John Battista and Matt Raboin won the two events at Richmond last season. This blackballed Ryan Heuser from a victory at the track for the first time in nearly a decade, winning the Championship despite the failure. He was able to win the qualifying race to make the show after a morbid start to 2024. This is his opportunity to finally get the ball rolling, gridding 21st in hopes for a top-10 finish with two more short tracks ahead!

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

Michael Henson earns his first pole of 2024! The Black + Decker team earned three in 2022, all on speedway's en route to his top-10 finish in the 2023 Big Bud Shootout. He couldn't finish better than 21st in those events, hoping to break the mold today by earning his first victory since Bristol in 2017. Molemar Diggs starts his first race inside the top-20, starting on the outside pole. He's in a dead heat for Rookie of the Year with Jeremy Hebel, with Diggs in hope of earning his third-straight top-6 finish!

The #144 held off the charge for 13 laps before Molemar Diggs took the advantage, leading his first career Extravaganza Series laps. Molemar would dominate the run, with Johnny Reed Foley and Zakk Miller in tow throughout. Steve Inkman, Logan Sheets, David Butterworth, Ben Geer, Geno Sphere, Jeremy Hebel, Bill Werkheiser, Trae Larkin and Cristian Torres all fell down a lap to the advantage of Molemar.

A debris caution would bring an end to Molemar's reign, losing the lead to Johnny Reed Foley after the restart. The #3 AC Delco Chevrolet and Zakk Miller's Bepis Mustang would swap the top-spot before two caution flags in-a-row set the field at a standstill. Zach Michael, Alex Crapser, Dan Johnston and Markell Murphy all went for spins, recovering with minor damage while able to continue.

Zakk Miller dominated the second green flag run, clinching the halfway bacon bonus before coming in for a pit stop. Most of the field came in early in hopes of a tire advantage. William Perry, Molemar Diggs and Dalton Lucas attempted to stretch their fuel to the limit, succeeding in their strategy after a Dan Johnston spin brought out the caution on lap 254.

Only Johnny Reed Foley, Zakk Miller, Adam Crapser and Tony Pizzaro stayed out during the yellow flag. William Perry, Molemar Diggs, Dalton Lucas, Ryan Heuser, Ken Pettit, Alex Crapser, Rick Jackson and Dakota Wilkins came in for fresh tires towards a 140-lap shootout to the finish! Miraculously, all 43 cars were still running by this point, leaving an accident or engine failure for one driver as a devastating blow in the points.

Johnny Reed Foley meandered through the inside traffic after the restart, extending his lap-led total on the season to 250. Perry's #70 Flex Fuel Dodge fought back to the forefront to occupy second place, passing Diggs and Miller in persuit of his second lead of the night. Tex hasn't won a race since Martinsville of 2016, narrowly making the Reese's Cup 400 field after starting the season 37th in points. He is now in contention for the victory.

Perry, Molemar Diggs and Dalton Lucas used their immaculate pit strategy to underdog the field, occupying the 1-2-3 positions after crossing the 100-to-go mark! Perry hasn't won since 2016. Molemar has never been to victory lane. Lucas is looking for career win #2, two years removed from his Daytona 500 glory. At the 60-to-go mark, the #88 Little Caesar's Chevrolet made his bid for the lead and took it outright from Perry!

Five laps after losing the lead, William Perry came in for his final stop. Lucas entered the pits two laps later, coming out just behind Diggs before disaster struck! Ninth-place point man Dakota Wilkins blew a right-front tire off of turn-2, stacking the field and sending last week's winner Bink Lucas and pole-sitter Michael Henson for a spin. Craig Lee and Chauncey Redmond Jr. power-slammed the #144, blocking the racetrack in front of the second and third-place drivers. Molemar was able to navigate through in immaculate style! Lucas plowed the #144, destroying his radiator after his greatest Richmond performance to date. John Battista, Rod Weston, Ben Geer, Matt Raboin, Dakota Wilkins, Cristian Torres and Adam Crapser all couldn't stop in time. Only Weston was able to continue.

Several drivers went from a near-lap down to challenge William Perry for the win! Ken Pettit was the first to contend with the #70, succeeding after a pass on the inside with 20 laps remaining. It was over from there. The 2021 Champion and current points leader ended the Cinderella story by creating his own, crossing the line as the leader for his first career short track victory! Perry was able to hold on for second, his best finish since Talladega in 2020.

Ken Pettit's 120-lap led performance at Nashville last season set the spark for his second-place Championship performance. He's been indestructible ever since, finishing his 35th-straight points race without falling to an accident. The #8 Bob Marley team is currently one of only three organizations to finish every race this season, tied with John Tharp and Steve Inkman. They currently stand 73-points ahead of Zakk Miller for the lead in the Championship standings. Congrats to Pettit, crew chief Slim Horton and the entire Race-2-Win organization for an excellent victory!

2024 Reese's Cup 400 Video