When rookie of the year contender Grant Sexton takes to the 3/8 of a mile Central Arizona Raceway for rounds three and four of the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series this Friday and Saturday, March 3rd and 4th, he will have more than 9,000 reasons to go fast. Those reasons will come from within a brand spanking new 900+ horsepower Shaver Racing engine.
At the season-opening race at the Cocopah Speedway on January 27th, Sexton was poised and ready for the 30-lap main event. However, when his car bumped off for the main, he realized that it was not firing on all cylinders. He gave the car a little more throttle and the problem just got worse. So, he pulled off the track.
“As soon as the car fired off it wasn’t firing on all cylinders or something,” he stated at the time. “It just wasn’t right. I knew it from the get-go. Once I got on the gas it got way worse so I pulled it in (before the race started). The motor ended up getting blown up.”
Tired of fooling around, Sexton Gatlin Racing decided it was time for a change. After all, the team had already put the 18-year-old in a brand-new Triple X chassis for Cocopah. It was time to match that chassis with a state-of-the-art brand new engine. They went to the top engine builder in dirt track racing, Shaver Racing Engines in Torrance, California, and bought a new bullet. The new engine will match up well with the new chassis and should give the Lakeside, California-based teen a shot of confidence when racing in the most competitive 410 sprint car series west of the Mississippi. The talent is there, and it is now matched with top-flight equipment. The package should give Sexton a better opportunity to show fans what he can do, just like he did in his short time in lightning sprints.
Two years ago Sexton dominated the POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series winning more mains than any other driver and the series championship. The year before that when he was just 15, he dazzled the lightning sprint car world by winning the opening night main event against the top drivers in the USA and Canada in the POWRi Lightning National Championship in Missouri. Twenty-four hours later at the finale of the event, he led the race before finishing second.
Sexton Gatlin Racing is going to have a busy opening month of the season. After this week in Arizona, Grant will be racing the 410 at the open competition event at the Imperial Valley Raceway on the 10th and 11th. At the same show, POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car Series champion Brent Sexton, Grant’s father, will open defense of his title. He will be joined by his oldest son Dalton, San Diego’s A.J. Bender, and possibly another young star. Grant will be in action on March 18th at Perris Auto Speedway’s Sokola Shootout and will follow the USAC/CRA Series tour to Central California for races at Peter Murphy’s Keller Auto Speedway on March 24th and Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway on the 25th.
Fans can see the Rookie of the Year contender in person at the Central Arizona Raceway this Friday and Saturday when gates open at 4:00 p.m. Racing will commence at 6:00. The track is located on the Pinal County Fairgrounds at 512 S Eleven Mile Corner Rd, Casa Grande, AZ (85194). The office phone is (602) 292-7607. For those who cannot make it to the track, both nights will be streamed live via pay-per-view on Speed Sport TV at the following link https://speedsport.tv/.
SGR has been busy all winter getting ready for another successful year in 2023. If you or your company is interested in becoming a partner with this front-running team, please call (619) 454-6945 or E-mail mailto:[email protected] or mailto:[email protected].
Sexton/Gatlin Racing would like to thank the following companies for making the 2022 season possible. Keys Brothers, East County Electric Works, Maxima Oil, Automated Interiors, Sexton Fire Protection, BK Wings, Troy Dirt, Victory Graphix, and Swift Powdercoat.
Sexton Gatlin Racing 2023 Racing Results
1-27-23 Cocopah Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars Grant 16th A Main
1-28-23 Cocopah Speedway USAC/CRA Sprint Cars Grant DNS
SGR PR
