KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The richest one-day USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship event of the year is upon us and for the majority of the last two seasons in the event, there’s been one driver who’s constantly been the one all others have been chasing — Brady Bacon.
Bacon goes for his third-straight BRANDT Professional Agriculture Corn Belt Clash victory in the third running of the event this Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway. The event is co-sanctioned by the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, the USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association and the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint Car Series.
The Corn Belt conversation begins with Bacon. The three-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion from Broken Arrow, Okla. is the winningest driver with the series at the half-mile dirt oval, emerging victorious on four occasions.
His prowess at the Corn Belt Clash over the past couple of years has been phenomenal, including a two-night sweep of the inaugural Corn Belt Nationals in 2019, a second-place finish in the 2020 prelim and a dominant final night win in last year’s finale, which has netted him a total of $48,000 in prize money between 2019-2020 for those four races alone.
Bacon owns both the 25 and 30-lap USAC Sprint Car track records at Knoxville, each of which were set during the Corn Belt Clash. The 25-lap record of 9:11.86 was notched in 2019 while the 30-lap mark of 10:19.56 made its way into the books in 2020.
California’s Justin Grant was the king of Knoxville in 2017, leading all 30 laps en route to the victory. When Grant returned with his new team in 2018, TOPP Motorsports, he didn’t miss much of a beat, finishing fourth in the main event.
In 2019, he was fifth and sixth on each of the two nights and was the fastest qualifier on the second night. In 2020, the reigning USAC Silver Crown champion finished on the podium each night at Knoxville, taking third on night one and second on night two.
Kevin Thomas Jr., C.J. Leary, Chris Windom, Robert Ballou, Jake Swanson, Logan Seavey, Tanner Thorson and Chase Stockon are also among the USAC regulars looking to make some noise in the Corn Belt Clash.
Other entries include Mario Clouser, Thomas Meseraull, Paul Nienhiser, Wyatt Burks, Don Droud Jr., Wesley Smith and Riley Kreisel.
Although Bacon has had a relative stranglehold on the Corn Belt Clash over the past two years, the four USAC National Sprint Car events contested on half-mile dirt tracks this year have produced four different winners: Tyler Courtney (Eldora Speedway), Robert Ballou (Eldora Speedway), Chris Windom (Terre Haute Action Track) and Justin Grant (Selinsgrove Speedway).