Bodies roam the Atlanta Motor Speedway awaiting the mass of tungsten and driver flesh to coagulate in 200 mile-per-hour style! One man called it a "death trap on concrete". There is no concrete on Atlanta, but there is a pit stall where the crew has to jump over bushes to reach the racecar! John Battista occupies that stall. Zakk Miller will grid along-side after earning his fifth pole of the 2024 campaign.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

The early laps saw candy bar wrappers and bars themselves fly across the windshields. "I didn't know birds pooped brown" said Craig Lee. It was a Three Musketeers! Ryan Heuser took the early advantage from Zakk Miller on lap-3, hoping to narrow a 96-point gap between he and points leader Johnny Reed Foley. All ten Championship contenders showed signs of early speed.

Winless-wonder Logan Sheets took the lead on lap-7. The Quaker State #58's hopes are to dethrone John Battista and Matt Raboin from 11th in the standings. Both drivers are heavily associated with Valvoline and Valvoline accessories. Quaker State looks upon them with fury and disdain. Both Battista and teammate Alex Crapser would chain-link past the #58 on lap-16, solidifying their oil-warfare supremacy.

Points leader and "Memphis Blues" man Johnny Reed Foley took the lead on lap-22. It would be the AC-Delco's 19th race led in 20 events, hoping to cash their stride with an Extravaganza Series crown! Craig Lee and John Battista fought the #3 for the lead, only for Foley to climb his way back. He could not prevent Ken Pettit from leading a lap, with "Marley Man" coming in only 8-points behind in second. Last Week's winner and third-in-points man Zach Michael also maintained his presence at the front.

A horrible break for Dakota Wilkins, Michael Henson and Tony Gunk; falling to the wayside after engine trouble. Rick Jackson endured the same hindrance, limping around at minimum speed to keep his title hopes alive. Up front, Timothy McDonnell was once again a contender! The #22 Caterpillar Volkswagen dominated the stint, leading all 54 laps before a Chauncey Redmond Jr. short-pit put the #64 atop the heap. Redmond, McDonnell, Zach Michael, Johnny Reed Foley and Craig Lee were the front-runners through the halfway mark, with the #20 Coca-Cola Mustang earning the Halfway Bacon Bonus!

Former Race-2-Win teammates Rick Jackson and David Butterworth tangled on lap-180. Jackson would fail to continue, ending his Championship bid with a 41st-place finish. Butterworth limped home to 31st. The ensuing restart saw Chauncey Redmond Jr. tap John Battista on the quad-oval exit. Battista saved his Wendy's machine through the infield apron, with the #64 barreling into the path of Bink Lucas and Matt Raboin. Lucas and Redmond failed to continue. Raboin crawled his way to 34th; well off the pace for the remaining circuits.

Ben Geer, Adam Crapser, Matthew Dominique and Timothy McDonnell led the field to the green with 125 laps to the distance! Discover Card's "Swipe of the race" was given to Ryan Heuser, traversing through lapped traffic to swipe McDonnell for the lead. A three-wide masterpiece handed Markell Murphy the top-spot, driving the car he ran at Texas and Michigan to similar success. Fan-favorite Dan Johnston fell ill with transmission issues, finishing 42nd.

Second-in-points man Ken Pettit inherited the lead while Johnny Reed Foley nibbled in the 10th position. By lap 230, Foley was inside the top-5. Pettit lost the advantage to Dave Miller, dropping back in the pack. A horrible accident by Logan Sheets on the back-straightaway brought out the final caution flag. He and Tony Pizzaro catapulted into the infield, smashing the inside-wall at 189 miles-per-hour and into a series of violent spins. Mucus flew through the eyelids and caused temporary blindness. "Like ice cream jimmies splitting through the eyeballs." said Logan. "That hurt almost as bad. The impact split a bone or three but I'll be back." He would finish 38th. Tony Pizzaro miraculously kept the car running, finishing 24th and keeping Fenway's title hopes alive.

The lapped #46 couldn't stop Ryan Heuser from re-acquiring the top-spot. With help from Matthew Dominique, the two attempted to pull away from the field before Johnny Reed Foley came into the picture. In search of his league-leading seventh victory of 2024, he swiped the lead away from Heuser just before Donald Stewart blew in front of the field! Foley hit the oil, sliding below the bottom quad-oval tar-strip and kept on trucking! Dave Miller held the advantage from there, keeping it before Foley re-grouped and nabbed it back with 52 laps-to-go.

A four-man race between Foley, Miller, Zach Michael and John Battista etched the final 40-lap stint to the finish! Charlotte winner Zach Michael determined his way past the #3 in hopes of making it two-in-a-row. Foley passed him back, with Miller and Michael fighting it out for the second spot. Ken Pettit was dropping back in the field, handing Foley and Michael the opportunity to gain in the standings. The two swapped positions twice more before the final green flag stops. In fact, they were side-by-side when the #3 came in. A skirmish between Jonathan Skrabacz and Alex Crapser nearly brought out the yellow mid-cycle. It was not to be. Zach Michael exited the pits one second over Foley, with teammate Steven Spears a miraculous third! Spears would finally earn his goal of a top-5 finish in 2024! Up ahead, Foley caught the #20 Coca-Cola Mustang with twelve laps remaining, easily flying by while tugging Dave Miller and Matthew Dominique through the mire. Johnny Reed Foley would earn his seventh victory of 2024 in immaculate style!

A remarkable triumph! Johnny Reed Foley extends his lead to 67 points over Ken Pettit in the 2024 Championship! His 7th victory and 1,300th lap-led are career milestones; stamping his name into Extravaganza Series lore with unbreakable dominance and the horsepower of a Piper Cherokee. Rockingham will be the dark horse, crashing in qualifying during the spring and finishing 36th. If this team can come out of there with a top-5, the season might finally be theirs. Congratulations to Foley, crew chief Ronnie "Pure Love" Pressley and the entire CFM Motorsports organization for another excellent victory!

2024 Dunacell 500 Video