*The annual Sonoma pre-race "techno-explosion" circa 1998

Qualifying Results

Fourteen different winners in 2025! Road-ringers Timothy McDonnell and John Tharp rejoice in their "California swag", wearing their tie dye pantaloons with pride! "We got to crush grapes yesterday" said Champion crew chief Mustard Mahoney. "It reminded me of the old days, smashing pumpkins in Matt's backyard in Vermont." We asked Mustard to point to Vermont on the mini-map. His finger covered the entire state! "Our house was next to the Hannaford's. We bought so much pastrami there the cows started to disappear." A victory at Sonoma will be their third of the year, hoping to break the tie with Johnny Reed Foley and Chauncey Redmond Jr.. Alan Nesfeder will start on the pole, hoping to pull off a miracle victory at a track he's struggled at in the past.

Tony Gunk exemplifies the "zero to hero" mentality better than most, suffering through the European carting ranks with his brother Jim from 2016 through 2018. Their independent "stars and stripes" two-stroke Comet failed to compete with Cristiano de Sa's "Maxxis-Chassis Parilla" and Giuseppe Gastaldi's "Vivaldi-LeCont", heading back home for a future in the Carolina Late Model ranks. Tony joined pasta-sauce magnate Jim Solomon in a two-car effort with Champion Steve Inkman in the Super Crown Ultra Modifieds (SCUM). He and Inkman dominated the field, losing to Jared Mogard in 2019 with Inkman defeating Matt Bontempi for the title in 2020. 2021 was Gunk's time to shine, finishing second to the late Joe Mersdorf, and re-joining Inkman for a full-time expenditure in Bonanza. Neither were able to win in their two years together, but team owners Jim Solomon and Robert Tark were ready to head to Extravaganza. An early top-10 run at Nashville, a lap led at Michigan and two 18th-place efforts at Martinsville and Bristol were capped by a 14th-place masterpiece in the Eddie Money Classic. Gunk's "Kelpo Cam" Charger finished 47th in points, qualifying for 17 of the 36 races. Gunk made the field for his first Daytona 500 in 2025. He finished his first seven events, followed by a miraculous 7th-place effort in the Coca-Cola 600. Four weeks later, Gunk finally crossed the finish-line first.

Friday, July 4th, 4:00 ET