The Litchfield County hamlet of Lakeville, Connecticuit; nestled in the Southern Berkshires where Yankee and Red Sox fans alike can take refuge in immaculate glory! The world's greatest 1.5-mile course consistently serves it's purpose as the backwoods sanctuary of Extravaganza Series racing. This event was deemed a two-to-three year experiment just six years ago. Now it's become a staple on the Extravaganza Series tour, with road-ringers and rungers alike favoring the facility to high reviews! The sixth annual Country Time at The Lime should endure no exception.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

Johnny Reed Foley hopes to claim his 11th-straight race with a lap-led and reboot his Championship effort! He would succeed, holding off Jeremy Hebel, David Baldinger and teammate Timothy McDonnell to lead the initial 14 circuits. Lucas Racing would struggle mightily during the tenure. A lap-12 crash by Dalton Lucas saw him pulverize the turn-4 barrier, dropping him out. Teammate and Michigan winner Alex Crapser blew an engine on the frontsrtetch just two laps later, dropping from 3rd to 5th in the standings.

Johnny Reed Foley and Timothy McDonnell make contact battling for the lead! The #22 Caterpillar Volkswagen hit oil from the Dalton Lucas accident, traversing to the left and tapping his teammate. Both shot into the guardrail, with David Baldinger tearing his nose after a second impact with Foley. All three drivers would miraculously continue on, handing the lead to Scott Jackson. It would be Jackson's 7th lap led the entire season, pitting with a tire vibration during the yellow.

John Battista inherited the top-spot before devastation at the West Bend corner. Scott Jackson and Tony Gunk flew across the embankment after contact, sending the #38 ATEUP Chevrolet into a series of violent flips before a hit from Molemar Diggs stopped his momentum. Miraculously, Jackson came out of the car beaten but alive. He and Diggs would fail to continue. Gunk would limp home to a 30th place finish despite driving a crushed soda-can for the remainder of the race.

John Battista led from laps 14 through 19. John Tharp took the advantage after the accident, leading through lap 25 before another crash at the uphill chicane. David Butterworth, Adam Crapser and Jonathan Skrabacz entered the corner three-wide, with the #48 and #81 into the tire barrier and unable to continue. Only 39 drivers remained, leaving Foley, McDonnell and Baldinger feeling fortunate to still be on the track despite their misfortune.

Sonoma winner John Tharp continued to dominate the show in search of his second road course victory of 2024. The #14 Zig-Zag entry would lead through lap 42 before a Craig Lee and Zach Michael accident brought out the following yellow. Jimmie Stevens and Johnny Reed Foley were the only two drivers to stay out, gambling on fuel strategy and a chance at the Halfway Bacon Bonus. Stevens and Matthew Dominique were able to hold off the anchored #3 Chevrolet while swapping the top-spot. Both entered Lime Rock as the biggest disappointments in 2024. Now they stand 1 and 2. Dominique would lead the Halfway Bacon Bonus.

Geno Sphere and Tony Pizzaro crash on lap 71. Dakota Wilkins and Zach Michael receive minor damage attempting to avoid the melee, both narrowly inside the chase-cutoff heading in. Donald Stewart, Rick Jackson and Matt Raboin were trapped a lap down after coming down for green flag stops. Logan Sheets, Ryan Heuser, Jeremy Hebel, Bink Lucas, Dave Miller, Dan Johnston, Adam Crapser, Michael Henson, and Alan Nesfeder all continued to stay out despite their half-empty fuel tanks.

Ryan Heuser and Logan Sheets swapped the lead multiple times from lap 74 through lap 97. It was a 1-2 punch from the Gods of Extravaganza, pulling away from the field before their inevitable stops just before the lap-100 mark. Jeremy Hebel and John Battista took turns at the front before having to come in, leaving Tony Pizzaro, John Tharp and Matthew Dominique at the head of the pack. Pizzaro and Dominique would never pit, narrowly escaping disaster after a Rod Weston, Steven Spears and Adam Crapser crash nearly took them out on the No Name Straight. They would traverse through without a scratch. Unfortunately, they would relinquish the lead back to Heuser and Sheets.

Ryan Heuser was forced against the cones at the uphill carousel, handing the lead to Sheets and dropping to fourth after regaining his momentum. Just afterwards, Jimmie Stevens would dismantle the turn-4 barrier, ending his day after a fantastic run. Adam Crapser spun in the aftermath, leading to a 13-lap shootout to the finish. Battista wasted no time, with he, John Tharp, Dan Johnston and Ryan Heuser all surpassing the #58 after the restart in a ten-lap battle for the victory!

Battista and Tharp pulled to a 2.5-second advantage over Johnston with five laps to go. Battista fought immaculately to fend off the #14, but Tharp and his light-weighted Zig-Zag Toyota was too strong in the end. A tap exiting turn-4 sent Battista into the guardrail, soaring into a two-wheel excursion against the embankment while watching the #14 pull away. The Wendy's machine barely fought off Dan Johnston for second-place across the line. John Tharp would pull away from both, earning his second road course victory in 2024 in high-demand fashion!

Four top-2 finishes have been the highlight of John Tharp's consistent season, earning a myriad of top-20's to round out his fantastic 2024 campaign! This Lime Rock victory nearly seals the deal, exiting the New England agriculture with an ensured chase birth if he can finish at least one of the next two events. With a win next week at Watkins Glen, the #14 Zig-Zag team would be the first to sweep every road course race during the same year; a Herculean feat! Congratulations to John Tharp, crew chief King Joe Dawkins and the entire PHR Racing organization for an excellent victory!

2024 Country Time at The Lime