It was a fantastic day for most of the field, as they awaited sunshine and high speeds entering the 2021 QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta. Zach Michael and Tony Pizzaro start on the front row, with Pizzaro looking to win his second straight race at the facility. It's safe to say that this will be one whale of a 500-mile high-speed extravaganza.
Race Results
Points Standings
Schedule
The first laps saw Pizzaro rush to the lead early, with John Battista following close behind. The Wendy's machine saw it's nose in clean air for a few laps while the rest of the field lurked in the shadows.
Pizzaro took the lead back with ease, while Bill Werkheiser used his Speedway prowess to finagle past the #12 just a few laps later. After pit stops, Ryan Heuser made his inevitable bid at the top-spot and stayed there for 14 circuits. Zakk Miller and Rick Jackson were in view while the tires were fresh.
John Tharp flew through the field with ease as the pack condensed, taking the lead on lap 85. Ryan grabbed it back a couple laps later, handing it to his teammate Craig Lee on lap 90. Lee and Tharp swapped the lead several times before the first caution flag.
Jack Paynter blew up on lap 106 and got knocked by Jonathan Skrabacz. The field stayed green. Brandon Raines and William Perry made contact entering turn 3 18 laps later. Raines flew into the outside wall, bringing out the first yellow.
Tharp led the first 11 laps of the restart after Craig Lee got jammed behind lapped traffic. Donald Stewart, who was in danger of missing the top-35 cutoff, made his way by Tharp on lap 142 and grabbed his 5 bonus points. Craig Lee, Dave Miller and Ken Pettit all found their way at the top heading towards the midway point.
A terrifying crash on lap 159 held every Ben Geer fan's breath in check. Tony Pizzaro and Donald Stewart made contact in the dogleg. Both drivers spun downward into Ryan Heuser and Scott Jackson. Jackson and Geer wheel-hopped, sending Geer several feet into the air and slamming into the catchfence. Miraculously, nobody was hurt in the incident. Geer, Jackson and Pizzaro would finish outside of the top-28.
After the oncoming restart, Tony Long and Mark Guthrie were involved in a crash out of turn 4. They would both finish outside of the top-30, which is consistent with their standing in the points. Both of them look for a rebound during the short-track/superspeedway stretch.
Zakk Miller took the lead after staying out on old tires. Rick Jackson took it and kept it for several laps before fresh-tired Tim McDonnell and Ken Pettit flew by the crowd. Jackson was surprisingly able to keep up with the pack. He re-rook the lead from Pettit and stayed up front for the rest of the run.
Johnny Reed Foley took the lead on lap 260 and gave it back to Jackson. He would lead for 3 more laps while Jackson battled lapped traffic. Rick gained it back, but pitted a little later than some during his final stop. Randy Dobbins and William Perry were ahead of him and looked to pull off a Cinderella story for the ages.
It took 8 laps for Rick to pass the #85 and #96. Surprisingly, Dobbins took the lead back on lap 314 and kept it for 2 laps before relinquishing back to the #44. Rick Jackson would sail away from there to earn
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