A battle of epic proportion after the south-lands wildfires spread halfway across the country. Ryan Heuser enters the race on the pole and looking for forward momentum on his fourth Championship crown. Tony Pizzaro comes in the points leader, winning one of the Duel events while Tim McDonnell starts deep in the field.
Heuser leads the first segment of the event in hands-down fashion. McDonnell gets lapped early, leaving Craig Lee, John Battista, Ken Pettit and Alex Crapser in line for advancement into the top-2 position in the standings. 24 cars would remain on the lead lap before 100 laps are complete.
Matthew Dominique and Rick Jackson make contact early to bring out the first caution. Alan Nesfeder and Steven Spears would also go for single car spins, with damage to the #78 as the cause of a 36th place finish. Fortunately, he would still finish ahead of Randy Dobbins and Bill Werkheiser in the points.
Dave Miller led 6 laps in between a segment of caution flags. Matt Raboin took over in no time, and eventually passed by the #138 car to put Ryan a lap down. He had made an unscheduled pit stop under yellow for a loose lug-nut, and struggled to find the handling afterwards. He would finish 31st on the night.
A backstretch accident saw Donald Stewart up on zero wheels, sliding the side of his racecar against the asphalt. Steven Spears and Zakk Miller sandwiched the #55 machine, sending Muzzy for another wild ride in 2021. He would finish the event 32nd in points.
Matt Raboin led 98 laps before a pass from Craig Lee in the later half of the event. Matt led 98 laps in total, leading 344 total short track laps on the season. Tony Pizzaro would take the reigns several laps later, as the #12 and #101 battled continuously through lapped traffic.
Despite the roughneck racing between the top-2, they would become two of the only four cars on the lead lap. Zach Michael and Matt Raboin would battle for third right in front of the leaders. Before green flag stops, only the Pizzaro and Lee remained.
Half of the leaders pitted before a Rob Scarberry spin on the backstretch brought out the yellow flag after 100+ laps of green flag racing. Miraculously, Matthew Dominique, Ryan Heuser, Zach Michael and Scott Jackson all found themselves back on the lead lap. The Can-Bandit super-fuel engines of Ken Joynt and Mark Heron joined the parade as well.
Ken Joynt lost a lap after a spin in turn 3 in the ensuing restart. A Connor Germain spin sent the leaders for a frenzy trying to get by, as the #101 eeked by the Fenway machine to the caution line. It would be the final yellow of the race.
The final green flag run of the race was spread out. Craig Lee pulled from 3 to 5 seconds ahead of second place Matthew Dominique. Tony Pizzaro, Zach Michael and Scott Jackson has a multi-lap battle for third, with the #12 holding on to the position despite a Cola-charge on the penultimate lap.
The NOS Energy machine was no match once he got to the front. It would be Craig's second short-track victory of the season, propelling him to just 125 points behind the leader in the 2021 standings. Congrats to Craig, crew chief Spook Millikan and the entire Quick-Silver Motorsports team for an excellent victory!
Qualifying Results With only 10 races left in the regular season, the chase race appears to be as tight as ever. Scott Jackson and Johnny Reed Foley have meandered their way to several straight top-10 finishes in-a-row, and have eeked their way into the top-10 in points. Matt Raboin and Dave Miller have been knocked out after crashes at Chicagoland, but are still on the borderline of Championship livelihood. Here are the standings between 9th through 12th:
9. Scott Jackson:+14 10. Johnny Reed Foley:+7 ----------------------------------------- 11. Matt Raboin: -7 12. Dave Miller: -13
Tony Pizzaro enters the Fairgrounds 42 points ahead of Tim McDonnell for the Championship. Tim has still completed every lap this season. With the possibility of not making the feature, and the simplicity of going a lap down in a 320-lap short track race, the streak may end this week.
Every driver inside the top-16 in points made the Nashville Feature other than Jimmie Stevens. The Cinderella story will take a deep hit, handing the opportunity for Rick Jackson, Zach Michael, John Tharp, Dave Miller and Matt Raboin to fly inside the chase bubble. Here are the points accumulated for every driver that missed the big show:
52 Points: Jimmie Stevens (16th, Duel 2) 49 Points: Scott Deutsch (17th, Duel 1) 46 Points: Michael Henson (17th, Duel 2) 43 Points: Dakota Wilkins (19th, Duel 1) 40 Points: Randy Dobbins (19th, Duel 2) 37 Points: Bill Wekheiser (20th, Duel 1) 34 Points: Tony Long (20th, Duel 2) 31 Points: Glenn Kaufmann (21st, Duel 1) 28 Points: Brodrick Wittmann (21st, Duel 2) 25 Points: Jim Fitzmaurice (22nd, Duel 2) 22 Points: Bink Lucas (23rd, Duel 1) 19 Points: Jaxon Vaccher (24th, Duel 1) 16 Points: Brian Lowe (24th, Duel 2) 13 Points: David Baldinger (25th, Duel 1) 10 Points: Stephen Lowe (25th, Duel 2) 7 Points: Steven Davis (26th, Duel 1) 4 Points: Mark Guthrie (26th, Duel 2) 1 Point: Scott Drake (27th, Duel 2)
What was once a monument of success and fulfilled dreams turned into an inferno from the depths of the underworld. The fires have been tamed for the most part, as the cornfields of the mid-west plains and the Mississippi River diminished the spread. Racing will be underway in two weeks, as the grandstands need repair and the track surface ready for de-burning. "Piqua was 100 miles from obliteration" said Rick Jackson. "Thank goodness for gods' vegetable crop: the corncob". With the maize-fields considered the pinnacle reason for the wildfire's near-extinction, every fan from Duel #1 to the end of the Nashville feature will receive two corn cobs. One for feast, and one for waving in the air as their favorite driver roars past.
Bonanza proved to be the eye of the storm, as the thunderous roars commenced after the post-race festivities. Several firebolt shots terrorized the outskirts of the city, sending forests ablaze from miles on end into the abyss. No word on when racing will return to this area, as the ash particles fly across the sky and into the windows of racing fans homes. "The ash cinders burned my race ticket. It's hotter than a Death Valley scorpid dipped in tabasco!" The homeowner preceded to throw ice cubes at towards the wall of flames.
Nashville is back to Extravaganza Series racing! 54 entries will fill up the 36 spots in the main 320-lap event. There will be two 100-lap duel races the day before, with 15 drivers from each duel qualifying for the main event. This will be followed by a 24-driver, 30-lap shootout to fill up the final 6 spots in the field. Each event will have a qualifying session prior, so the results in each duel will not translate to the next race. Everybody will get points, with the last place driver in Duel #2 (54th place) getting 1 point, and the first place driver in the main event getting 180 like normal. Here is the format written in bold:
Nashville Duels 1. 100 lap Duel #1, 27 cars, 15 advance
2. 100 lap Duel #2, 27 cars, 15 advance
3. 30 lap Shootout, 24 cars, 6 advance
Nashville Main Event 1. 320 lap Feature, 36 cars
With only 10 races left in the regular season, the chase race appears to be as tight as ever. Scott Jackson and Johnny Reed Foley have meandered their way to several straight top-10 finishes in-a-row, and have eeked their way into the top-10 in points. Matt Raboin and Dave Miller have been knocked out after crashes at Chicagoland, but are still on the borderline of Championship livelihood. Here are the standings between 9th through 12th:
9. Scott Jackson: +14 10. Johnny Reed Foley: +7 ----------------------------------------- 11. Matt Raboin: -7 12. Dave Miller: -13
Horsepower seems to correlate with engine detonation like no other season in 2021. Four drivers inside the top-12 in points have gobbled all the wins, and the same four drivees have hogged all the DNF's. Here are these drivers:
Battista, Heuser, Jackson, Raboin: 11 wins, 9 DNF's Rest of top-12 (8 other drivers): 5 wins, 4 DNF's
Tony Pizzaro enters the Fairgrounds 42 points ahead of Tim McDonnell for the Championship. Tim has still completed every lap this season. With the possibility of not making the feature, and the simplicity of going a lap down in a 320-lap short track race, the streak may end this week.
Doctors clear Zakk Miller to race at Nashville. "Thank the lord" he said. "We're getting free stuffed muffins at the Five Daughters Bakery next week. Thank you to Brad Capers and Caper's Cafe!" After the hospital slop he ate for two straight days, toenail flavored donuts surely take the cake! He'll have to pay for those, which he may barely afford after the medical bill. "They charged me $20.00 a pound for the artichokes. They tasted like roasted pinecone with extra sap." Hopefully his esophagus will heal in time for Saturday lunch.
