It was a wild night in the depths of Martinsville Speedway. A second two-time winner emerges in the 2021 Extravaganza season. Despite all the miscues and misfortune for many throughout, the grit and determination belonged to one Matt Raboin.
Race Results
Points Standings
Schedule
Early in the going saw Alex Crapser way up front by over a 4 second margin. The rest of the field failed to keep pace, with Alan Nesfeder and Ryan Heuser battling for second and leaving the rest behind in agony. Steven Spears and Rick Jackson collapsed their engines trying to rev through the field.
The #78 and #138 battled for 10+ laps before deciding on who should take the second position. Alan won and kept the pace towards Crapser. A caution came out to bunch up the field after the blown engines, and proved a detriment to the #04 machine. A spin entering turn 1 after taking the flag would drop him back through the field in agony.
The second green flag run of the event saw John Battista and Heuser battle it out several times. By the end, Heuser led 50 laps and Battista 222, the most of the day. Ryan would blow a tire early after the next yellow flag and fall one lap down, handing the reigns to Wendy's.
Battista would win the halfway "Bacon Bonus" as Scott Jackson meandered through the field, stealing 2 laps away and a well needed 5 bonus points. It's been a horrifying season for Jackson so far, coming in 25th in the standings and a measly best finish of 10th at Rockingham.
Craig Lee found his way into the third position before the final round of pit stops. It was a turning point in the race for many, as blown tires were significant throughout. There were barely over 10 cars on the lead lap by this point. Ryan Heuser resumed the lead by 6 seconds due to his fresher tires on the previous green flag run. He'll have 20 laps to pray for a caution.
Heuser would wind up pitting. While the #39 was meandering through lapped traffic, the battle for third from behind was immense. Zach Michael, Craig Lee, Matt Raboin and Dave Miller were neck-and-neck for several laps before the #87 pushed his way through. He would eventually grab second before leader John Battista blew a left-front tire and pitted under green. It was now Matt first, and Champion Tim McDonnell up to second spot.
The terror of Martinsville loomed in the distance and slapped Scott Jackson directly in the abdomen. Craig lee blew up while running third and got spun. Jackson and John Tharp slammed into the rear of the #101 extremely hard and destroyed both vehicles, forcing Tharp's engine to expire on impact. Adam Crapser failed to see in the midst of the chaos and body-slammed the #38 into the drivers door. He went for a flying experience.
Jackson flew over the pit wall and came to a rest. Miraculously, the car was still running and would continue to limp around. Tharp and Lee would retire from the event and finish 37th and 38th. With 50 laps to go, Alex Crapser and Dave Miller made contact off of turn 2, sending Miller for a spin from 3rd to 8th position to bring out the final yellow.
Matt Raboin dominated the final stages of the event whiles his teammate Matthew Dominique meandered to second place. Tim McDonnell locked up the third position while Ken Pettit, Jimmie Stevens and Randy Dobbins pushed hard for the remaining top-5 spots. By this time, Heuser and Battista were back on the lead lap but could do nothing to gain track position.
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