The final heat includes 13 top-35 drivers attempting to earn a top-14 position and earn their way into the Bepis 400 feature next weekend. Ken Pettit, Tim McDonnell, Alex Crapser and Zakk Miller are the four big-name drivers in this event. They have all qualified well enough to coast to the finish line while the regular go-homers and Bonanza regulars attempt to steal their spot in the field.

Race Results

Zakk Miller starts on the pole alongside a miraculous front-row effort by Mark Heron. Miller would remain a contender for the victory for all 50 laps, while the #01 machine blew a tire two-thirds of the way in. Ken Pettit and Tim McDonnell would fly by both of them by the end of the first lap, with Pettit running the show before the first caution flag.

Contact between Dave Daniels and Ziggy Moonglow brought out the yellow on lap 4. The #02 slid up into Markell Murphy's #47, both hitting the outside wall hard while collecting Nigel Ramasawmy in the process. Neither driver would clinch the top-14. Murphy would charge towards the front after the restart only to stagnate at 27th place with worn-out tires. He will miss the show at Nashville despite being 17th in points. An enormous heartbreaker for the three-time Extravaganza Series winner.

Team Danger Zone became victim of the dreaded "Nashville Nightmare". His teammate Zakk Miller attempted to reap justice at the front after re-taking the lead away from Tim McDonnell. Tim, Zakk, Ken Pettit, Alex Crapser and Dakota Wilkins all took turns at the helm prior to the five-to-go mark. Wilkins astonishingly seemed to have the fastest racecar of the five, charging past Ken Pettit with three laps to go and sailing into the cinderella sunset.

Bepis 400 Qualifier #3 Video

The second Bepis-400 would start with an extremely unlikely front row. Kevin Corbat won the pole over Dan Johnston, with speedway superstars Bill Werkheiser and Jimmie Stevens taking over their normal positions towards the rear of the field. The Extravaganza elite shall devour these unlikely heroes to the Bonanza wolves. At least that's the consensus.

Race Results

Kevin Corbat's #46 Auto Value machine led the field into turn-1 to commence the second 50-lap qualifier. Rick Jackson made it by him immediately as Matthew Dominique and Ryan Heuser followed his course. Corbat and Dan Johnston remained inside the top-14 transfer for most of day. Unfortunately, Dan's engine would explode running in 6th with less than 10 laps to go.

Dave Butterworth, Adam Crapser and Tim McDonnell banged fenders on lap 1, coming up to speed on the backstretch. The slowed #4 machine was tagged by Geno Sphere a couple laps later, triggering a devastating crash involving Jonathan Skrabacz, Ben White, Bill Werkhesier, Two Finger Davis and Peter McDonnell. All would either retire or limp to the finish, with only Bill and Jonathan eligible for the final qualifier.

Ryan Heuser, Rick Jackson and Dave Miller dominated the final 40 laps of the event while William Perry, Stephen Lowe and Tim McDonnell battled for the final transfer spot. McDonnell had worked from near-last to 14th position by lap 40, only to get re-passed by the #70 and #24. Heuser would cross the line as the leader coming to the white flag lap.

A last lap pass by Rick Jackson exiting turn-2 gave him the victory. CFM Teammates Johnny Reed Foley and Kevin Corbat finished inside the top-14 to advance to the big show while McDonnell lost the final transfer spot to William Perry. Congrats to Rick, crew chief Falco Lombardi and the entire Race-2-Win Motorsports crew for an excellent victory!

Bepis 400 Qualifier #2 Video