A low-attrition Daytona 500 brings relief to the masses! 53 drivers trek westward for Race #2 of the Extravaganza tour, the sight of Dakota Wilkins first career victory last season. This may be California Speedway's final event with the looming short track rumours, wondering what will happen to the grand facility after the event. Dave Miller nabs his second pole of 2024, hoping to win 34 more so he can time-trial the Big Bud Shootout! Ken Pettit starts outside-pole for the second-straight week, the first time in Extravaganza Series history the same two drivers start 1-2 in the first two events. Daytona 500 Champion and points leader Alex Crapser starts one row behind. Timothy McDonnell and 500 runner-up Craig Lee will come from the back.
Mark Heron and Steve Inkman both nabbed miraculous top-10 finishes in the 2024 Daytona 500. Both drivers qualified for the show this week, with the #57 gravitating towards a top-35 birth after Texas. Heron is running the Bonanza Series full-time, hoping to remain competitive in both rides for a full-time Extravaganza opportunity in 2025.
Fresh off of his #2 album "Sarcophagus", Wicked Enos prepares for our Laurel Canyon 400's Star Spangled Banner! The legendary singer of "Swamp Daddy" and "Sickle-Cell Blues" hopes to steal the show, taking a chance by singing outside for the first time since since his motorcycle accident.
The more banking, the less braking! One driver of the big-time 45 will get their big "brake" today, engulfing themselves in the riches of $10,000,000 and a Daytona 500 trophy! A front row consisting of Duel Winners Dave Miller and Ken Pettit will lead the field, proving that old-timers can still get it done for the feature-length distances. Can they hold them off for 500 miles?
Over 300,000 screaming race fans encapsulate the grandstands, watching starter Joe "Scallion" Smart wave the green flag for the 2024 season! Pole-sitter Dave Miller couldn't hold off the incursion from behind, leading two laps before Cinderella Cheeze-It man David Courtney took the point! Quantum Racing's Matthew Dominique and Matt Raboin led through lap 8.
Rick Jackson absolutely obliterated the field on horsepower, leading over a decade of laps before the first round of stops. Dominique, Miller, Alex Crapser and Zach Michael took their turns at the front. A four-car breakaway after pit stops gave Crapser, Trae Larkin, Mark Heron and Craig Lee the immaculate four-car tandem up front as the rest of the field scurried behind.
Devastation on lap-73 takes out Jimmie Stevens and Bink Lucas! The Lifesaver Racing duo had high hopes heading into the big race, but now radiator remnants and exhaust pipe debris litter the racetrack in turn-4! Bink watched as Stevens and Geer made contact, sending the #2 into the front-end of the #5 Lifesaver entry. Both devastated the outside wall, with Bink finishing 44th and Stevens limping it home to 40th.
Alex Crapser remained the head-man up front after the restart, passing Johnny Reed Foley on lap 84. The #3 AC-Delco mobile took it back one lap later, dominating the entirety of the run as the field spread out behind! Crapser would take it back before green flag stops shuffled the field once more.
42 cars remained in the event as the attrition rate remained extremely low. Pole-sitter Dave Miller was the last to fall out, smashing his racecar and dismantling the radiator after hard contact entering the pits. He, Bink Lucas and Logan Sheets would fall to the "gremlin-positions" of 43rd through 45th. An eight-car breakaway at the front kept the home-fires burning for one-fifth of the remaining field!
Ben Geer, Markell Murphy, Tony Pizzaro, Alex Crapser, Zach Michael, Mark Heron, Rick Jackson and Craig Lee pulled away from the pack, sitting pretty with 50 laps remaining. They looked like an octopus on steroids, swapping positions vigorously as the Ryan Heuser freight-train closed in from behind. They would sneak from 5.5 to 4.5 seconds during the 40-lap stint.
Drivers came in just before the 40-to-go mark, leaving many to wonder if anybody could make it on fuel. The Jeremy Hebel #1 team looked the most promising, consistently running the extra lap to stretch their economy to the max! A four-car breakaway with Craig Lee, Alex Crapser, Tony Pizzaro and Ben Geer looked to stretch the distance and dominate the remainder of the show for themselves!
Lapped-traffic and high-horsepower leaders from the second-pack managed to catch the four up front with 25 laps to go. Suddenly Steve Inkman and Cristian Torres were in the mix, with Ken Pettit circulating the show up front during the final stages. He, Alex Crapser and Zakk Miller swapped the lead multiple times in desperate agony, knowing somebody from the back might make it on immaculate gasoline!
Craig Lee and Ben Geer came in first. Tony Pizzaro and Alex Crapser dove down the pits heading to the five-to-go mark, using Pizzaro's draft help to fly by after their stop-and -go's were complete. Crapser drafted by Zakk Miller and Ken Pettit on the pre-penultimate laps, with Cristian Torres, Matt Raboin and David Butterworth attempting a dice-roll of the gods to win the Daytona 500! Torres finally came in with two laps-to-go, coming out of the pits ahead of the field with freight-train of frenzied wildabeasts ready to make their char
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Immense action! Intense traction! $10,000,000 and a Speedweeks purse of $50,000,000+ are in the grasp of Extravaganza's 45 best. Underdogs Steve Inkman and David Courtney bring the rapid expansion of consumable sponsors to the forefront! Cheeze-It's and Bran Flakes enter their first Daytona 500, with ballpark-warriors Molemar Diggs and Jeremy Hebel ready to promote their brands in exquisite style! Duel winners Dave Miller an Ken Pettit lead the field to the green, branding the "Smoker's or Choker's" campaign with avid non-smoker's Logan Sheets and Alan Nesfeder starting directly behind. Here is the last five Daytona 500 winners:
2019: John Tharp 2020: John Tharp 2021: Alex Crapser 2022: Dalton Lucas 2023: Tony Pizzaro
Dakota Wilkins remains injured after a horrifying accident in the second Daytona Duel! Crew chief Joe "Novacane" Densham renders Dakota's upper body a "twizzler after a hard fall". Fortunately, his lower body looks good. The team had Mike Carroll take the wheel for their time trial run, qualifying 13th. Carroll will stand as their backup driver if Wilkins is not ready to go.
Revolutionary War buff Steve Inkman encountered brain-fade after his miraculous Daytona 500 clincher! "I watched the Hamilton documentary last night." said Inkman. "The guy said Joe Habbits was Washington's running mate. I looked up Joe Habbits for 12 minutes. I listened to it again. He said John Adams the second time!" Hopefully "Big Ink" can rectify his cranial prowess for a top-20 finish!
An immaculate qualifying time by Johnny Reed Foley and Ryan Heuser puts them two-tenths ahead of the field on speed! Behind them, Jeremy Hebel, Trae Larkin, Steve Inkman, Rod Weston, Molemar Diggs, Joe Polson, Doug Spark, Tony Long, Dalton Lucas, Petey J. Zehler and Nigel Ramasawmy fight for the top-5 spots in their group to make the Daytona 500. The overall winner earns $2,000,000, enough to dominate the KFC kitchen.
The lead swapped several times early in the go. Johnny Reed Foley led one lap. Ryan Heuser then led two. Tony Pizzaro took the "Fenway Frank" ford up for a tour at the front. When Dakota Wilkins took the lead on lap 5, time stood still. He dominated the early portion of the event, leading through lap 13 before Heuser grappled it back.
Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley dominated from laps 15 through 30, re-certifying themselves as the top-class of the field. Heuser won the halfway bacon bonus on lap 30, with Tony Pizzaro taking the charge just before green flag pit stops. Ryan Heuser would blow his engine just prior to coming in, taking out the favorite! Donald Stewart and Scott Jackson came in first, signaling crews to wave their signs in severe euphoria after the dominant car fell out!
Euphora was not to be! A disastrous accident out of the pits saw Rod Weston and Johnny Reed Foley smack the outside wall, sending the #56 sliding down the race track. Dakota Wilkins pile-drove the NAPA Dodge nose-first, getting clobbered by Tony Long on the driver-side door and into a series of sidewinders. Wilkins, Weston and Joe Polson all violently flew into the air, with all three cars coming to a stop tires-first onto the turn-3 apron. Wilkins was flown to the Halifax Medical Center with undisclosed injuries. His status for the Daytona 500 is yet to be determined. Weston, Polson and Long are okay, but each failed to make the 2024 Daytona 500.
Tony Pizzaro led the field to the green with 13 laps remaining. Teammate Ken Pettit showed the speed of his near Championship run in 2023, flying from 10th to 1st in three laps while he, Pizzaro, Craig Lee and Markell Murphy battled it out to the finish. The #101 NOS Energy Chevrolet took the top-spot with seven laps remaining, but an Cindarella effort from Steve Inkman pushed the #8 back around Lee with five laps remaining.
Contact from Dalton Lucas sent Matt Raboin fying into the outside wall with four laps to go, taking Dan Johnston and Zakk Miller with him in a shower of sparks! This turn-3 accident brought out the caution flag, ending the race with Ken Pettit atop the heap! Miller, Raboin and Johnston would all come out okay in relative hopes of repairing their cars to full song for the 500.
The "Rastaman" crew celebrates in sheer euphoria while watching their car cross the finish-line at highway speed from the pits! Ken Pettit will start outside row to Dave Miller when the 45-car field takes the green flag next Friday. Congrats to Pettit, crew chief Slim Horton and the entire Race-2-Win team for an excellent victory! Also congrats to Steve Inkman, Trae Larkin, Dalton Lucas, Molemar Diggs and Jeremy Hebel for earning their spot in the 2024 Daytona 500 field!
Ten drivers fight for five starting spots in the 2024 Daytona 500! David Butterworth, Mike Carroll, Scott Drake, David Courtney, Kevin Corbat, Tony Gunk, Mark Heron, Ken Joynt, Philip Parker and Ziggy Moonglow fight for outright supremacy! The overall winner will earn $2,000,000 and a front row starting spot for the Daytona 500 grid!
The #4 Green Bay Packers Chevrolet blew a left-front tire coming to the green flag, forcing him to pit early and drop a lap. Up front, Timothy McDonnell dominated the early stages, leading the first 15 circuits before a hard-charge from John Battista, Alan Nesfeder and Logan Sheets. The #58 Quaker State dodge won the three-wide battle.
Devastation in turn-3 proved hard luck for the #02 Coca-Cola Chevrolet. Ziggy Moonglow's comeback story ends in agony after spinning across the racetrack, slamming the outside wall and into the top-lane of traffic. John Battista nailed him in the rear end, sending the #39 into the garage with Ziggy meandering outside the pack for the remainder of the night.
A miraculous pit stop by Alex Crapser's crew put him back on top, hoping to sweep Speedweeks after his victory in the Big Bud Shootout! It wouldn't last, with Sheets re-taking the top-spot and cruising to the halfway bacon bonus. Alan Nesfeder, Kevin Corbat and pole-sitter McDonnell all swapped the top-spot.
McDonnell, Dave Miller and Jimmie Stevens looked to be the three cars to beat closing on the final stages. The #90 Marlboro machine took the lead on lap 34, towing the field into a single-car line before McDonnell re-passed Miller with 16 laps remaining. Alan Nesfeder was on top of the heap three-laps later with the rest of the field ready to pounce.
Nesfeder, Miller and Logan Sheets all swapped the top-position multiple times while David Butterworth, Ken Joynt and David Courtney fought desperately for the final transfer spot around 17th place. Nesfeder would win the battle up front with draft help from McDonnell. Miller's cigarette mobile flew by the #22 in grand style, directly behind the #78 coming to the white flag.
"Marlboro Man" flew by Nesfeder on the frontstretch, leaving no time for anybody to get a run with only two-miles to go. The #90 would cross under the checkered flag a winner after a devastating 2023 campaign, re-earning his 2022 Championship glory! Congrats to Dave Miller, crew chief Sonny Sundae and the entire Quick-Silver Motorsports team for an excellent victory! Also congrats to Kevin Corbat, Scott Drake, David Butterworth, David Courtney and Mark Heron for earning their spot in the 2024 Daytona 500 field!
Timothy McDonnell
John Tharp
Zach Michael
Ben Geer
John Battista
Adam Crapser
Jimmie Stevens
Rob Scarberry
Alan Nesfeder
Matthew Dominique
Logan Sheets
Chauncey Redmond Jr.
Dave Miller David Butterworth Alex Crapser
Cristian Torres Mike Carroll Michael Henson
Rick Jackson Scott Drake David Courtney
Kevin Corbat
Tony Gunk
Mark Heron
Ken Joynt Jonathan Skrabacz Philip Parker Ziggy Moonglow
*yellowindicates drivers racing their way in. Top-5 will make the race.
Johnny Reed Foley
Ryan Heuser
William Perry
Donald Stewart Jeremy Hebel Bill Werkheiser
Scott Jackson Trae Larkin Tony Pizzaro
Craig Lee Steve Inkman Markell Murphy Rod Weston
Molemar Diggs Dakota Wilkins
Steven Spears Joe Polson Ken Pettit
Dan Johnston
Zakk Miller Doug Spark
Tony Long Matt Raboin Dalton Lucas
Petey J. Zehler Bink Lucas
Geno Sphere Nigel Ramasawmy
*yellowindicates drivers racing their way in. Top-5 will make the race.
Nineteen drivers attempt infinite glory! The 2024 Big Bud Shootout stands as the hurdle to the big Daytona 500 race, with 19 of 2023's pole-sitters battling triumphantly for the "Big Bud" grand prize. Lucas Racing duo Alex Crapser and John Battista sit on the front row in an attempt to win the $2,000,000!
The Lucas Racing brigade stay atop the heap for less than a lap. Crapser earned his entry with a pole at Watkins Glen, with Battista at the Superspeedway in Alabama. The Race-2-Win duo of Rick Jackson and Tony Pizzaro triumphantly slip-streamed through to lead the initial lap. Between them and Ken Pettit, the team earned eight pole positions in 2023. The lead swapped between Ryan Heuser, Tony Pizzaro and Alan Nesfeder afterwards as the early stages broke through. Heuser earned his entry by winning a league-leading five pole positions, with Nesfeder capturing the hot laps at Kansas and Bristol. The #78 would dominate early, leading from lap 6 to lap 15.
Matthew Dominique and Ryan Heuser battled for supremacy through the lap-20 mark. The #25 earned pole-position at Homestead and Pocono, restitution for a winless 2023 campaign. Bill Werkheiser, Johnny Reed Foley, Scott Jackson and Ziggy Moonglow also enter The Shootout winless the previous year.
Race-2-Win's Rick Jackson and Ken Pettit tag-team back to the front on lap 21. The #44 would maintain his dominant status for three laps before John Battista took back the pack. He would lead 2024's first Halfway Bacon Bonus for $100,000.
A desolating accident on lap 24 takes out two of the contenders! Donald Stewart and Matthew Dominique made contact entering turn-3, elevating the #25 up the banking and into Bink Lucas. Bink annihilated the outside wall head-on, but withdrew from his racecar without any injuries. Dominique also failed to continue with a dismantled spoiler.
A 22-lap shootout to the finish for $2,000,000. John Battista dominated the early go, leading the initial ten before Ryan Heuser made his move. A fitting position for the leading pole-getter. Heuser took the top-spot and maintained it through the seven-to-go mark.
The #39 Wendy's Chevrolet re-passed the #138, swapping the top-spot again with Heuser on top of the heap and teammate Craig Lee to follow. The two were now side-by-side, manufacturing immaculate momentum for Alex Crapser, steamrolling past the Quick-Silver Motorsports duo to capture the lead! The #04 was strong enough to spread out the field and distance himself from a hard-charge from behind. This was Crapser's race to lose.
The immaculate Lucas Racing domination at Superspeedway's continues, with the Pennzoil #04 crossing the line in first for $2,000,000 to go with Battista's Halfway Bacon Bonus money. Crapser also won the pole, earning an extra $100,000 himself with Lucas Racing seemingly taking all the cash available! Congrats to Alex, crew chief Cheato Jacobsen and the entire Lucas Racing organization for an excellent victory!
Nineteen drivers fight for 50 laps! One pit stop or a caution flag will spread out the field, with the final contenders battling defiantly with ten circuits to go. Two million dollars will go to the winner. Top-10 drivers earn at least $100,000 with the final half of the field coming away with absolutely nothing! Ryan Heuser arrives in 2024 after leading the league in qualifying-time for a third-straight season. Counterpart Zach Michael was the last to earn the most poles in 2020, entering Daytona as the reigning winner of the event. Nobody has ever won two-in-a-row since the races inception in 1982, one of the most impressive streaks in Extravaganza Series history! Bill Werkheiser and Ziggy Moonglow hope to steal the show away for the top-dog crowd. Here are the winners from the previous five Big Bud Shootouts:
2019: Scott Jackson 2020: Tony Pizzaro 2021: Johnny Reed Foley 2022: Dave Miller 2023: Zach Michael
Four teams battle it out for the Extravaganza Series Rookie of the Year crown. Short-track ace Steve Inkman #57 and Tony Gunk #59 will drive the two Solomon-Tark entries for the Daytona 500. Their Greensboro, North Carolina race shop is deep within stock car country, attempting to field four total race cars for the top-2 premier series. The two favorites heading in are Bonanza Series Champion Molemar Diggs #41 and Jeremy Hebel #1. Diggs will field Lucas Racing engines for the second-year Wizards of Speed organization out of Sudbury, Massachusetts (Where Babe Ruth dropped his piano). Bonzai Series runner-up Hebel takes over the second Blazin' Pedals Racing ride, with CFM engines from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team itself moved from Denver, Colorado to Two Rivers, Wisconsin in ferry-ride distance from their horsepower supplier. All four teams will have to qualify for the first six events, imperative for determining the outcome of the 2024 Rookie of the Year title!
