Flagman "Bucket" Bill Gallaway readies the field in an 18-car dash for $2,000,000! Pole winners dominate the facility, with miracle-men Ken Joynt, Michael Henson and Chauncey Redmond Jr. earning their entry while Timothy McDonnell, Ken Pettit, Rick Jackson, Alex Crapser and Matt Raboin relax on the sidelines. 50-laps and a pit stop will determine the first winner of 2025, with John Battista and Tony Pizzaro on the front-row.
Big Bud Shootout Results
The Wendy's #39 leads the field to the green! Battista cleared the Fenway Frank machine off of turn two, leading the first lap before Pizzaro made his bid. Behind them, Bink Lucas dives three-wide for the third spot, blindsiding Chauncey Redmond and Ryan Heuser on the inside. Pizzaro would fly past leader Battista with draft-help from John Tharp's Zig-Zag Toyota. Tharp would capitalize with a bold three-wide maneuver of his own entering turn-three, clearing for the top-spot.
John Tharp's #14 was a preeminent force, leading the field for fourteen-straight roundabouts. Matthew Dominique used his Wendy's slip-stream to slide by Tharp on lap sixteen, only for the #14 Zig-Zag Toyota to cross back by. Lapped car Dakota Wilkins gave Tharp a scare on lap-31, allowing Zakk Miller and Adam Crapser to facilitate an unlikely pass. Tharp drifted back while the field bunched into a three-wide cavalcade.
Dakota Wilkins, Chauncey Redmond Jr. and Ken Joynt all lost the draft failing to keep up with Tharp's lucrative speed. All three got lapped before the first pit stop, praying for a miracle to put them back in contention. Both Joynt and Redmond are desperate to make the Daytona 500 field during next week's Daytona Duel's. Joynt's teammate and spotter Mark Heron churns on the radio.
Ryan Heuser and Adam Crapser dive three-wide with less than twenty laps-to-go! The #138 NOS-Energy Chevrolet got lost his track position early after a simiar three-wide maneuver on the second lap. A seventy-five mile charge puts him back up front, only for Champion Johnny Reed Foley to snag it back. 1,630 laps led in 2024 and two so far tonight. Matthew Dominique re-took the top-spot with fifteen laps remaining.
Race dominator John Tharp catapults into the wall! Markell Murphy and Jeremy Hebel tangle in turn-3, sliding into Tharp and Dakota Wilkins as all four compress into the outside retaining barrier. Zig-Zag's twenty-six laps led now sits in the garage, with both he and Wilkins out of the event. Murphy and Hebel would lose the draft after the oncoming restart, with twelve drivers up to speed for an eleven-lap dash for the victory!
Matthew Dominique and Bink Lucas battled defiantly for the top-spot while crossing the line with ten-to-go. Lucas would make the pass, with Craig Lee, Johnny Reed Foley and Zach Michael freight-training the inside and putting them 1-2-3! Foley and Michael battled defiantly for the second spot while Craig Lee pulled ahead. Lee's never won a Big Bud Shootout in his illustrious career. On the final lap, Zakk Miller and Zach Michael stormed behind the #101 Nos Energy Chevrolet, only for Michael to make a bid on his own. He would be denied! Craig Lee wins his first career Big Bud Shootout in 2025!
A well-earned victory for Craig Lee, hoping to continue his flow for the early part of the year. Last season he finished second in the Daytona 500 and won California, leading the points en route to his eventual 5th-place standing! Teammates Ryan Heuser and Dave Miller also looked strong, an omen for more Quick-Silver dominion in 2025. Congratulations to Lee, crew chief Pokey Reese and the entire Quick-Silver Motorsports organization for an excellent victory!
2025 Big Bud Shootout Video
