The 10 chase drivers start their season over at Las Vegas, celebrating the famed Eddie Money while looking to grab the first victory of the 10-race finale. Tim McDonnell lost his 200+ point advantage, as the remaining prepare to take advantage of his 37th starting spot.

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

Pole-sitter Alan Nesfeder could only keep the lead for one lap, as the top-spot switched four times during the first four laps. Drivers would fight three-wide for first until Tony Pizzaro took the spot and led the pack.

Pizzaro was in front for the first 2/5th's of the event, leading 107 laps until blowing up on the frontstretch on lap 116. From there- Scott Jackson and Alex Crapser led the show until green flag pit stops near the halfway point.

Ken Pettit passed Crapser for the lead on lap 144 and led the show on pure horsepower. Only QSM teammates Ryan Heuser and Craig Lee could keep up, and remained top-3 until a short-pitting #04 re-took the spot.

Without any caution flags, it was the third green flag pit stop of the day. Nobody made any attempts at stretching the fuel, as previous races indicated several yellows during the first 100 laps. With the championship on the line, it appeared to be a cautious approach for all who drover around the big-10, and the big-10 themselves.

On slightly fresher tires, Ryan scooted by Crapser on lap 194 and led his first laps. He pulled away from the field, flying past lapped traffic and earning over a five second interval over Crapser and Rick Jackson with only 30 laps to go.

With 26 laps to go, disaster struck again for the #138 team. After contact between Cristian Torres and Scott Jackson on the frontstretch, the #26 spun several times and stopped near the entrance of turn 1. Ryan tried to pass high through the smoke, but slammed into the rear of #26, with William Perry following suit. He would continue on, though finishing 39th and dropping to 10th in the standings.

Alex Crapser led the next 13 green flag laps with Matthew Dominique lurking behind for nearly the entire run. Farther back, Steven Spears made a mistake. Reminiscent of NASCAR's Scott Pruett at 2000 Talladega, the #65 drove down two lanes and clipped the Tony Long machine on the frontstretch. Spears went airborne and sent Aaron Cummings for a ride. Dave Miller and David Butterworth were also involved in the incident.

After the caution flag, there was only 6 laps to go. Crapser remained the leader until Dominique dove inside the #04 on the frontstretch, taking less than a half-lap to clear him. Crapser would fall back to 5th, while the #25 fought hard to stay in first until the end.

John Tharp took second, and followed the #25 for four laps without gaining enough momentum to pass. On the final lap Tharp was there, but the dirty air in turn 1 destroyed his chances as the #25 pulled away for his first victory of the season. Congrats to Matthew and the entire Quantum Motorsports team for an excellent victory!

Eddie Money Classic 400 Video