Normally Paired with His Brother, Keith Grant Is Going It Alone This WeekendJuly 1, 2022By Mark RobinsonIMSA Wire Service Entry List (Click Here) DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Keith and David Grant are used to having each other around. The brothers have operated a Tennessee home-building business for 26 years. They’ve been co-drivers in every IMSA Prototype Challenge race since they joined the series in 2018.That streak will end this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park when Keith Grant is scheduled to drive solo in the No. 40 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08 for the third round of the 2022 season, taking on Sunday’s entire 90-minute race and all sessions leading up to it by himself. He’s not fazed and said preparations won’t change.“I don’t think it’s any different,” he said. “We both are very similar in speed when we’ve raced together. You just have to be competitive in both segments of the race, and I think I can. I’ve run two-hour stints in other races that we’ve done, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”The Grant brothers – both Bronze-rated – come from a racing family. They joined the Prototype Challenge midway through 2018 and closed the season with a third-place finish at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. They finished eighth in the overall standings in both 2019 and 2020, as well as taking second in the Bronze Cup competition for Bronze-only entries in ’20.Last year, their first with JDC, they finished sixth in the overall championship and ran away with the Bronze Cup title. Following a fifth-place finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May, they rank seventh in the overall standings but are only 50 points out of fourth.Keith Grant credited the JDC operation and engineer John Walko in particular for the continued improvement.“John’s putting us in positions to run at the front as Bronze drivers and we’ve enjoyed that,” he said.Grant also said he’s eager to return to CTMP, which is hosting the LMP3 series for the first time since 2019.“It’s a really fast track and it’s just a lot of fun to drive,” Grant said. “But it’s quick. Turns 1 and 2 seem to be the most challenging turns on the track. And then the ones before you go onto the back straight are probably the most important since it kicks you onto the straightaway.”Prototype Challenge teams and drivers have two practice sessions on Friday before qualifying at 8:15 a.m. ET Sunday. The race streams live on Peacock in the U.S. and on IMSA.com/TVLive elsewhere beginning at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.Tonis Kasemets (No. 60 Wulver Racing Ligier JS P320) is the overall points leader heading into the race, 20 ahead of Alexander Koreiba and Memo Gidley (No. 23 AL Autosport with JDC MotorSports Duqueine). Kasemets is also the Bronze Cup leader, 60 points ahead of Ari Balogh (No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier). The Grants are third in the Bronze Cup standings, 100 points from first place. |
