Matthew Dominique, Jimmie Stevens and Logan Sheets attempt to maintain their distance from 11th place in points with three events left in the regular season. All three drivers start 20th or worse, proving a boon for John Tharp, Alex Crapser and Alan Nesfeder to pounce after gridding near the pole. Zakk Miller and Crapser start on the front row, with Cristiano De Sa pulling off a miracle 9th place run.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

The green flag waved with three-wide action broiling mid-way through the pack. The high-intense mania continued through lap 2, with Timothy McDonnell passing Alex Crapser for second and taking the lead away through the uphill chicane. Miller would pass him back on the same corner two laps later.

Tony Pizzaro found his way to the third position as McDonnell and Miller continued to battle for the lead. The field remained close behind due to the swapping, producing continuous two-wide action towards the tail-end of the top-10. Miller would fly through lap 20 as the leader with Alex Crapser close behind.

The #04 Pennzoil car led his first lap of the race on lap 21. He would earn his well needed five bonus-points, coming in 62 points behind 10th-place Logan Sheets in the standings who was struggling outside the top-20. Timothy McDonnell would re-take the top-spot on lap 23, relinquishing the position to John Battista before taking it back a couple laps later.

An accident off the downhill into the Sam Posey straightaway brought out the first caution of the race. Rick Jackson ran wide coming off of the final corner, lifting with Philip Parker directly behind. The two made contact, with Parker exiting the corner without anticipating the check-up. Both cars catapulted into the inside tire-barrier. The #44 flew back up the racetrack and into Bill Werkheiser. All three cars received massive damage and failed to continue.

The ensuing restart saw Craig Lee stay out without re-fueling, desperate for five-bonus points after coming in 175 behind the chase cutoff. He could only maintain pace for a full lap before McDonnell re-took the lead. Lee and second place Zakk Miller would swap the second position several times, causing McDonnell to pull away from the field. The #22 would inexplicably short-pit despite his advantage, leaving Alex Crapser and Zach Michael to battle for the top-spot.

A crash between Ben Geer and Jonathan Skrabacz on the righthander brought out the second yellow flag. This would trap chase contenders Matthew Dominique, Craig Lee and Adam Crapser one lap down. Fortunately, a multi-car spin between Dave Miller, Frank Womack, Rob Scarberry and Trae Larkin would hand Lee and Dominique their lap back. Nobody involved in the accident received significant damage. Logan Sheets earned five bonus-points in the process. Cristian De Sa earned the Cinderella halfway bacon bonus!

The ensuing restart was led by John Battista after the pit cycle, fighting his teammate Adam Crapser to keep him one lap down. Lap 79 saw Zach Michael take advantage of the battle, taking the top-spot on as the #4 continued to fight for his 2023 season. The #20 pulled to over a two-second advantage. Battista, Alex Crapser, Tony Pizzaro, Matt Raboin and Scott Jackson fought hard for the second position as we reached towards the 100-lap mark.

The final pit stops ensued around the 40-to-go mark. John Battista and Tony Pizzaro were the first to take tires, with Matt Raboin, Alex Crapser and Scott Jackson making their stops just one lap later. Timothy McDonnell exited the pits just behind Jackson and Raboin, who battled for the lead of the drivers that already came in. Zach Michael and Ryan Heuser stayed out as long as they could while anticipating a caution flag. It would never come. Fortunately, the #20 crew pulled off a miraculous two-tire stop with 28 laps-to-go, handing Zach a five-second advantage on the field.

The Coca-Cola Mustang was suddenly in a struggle of the ages, enduring the best he could to earn his third-straight victory. It was to no avail. Matt Raboin slowly grinded at the lead, finally making the pass on Zach with 11 laps remaining. The entire CFM brigade were suddenly in tow of both drivers, with McDonnell making the pass on the #20 with five laps-to-go. McDonnell clearly had the fastest car of the bunch, still making up from his earlier short-pit mistake.

The #87 and #22 were side by side on the final lap! Matt was attempting to back-up his Sonoma victory earlier in the season and bounce from his 14th position in points. McDonnell dive-bombed him through the uphill chicane and cleared the #87 with ease. It was over. Timothy McDonnell won his foruth race of the season, remaining in full stride with pure dominance and lack of DNF's to continue his stratospheric pace in 2023! This appears to be McDonnell's championship to lose. Congrats to Timothy, crew chief Kenzou Yamada and the entire CFM Motorsports organization for another excellent victory!

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