Curb Stomp: Grant Captures 2nd USAC Mike Curb Super License in 2021

Speedway, Indiana (December 27, 2021)………Four years after earning his first career Mike Curb Super License championship, Justin Grant did it once again in 2021, tallying the most total points throughout the USAC national racing season to pick up the $5,000 bonus and a license to compete in all three series in 2022.

Grant finished the campaign with 5,527 combined points throughout the 2021 USAC Silver Crown, AMSOIL National Sprint Car and NOS Energy Drink National Midget seasons, 315 more than his nearest competition, and was the only driver to compete in all 93 USAC national features during the year, blowing away the former all-time record of starts in a season, 77 set in 2010.

The Ione, California native’s first Super License award came in 2017 and now, after earning his second, he becomes just the sixth driver to earn the award multiple times, joining four-time winner Tracy Hines, three-time winners Bryan Clauson and J.J. Yeley as well as two-time recipients Dave Darland, Josh Wise & Tyler Courtney.

Grant’s second Super License is just as special to him but feels that his 2021 campaign was even stronger overall than his performance in 2017. Grant is thankful for that little extra award provided by Curb that comes along with the end of a rigorous, but successful season.

“It’s definitely a grind beating up and down the road running all of the national races, and it’s awesome that Mike Curb and Curb Records put up an award to recognize that and to support the guys who are doing it,” Grant said. “Mike is a great gentleman; I’ve met him a couple times and he’s an incredible supporter of racing.  It’s great to win an award of his and they’re both really special. I also feel like I ran better in all three series than I did in 2017. Both of them are neat and both of them are an honor to win.”

Jumping between the Hemelgarn Racing Silver Crown car, the TOPP Motorsports Sprint Car and the RMS Racing Midget can be taxing night-after-night from February to November, but with a series-best-tying 12 wins between the three series – 7 Sprint, 4 Midget & 1 Silver Crown, and as one of two drivers to win in all three series – Grant chalks the season up to a full support system and superb equipment that allows him to live out his dream.

“I’m really fortunate to have great teams and great crews that support me as I jump all over the place and jam around from racetrack to racetrack,” Grant praised.  “I drive awesome racecars and I couldn’t do that without my teams, the crews that work on them, and the partners that support us.  I’m just in a fortunate position to be everywhere I want to be and hit all the national races.”

While a championship was certainly in the plans for Grant once again after capturing the 2020 USAC Silver Crown title, he came up just a tad short of that goal while also making history. In 2021, Grant became the first driver ever to finish right in third place in the USAC Silver Crown, Sprint, and Midget standings in a single season.

Furthermore, Grant is also just the sixth driver to finish inside the top-three in all three series in a single year, joining Rich Vogler (1980, 1981 & 1989), Ken Schrader (1983), Tony Stewart (1995), J.J. Yeley (2002 & 2003) and Chris Windom (2020). With a myriad of changes during the offseason, Grant feels 2021 will be one that’ll always be remembered.

“We ultimately wanted to win some championships but coming home third in all of them was a pretty good effort,” Grant said.  “It was my first year with the midget team and my first year running the sprint car team out of my shop in Indianapolis.  We had kind of a rocky year in the Silver Crown car, but, for the other two, I felt those were really good efforts for new situations and new surroundings.  It’s awesome to win the Super License and have something to show for, not only all my hard work, but also for my teams, crews and partners.”

This was the 23rd year for the Mike Curb Super License, which earns Grant a $5,000 reward and a USAC Super License worth $750 as the driver who finished with the most combined points with the three series during the season.

USAC Super License/USAC National Driver Championship titlists include Justin Grant (2017 & 2021), Dave Darland (1999 & 2015), Tracy Hines (2000-2008-2013-2014), J.J. Yeley (2001-2002-2003), Jay Drake (2004), Josh Wise (2005-2006), Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), Cole Whitt (2009), Bryan Clauson (2010-2011-2012), Brady Bacon (2016), and Tyler Courtney (2018-2019).

1            5527     Justin Grant, Ione, Calif.

2            5212     Chris Windom, Canton, Ill.

3            4949     Tanner Thorson, Minden, Nev.

4            4857     Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, Ala.

5            4381     Logan Seavey, Sutter, Calif.

6            3461     Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Okla.

7            2972     Thomas Meseraull, San Jose, Calif.

8            2780     C.J. Leary, Greenfield, Ind.

9            2742     Jake Swanson, Anaheim, Calif.

10          2586     Buddy Kofoid, Penngrove, Calif.

11          2322     Emerson Axsom, Franklin, Ind.

12          2099     Robert Ballou, Rocklin, Calif.

13          1892     Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, Okla.

14          1877     Kyle Cummins, Princeton, Ind.

15          1852     Cannon McIntosh, Bixby, Okla.

16          1752     Chase Stockon, Fort Branch, Ind.

17          1729     Shane Cottle, Kansas, Ill.

18          1488     Chase Randall, Waco, Texas

19          1301     Jason McDougal, Broken Arrow, Okla.

20          1281     Bryant Wiedeman, Colby, Kan.

21          1250     Matt Westfall, Pleasant Hill, Ohio

22          1221     Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, Texas

23          1124     Ethan Mitchell, Mooresville, N.C.

24          1050     Brandon Mattox, Terre Haute, Ind.

25          1036     Jadon Rogers, Worthington, Ind.

26          909       Kaylee Bryson, Muskogee, Okla.

27          901       Cole Bodine, Rossville, Ind.

28          859       Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, Ill.

29          777       Hayden Reinbold, Gilbert, Ariz.

30          695       Max Adams, Loomis, Calif.

31          690       Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, Okla.

32          650       Charles Davis Jr., Buckeye, Ariz.

33          598       Hayden Williams, Auckland, N.Z.

34          590       Mario Clouser, Auburn, Ill.

35          581       Chance Crum, Snohomish, Wash.

36          574       Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.

37          540       Stevie Sussex, Mesa, Ariz.

38          529       Taylor Reimer, Bixby, Okla.

39          505       Carmen Perigo, Stoystown, Pa.

40          485       Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, Calif.

41          481       Trey Gropp, Lincoln, Neb.

42          471       Isaac Chapple, Willow Branch, Ind.

43          469       Corey Day, Clovis, Calif.

44          455       Steven Drevicki, Reading, Pa.

45          436       Briggs Danner, Allentown, Pa.

46          404       Matt Goodnight, Winchester, Ind.

47          399       Sterling Cling, Tempe, Ariz.

48          399       Timmy Buckwalter, Douglassville, Pa.

49          392       David Byrne, Shullsburg, Wis.

50          383       Kyle Robbins, New Castle, Ind.

51          349       Sam Johnson, St. Peters, Mo.

52          348       Austin Nemire, Sylvania, Ohio

53          328       Shane Cockrum, Benton, Ill.

54          313       Brian Carber, Pipersville, Pa.

55          310       Travis Welpott, Pendleton, Ind.

56          305       Mike Haggenbottom, Levittown, Pa.

57          294       Austin Barnhill, Wilmington, N.C.

58          294       Mark Smith, Sunbury, Pa.

59          281       Brent Beauchamp, Fairland, Ind.

60          280       Nick Bilbee, Indianapolis, Ind.

61          265       Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass.

62          264       Jade Avedisian, Clovis, Calif.

63          240       Riley Kreisel, Warsaw, Mo.

64          228       Carson Garrett, Littleton, Colo.

65          228       Ricky Lewis, Ventura, Calif.

66          224       Eric Gordon, Greenfield, Ind.

67          208       Dave Berkheimer, Mechanicsburg, Pa.

68          204       Kyle O’Gara, Beech Grove, Ind.

69          196       Travis Buckley, Auckland, N.Z.

70          187       Stephen Schnapf, Newburgh, Ind.

71          176       Jonathan Shafer, Ashland, Ohio

72          167       Davey Ray, Penngrove, Calif.

73          166       Casey Buckman, Chandler, Ariz.

74          164       Brian Tyler, Parma, Mich.

75          162       Ryan Thomas, Indianapolis, Ind.

76          159       Patrick Lawson, Edwardsville, Ill.

77          155       Harley Burns, Brazil, Ind.

78          152       Kendall Ruble, Vincennes, Ind.

79          148       Aaron Pierce, Muncie, Ind.

80          146       Dave Darland, Lincoln, Ind.

81          145       Nathan Byrd, Goodyear, Ariz.

82          144       Jake Neuman, New Berlin, Ill.

83          139       Dallas Hewitt, Troy, Ohio

84          137       Tyler Thomas, Collinsville, Okla.

85          126       Robert Bell, Colfax, Iowa

86          125       Bryan Gossel, Fort Collins, Colo.

87          125       Zack Pretorius, Yorktown, Ind.

88          123       Taylor Ferns, Shelby Township, Mich.

89          122       Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, Ariz.

90          121       Kent Schmidt, Owensville, Ind.

91          114       Critter Malone, Pittsboro, Ind.

92          112       Terry Babb, Decatur, Ill.

93          104       Tyler Roahrig, Mishawaka, Ind.

94          103       Annie Breidinger, Hillsborough, Calif.

95          95          Kyle Steffens, St. Charles, Mo.

96          93          Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, Ind.

97          91          J.J. Hughes, Columbus, Ind.

98          91          Jake Day, Abilene, Texas

99          90          Blake Brannon, Morgan Hill, Calif.

100       90          Braxton Cummings, Bedford, Ind.

101       90          Oliver Akard, Fort Myers, Fla.

102       89          Tanner Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.

103       86          Chris Phillips, Plainfield, Ind.

104       85          Derek Bischak, Angola, Ind.

105       82          Brandon Morin, Jasonville, Ind.

106       82          Jim Anderson, Joliet, Ill.

107       80          Brayden Fox, Avon, Ind.

108       80          Noah Gass, Mounds, Okla.

109       79          Russ Gamester, Peru, Ind.

110       77          Clinton Boyles, Greenwood, Mo.

111       72          Kenney Johnson, Bethany, Conn.

112       71          Joey Biasi, Mary D, Pa.

113       62          Chris Fetter, Troy, Mo.

114       62          Jacob Denney, Galloway, Ohio

115       60          Dustin Clark, Washington, Ind.

116       60          Mike McVetta, Grafton, Ohio

117       60          Saban Bibent, Cincinnati, Ohio

118       60          Zach Daum, Pocahontas, Ill.

119       58          Davey Hamilton Jr., Meridian, Idaho

120       50          Emilio Hoover, Broken Arrow, Okla.

121       50          Wyatt Burks, Topeka, Kan.

122       48          Jace Park, Overland Park, Kan.

123       44          Ken Schrader, Fenton, Mo.

124       43          Korey Weyant, Springfield, Ill.

125       42          Nathan Moore, Kaufman, Texas

126       40          Blake Spicer, Marysville, Kan.

127       40          Craig Pellegrini, Buena, N.J.

128       40          J.R. Ewing, Phillipsburg, Kan.

129       39          Chase Johnson, Davenport, Iowa

130       36          Danny Long, Bonne Terre, Mo.

131       34          Travis Berryhill, American Canyon, Calif.

132       33          Steven Russell, Rochester, Ill.

133       30          Mariah Ede, Fresno, Calif.

134       30          Tyler Nelson, Olathe, Kan.

135       23          Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind.

136       20          Anton Hernandez, Arlington, Texas

137       20          Brent Yarnal, Tampa, Fla.

138       20          Chayse Hayhurst, Evansville, Ind.

139       20          Chris Urish, Romulus, N.Y.

140       20          Erik Karlsen, Elkhart, Ill.

141       20          Joe Liguori, Phoenix, Ariz.

142       20          Ryan Bickett, Ramona, S.D.

143       20          Shane Butler, Bushnell, Fla.

144       16          Dave Peperak, Clinton, Ind.

145       10          Aaron Farney, Brookston, Ind.

146       10          Brian Gerster, Danville, Ind.

147       10          Cary Oliver, Buncombe, Ill.

148       10          Kyle Hamilton, Fishers, Ind.

149       10          Ronnie Wuerdeman, Cincinnati, Ohio