Justin Grant Defended Ashlea Albertson Memorial at Circle City
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 18, 2026
Justin Grant returns
Grant returned as the defending winner when USAC’s AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship returned to Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis for the Ashlea Albertson Memorial. The race honored Ashlea Albertson, the late TQ Midget racer who died in 2023, and it was the third and final USAC National Sprint Car event of the season at Circle City. That gave the night a clear place on the calendar and a clear reason for the teams to treat it as a showcase stop. The card also featured an all open-wheel tripleheader, so the Memorial sat inside a full evening built around that style of racing. Grant had the spotlight as the defending winner, and the winner’s share rose to $8,222 with a $2,222 bonus attached. That payoff put extra value on the feature and gave the event a bigger reward for the driver who handled the pressure best. Circle City already had a defined role in the USAC season, and this race closed that stretch with a memorial that carried both emotional and competitive weight.
Circle City bonuses
The payout extended past the feature winner. USAC offered special awards and bonuses for heat winners, the hard charger, clean air, hard luck, farthest from home and move of the race. That list stretched across the night and gave teams a reason to stay locked in from the first race of the program through the main event. Heat winners could build momentum early. The hard charger and move of the race recognized drivers who made progress and created action. Clean air and hard luck added another layer of recognition for what happened during the race night. Farthest from home gave the event a travel element as well, since teams came from different places to take part in the Memorial. The structure made the night more than a single feature check. It created several ways for drivers to leave with something. The $2,222 winner’s bonus and the higher feature payout sat at the top of that package, but the smaller awards helped define the entire program. With an open-wheel tripleheader on the schedule, the race offered repeated opportunities before the feature arrived and kept attention on the full card.
Circle City contenders
The driver list gave the Memorial a strong mix of form, history and momentum. Logan Seavey, Kyle Cummins, C.J. Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr., Jake Swanson and Gavin Miller were among the names highlighted to watch. Cummins and Seavey entered as Circle City’s winningest USAC National Sprint Car drivers, with three wins apiece at the track. Leary had won there twice, and Briggs Danner owned the first Circle City USAC win of the season after taking the opener there. Cummins also brought the best overall season numbers in the field. He led the series standings with 10 wins and 38 consecutive top-10 finishes in 39 races, a run that showed how steady his year had been. Seavey added a different kind of momentum after recently ending a seven-month winless streak at Lernerville. That gave the field a blend of track specialists, current form and proven winners. Circle City had already seen the series this year, and this final stop added another round of familiar names with enough history there to make the Memorial feel like a genuine test of speed, consistency and racecraft.
