Four different winners during the first four races has replicated the diversified competition of 2022. One thing that hasn't changed is the Quick-Silver Motorsports domination, leading 31% of the season's laps combined despite not crossing the checkered flag in first. Look for that to possibly change at Atlanta.
Race Results
Points Standings
Race Recap
Craig Lee, Zach Michael and Tony Pizzaro dominated the weekly practice sessions, though couldn't stop an out-of-nowhere pole lap by Rookie of the Year leader Ziggy Moonglow. He would start on the pole for the first time in his Extravaganza Series career, leading the first four circuits. Tim McDonnell, Zach Michael and Tony Pizzaro would share their turns at the front for the next several laps.
There were four lead changes during the first 40 miles of the event. The latest came from points leader Dave Miller, who had catapulted his way from the 14th starting stop to the lead on lap 23. He and Pizzaro would trade the 1-2 positions numerous times, tagging along John Battista and Matthew Dominique. This would remain the top-4 after pit stops on lap 60.
Before he had a chance to lead a lap, Rockingham winner John Battista demolished his engine while running in 3rd at the end of the backstraighaway. Lucas Racing is known to run races without the RPM chip, possibly attributing to the failure. He would finish 45th on the day. Miller and Pizzaro pulled away from the field afterwards, before contact between Rick Jackson and Zakk Miller sent the #44 for a tailspin on the frontstretch dog-leg. Jackson received no damage, though struggled to re-accumulate the track position for the remainder of the race.
Miraculous pit work by Chauncey Redmond Jr.'s crew put him atop the board. He's in search of his second-straight top-5 finish after a disastrous start to his rookie campaign. Ken Pettit would take his first lead of the race several laps after the restart, looking as well to turn his season around at one of his most dominant racetracks. Both stints were short-lived, with Johnny Reed Foley and Craig Lee leading the field through lap 208.
Foley looked even stronger than last year, winning this event in a last-lap pass over Tony Pizzaro to end the Race-2-Win victory streak at the facility. This season, Pettit was the only driver who could compete in the equipment after the halfway point, leaving Foley and the QSM brigade as the dominant factors again. It would be a common theme so far in 2023. On lap 208, Ryan Heuser took his first lead of the race, giving all three Quick-Silver cars a lap led.
Contact between Aaron Cummings and Bill Werkheiser sent the #6 spinning up the racetrack into the path of Tony Pizzaro. Pizzaro crunched the wall hard into the turn-1 barrier, while Werkheiser spun rear-first into the #12 and parked directly into the racing groove. The rest of the field narrowly squeezed by. Both drivers would finish 40th or worse by the finish, but miraculously limped to the checkered flag without a DNF tag on their stat-sheet.
Some drivers took two tires and an extra half-can of fuel, while others were able to fill the tank with only one can. Craig Lee, Randy Dobbins, Scott Jackson, Ben Geer and Markell Murphy found their way to the front with the excellent fuel mileage, with former leader Heuser starting 6th. A couple of three-wide battles for the lead between Matthew Dominique, Adam Crapser and Johnny Reed Foley provided bonus points for all, but in the end the #3 came out on top with seemingly the fastest car in the field. He would stay there for the remainder of the green flag run, towing Crapser away from the rest of the pack.
Adam Crapser entered the pits with 54 laps to go, narrowly inside the fuel window to the finish. Foley entered his stall two laps later, coming out of the pits in third behind Logan Sheets and trailing the #4 Packers machine by three seconds. Both Crapser and Sheets have never won an Extravaganza Series race. It took nearly no-time for the #3 and #58 to catch Crapser, passing him just 10 laps into the run. Foley re-took the lead one final time with 37-to-go, with dark-horse Cristian Torres suddenly a contender for the victory in the third position.
...
Read more »