringing the 19-year old back to play the Quaid-e-Azam trophy.

Hasnain shot to prominence earlier this year, when he was picked up by the Quetta Gladiators even though at the time he had played only two first-class games. The reason for that became immediately apparent as the teenager started hitting speeds of 150 kph consistently and ended up with 12 wickets in 28 overs with an economy rate of 7.5. That led to a maiden call-up to the Pakistan one-day team in March and a World Cup spot in July (even though he didn't get to play any games).

Considering that, it was unsurprising that TKR came calling but the fact that one of Pakistan's most promising bowlers was missing the first round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy to play T20 cricket abroad became a talking point, especially in light of other senior Pakistan bowlers doing much the same. Mohammad Amir retired from red-ball cricket earlier this year and Wahab Riaz has also chosen to take an indefinite break from first-class cricket. These events - and perhaps a Test tour of Australia in November - prompted the PCB to call Hasnain back home so he can hone his long-form skills.

Pittsburgh Steelers great Terry Bradshaw said he's happy Antonio Brown is no longer with the Steelers and that he'd have never thrown to the wide receiver had they been teammates.

"I'm glad they got rid of him and I'm upset now that I know how he got away ... (what) he was doing there," the Hall of Fame quarterback told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I wish the heck they would have gotten rid of him a long time ago."

"I had no idea they catered to Brown as much as they supposedly did," Bradshaw said, intimating that Brown got preferential treatment from the Steelers. "I can't stand players like Antonio Brown."

Brown forced a trade out of Pittsburgh this offseason, landing with the Oakland Raiders before being released from there and signing with the New England Patriots. In between, he dealt with frostbite on his feet, an extended problem with his helmet, a blow up with Oakland general manager Mike Mayock, and two separate fines from the Raiders before he was released last Saturday.

"I cannot emphasize how I cannot stand and have a disdain totally for players like that," said Bradshaw, a four-time Super Bowl winner with the Steelers. "I don't want any part of them. I wouldn't like them. They would hate me if they were on our team. They would hate me because I wouldn't throw to him.

"I will not put up with that kind of behavior. You don't win with it. Why haven't we won more Super Bowls? There is talent, [but] it's just guys like him. Let him go and his brand and whatever it is he's doing."

In his nine seasons with the Steelers, Brown reached the 1,000-yard receiving mark in seven of them, including in each of his final six years in Pittsburgh.

"Winning football games is all about the team and all about players caring about one another and everybody pulling together, not pulling apart," said Bradshaw, an NFL analyst for Fox. "You can't have Antonio Brown for all the greatness that they are, do you want the baggage that goes with that crap? I wouldn't."

In addition to his on-field, offseason issues, Brown is also facing a civil lawsuit in which a woman says he sexually assaulted her on three occasions. Despite the suit, Brown has not been placed on the commissioner's exempt list, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday.

Brown is still waiting to make his 2019 debut. He was not eligible to play for the Patriots in Week 1, and coach Bill Belichick has not revealed whether or not the wideout will play in the team's Week 2 matchup against Brown's hometown Miami Dolphins.

Asked Bradshaw: "What's the over/under of him lasting in New England?"

Great to see sports retail brand Decathlon teaming up with squash
By JAMES ROBERTS – Squash Mad Roving Reporter

It was a very early start for me yesterday as I had to catch a ‘Flixbus’ from Angers to Nantes at 7am. Flixbus is quite a new phenomenon in France, being their equivalent of National Express, and has caused some controversy as it directly competes with SNCF, the French railways. At just 4,99 Euros for the trip you can see why.

I am dropped off at the North Eastern fringes of the city by a tram hub. My next aim was to get to La Maison du Squash at Sautron for the Amateur Tournament, which is completely the other side of Nantes. Looking at the tram, bus and rail connections, it seems that the trip would take too much time out of the day, so I unfortunately shelve this idea.

Instead, it is just a walkable distance to the next port of call – D’Sport and Co, a brand new squash club on the Nantes scene. It is here that I am meeting up with my friends from Northamptonshire – ‘Lings On Tour’ – who come away to France every September to play squash and just have a good time.

The Lings crew are still en route from St. Malo ferry port, so instead I walk to a large ‘centre commercial’ to grab some breakfast. I then decide to arrive at D’Sport and Co a bit early as they will be open so I can chat to the owners.

I am greeted there warmly by husband and wife team, Cyril and Gaelle Sepsault Le Moigne. The club is built into a standard industrial estate warehouse unit and Cyril and Gaelle have done a fantastic job: four CourtTech courts in a row, a lovely bar area overlooking the courts with kitchens to the side, a studio room, plush changing facilities and a balcony area overlooking the courts.

As with Squash du Lac de Maine yesterday, a main feature of the club is the amount of natural light coming into the building via the extensive skylights in the roof. You could literally play squash without artificial lighting in the day (sorry Philippe!).

They also have built an indoor beach volleyball arena, which also allows people to play other sports such as ‘Beachminton’ (who knew that was a thing!).

Cyril and Gaelle have invested their life’s savings into this project and have invested well. Early signs are good, with over 200 regular players having been attracted to the facility, with many more ‘casuals’ who play from time to time.

They believe squash is on the cusp of a revival in France, citing the fact that Decathlon, the major sports retail brand, has invested in a squash dedicated brand ‘Opfeel’, with whom they have partnered. The French Open in Nantes is also playing its part on that front.

Like at Lac de Maine, they are mainly concentrating on the leisure player market. They have also affiliated the club to the Fédération Française de Squash and the local Nantes Association, which is included in the annual membership fee. Players then pay for court time, although there is also an all inclusive membership for 700 Euros which allows members to play unlimited any time.

The Lings crew arrive and we all get changed to go on court. We have the courts booked for 3 hours and everyone enjoys both singles and doubles play, especially doubles as they love doubles at Lings.

One of the club’s most regular players, Nicolas, arrives and plays singles against 4 or 5 different English players. When I play him, he tells me his is 55 and has been playing squash for 40 years. He is still at a very decent level and although I lose 3-0, it is a very good game. In fact, he only loses 1 of his matches, to one of the better players at Lings, and 3-2 as well.

The group then heads for the house that we have hired in Nantes for our stay, with a splinter group going to the huge Leclerc supermarket in that centre commercial I visited earlier to buy provisions. The house is amazing, in the plush Nantes suburb of St Sébastien-Sur-Loire, able to accommodate 22 people, with swimming pool.

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We are not able to admire the house for long, as we have to get to the Chateau for the semi-finals. Arriving at the venue, we are struck immediately by an unusual phenomenon – a long queue at a squash tournament, which stretches over the moat bridge and into the street. Luckily, as we all have tickets, we can join the left hand queue which is much shorter.

I have been in touch with Ian White of Squash Travel earlier and he has arranged for me to collect my ticket on the door. My first task was to find Matt of the PSA to find out how the World Squash Day shirt signing is going, but he finds me easily dressed in my own World Squash Day t-shirt. He has done a fantastic job, as the shirt is full of player signatures. He tells me he will take it to San Francisco for the NetSuite Open so he can obtain even more top player signatures – awesome!

Romain Suire, the highly animated and enthusiastic tournament MC, is as good as his word, giving World Squash Day a huge plug over the mic, as well as for Squash Travel.

Unfortunately, I am unable to join the Squash Travel group as they have already installed themselves in back wall seats and there are none free in their vicinity, tickets not having a seat number allocated.

The Lings crew and I find some seats high up to left hand side of the backwall. I won’t go into great detail about how the matches went as this has been done by other more qualified people than me in great detail.

The only thing I will mention is that we decided as a group to go against the grain of the main crowd and support our man Joel – well he’s Welsh so that makes him British which is good enough for us! We hope you could hear our raucous ‘come on Joel’ and foot stamping on the Squash TV coverage. We also hope this contributed in some small measure to helping Joel achieve that remarkable comeback.

The Lings crew only had tickets for the first semi-final session so have headed into town to eat. I decide to call it a day after the SJP/Sobhy semi-final as I would otherwise be in danger of an expensive sole taxi ride back to the house.

I find them near to the Chateau and I join a small group of 4 on the hunt for a taxi. We head towards La Gare and have to call in to a local hotel to obtain a taxi firm telephone number.

A long and energetic day and my voice is a bit croaky today, like I’ve been to a great gig or major football match. Not used to that after a squash tournament!
 

Pictures by JAMES ROBERTS 

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Brian Montieth fought the battle with Freddie Rahmer and won the war at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night, claiming the 25-lap Dirt Classic Qualifier for 410 sprint cars.

For Montieth, the victory broke a 17-month win drought at the half-mile oval after last scoring a win in April 2018.

The win means that the Phoenixville flyer has earned a guaranteed starting spot in next Saturday’s prestigious Dirt Classic at nearby Lincoln Speedway.

In the 305 sprint main on Friday night, Dave Grube picked up the win from the second starting spot.

The initial start of the 410 sprint car feature saw a yellow flag unfurl when the rear of the field bunched up in the fourth turn as it came to the green flag.

Montieth started fourth in the main event when action got underway and he was able to muscle by Ryan Smith for second on the opening lap, behind polesitter and leader Freddie Rahmer.

Montieth got a clear shot at Rahmer on a lap two restart but Smith returned the favor and reclaimed second with a turn three dive.

Smith ended up losing second on the seventh tour when a lapped car pushed him high as he entered the first turn, allowing Montieth to bolt by on the low side of the first and second turns.

By the halfway point, Montieth had run down Rahmer’s advantage and the pair was nose to tail across the line as they worked the backmarkers.

Setting a hectic pace on a quick racing surface, Rahmer did his best to dart through traffic and preserve his lead but a miscue as he worked through turns three and four with 10 laps to go allowed Montieth to buzz the top and snare control at the line.

Rahmer remained hot on Montieth’s heels however and with 19 laps complete he got back to the leader’s inside as they raced through the first corner.

Montieth then drag raced Rahmer onto the backchute before edging ahead on the cushion into the third turn and when he had to check up for a slower car just in front, Rahmer was that close to his tail tank that he had nowhere to go and ended up smashing into the outside fence, causing a yellow flag.

Smith inherited second for the restart but failed to challenge.

Another restart with four laps to go after Trey Starks dropped ouf of fifth spot again found Smith failing to produce a challenge as Montieth sped to the win, worth $5,000.

Smith settled for second, 1.927 seconds behind the winner, followed by Kerry Madsen, Brian Brown and Danny Dietrich.

The finish:

Feature (25 laps): 1. Brian Montieth, 2. Ryan Smith, 3. Kerry Madsen, 4. Brian Brown, 5. Danny Dietrich, 6. T.J. Stutts, 7. Matt Campbell, 8. Lucas Wolfe, 9. Steve Buckwalter, 10. Anthony Macri, 11. Cory Haas, 12. Adam Wilt, 13. Tim Wagaman, 14. Chad Trout, 15. Rick Lafferty, 16. Brett Michalski, 17. Greg Plank, 18. Troy Fraker, 19. Trey Starks, 20. Freddie Rahmer, 21. Barry Shearer, 22. Jeff Halligan, 23. Kyle Moody, 24. Chase Dietz

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — With plans to compete in Pennsylvania during the coming weekend, Speedweek: Reloaded winner James McFadden was unsure of his team’s return to Atomic Speedway for Friday’s Night Before The Knittel.

Suffice it to say, the decision to stay in the Buckeye State proved exciting, as well as valuable.

For the second time in as many nights, McFadden won an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 feature.

The victory, valued at $5,054 with the ‘54’ honoring the late Dean Knittel’s car number, was accomplished in convincing fashion, eventually driving by Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason on lap 16 before escaping to a lengthy command in traffic.

The multi-time World Series of Sprintcars champion now owns four All Star Circuit of Champions victories this season.

Although no match for McFadden during the late stages of the 30-lapper, Cory Eliason chased the Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb entry to the final checkers, followed by Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing super sub Tim Shaffer, Aaron Reutzel and six-time series champion Chad Kemenah.

“Everyone knows the Kasey Kahne Racing guys, as well as the No. 9 cars, are some of the best in the world,” McFadden said. “They really make my job a lot easier. I certainly enjoy driving their car.”

Starting fourth, McFadden gained his first spot in the running order with only one lap knocked off the counter, as outside-pole sitter and lap one leader Reutzel lost his footing in turn two and fell off the edge of the speedway. Although Reutzel was able to quickly regain his momentum, multiple spots were lost, ultimately dropping from first to fourth.

After a caution on lap four, green flag competition returned with McFadden chasing Kemenah and Eliason. Slower traffic entered the picture by lap nine giving McFadden the opportunity to close-in on the lead pair’s advantage.

Just two circuits later, McFadden made a move, this time driving by Kemenah with a slide job through turns three and four.

Unaffected by lappers stacking up two and three wide ahead of him, McFadden remained collective and continued his pursuit of Eliason’s familiar No. 26.

Incidentally, the midpoint of the 30-lap program marked as the turning point for McFadden. Utilizing a near-perfect drive through the first and second corner on lap 16, McFadden exited turn two right on the back bumper of Eliason. Exercising his signature slider yet again, McFadden dove hard into turn three and drove past the Rudeen Racing entry.

Although caution flags would reappear on lap 20, the quick momentum shift proved to be nothing but an advantage for McFadden, using the restart to escape to a near-straightaway margin.

The front-runners did encounter traffic one more time during the final five circuits, but McFadden was on point.

“Things were very similar in the end, maybe a little more slick than last night,” McFadden continued. “We weren’t very far off from where we were last night. Our base package is pretty good right now.”

The finish:

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 9-James McFadden [4]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 3. 14-Tim Shaffer [6]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 5. K4-Chad Kemenah [3]; 6. 22C-Cole Duncan [8]; 7. 11-Dale Blaney [11]; 8. 70-Brock Zearfoss [17]; 9. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [18]; 10. A79-Brandon Wimmer [7]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson [20]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [13]; 13. O7-Gerard McIntyre [12]; 14. 9J-Dean Jacobs [16]; 15. 42-Sye Lynch [5]; 16. 60-Kory Crabtree [10]; 17. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [19]; 18. 21-Brinton Marvel [14]; 19. 40-George Hobaugh [15]; 20. 4D-Josh Davis [23]; 21. J4-John Garvin [22]; 22. 4-Cap Henry [21]; 23. 1B-Keith Baxter [24]; 24. 70X-Justin Peck [9] Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel (1), Cory Eliason (2-15), James McFadden (16-30)

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Taking the wheel of the Team Ripper No. 21KS Friday night at Belle-Clair Speedway, Jake Neuman delivered a long-overdue first win of the year for car owner Steve Reynolds and crew chief Flea Ruzic.

After taking the lead on lap six, Neuman fended off mid-race pressure from Austin Brown and survived a late charge from Logan Seavey to score his third win of the season and the fifth of his POWRi National Midget career.

Making his 179th career appearance with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League, Friday’s attempt aboard the No. 21KS marked the first time in his seven-year career that Neuman drove for anyone other than his father, Jim Neuman.

A series of severe crashes and recent motor trouble over the past month in his own No. 3N contributed to the decision to make a one-off appearance, a decision that paid dividends.

For Team Ripper, the eighth time was the charm, as Neuman became the eighth driver to pilot the No. 21KS in 2019, but the first to park it in victory lane.

The list of racers before Neuman is a who’s who of today’s motorsports landscape. Karter Sarff, USAC sensation Jason McDougal, modified driver Nick Hoffman, micro sprint star Joe B. Miller, Triple Crown champion Tracy Hines, USAC Sprint Car points leader C.J. Leary and California gasser Maria Cofer all tried, but it was Neuman who got the job done first.

Starting the 30-lap feature from the fourth-spot, Neuman earned his slot in the outside of row two after jetting away to a dominant heat race win from the pole. However, it was Daniel Robinson who led the field to green after snagging PAC Racing Springs High Point Man honors courtesy of a seventh-to-second charge in the opening heat.

Leading the charge into turn one, Robinson quickly assumed the point while Neuman went top shelf to jump from fourth-to-second in the first lap. A lap five caution for Holley Hollan, Andrew Felker and Jesse Colwell halted the action and threw a wrench in the championship battle, sending Colwell to the infield with a DNF as he watched his points lead diminish.

Going back to green, Neuman saddled up and drove flatfooted into turn one with a big slider heading for Robinson as he mounted a bid for the lead. Unable to come back at him, Robinson settled into second as Neuman took the point and focused on clear track ahead on the sixth circuit.

While the high side came in and proved to be the prime place to play, the ultra-fast fifth-mile surface became tough to manage in the pack as the speed ramped up lap after lap.

Essentially a cowboy up atmosphere on the lip, it was slide or be slid to take position, making for intense mid-race restarts.

The final restart roared to life with 13 laps left as Neuman maintained a strong pace ahead of Austin Brown, who won the May showing at Belle-Clair, and Logan Seavey, who was hungry for his 10th win of the season after starting in the tenth spot.

While Neuman put his head down and ran away with the lead, Seavey shot by Brown with eight to go and immediately began cutting into Neuman’s 2.6 second advantage.

Eating into the gap each lap, Seavey snuck closer and closer to Neuman’s rear bumper as the race came to a close. By the time the two-to-go signal was given, Seavey had the No. 21KS in sight and was only behind by one-second, but the time was running out too fast.

Seavey’s late-race charge did not come fast enough, as the checkered flag dropped, and Neuman won over Seavey, Austin Brown, Zach Daum and Cannon McIntosh, who recovered from a spin on lap 11 to complete the top five.

Daum made a massive gain in the hunt for the title, as his fourth-place finish narrowed Colwell’s advantage from 350 points to 180 points.

Sarff, Tanner Carrick, 14-year old Daison Pursley, hard charger Ace McCarthy and Shelby Bosie were the balance of the top 10.

The finish:

1. 21KS-Jake Neuman (4); 2. 67-Logan Seavey (10); 3. 17-Austin Brown (2); 4. 5D-Zach Daum (11); 5. 08-Cannon McIntosh (3); 6. 37X-Karter Sarff (14); 7. 71K-Tanner Carrick (15); 8. 9-Daison Pursley (9); 9. 28-Ace McCarthy (23); 10. 3B-Shelby Bosie (19); 11. 11-Daniel Robinson (1); 12. 5F-Danny Frye III (21); 13. 86C-David Camfield (18); 14. 21X-Steve Stroud (22); 15. 5H-Danny Frye (20); 16. 97K-Jesse Love (6); 17. 20G-Noah Gass (16); 18. 1T-Thomas Chandler (24); 19. 55-Nick Knepper (13); 20. 17C-Devin Camfield (12); 21. 67K-Holley Hollan (8); 22. 44S-Andrew Felker (5); 23. 71-Jesse Colwell (7); 24. 103-Broc Hunnell (17).

Lap Leader(s): Robinson 1-5; Neuman 6-30.

Hard Charger(s): McCarthy (+14)

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Justin Grant won the 20th running of the Jim Hurtubise Classic for USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars Friday night at the Terre Haute Action Track.

It was his first victory at the historic half-mile dirt track where he first raced in 2010.

“In my first race here in 2010,  I sailed it out of the park in turn one and I smashed a guy’s Buick or Plymouth, or something, whatever it was,” Grant recalled. “I made it a long way out there too.  Terre Haute had my number for quite a while and it’s taken me nine years to finally get a win here, but we did it, and it feels really good. At one point, it was probably my worst track on the tour. To come here and win, it means a lot to me personally.”

Grant, a 2018 Sumar Classic Silver Crown winner at Terre Haute, had a topsy-turvy turn of events to begin his night. Shortly after racing from fifth to first to win the first heat race, on his cooldown lap, Grant encountered trouble, without warning, that nearly spelled disaster.

“We had a left front radius rod come apart, and you can’t steer,” Grant explained. “The axle rolls back and falls off the arm.  I lifted off of (turn) two, and halfway down the backstretch, it started squirrelling all around and I thought ‘Whoa, we got a problem here.’ I knew the front end was falling out, and when you get on the brakes, it just folds them up.

“I was just trying to coast it to a stop; I got it whoa’d down pretty slow, then it dropped, and the frame rail dug in and it just turned me right into the inside wall. Luckily, it just front-bumpered into it. No harm, no foul. We brought it back, put a bolt in it and we were ready for the feature.”

Grant rolled off for the 30-lap feature from the third position, but it took no time flat for him to race his way into the lead, grooving the bottom past pole sitter Nick Bilbee in the first turn to secure the lead while seventh starting Jason McDougal charged all the way to second by the conclusion of the opening lap, but a full second behind Grant.

Kevin Thomas Jr., Brady Bacon and Tyler Courtney worked their way around McDougal and formed a triumvirate in their pursuit to run down Grant with seven laps complete.

Grant was introduced to lapped traffic by the 10th circuit, allowing Thomas to close the gap to under a second. The lapped cars of Dustin Christie and Aric Gentry battled for position in their own right, but Grant escaped from Thomas for the time being, maneuvering around the outside of Christie off turn four, then dove low, sliding by Gentry at the entrance of turn one.

Thomas kept Grant in check, and as Grant slid into the fluff on the outside of turn two on the 11th lap, Thomas used a massive run to drive by Gentry and charge into turn three side-by-side momentarily to the inside of Grant.

Grant withheld the challenge and remained in control past halfway, until lap 18, when Thomas went on the attack once again, throwing a monster slider on Grant who was able to stand his ground and firm his grip of the lead as he split the lapped cars of Steve Thomas and Dustin Smith to sneak away and increase the interval to 2.5 seconds.

Grant stood up in the seat and regularly entered above the cushion as he began to assert his authority and rebuild his advantage.

With just five laps remaining, however, Grant’s two-plus second lead was deleted when two-time Jim Hurtubise Classic winner Brady Bacon encountered trouble and heavy right-side damage, coming to a rest against the turn-one wall.

“I didn’t want to see that,” Grant said of the yellow flag. “I knew I had gotten through lapped traffic pretty quickly for as thick it was. We were honestly in a pretty good rhythm.  Here, you never want to see a yellow when you’re leading. The frontstretch is so long and so slick and if you slide yourself, there’s nothing off of two and you’re a sitting duck. You can’t block the slider; you just hope you get a good enough restart and you can beat the slider to the center.”

Grant was fully prepared for the challenge that was going to be presented to him at the drop of the green flag from Courtney.

Courtney reared back on the start and fired his machine to the bottom in hope to slide up in front of Grant by turn two.  Grant never wavered, kept his right foot on the throttle and squeezed through to the miniscule peak of daylight between Courtney to his inside and the concrete wall.

Courtney took his shot and sold out for the lead in the process, as Grant shot back out to a half-second advantage while Thomas took advantage of Courtney’s loss of momentum exiting the second turn to move back to second.

In the final laps, Thomas utilized a line lower than Grant’s top side ride but wasn’t able to get close enough to fire off a slide job for the top spot.

Grant, meanwhile, raced to his third USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win of the season by .925 seconds over Thomas, Courtney, fast qualifier Chris Windom and point leader C.J. Leary.

To see full results, turn to the next page.