Fans screech into the howling Daytona winds, ready for a typhoon of 200+ to knock off their wardrobe! Super-fan Phil Ott, Mel Ott's great grand nephew, tells the story of pre-race excursions while sitting on his row 121 concrete stall. "My friend Clifford threw his pizza crust into the recycle bin." said Mel. "He wants our plastic to taste like pizza by 2030, and I agree!" Long-time dominators Ryan Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley will start on the front row.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

Light bulbs and Kodachrome flash onto the track! Drivers towards the rear can't see through the lumination, blinding the field as the flagman waves green! Ryan Heuser leads the initial three lap stint, with points leader Tony Pizzaro in charge before Heuser nabs it back. Team Danger Zone miracle-men Zakk Miller and Zach Michael tag-team past the duo, with the Bepis Mustang up front through lap-10.

Towards the rear, Molemar Diggs, Tony Gunk, Adam Crapser, Mark Heron, Steven Spears and David Butterworth fell off the pace, failing to keep up with the main group. Normally one straggler towards the end loses the draft, then another in ten laps. These guys will keep a relatively decent pace in a six-car cavalcade for last, ensuring their lead lap status through the first pit stop. Up front, Race-2-Win teammates Pizzaro and Rick Jackson hold off John Battista and Heuser.

Johnny Reed Foley drops from second to last in the pack! By lap 23, he was back up front, flying by Zach Michael while ensuring every top-5 driver in points leads a lap! It's the fastest time that's happened in Extravaganza history, taking only 14% of the race distance to accomplish the feat. Foley and "Game" man Cristian Torres race side-by-side for the point, handing the Argentine his third lap led in 2025.

Craig Lee's #101 NOS Energy Chevrolet dominated the remaining stint, taking the lead through lap 49 before Torres led his fourth lap of 2025. John Battista and Tony Pizzaro piloted the field to green flag stops. Heuser came in first, with Ken Pettit rearing the 31-car main pack. Alan Nesfeder, Logan Sheets, Rob Scarberry, Dakota Wilkins, Matthew Dominique, Mark Heron, Molemar Diggs, Adam Crapser, Dalton Lucas, David Butterworth, Tony Gunk, Steven Spears and Rod Weston all lost the draft.

"We haven't won since the bicentennial!" said crew chief Neil Justice. It's been 30 races to be exact, with Pizzaro's last victory at Watkins Glen seemingly more distant than a cure for menopause. The Boston Red Sox #12 comes out of the pits with a full two-second advantage, leading the field through lap 60 before John Tharp finally caught him with help from his 11-car cavalcade.

John Tharp, Alex Crapser, William Perry, Ryan Heuser, Tony Pizzaro, Chauncey Rdemond Jr., Markell Murphy, Rick Jackson, Johnny Reed Foley, John Battista, Cristian Torres and Craig Lee pulled to a ten-second advantage over the second pack, capitalizing on the draft from lapped traffic. Dalton Lucas, Rod Weston, Mark Heron, Molemar Diggs, Adam Crapser, Rob Scarberry, Dave Miller, Dakota Wilkins, Tony Gunk, Steven Spears, Logan Sheets, Dalton Lucas, Alan Nesfeder, David Butterworth and Matthew Dominique all fell a lap down during the stint.

Up front, Tharp, Pizzaro and Johnny Reed Foley took turns at the helm before the lap-100 mark. The #14 Zig-Zag Toyota led the halfway bacon earning the slab before backing off to save fuel. Ryan Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley were the first to come i ... Read more »

Qualifying Results

Adam Crapser looks strong! Only seven laps led before Sonoma, leading 59 in the Toyota Save Mart 350 before a suffering blown piston. Seven top-10's since April ties Tony Pizzaro for the lead, hoping to break the barrier by winning his second-straight Coke Zero 400. Sonoma winner Ryan Heuser hopes to match his dominant stretch in 2022, winning six of eight races including Sonoma and Daytona. He's one away from Buddy Rakestraw for second-most all-time victories, hoping to tie the legend after winning the pole. Lucas Racing has won the last two 400-mile events at Daytona. Look for Quick-Silver, Danger Zone, Race-2-Win and CFM to be finally break their streak.

The second-half awaits! Milestones have been missed, with Dalton Lucas and Rob Scarberry hoping to clinch their first laps led of 2025. Mike Carroll's #50 goes for its first top-10 since the 2022 Coke Zero 400, hoping to "SPAM" his way into a top-30 effort. Ziggy Moonglow's only DNF was in qualifying, crashing at Nashville but finishing every race so far. Ryan Heuser and Tony Pizzaro are tied with most races led with 13. Johnny Reed Foley enters Daytona without leading a lap since Charlotte, tying his previous record with the AC-Delco team. Ken Pettit's ready to break his yearly top-10 streak of one; finally cracking the top-35 after a top-6 effort at Sonoma. Ryan Heuser has led the points twice, with Zach Michael six times and Tony Pizzaro ten. Only Heuser, Johnny Reed Foley and Chauncey Redmond Jr. have won more than once, with Foley and Zakk Miller the only multi-time pole winners. Ryan Heuser will join that list, hoping to re-capture his Daytona 500 glory for his league-leading fourth victory of 2025!

For the first time since 2019, everyone inside the top-22 has at least one top-5 finish. Only eight races are left in the regular season, with annual contenders John Tharp and Ken Pettit mired outside the top-20, and Scott Jackson dead-last out of the 39 full-time entries. Young-guns Adam Crapser, Dakota Wilkins and Bink Lucas set the stage for the new generation, holding their own inside the top-10 as Chauncey Redmond Jr., Molemar Diggs, Ziggy Moonglow and Tony Gunk find victory lane for the first time. It's the old vs. the new, reminiscent of the late-2000's boom that gave Ryan Heuser the platform of supremacy that still reigns today.

Friday, July 11th, 4:00 ET

An immaculate view! 43 gear-binding racecars fight for a 110-lap vineyard excursion! Tony Pizzaro, Ryan Heuser, Johnny Reed Foley and Zach Michael look to add a road course victory to their impressive 2025 resume's, each with a chance at taking the points lead. Alan Nesfeder and Matthew Dominique start on the front-row. Can they keep their track position? The experts say no, as does the rest of the field.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

One fan described this race as an "unconventional convention". "I asked for fish and chips" said Virginia man Joe Washington, traveling for the first time by railroad. "They gave me fries instead. The fish was so fried it melted the meat! What a deal!" Matthew Dominique led the first lap, with Alan Nesfeder blowing a tire entering turn-2 on the fourth lap. Ken Pettit took over the second position, hoping to rebound his season at an unlikely track.

Dominique blows third gear! The leader suffers transmission woes early, forcing Pettit to back off while Johnny Reed Foley scampers to the inside through the esses. Foley steals the second spot, with Dominique successfully holding both drivers off while entering the eighth lap. Foley makes a move in turn-1, backing off as the #25 chops the inside groove away. Adam Crapser takes advantage, braking hard through 4-A to steal the position away from Foley. By the end of the esses, the #4 Green Bay Packers Chevrolet would take the lead.

Crapser's advantage grew to a five-second gap by lap 18 as the rest of the field meandered past the #25. Johnny Reed Foley, Craig Lee and Zakk Miller swapped the second-through-fifth positions as Rick Jackson, Chauncey Redmond Jr., Jimmie Stevens, John Tharp and points leader Tony Pizzaro scampered behind. From the rear, Ryan Heuser jumped from the 38th starting spot to tenth by lap-23.

Adam's lead started to evaporate once Craig Lee took the second position. The gap was down to three seconds by lap 30, catching the lapped car of Rob Scarberry in the process. A three-wide check-up behind Doug Spark and David Baldinger in 7-A forced Adam to lock the rear brakes, handing Lee the left side entering the esses. The #101 NOS Energy Chevrolet took the top spot on lap-36, with Adam heading for pit road as they reached the two-stop fuel window.

A turn-1 crash from pole-sitter Alan Nesfeder brought out the first yellow flag on lap-38. Timothy McDonnell went for a spin during the race back, with Dan Johnston blowing an engine to become the first casualty of the event. A deke by Jimmie Stevens to lead a lap under yellow cycled back to Lee, leading the field for the lap-42 restart. Adam Crapser, Johnny Reed Foley, Ryan Heuser, Chauncey Redmond Jr., Rick Jackson, Donald Stewart, John Tharp, Tony Pizzaro and Dakota Wilkins rounded out the top-10.

Several attempts for the lead by Adam Crapser finally paid off, diving underneath entering turn-11 to steal the spot away on lap-47. Pressure from the #3 AC-Delco machine made it tough, battling Redmond and Heuser for second as Lee struggled to maintain his earlier pace. Luckily, the #101 would hold them off through the half-way point before Heuser finally took the spot away. Adam would nab the halfway bacon, with Heuser's #138 power-plant the fastest car in the field.

38th starting spot to behind the leader by lap-76! Leader Adam Crapser came in for his final fuel stop the following lap, handing Heuser his first lead of the day. He would come out a whopping six seconds ahead of the #4 Green Bay Packers entry, with Johnny Reed Foley inheriting the second position. John Battista would lead a lap during the cycle, mired ... Read more »

*The annual Sonoma pre-race "techno-explosion" circa 1998

Qualifying Results

Fourteen different winners in 2025! Road-ringers Timothy McDonnell and John Tharp rejoice in their "California swag", wearing their tie dye pantaloons with pride! "We got to crush grapes yesterday" said Champion crew chief Mustard Mahoney. "It reminded me of the old days, smashing pumpkins in Matt's backyard in Vermont." We asked Mustard to point to Vermont on the mini-map. His finger covered the entire state! "Our house was next to the Hannaford's. We bought so much pastrami there the cows started to disappear." A victory at Sonoma will be their third of the year, hoping to break the tie with Johnny Reed Foley and Chauncey Redmond Jr.. Alan Nesfeder will start on the pole, hoping to pull off a miracle victory at a track he's struggled at in the past.

Tony Gunk exemplifies the "zero to hero" mentality better than most, suffering through the European carting ranks with his brother Jim from 2016 through 2018. Their independent "stars and stripes" two-stroke Comet failed to compete with Cristiano de Sa's "Maxxis-Chassis Parilla" and Giuseppe Gastaldi's "Vivaldi-LeCont", heading back home for a future in the Carolina Late Model ranks. Tony joined pasta-sauce magnate Jim Solomon in a two-car effort with Champion Steve Inkman in the Super Crown Ultra Modifieds (SCUM). He and Inkman dominated the field, losing to Jared Mogard in 2019 with Inkman defeating Matt Bontempi for the title in 2020. 2021 was Gunk's time to shine, finishing second to the late Joe Mersdorf, and re-joining Inkman for a full-time expenditure in Bonanza. Neither were able to win in their two years together, but team owners Jim Solomon and Robert Tark were ready to head to Extravaganza. An early top-10 run at Nashville, a lap led at Michigan and two 18th-place efforts at Martinsville and Bristol were capped by a 14th-place masterpiece in the Eddie Money Classic. Gunk's "Kelpo Cam" Charger finished 47th in points, qualifying for 17 of the 36 races. Gunk made the field for his first Daytona 500 in 2025. He finished his first seven events, followed by a miraculous 7th-place effort in the Coca-Cola 600. Four weeks later, Gunk finally crossed the finish-line first.

Friday, July 4th, 4:00 ET

Kelpo-man Tony Gunk started the race in a frenzy! The #59 Solomon-Tark Motorsports entry dropped from 6th to 14th on the start, gaining two spots in the pits while maintaining pace between 11th and 14th. He re-entered the top-10 after a pass on Markell Murphy, navigating to the 6th position before the tires fell. Crossing the half-way mark in 11th, nobody expected this man to be a legitimate factor. His 27-lap led performance in the Coca-Cola 600 was deemed an honorable achievement, but impossible to improve upon.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

A lap-120 restart saw Geno Sphere, Molemar Diggs, Dan Johnston, Matthew Dominique, Adam Crapser, Zakk Miller, Jeremy Hebel, Jimmie Stevens, Donald Stewart and Tony Gunk occupy the top-10. Diggs passed Sphere after the restart, leading through the 100-to-go mark before the #444 took back the helm. Molemar blew a camshaft just five laps later. Adam Crapser made multiple bids on the inside after inheriting the second position. His #4 Green Bay Packers Chevrolet would be denied each time.

A restart with 53-to-go was the catalyst! A three-wide battle of the ages saw Matthew Dominique and Adam Crapser sandwich the #444, with miracle-man Tony Gunk looking to pounce with pressure from Zakk Miller and Ben Geer behind. Dominique's SRT Viper won the battle, with Gunk's Kelpo #59 Dodge following through in a 1-2 Chrysler tango. A yellow with 30-to-go saw Gunk, Adam Crapser and Timothy McDonnell take on four fresh tires. They'd drop to 13th, 14th and 15th.

Matthew Dominique, Tony Pizzaro, Matt Raboin, Markell Murphy, Ben Geer, Rod Weston. Cristian Torres, Logan Sheets, Geno Sphere, Alan Nesfeder, Zakk Miller and Dave Miller all attempted to fight-off the tire-men in the back. The #25 led the field throughout the run, with Murphy and Raboin excavating past the Fenway Frank machine for second and third spot. Behind them, Gunk was the first tire-getter to fly through the lapped traffic, jumping to the seventh position with 20-to-go.

Gunk pulled a double-three-wide maneuver on Alan Nesfeder, Geno Sphere, Cristian Torres and the lapped car of Alex Crapser to jump from tenth to seventh. He double-downed on miracle-men Ryan Heuser and Tony Pizzaro, passing by Logan Sheets and Ben Geer with relative ease to jump to fourth. Gunk passed Matt Raboin for third with 17-to-go. He'd steal second from Markell Murphy the following lap, hoping to eradicate the two-second barrier between he and leader Matthew Dominique.

With twelve-to-go, the Kelpo-man was there. An easy pass on the inside catapulted Gunk to the lead as Timothy McDonnell and Adam Crapser followed through. All three used the same tire strategy to earn an eventual top-four finish, with Gunk using a less conservative approach to soar through the field. Gunk's #59 gapped Dominique a full second-per-lap, cruising to the biggest upset in Extravaganza since Mark Guthrie's Bristol win just five years prior. Tony Gunk's Kelpo Dodge would cross the line first for a miracle victory at Gateway!

Tony Gunk's best career finish was seventh in the 2025 Coca-Cola 600. He led late, but was pulverized by Ziggy Moonglow, Tony Pizzaro and Alex Crapser. This time, he out-smarted them all. The Kelpo #59 is a fan favorite, navagating the "Kelpo-Cam" to show battles through the rear of the field. He and Mike Carroll's "SPAM cam" were thought to have no chance at glory, signifying the typical driver who makes most of the shows, but will never contend for the win. Gunk conquored the odds tonight, beating the best and signifying his status as a possible top-gunner in Extravaganza's future. The Solomon-Tark Motorsports team builds their engines in-house, sometimes using scrap metal from trash cans to finish leftover welding jobs. Congratulations to Tony Gunk, crew chief Lester Evans and the entire Solomon-Tark Motorsports organization for their first career victory!

2025 Budweiser 400 Video