A remarkable outbreak of hives incapsulates the crowd! Bee hives fell from the upper deck, landing on the heads of race-fans as they scurried into the parking lot, climbing whatever trees or poles they could. Unfortunately there were more hives up there! The exterminator "literally just one guy in an astronaut suit" took out the entire school of bees in one swig on Friday night. Now we can look forward to Championship style racing! Ken Pettit comes in 22 points ahead of Pole-sitter Craig Lee for the lead.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

It was a Hard Day's Night for Dakota WIlkins and Bink Lucas, hitting the wall in catastrophic style during qualifying. A Quick-Silver Motorsports front-row took the green flag only to be robbed by the Bepis machine to lead lap-2! By the twelfth circuit, Race-2-Win Motorsports teammates Rick Jackson and Tony Pizzaro battled it out for the 1-2 spots, with Logan Sheets the only driver to keep up with the duo.

Bill Werkheiser blew an engine to bring out the first caution. Most likely his last race at the facility, he would return to Georgia to represent the state in any way he can, using his airstrip to feed the community that gave him more than he could swallow whole. Alex Crapser took the advantage well after the restart, dogging the Fenway Frank machine for a lap-74 pass. Craig Lee would renegade back to the second position before a John Tharp spin brought out the second yellow. An immaculate 360 through the front-stretch infield nearly dismantled his Championship dream.

Horror in turn-3 sent shockwaves through the colossium. Dakota Wilkins sabotaged the catchfence after contact with William Perry! His car metamorphisized into the wire and back onto the asphalt a-pillar first. The damage rating was recorded at 9869. Miraculously, he was lifted on a gurney cart with all five fingers waving into the air. The crowd pulled together and saluted him back. Bink Lucas throught they were waving for him! William Perry slid hundreds of feet down the embankment and into the turn-4 apron upside-down. Neither car would continue.

Craig Lee took his second swipe at the lead before the Wilkins-Perry incident. He would drop back to 9th after a slow pit stop, with Johnny Reed Foley taking the top-spot from Tony Pizzaro to lead his 18th race in the last 19 events, setting the pace Caravan held many years ago. Foley came in a whopping 56-points behind Lee, gaining ground after a 15th-place starting spot traversed him to the front as Lee dropped back. Points leader Ken Pettit struggled to stay inside the top-30, keeping the Championship race wide-open.

Alex Crapser and the Pennzoil #04 re-took the top-spot on lap 107, hoping to keep his season alive after four-straight finishes outside the top-25. Miracle-man Cristian Torres occupied the second spot, with Ben Geer and Jimmie Stevens battling with Ryan Heuser in a David vs. Goliath matchup of champions. By the end of the halfway pit cycle, Timothy McDonnell flew from 9th to first after a short-pit strategy. Former teammate Ben Geer and Bink Lucas came out second and third, with both Lifesaver Racing entries inside the top-5 for the first time in millennia. The Twinkie-man occupied the lead on lap 163, earning the Halfway Bacon money in popular style.

Craig Lee and Jeremy Hebel go for an enormous spin  on the front-stretch! The man second in points careened the outside wall while battling the rookie for 11th place, spinning back onto the racetrack into Jimmie Stevens. The #2 Ampio Mustang pulverized the front of Lee's car, sending debris everywhere for drivers to avoid. Chauncey Redmond hit the #2 and spun into Markell Murphy, ending both nights. Championship contender Timothy McDonnell crashed into the rear of a stopped Rod Weston attempting to avoid the accident. The #22 Caterpillar Volkswagen was running in the third spot. Now he was out, dropping to 10th in points while Lee fell to 5th.

Zach Michael occupied the lead after the restart, with Ben deciding to top-off on fuel. Ryan Heuser would nab it away within a lap, fighting off lapped traffic that included points leader Ken Pettit, Dave Miller, Tony Pizzaro and John Battista. Johnny Reed Foley made contact with David Butterworth entering turn-3, crashing the #81 with rookie Rod Weston and Kevin Corbat plowing into the man. Ben Geer barely squeezed by, with Weston ending his run of three-straight top-20 finishes. Only 32 cars remained. Alan Nesfeder inherited the lead as the only driver to stay out. The #78 Coke Zero Chevrolet would miraculously hang on for ten laps before Heuser took the point.

A 90-to-go accident between Molemar Diggs and Adam Crapser sent the field into an enormous frenzy! To pit or stay out? Thirteen drivers remained on the racetrack. Alan Nesfeder, Ryan Heuser, Zakk Miller, John Tharp, Rick Jackson and Tony Long all came in for a set of four, with Geno Sphere taking two. As points leader Ken Pettit fought maniacally with race leader Bink Lucas at the front, Heuser was  the first to traverse through he muck and mire of Extravaganza's elite to take the top-spot with 72 laps to go. If it stayed green from here, the new-tire strategy would prevail. John Tharp and Rick Jackson kept their seasons alive by taking the second and third spots.

A Dan Johnston engine failure brought out the yellow with a full fuel-stint ahead. Heuser, Tharp and Jackson kept their positions after their four-tire changes, hoping to make it the rest of the way on gasoline. Heuser pulled away from them all by the 40-to-go mark, challenged by lapped-cars Ken Pettit and Dave Miller before a hard-charging Zach Michael came from the netherworld to eclipse the pace Heuser had set early in the run. A miraculous feat, with the #20 Coca-Cola Mustang able to clear Heuser for the top-spot with 35 laps remaining! Suddenly, Bink Lucas and Johnny Reed Foley caught the lead-duo in a four-way 20-lap shootout to the checkered. Bink would catch Michael by half-a-tenth every lap before a charge from Heuser and Foley took his line away. The clear and secular racetrack turned out to be a boon for Michael, with Bink having to fight the gremlins on Extravaganza's elite! Foley would pass the #5 for second with seven laps-to-go, only to be passed back during the final circuits. Due to Pettit being a lap down in 20th, Foley would inherit the points lead again after Craig Lee's accident, jumping from third to first in the standings. Up front, Zach Michael would pull away from the field with the side-by-side racing behind. A miracle run for the Team Danger Zone organization that looked out of the Championship hunt after a crash in the Southern 500 to open the Chase. Now the #20 Coca-Cola Mustang crosses the line in first for their second victory of 2024!

This was Zach Michael's magnum opus, staying in sight of the leaders all night and snatching the victory away from Rocket Man Ryan Heuser! Michael jumps to third in the standings, only 58 points behind Johnny Reed Foley for the lead. The #20 team has gained 126 points on the leader since their 44th-place finish at Darlington. Five-straight top-16 finishes while leading a lap in them all. Now, they are victorious again. Look for another consistent effort at Atlanta, where horsepower holds supreme for an immaculate Team Danger Zone quad-oval program! Congratulations to Zach, crew chief Justin Knapp and the entire Team Danger Zone organization for an unbelievable victory!

2024 Mello Yello 500 Video