An immaculate qualifying time by Johnny Reed Foley and Ryan Heuser puts them two-tenths ahead of the field on speed! Behind them, Jeremy Hebel, Trae Larkin, Steve Inkman, Rod Weston, Molemar Diggs, Joe Polson, Doug Spark, Tony Long, Dalton Lucas, Petey J. Zehler and Nigel Ramasawmy fight for the top-5 spots in their group to make the Daytona 500. The overall winner earns $2,000,000, enough to dominate the KFC kitchen.
The lead swapped several times early in the go. Johnny Reed Foley led one lap. Ryan Heuser then led two. Tony Pizzaro took the "Fenway Frank" ford up for a tour at the front. When Dakota Wilkins took the lead on lap 5, time stood still. He dominated the early portion of the event, leading through lap 13 before Heuser grappled it back.
Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley dominated from laps 15 through 30, re-certifying themselves as the top-class of the field. Heuser won the halfway bacon bonus on lap 30, with Tony Pizzaro taking the charge just before green flag pit stops. Ryan Heuser would blow his engine just prior to coming in, taking out the favorite! Donald Stewart and Scott Jackson came in first, signaling crews to wave their signs in severe euphoria after the dominant car fell out!
Euphora was not to be! A disastrous accident out of the pits saw Rod Weston and Johnny Reed Foley smack the outside wall, sending the #56 sliding down the race track. Dakota Wilkins pile-drove the NAPA Dodge nose-first, getting clobbered by Tony Long on the driver-side door and into a series of sidewinders. Wilkins, Weston and Joe Polson all violently flew into the air, with all three cars coming to a stop tires-first onto the turn-3 apron. Wilkins was flown to the Halifax Medical Center with undisclosed injuries. His status for the Daytona 500 is yet to be determined. Weston, Polson and Long are okay, but each failed to make the 2024 Daytona 500.
Tony Pizzaro led the field to the green with 13 laps remaining. Teammate Ken Pettit showed the speed of his near Championship run in 2023, flying from 10th to 1st in three laps while he, Pizzaro, Craig Lee and Markell Murphy battled it out to the finish. The #101 NOS Energy Chevrolet took the top-spot with seven laps remaining, but an Cindarella effort from Steve Inkman pushed the #8 back around Lee with five laps remaining.
Contact from Dalton Lucas sent Matt Raboin fying into the outside wall with four laps to go, taking Dan Johnston and Zakk Miller with him in a shower of sparks! This turn-3 accident brought out the caution flag, ending the race with Ken Pettit atop the heap! Miller, Raboin and Johnston would all come out okay in relative hopes of repairing their cars to full song for the 500.
The "Rastaman" crew celebrates in sheer euphoria while watching their car cross the finish-line at highway speed from the pits! Ken Pettit will start outside row to Dave Miller when the 45-car field takes the green flag next Friday. Congrats to Pettit, crew chief Slim Horton and the entire Race-2-Win team for an excellent victory! Also congrats to Steve Inkman, Trae Larkin, Dalton Lucas, Molemar Diggs and Jeremy Hebel for earning their spot in the 2024 Daytona 500 field!
Ten drivers fight for five starting spots in the 2024 Daytona 500! David Butterworth, Mike Carroll, Scott Drake, David Courtney, Kevin Corbat, Tony Gunk, Mark Heron, Ken Joynt, Philip Parker and Ziggy Moonglow fight for outright supremacy! The overall winner will earn $2,000,000 and a front row starting spot for the Daytona 500 grid!
The #4 Green Bay Packers Chevrolet blew a left-front tire coming to the green flag, forcing him to pit early and drop a lap. Up front, Timothy McDonnell dominated the early stages, leading the first 15 circuits before a hard-charge from John Battista, Alan Nesfeder and Logan Sheets. The #58 Quaker State dodge won the three-wide battle.
Devastation in turn-3 proved hard luck for the #02 Coca-Cola Chevrolet. Ziggy Moonglow's comeback story ends in agony after spinning across the racetrack, slamming the outside wall and into the top-lane of traffic. John Battista nailed him in the rear end, sending the #39 into the garage with Ziggy meandering outside the pack for the remainder of the night.
A miraculous pit stop by Alex Crapser's crew put him back on top, hoping to sweep Speedweeks after his victory in the Big Bud Shootout! It wouldn't last, with Sheets re-taking the top-spot and cruising to the halfway bacon bonus. Alan Nesfeder, Kevin Corbat and pole-sitter McDonnell all swapped the top-spot.
McDonnell, Dave Miller and Jimmie Stevens looked to be the three cars to beat closing on the final stages. The #90 Marlboro machine took the lead on lap 34, towing the field into a single-car line before McDonnell re-passed Miller with 16 laps remaining. Alan Nesfeder was on top of the heap three-laps later with the rest of the field ready to pounce.
Nesfeder, Miller and Logan Sheets all swapped the top-position multiple times while David Butterworth, Ken Joynt and David Courtney fought desperately for the final transfer spot around 17th place. Nesfeder would win the battle up front with draft help from McDonnell. Miller's cigarette mobile flew by the #22 in grand style, directly behind the #78 coming to the white flag.
"Marlboro Man" flew by Nesfeder on the frontstretch, leaving no time for anybody to get a run with only two-miles to go. The #90 would cross under the checkered flag a winner after a devastating 2023 campaign, re-earning his 2022 Championship glory! Congrats to Dave Miller, crew chief Sonny Sundae and the entire Quick-Silver Motorsports team for an excellent victory! Also congrats to Kevin Corbat, Scott Drake, David Butterworth, David Courtney and Mark Heron for earning their spot in the 2024 Daytona 500 field!