The final race of the 2022 season will show plenty of sparks. Dave Miller is only 6 points behind points leader Rick Jackson, who is hoping to become the second Race-2-Win driver in a row to win the Extravaganza Championship. He may also be the second to win the title without winning a race, unless he can triumph tonight at Homestead.
Championship leader Rick Jackson starts in 35th position as counterpart Dave Miller takes the green on the pole. Miller managed to lead the first several laps, gathering his five bonus points and reducing Jackson's title advantage to 1 point. Matt Raboin was the only driver to gather a charge early, but to no avail on the bottom lane.
The first lead change occurred on lap 27 with a high-line pass from John Battista. He, Raboin and Miller remained side-by-side for the following ten laps before Ryan Heuser snuck to the front with an outside move of his own. In the meantime, Rick Jackson was nearing the top-20.
The lead was re-gained by Dave Miller on lap 43 in hopes to gather the maximum 10 bonus-points. He would hold it through lap-55 in a deja vu moment, with Battista flying by him on the outside once more. Battista was the first of the leaders to come in to pit on lap 60.
Rick Jackson pulled off a miraculous pit stop, going from 18th to 6th and a menial four seconds behind the #39. Horror would strike on lap 89 with Jackson slowing down vigorously on the backstretch. A blown tire for the #44 sent Rick to the apron and into the pits! A terrifying display, as the jack man could not jack the car, causing extreme delay as the field went by once and once again. Rick would come out two laps down after an incredible 80+ lap run was all for not. If the pit stops do not cycle through, Jackson will find it nearly impossible to gain both laps back and win the title.
Rick Jackson would fail to get his wish. Lap 107 saw Mark Heron and Dakota Wilkins spin entering turn-3 to bring out the first caution of the race, trapping Jackson's #44 two laps down. Steven Spears and Aaron Cummings were also involved in the accident.
John Battista and Tony Pizzaro would battle side-by-side for the lead from lap 122 through lap 129. Pizzaro would grab the advantage and earn the Halfway Bacon Bonus, leading through the next round of green flag pit stops. Battista would short pit, nabbing the lead by over seven seconds before Pizzaro and the field were able to re-pass.
Dave Miller was riding around safely in the fourth position as Rick Jackson attempts to earn one of his two laps back. As long as Miller stays on the lead lap, he should be able to clinch the Championship unless Matthew Dominique goes on a charge to reduce the 96-point disadvantage. Meanwhile, Craig Lee, Ryan Heuser, Tony Pizzaro and Johnny Reed Foley were in a 1-2-3-4 showdown at the front.
Craig Lee led the field from lap 212 to 225 before relinquishing the top-spot to his teammate Ryan Heuser. The entire Quick-Silver Motorsports program has been even more dominant than usual during the past several races, with at least two of their drivers leading a lap during the past 6 events. John Battista would re-take the lead again after another short-pit.
The ten-second advantage for the #39 dwindled almost one second a lap as new leader Dave Miller took the advantage with 24 laps to go. He was able to hold the top-spot through the 11-to-go mark as Johnny Reed Foley flew by on the outside lane. Miller would ease the car along for the rest of the event knowing he is the 2022 Champion.
Johnny Reed Foley becomes only the third driver to win 3+ races in 2022, matching Ryan Heuser (8) and Matt Raboin (4). Championship contenders Rick Jackson and Matthew Dominique would finish 39th and 12th, relinquishing the Championship title to Dave Miller after another unbelievable Extravaganza season! Congrats to Foley and crew chief Pure Love Pressley, as well as Dave Miller and Sonny Sundae for clinching the 2022 N.O.R.L. Extravaganza Series Championship!
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We're down to three. Jackson, Miller, Dominique. Dave gets the pole, hoping to lead the first lap and shrink Rick's Championship lead down to 1 point. Rick starts 35th at a racetrack he has dominated in the past, looking to tie Mert Socks as a four-time Extravaganza Series Champion. Matthew will need both drivers to suffer trouble. Good luck to all three, and may the best man win the 2022 N.O.R.L. Extravaganza Series Championship!
Last week the top-4 finishers were outside of the top-10 in points at The Rock. Expect it to be different this time, with the Quick-Silver bunch in dominant form at one of their favorite racetracks. Dave Miller comes in only 37 points behind Rick Jackson for the Championship lead. Jackson will take the green in 3rd with Miller mired in 15th.
Pole-sitter Zach Michael led the first couple of laps. Championship leader Rick Jackson earned his five bonus points early with the first lead change of the day. He and Tim McDonnell would swap the lead multiple times in shades of their 2019 Championship battle.
The top-spot was held by McDonnell through lap 41 before Ryan Heuser took the advantage on the frontstretch. John Battista made his bid on lap 53, taking the position away and matching Rick Jackson's bonus points with 5 of his own. Battista came in 98 points behind in the Championship lead, needing to dominate the final two events to ensure his chances at the title.
Battsta and Heuser swapped the lead several times during the first green flag run. The side-by-side racing at the front kept Jackson, Johnny Reed Foley and Craig Lee within the mix. Alan Nesfeder, Randy Dobbins and Adam Crapser came in for early pit stops during this time, putting them behind the 8-ball the rest of the day.
A crash on lap-84 brought out the first yellow flag of the race. Contact between Donald Stewart and Jonathan Skrabacz in turn-2 sent the #48 rear-first into the outside barrier. He would limp the rest of the day to a 34th place finish.
John Battista led the field to the green, pulling ahead and dominating the event. He would lead through lap 178 before Tony Pizzaro intervened. John would enjoy another halfway bacon bonus, the second-straight for the Lucas Racing bunch. He would also lead the most laps on the day with 108.
Disaster struck for the Championship leaders! Rick Jackson and John Tharp made contact battling for the second position, sending Jackson hard into the inside frontstretch wall. Miraculously he would keep on trucking! The left-side was pancaked, but Rick toughed it out and continued on with an askewed racecar. His team fixed the damage and stayed inside the top-20, miraculously limping to 10th place by the finish and keeping his points lead! Horrible luck also befell Battista, overshooting his pit and locking his transmission! By the time he was able to backup and complete his service, he was a full lap down. He would never get it back, finishing 28th despite having the dominant car of the race. This would eliminate him from the Championship completely.
The lead was inhereted to Ryan Heuser after the cycle, staying up front for 30 laps and a 9-second advantage. A Jimmie Stevens engine failure bunched the field back up, giving rookie Logan Sheets the opportunity to make his move for the win. He is currently leading the Rookie of the Year points and would tie Bink Lucas in wins if he could pull off the victory today.
A late crash between Ken Joynt and Tony Long set up the finish. The field would bunch back together, giving Rick Jackson the opportunity to battle his way back into the top-10. There would be less than 50 laps remaining, with 10+ drivers fast enough to steal the victory away.
Second-in-points Dave Miller battled through the attrition to sneak his way into the lead late! Johnny Reed Foley and a hard-charging Ryan Heuser were the only two in contention by the end, with Sheets and Craig Lee drifting back. Heuser made his move with six laps to go, clearing Miller with ease off the exit of turn-2. Johnny Reed Foley would follow, losing Miller the points lead to Rick Jackson in the process.
Dave Miller pulled off a miraculous run, coming out of nowhere to finish third and climb only six points behind Rick Jackson for the Championship coming into Homestead! His teammate Ryan Heuser ea
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Points leader Rick Jackson starts in the third position with a 34-point gap ahead of Dave Miller coming into Phoenix. Jackson finished first and second last season at the facility, leading 225 combined laps of the 624 possible. Miller finished second to him in the fall race. He will start 15th. Zach Michael and Ryan Heuser are on the front row coming to the green flag for the second-to-last time in 2022! John Battista and Matthew Dominique are still within a one-race distance of the Championship lead. They will start 39th and 40th respectively.
Current Points Positions (Race 34 of 36) 1. Rick Jackson: - 2. Dave Miller: -37 3. John Battista: -98 4. Matthew Domninique: -112 5. Craig Lee: -179 6. Tony Pizzaro: -223 (+2) 7. Johnny Reed Foley: -241 8. Alex Crapser: -246 (-2) 9. Zach Michael: -252 10. Donald Stewart: -289
Rick Jackson is pulling off a miracle run for the Championship after being written off by one of the Extravaganza elite. Ironically, that driver is not in the Championship chase. Pole sitter Johnny Reed Foley is, 162 points back from leader Jackson coming into Rockingham. Dave Miller comes in 8 points behind him starting 15th on the grid, with Jackson qualifying 8th.
The green flag waved with Johnny Reed Foley attempting to earn back the 162 points lost during the first seven events. He would lose the lead to Logan Sheets early, with David Butterworth traversing from 7th place to the lead. His last top-5 finish was at this facility in the spring, looking to replicate his performance in grand style.
Multiple lead changes were the norm during the early going. The only driver with the powerhouse to pull away from the field was Scott Jackson, starting 14th and taking the lead during the first green flag run. He would remain up front for 62 laps.
Ryan Heuser took over the top-spot, racing Jackson side-by-side for several circuits after the green flag stop. Dave Miller was able to earn his five bonus points over Jackson, taking the lead for 24 laps hoping for another Quick-Silver domination in shades of last week at Charlotte. Lap 142 saw a big crash on the frontstretch involving Aaron Cummings, Tony Long, Cristian Torres, Zakk Miller and Dalton Lucas.
Quick-SIlver Racing teammate Craig Lee took the lead away from Miller after the restart, leaving all the drivers with double-digit laps led for the second straight week. Alex Crapser stole it back while representing the other 39 teams on lap 153. He led the remaining 45 laps during the green flag run before coming in early for a minor short-pit.
Devastation occurred on lap 214 after a Steven Spears spin caused by contact with Michael Henson. The #65 slid down the turn-4 banking directly into the path of Alex Crapser, who looked to have the dominant car of the evening. The impact was enormous, obliterating the right-front of the #04 and ending his Championship hopes altogether. Spears flew up the racetrack on impact and ricocheted into Brian Lowe. Lowe was immediately pulverized by the Tony Long machine, rolling over four times and landing onto the frontstretch grass. All four drivers would fail to continue on.
Another accident in turn-4 took out chase contender Johnny Reed Foley. Contact between him and former Shake N' Bake protege Cristiano de Sa made contact. David Courtney and Dalton Lucas both slammed into the accident head-first. Second place points man Dave Miller recieved front-end damage in the crash, already a lap down after getting trapped during the last caution. He would miraculously fly through the field and wind up in 14th place by the end, keeping in full distance with Rick Jackson for the title.
Tim McDonnell had inhereted the lead from Craig Lee after a miraculous pit stop during the Brian Lowe caution. He would lose it on the restart after the next caution flag, handing Randy Dobbins the top-spot for several laps before Lee re-took the position. The #101 NOS Energy chevrolet led from lap 239 to 244. Dobbins took it back from him and led through lap 269. From behind, points leader Rick Jackson attempts to get one of his two laps back after a loose lug nut forced him to come in early.
A complete miracle for Rick Jackson! Towards the end of green flag stops, Markell Murphy spun in turn 4 to bring out the caution, barely giving Rick both of his laps back just laps before he had to take fuel. Dave Miller was still trapped a lap down, swinging the difference a full 100 points during the cycle. Matt Raboin had led through the entire green flag run before Donald Stewart earned himself the lead to steal a few bonus points.
The final green flag stint saw more of the same from Matt Raboin, who led throughout and looked to earn his fourth victory of the season. Second place Donald Stewart entered the pits on lap 340, with Raboin comin
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We are ready to dominate the masses at Rockingham for the second time this season! Donald Stewart, Bill Werkheiser, Dave Butterworth, Dan Johnston, Dalton Lucas, Bink Lucas and Trey Larkin accumulated perhaps the most unlikely top-5 in Extravanagza Series history here in March. All three points leaders Rick Jackson, Dave Miller and John Battista led double-digit laps during that event. This week they will qualify 8th, 15th and 22nd, needing to fly through the field to earn that well-needed bonus point. Johnny Reed Foley and March winner Donald Stewart will start on the front row!
Current Points Standings (Race 33 of 36) 1. Rick Jackson: -(+1) 2. Dave Miller: -8(+1) 3. John Battista: -42(-2) 4. Matthew Dominique: -69 5. Craig Lee: -153(+3) 6. Alex Crapser: -154(+1) 7. Johnny Reed Foley: -162(-1) 8. Tony Pizzaro: -186(-3) 9. Zach Michael: -231(+1) 10. Donald Stewart: -294(-1)
Unbelievable! The St. Louis Phantoms are on pace to break the N.O.R.L. Fantasy Camp scoring record set by the Daytona Devils in 2011! They put up 176 on that faithful day, with the Phantoms projected to score 176.1! In 88 career matchups, the most points Tim McDonnell has scored in a game is 127 by the St.Louis Turbines in 2013. This week the newfound Phantoms have devastated the competition with 167.1 by the end of the 1:00 games. The Phantoms are playing the Maryland Manson who have ultimately surrendered their undefeated season barring a Malik Willis-Nick Chubb miracle. All the Commanders D/ST have to do is score exactly 9 points and the Phantoms have the new record!!!! If they score 17.9 points THEY WILL WIN THE FANTASY CAMP MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The top-two in the Championship standings are mired in the top-2 qualifying positions. It appears that the remaining 40 cars will be in dire straits, though pre-race favorites Tony Pizzaro and Ryan Heuser linger loosely inside the top-12. We've seen some quality runs from drivers outside of the top-20 in points before. Expect a few more in this event, with a familiar face likely to still take the crown.
Points leader John Battista leads the field to the green with his fourth pole of the season. It is a welcome relief, easily earning a Bud Shootout entry in 2023 after missing it this year despite an eight-victory season. Ryan Heuser also earned eight wins in 2021, taking the lead on lap 14 after Tony Pizzaro earned his five bonus points.
The lead was swapped once more between Heuser and Pizzaro before Bill Werkheiser made his bid on lap 22. Craig Lee took the top-spot the next circuit and handed it back to the #6 one lap later. By lap 30, it was the Fenway Frank Fusion back at the heap.
Craig Lee regained the lead and stayed up front until the first green flag pit stop around lap 67. Cristian Torres had worked his way to 5th before the stop, coming out 2nd and taking the lead over Werkheiser. He would lead 5 laps before the Heuser-Pizzaro duo took back the reigns, tagging Alex Crapser along.
Points leader John Battista pulverized the engine in his Wendy's Chevrolet Monte Carlo. An enormous blow to the Championship chase, finishing last and dropping from points leader to 42-back in the standings after this event. Lucas Racing teammate Alex Crapser picked up the slack by taking the lead on lap 85.
A terrifying crash towards lap 97 started with contact between Matt Raboin and Tony Pizzaro. Chase contender Donald Stewart was wedged into outside wall entering the dogleg, with Johnny Reed Foley attempting to follow though unsuccessfully in the same tire-tracks. From behind, Michael Henson and Dan Johnston hit attempting to avoid the #12 and slid into newfound points leader Rick Jackson. The impact to the front-end destroyed the #44, though he was able to limp to 25th and miraculously keep his points lead due to the attrition of this wreck, as well as engine failures late in the go. John Tharp, Scott Jackson, Ben Geer, Rob Scarberry, Jimmie Stevens, and Aaron Cummings were also involved in the accident, with most unable to continue.
The lead was handed to Champion Ken Pettit just before the big crash. Craig Lee took over the spot for the third time on lap 108, though he gave it up to teammate Dave Miller five laps later. Dave would lead through the second green flag pit stop, currently with the title of 2022 points leader due to the misfortune of Battista and Jackson.
A spin by Brian Lowe brought out the first caution of the race before the big wreck, initiated by contact by his son Stephen exiting turn-2. An accident coming off the same corner between Bink Lucas and Alan Nesfeder brought out the next yellow right in the middle of green flag pit stops. Leader Dave Miller, Craig Lee and Alex Crapser were all trapped a lap down in the process, giving the points lead back to Rick Jackson.
Excellent pit stops per usual put Tim McDonnell up at the front for the first time all day. He came from outside the top-30 on the grid to clinch the Halfway Bacon Bonus, with miracle-man Stephen Lowe up to the second position. Ryan Heuser would find his way past the #24 and took another bid for the top-spot, giving himself the lead both before and after the lap 200 mark. He and McDonnell would swap the lead multiple times throughout the next 20 circuits.
The Busch Bonanza Championship stood at a standstill after a horrifying crash on the backstretch on lap 209. Rod Weston was having the race of his career in fourth position before contact with Ken Pettit sent him flying into the inside wall. Rod hit the concrete barrier at 198 miles-per-hour and flipped violently across the backstretch apron. Miraculously h
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