Ten drivers welcome the Darlington Raceway with open arms and happy hearts, knowing their status as happy-go-lucky chase contenders. Craig Lee is on the pole, with his teammate Ryan Heuser on the outside in Quick-Silver blockade in front of the other 44 drivers.
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Schedule
Early on, Ken Pettit looked to use the rebound-momentum on his season to capture the lead early. He led more of the early-going laps than anybody else, nabbing a full 36th on the night.
Teammates Ken and Rick Jackson dominate the veteran top-5 in shades of the spring event, where Scott Jackson and John Tharp finished 1-2. Ben Geer eased his way into the picture, leading one lap as he auditions for a possible new ride in 2021.
Rookie Logan Sheets pulls to the front to lead some of the first few laps of his young Extravaganza career. The veterans vulture from behind, looking to swarm the New York Jets machine into a frenzy of bits at the end of the back.
Chase contender Ryan Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley were involved in an accident entering the pit road. Both drivers would rebound to a top-12 finish. Matt Raboin went for a flip up near the front of the pack, involving Sheets and finishing a dead last 46th. Sheets finished 44th.
Heuser found his way back up front in the middle-going, leading 58 laps in total. Towing behind were chase contenders Scott Jackson and Ken Pettit, looking to denounce the great Heuser from his Darlington throne. Zakk MIller and Jimmie Stevens were proving their worth as well, both finishing inside the top-10.
A huge restart crash saw Zach Michael go up-and-over in the front of the pack. A consistent day went in ruin, as he limped to a 40th place finish and down to 10th in the standings after the first chase week. Rick Jackson was also caught up in the accident, finishing 42nd.
The final stages of the event saw Zakk Miler towing the field, with horsepiower-kings John Battista and Ryan Heuser up in the mix for the victory. Aaron Cummings was miraculously up through the field, looking to outdo his 11th place effort last week.
John Battista guided he and Dan Johnston past the #138 for the lead as Miller and Cummings dropped slightly back. With his teammates all outside of the top-15, the Lucas Racing machine relied heavily on the shoulders of the #39. Johnston was looking to rebound after his near-victory at the Darlington spring race 1 year ago.
Johnston led over 20 laps during the final stretch and nearly pulled off the victory. He was ahead by multiple car-lengths and lapped traffic between, but somehow the Wendy's machine propelled through with less than 10 laps to go to re-take the top position.
John Battista led the final laps in grand style, leading a whopping 76 in total and jumping to 1st in the standings for the first time in his career after his Southern 500 victory. Congrats to Battista, crew chief Lew Money, and the entire Lucas Racing team for an excellent victory!
2021 Southern 500 Race Video
