Only one Championship contender finished inside the top-14 in the first race of the chase. Ken Pettit won the event in grand style, taking over the points lead by 22 in search for his second come-from-behind title in three seasons. He'll most likely complete lap #1 behind the top of the standings, with Ryan Heuser on the pole in search for another dominating Las Vegas performance.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

A horrendous break for the pole sitter! Ryan Heuser blows just before the green, crossing the starting line in a cloud of gray smoke. Matt Raboin would also blow on the grid, leaving two QSM engines out of the race without taking a lap. 17 circuits later, Quantum Racing teammate Matthew Dominique also fell to the engine bug, leaving half of the QSM motor brigade out of the event early.

Bill Werkheiser inherited the lead with his third starting spot, leading the field for the first seven laps while holding off Alex Crapser. John Tharp took the advantage after the first caution flag and cruised ahead to lead the entire stint. An excellent pit stop by the Wendy's crew gave John Battista the top spot after the second yellow on lap 40.

A lap 6 accident sent Johnny Reed Foley into the outside turn-1 wall, rebounding to a 22nd-place finish. Cristian Torres brought out the second yellow after smacking the turn-4 wall, spinning out and eventually blowing up on lap 91, finishing 35th. The third yellow initiated with David Butterworth doing the same, careening into Dave Miller while Cristiano De Sa, Zakk Miller, Adam Crapser and Steven Spears all failed to miss the melee, destroying their automobiles.

A pit road accident put Rick Jackson one lap down, becoming the fifth chase driver to endure trouble before the lap-100 mark. Up front, it was John Battista, John Tharp, Bink Lucas, Markell Murphy, Ben Geer and Scott Jackson swapping the top-6 continuously. On the restart after the third caution, Murphy beat Battista out of the pits only to see the #39 take it back on the restart.

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