The second night-race of the season is also the second evening event towards the Floridian coastline. 6,000 miles of travel time over the past two weeks saw some of the Extravaganza drivers battle "air sickness", leaving them unable to speak to their pit crews during the practice sessions. "When I opened my mouth there was no saliva. It felt like a spiderweb in my throat" said Aaron Cummings, who comes in an intimidating 40th in the standings. Tony Pizzaro comes in as the points leader, with he and Johnny Reed Foley the only two to record a top-10 in both events.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

The Quantum Racing teammates of Matthew Dominique and Matt Raboin start on the front row, taking the green flag in style as the rest of the field prepares for the 267-lap grind to the front. Last week's winner Dakota Wilkins suffers some post-race jitters and scrapes the wall early. The field remained two and three-wide throughout for the first two-dozen laps.

The first lead change of the night came on lap-3 after a Craig Lee pass towards the outside turn-4 wall shot him to the front. He and John Tharp were a 1-2 punch at the head of the pack for most of the green flag run. Quick-Silver teammates Ryan Heuser and Dave Miller come from the back of the field to join him for another 1-2-3 teammate brigade at the front line, dropping Tharp to fourth while Bink Lucas, Rob Scarberry and points leader Tony Pizzaro narrowly hung on to the pack.

The Homestead fuel-window has dipped several laps in 2023. On lap-57, leader Craig Lee and Tony Long came in to attempt a four-stop pit strategy instead of the usual three. Everyone else followed suit, though Lee's immaculate strategy set the tone for the event after coming out with a six-second lead.

Chauncey Redmond Jr. suffered his second gearbox problem of the season, finishng 44th or worse for the second time in 2023. Tim McDonnell, Dave Miller, Tony Long, Ryan Heuser, Tony Pizzaro and Zakk Miller would all attempt to run down the #101, successfully pulling off the feat after 43 laps. Lee would take it back to win the Halfway Bacon Bonus after the second green flag pit stop.

The lead swapped between Tim McDonnell, Dave Miller and Ryan Heuser as we leaned towards the 100 lap-to-go mark. The first accident of the night occurred on lap 167 when John Battista's engine tore apart in the midst of a disasterous 27th-place effort. It was probably the worst race of Battista's career, mired outside of the top-40 during the first green flag run and placing no better than 25th all night. He would finish 44th on the day, dropping to 31st in the standings. Last week's winner Dakota Wilkins would fall to an engine during the caution flag, leaving three Lucas Racing powerplants in the garage while the rest of the field remained in tact.

The yellow flag erased Ryan Heuser's near four-second advantage on the field. He would lead the next 18 laps after the ensuing restart before points leader Tony Pizzaro made his bid on the outside of turn-2. He would successfully earn his five bonus-points, as the two drivers battled for the top-spot for the remainder of the green flag run.

The strategy that teammate Craig Lee perfected during the first green flag stop was the impetus for Ryan Heuser's short-pit strategy with 42 laps to go. An impossibly fast pit stop by John Tharp put him three seconds ahead of Tony Pizzaro for second place, and only one second behind leader Heuser with a three-lap tire advantage. Pizzaro, Alex Crapser and Logan Sheets would fight hard for the next 40-laps to overhaul the top-2 with a four-second gap to overcome.

A horrifying and literal blow to the points leader while battling for the third position dropped Tony Pizzaro to a 42nd place effort despite his third-straight miraculous run. Crapser, Sheets, Dave Miller and Bill Werkheiser re-formed the second pack in a last-ditch attempt to catch the #138 and #14. Up front, John Tharp took the lead from Ryan Heuser with 31 laps to go.

With 20 laps remaining, Heuser and Tharp remained side-by-side while still maintaining their four-second leverage from the rest of the field. Tharp inevitably took the lead outright one lap later with the fresher Goodyear tires and stayed ahead despite Heuser's draf ... Read more »