Night Two of Winter Dirt Games XIII at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida was a war of attrition. Mother Nature wiped away the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series’ first attempt at starting the event and forced officials to delay qualifying. The teams had to battle through late-night heat races, a semi-feature bogged down by restarts, and a feature race with four yellow flags slowing down the action.
In the end, TOPP Motorsports driver Justin Grant brought home the feature win. He started on the front row and survived those multiple restarts to sail to Victory Lane. The win is Grant’s first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature win of 2022 and it follows a clean sweep of the USAC NOS Energy National Midget Series season opener earlier this month. Grant said he felt at ease behind the wheel. “I was really confident. Our [car] was really good.”
Keith Kunz Motorsports driver Buddy Kofoid came home second to continue his strong weekend at Bubba Raceway Park. Kofoid followed up his Night One Hard Charger Award with a run from sixth position to the second step on the podium. “Our car was really good. It’s probably the most comfortable I’ve felt in a sprint car,” said Kofoid. “Once we got going, I felt like I was just as fast as Justin [Grant]. He’s been really good here and hopefully tomorrow we can beat him.”
Winter Dirt Games XIII Night One feature winner Emerson Axsom grabbed the final step on the podium. Axsom said the third-place finish was a much-needed follow-up for himself and the Clauson Marshall Racing team. “I’m just glad we had a good run tonight so we can’t say last night was a fluke,” said Axsom. Unofficially, the third-place finish makes him the Winter Dirt Games points leader and locks him into the $10,000-to-win finale.
The final night of Winter Dirt Games XIII is set for Saturday, February 19. The next scheduled USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series event is set for April 2 at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
Full Results:
Heat 1: 1. Kyle Cummins 2. Buddy Kofoid 3. Logan Seavey 4. Braxton Cummings 5. Carson Garrett 6. Brandon Mattox 7. Charles Davis, Jr. 8. Dallas Hewitt 9. Jackson Slone 10. Brian Ruhlman
Heat 2: 1. Brady Short 2. Brady Bacon 3. Steve Irwin 4. Carson Short 5. Landon Simon 6. Shane Cockrum 7. Robert Ballou 8. Kory Schudy 9. Josh Turner 10. Jadon Rogers 11. Robert Bell
Heat 3: 1. Tanner Thorson 2. Justin Grant 3. Alex Bright 4. Jason McDougal 5. Shane Cottle 6. Kyle Shipley 7. Jack Hoyer 8. Dustin Clark 9. Austin Hawkins (Chad Boespflug – Scratch)
Heat 4: 1. Thomas Meseraull 2. Matt Westfall 3. Emerson Axsom 4. Chase Stockon 5. CJ Leary 6. Jake Swanson 7. Cole Bodine 8. Mario Clouser 9. Jeremy Kerzman 10. Eddie Vancil
C-Main: 1. Alex Banales 2. Jeremy Kerzman 3. Josh Turner 4. Jadon Rogers 5. Jack Hoyer 6. Robert Bell 7. Brian Ruhlman 8. Eddie Vancil 9. Jackson Slone
Semi-Feature: 1. CJ Leary 2. Jake Swanson 3. Shane Cottle 4. Kory Schudy 5. Landon Simon 6. Shane Cockrum 7. Cole Bodine 8. Brandon Mattox 9. Jadon Rogers 10. Alex Banales 11. Dallas Hewitt 12. Josh Turner 13. Charles Davis, Jr. 14. Carson Garrett 15. Jeremy Kerzman 16. Mario Clouser 17. Robert Ballou 18. Kyle Shipley
Feature: 1. Justin Grant 2. Buddy Kofoid 3. Emerson Axsom 4. Chase Stockon 5. Tanner Thorson 6. Kyle Cummins 7. Jake Swanson 8. Carson Short 9. Logan Seavey 10. Shane Cottle 11. Shane Cockrum 12. Jason McDougal 13. Matt Westfall 14. Brady Short 15. Brady Bacon 16. Alex Bright 17. Kory Schudy 18. CJ Leary 19. Robert Ballou 20. Thomas Meseraull 21. Landon Simon 22. Braxton Cummings 23. Steve Irwin