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Justin Grant Addresses Wreck With Robert Ballou During Heat Race At Tri-State Speedway: “I’m Sorry He Got Tore Up There”

August 2, 2026  ·
  John Trent

Following his win the USAC Indiana Sprint Week finale at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana, Justin Grant exited his car to a jeer of boos due to a heat race incident with Robert Ballou that sent Ballou flipping end over end multiple times.

On the first lap of the heat race while they were battling for fourth, Grant’s right rear made contact with Ballou’s left rear. The contact initially lifted Grant’s rear end up in the air. As he came back down, Ballou’s car was spun around and was perpendicular with the track. It then performed a barrel roll and smashed hard on the car’s halo. That first hit then twisted the car up in the air into a pirouette. The car briefly came back down on its bumper and then was shot back up into the air before it came crashing down on the halo again. It then rolled through the rest of the corner before eventually come to stop on its roof. 

Grant addressed the wreck in his victory lane interview while also noting the crowd was not pleased with him, “They’re angry. … You hear the booing. They’re mad about the heat race between me and Robert there. I hate that it got upside down there. I felt like I was clear up alongside him off of 2 and all the way down the backstretch and parked it on the first infield tire and kinda felt like he had a whole race track above him and tried to get to the first infield tire through the side of my race car.”

“I don’t know what I could’ve done there other than just disappearing out of his way,” Grant continued. “But you gotta go in the heat races and they won’t see it that way and Robert might not either. And I’m sorry he got tore up there. I just don’t know what else-. I’m far enough up along there and didn’t bomb in on him or anything. I was under him all the way off of 2. So I don’t know what more-.”

“And he didn’t come down and say anything. I haven’t talked to him yet. I’ll catch up with him later, but hopefully we can kinda work that out and figure out who was upset and who was in the wrong there. It’s a shame any time something gets tore up. I, of all people, didn’t want him to get tore up there because I needed him to transfer so he could try and keep one guy out and get me on the front row. Despite, ‘I’m a jerk and whatever,’ you could think what you want of me. It wasn’t in my best interest do that. So I certainly didn’t want to do it. 

While Grant had spoken to Ballou yet, Ballou was none too please with him. He wrote on Facebook, “One thing that hasn’t changed is Justin Grant is still a [expletive]…..and every dog has his day!”

NEXT: Justin Grant Gets Tri-State Finale, Kyle Cummins Collects USAC Indiana Sprint Week Title

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Author: John Trent