“JG” Justin Grant takes Night Three of Indiana Midget Week at Lincoln Speedway Park
By James Zimmerman
PUTNAMVILLE, IN – The fans in Putnamville on Thursday were treated to an outstanding night of racing highlighted by a feature showcasing Justin Grant and Logan Seavey.
Grant started the feature from the pole and kept control early by rolling the bottom. Seavey started third but quickly moved to second within the first lap. That’s when the differing race lines began for the top two. Grant stayed committed to the low line, working the moisture off the exits, while Seavey kept his momentum up running the high side of the track.
Early in the race, the previous two nights feature winners, Hayden Reinbold and Karter Sarff were in a battle for third with Brexton Reese.
With only three laps into the feature, Seavey carried great speed around turns one and two and made the pass on Grant down the backstretch. Entering turn three, Seavey dropped to the bottom to protect and officially took the lead at the scoring loop.
For the next handful of laps, the top two spots were set while Reinbold and Sarff continued to battle over the last step of the podium. Reinbold worked the middle while Sarff hugged the bottom, and every exit off of turns two and four brought them nearly side‑by-side.
With eleven laps in, the back of the field came into the equation. Grant changed his line in turns one and two, switching to a diamond line that brought Seavey back into reach. As Seavey and Grant began picking their way through slower cars, Reinbold and Sarff were forced to the top to maneuver traffic while still trying to keep pace with the lead two. With everyone focused on the battles for first and third, Cannon McIntosh quietly joined the top five after working past Reese.
One lap shy of halfway, lap traffic brought the top two even closer together and raised the excitement. Both leaders had to work around two slower cars battling for position, which took a couple laps to clear. Once Seavey cleared, he was able to pull back away by a few car lengths, but Grant seemed quicker in turns three and four and was making similar if not better speed exiting turn two with his diamond line making great drive off speed. While the battle for the lead continued, Sarff found more speed around the top and worked by Reinbold for third.
Seventeen laps in, Seavey seemed to find Grant’s diamond line entering turn one and peeling down across the center. But a few laps later, as Seavey and Grant continued to battle closely for first, Seavey entered turns one and two and got up over the cushion, breaking his momentum. Grant was able to work by as they raced down the backstretch, and with ten to go, Grant officially took back over the lead.
Three laps later, Kevin Thomas Jr. brought out the lone caution of the race as his car appeared to blow a motor, flames and smoke visible as he attempted to pull off the backstretch. The caution restacked the field. When the field went back to green with seven to go, the fans got to see the veterans Grant and Seavey fight it out for the win.
Right away, Seavey threw the first of three sliders on Grant entering turns one and two. Grant carried enough speed, exiting the turn to drive under it. Entering turn three, Seavey went to the top to build speed while Grant continued running the bottom, almost as a half‑slider line. With six to go, Seavey threw another slider but didn’t make it to the top, allowing Grant to work back by on the outside. Entering turn three, the top two swapped lines as Seavey took to the top trying to make more speed. He carried so much momentum exiting turn four that it gave him one more chance at a slider on Grant.
This time, Grant responded with his diamond line, peeling off the top in the center of the turn to drive under Seavey. Grant had so much speed with the move that he quickly put about five car lengths between himself and Seavey.
With four to go, Seavey committed to the top in hopes of catching Grant. As Grant pulled away, Seavey got tight on the cushion, bringing McIntosh into the picture after he had taken over third following the restart. On the final lap, McIntosh sent a great slider that carried him to the top of turn two, exiting ahead of Seavey, who couldn’t drive back under it.
With McIntosh and Seavey battling for second, Grant cruised to his second USAC Midget win of the year and his first Indiana Midget Week win since 2019, where captured the win at Gas City I-69 Speedway. Thursday’s feature win was Grant’s 98th career USAC National victory, putting him within two of the impressive 100‑win mark.
In victory lane, Grant said that when racing with Seavey, he could see Logan getting tight to the curb out of two, which allowed him to enter smoothly and then cut down across the center. He also talked about the restart with seven to go, saying he felt like a sitting duck for a slider into one, but he knew he could get such a good run down the hill that he just had to let the slide go by and drive under it. Grant added that racing like that is a lot of fun, and that Seavey is such a good driver he kept changing where his sliders landed to try to get Grant stuck behind one.
USAC Midget Qualifying
1. Karter Sarff-12.643
2. Trevor Cline-12.668;
3. Hayden Reinbold-12.687
4. Logan Seavey-12.814
5. Brecken Reese-12.816
6. Justin Grant-12.835
7. Cannon McIntosh-12.865
8. Mack Leopard-12.919
9. Jacob Denney-12.922
10. Kevin Thomas Jr-12.960
11. Kale Drake-12.961
12. Brandon Carr-13.008
13. Jakeb Boxell-13.020
14. Matt Sherrell-13.024
15. Gavin Miller-13.028
16. Kyle Jones-13.079
17. Zach Wigal-13.085
18. Ethan Mitchell-13.124
19. Gunnar Setser-13.149
20. Rylan Gray-13.232
21. Colton Robinson-13.310
22. Adam Taylor-13.321
23. Bradley Cox-13.350
24. Drew Sherman-13.478
25. Levi Hinck-13.551
26. Tony Helton-13.609
27. Mike Unger-13.863
28. Jeff Schindler-13.886
29. Drake Edwards-NTT
**Karter Sarff goes quick time for fifth consecutive Indian Midget Week event dating back to 2025
Heat Race Results
Top-5 transfer straight to feature, starting positions in parentheses
Heat Race #1
1. Zach Wigal (2)
2. Jakeb Boxell (3)
3. Jacob Denney (4)
4. Karter Sarff (6)
5. Brecken Reese (5)
6. Colton Robinson (1)
7. Levi Hinck (7)
Heat Race #2
1. Justin Grant (5)
2. Ethan Mitchell (2)
3. Trevor Cline (6)
4. Matt Sherrell (3)
5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (4)
6. Adam Taylor (1)
7. Tony Helton (7)
Heat Race #3
1. Gunnar Setser (2)
2. Kale Drake (4)
3. Cannon McIntosh (5)
4. Hayden Reinbold (6)
5. Gavin Miller (3)
6. Bradley Cox (1)
7. Mike Unger (7)
Heat Race #4
1. Logan Seavey (6)
2. Kyle Jones (3)
3. Mack Leopard (5)
4. Brandon Carr (4)
5. Drew Sherman (1)
6. Jeff Schindler (7)
7. Rylan Gray (2)
Semi Feature Top-4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses
1. Adam Taylor (3)
2. Bradley Cox (4)
3. Colton Robinson (2)
4. Levi Hinck (6)
5. Tony Helton (7)
6. Mike Unger (8)
7. Jeff Schindler (5)
8. Rylan Gray (1)
USAC Midget Feature Results starting positions in parentheses
1. Justin Grant (1)
2. Cannon McIntosh (9)
3. Logan Seavey (3)
4. Karter Sarff (6)
5. Jacob Denney (11)
6. Hayden Reinbold (4)
7. Zach Wigal (7)
8. Trevor Cline (5)
9. Gunnar Setser (8)
10. Jakeb Boxell (15)
11. Gavin Miller (17)
12. Brecken Reese (2)
13. Mack Leopard (10)
14. Brandon Carr (14)
15. Matt Sherrell (16)
16. Kyle Jones (18)
17. Kale Drake (13)
18. Adam Taylor (21)
19. Colton Robinson (20)
20. Ethan Mitchell (19)
21. Bradley Cox (22)
22. Drew Sherman (23)
23. Levi Hinck (24)
24. Kevin Thomas Jr. (12)
Next USAC Midget Race 6/12/26 Bloomington Speedway
USAC Top 10 Midget Championship Points
1-Justin Grant-330
2-Jacob Denney-327
3-Jakeb Boxell-327
4-Zach Wigal-302
5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-296
6-Kale Drake-279
7-Gunnar Setser-274
8-Hayden Reinbold-268
9-Gavin Miller-259
10-Brecken Reese-256
USAC Top 10 Indiana Midget Week Points
1-Karter Sarff-207
2-Cannon McIntosh-201
3-Logan Seavey-190
4-Jakeb Boxell-189
5-Justin Grant-183
6-Jacob Denney-177
7-Hayden Reinbold-173
8-Zach Wigal-171
9-Brecken Reese-167
10-Gunnar Setser-165
410 Sprint Support Class Results
Heat Race Results Top-4 Transfer to Feature
Heat Race #1
1. Seth Parker (2)
2. Ricky Lewis (4)
3. Jack Hoyer (5)
4. Kyle Shipley (1)
5. Cameron La Rose (6)
6. Chance Crum (3)
7. Nathan Smee (7)
8. Carl Rhuebottom (8)
9. Justin Davis (9)
Heat Race #2
1. Trey Osborne (1)
2. Charles Davis Jr. (5)
3. Zach Pretorius (2)
4. Rylan Gray (3)
5. Brandon Mattox (4)
6. Bryce Andrews (6)
7. David Gasper (7)
8. Tony Paquette (8)
Heat Race #3
1. Harley Burns (1)
2. C.J. Leary (4)
3. Beau Brandon (2)
4. Adyn Schmidt (6)
5. Brandon Spencer (3)
6. Austion Cory (5)
7. Tony Helton (7)
8. Logan Prickett (8)
Heat Race #4
1. Max Adams (1)
2. Jadon Rogers (3)
3. Kyle Johnson (6)
4. Caleb Stelzig (5)
5. JR Bonesteel (7)
6. Tom Eller (8)
7. Jake Swanson (4)
8. Ivan Glotzbach (2)
Semi Feature Top-4 Transfer’s
1. Cameron La Rose
2. Brandon Mattox
3. Chance Crum
4. Brandon Spencer
Feature Results Starting Positions in Parentheses
1. Jadon Rogers (4)
2. Harley Burns (5)
3. Ricky Lewis (6)
4. Trey Osborne (3)
5. Jack Hoyer (10)
6. C.J. Leary (8)
7. Brandon Mattox (18)
8. Max Adams (2)
9. Seth Parker (7)
10. Zach Pretorius (1)
11. Rylan Gray (14)
12. Kyle Shipley (13)
13. Chance Crum (19)
14. Cameron La Rose (17)
15. Kyle Johnson (12)
16. Charles Davis Jr. (9)
17. Caleb Stelzig (16)
18. Brandon Spencer (20)
19. Beau Brandon (11)
20. Adyn Schmidt (15)
Points and lap times provided by USAC and MyRacePass