John Tharp attempts his third-straight Eddie Money Classic victory! It's schedule change to the Spring may prove challenging for some of the veterans. The #14 Zig-Zag Toyota favors the boiling asphalt of the usual late-September sun, hoping to adjust to the higher speeds in what should be an overcast and cool afternoon. Former drag racer Jimmie Stevens will perform "double duty", racing a pro stock in the 64-car bracket challenge across the street.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

Tony Pizzaro eats his usual fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich in honor of Elvis! "My grandmother used to make it." said Pizzaro. "The arteries will unclog after the first caution." The green flag waved with Big Bud Shootout winner Logan Sheets at the point! The #58 Quaker State Intrepid would dominate the initial stint, leading every lap before the the first round of fuel stops. Molemar Diggs, Craig Lee, Markell Murphy and Zach Michael monopolized the remaining top-5 positions by lap-50.

The track would boil like a buttered frying-pan, eliminating any predictions of an overcast day. The ill-handling cars towards the rear would suffer over the incinerating asphalt! Mark Heron and Chauncey Redmond Jr. made contact on lap-40, sending both cars into the outside wall while battling for 31st. Heron's left-rear tire would blow after the carnage, forcing a two-minute pit stop to clean out the rubber. He would finish 39th. Redmond limped home just one spot ahead.

Geno goes for a Gyro! A morbid crash, mimicking his near career-ending accident at Darlington in 2022. The #444 Kingsford Chevrolet bounced off the turn-4 wall and into Dan Johnston, sending both cars towards the infield grass. Johnston escaped unharmed, with Geno captapulting over the access roads and into the outside barrier! Nine virulent flips before coming to a top towards the pit-exit cone. He would extract himself from the car under his own power, miraculously unscathed.

Pole-sitter Logan Sheets kept his car at the front through lap-83! He and Dave Miller swapped the top-spot on several occasions, with Cristian Torres, John Tharp and Markell Murphy deep in the mix by the halfway mark. Sheets would drop to third before a soft right-front tire sent him to the pits. Miraculously, he would climb back to 16th after gaining his lap back late, earning a fourth-straight top-20 finish to begin his 2026 campaign. Up front, "Cigarette Man" Dave Miller continued his rout, leading with only 110 laps-to-go.

Markell Murphy takes the lead! The Daytona 500 winner slides past Dave Miller on the outside, followed by John Tharp in search of his third-straight Eddie Money Classic victory! Racing for 7th with teammate Timothy McDonnell, reigining two-time Champion Johnny Reed Foley blows! An unprecedented fourth-straight race without a top-10, dropping to 21st in the standings after a broken valve. Teammate Timothy McDonnell suffers the same stat-line, dropping to a morbid 27th-place effort.

A Chauncey Redmond Jr. spin brings out the caution, setting up a 104-lap shootout to the finish! John Tharp beats Markell Murphy out of the pits, defiantly pulling away from the pack after the restart. By lap-190, the #47 Red Bull Mustang caught him, taking the top-spot on lap-191 with the #14 Zig-Zag Toyota eroding the tires. He would attempt to hold off John Battista and Dave Miller for second-place. Up front, Murphy would put points leader Ryan Heuser one lap down.

Molemar Diggs goes for a spin! He and Tony Pizzaro make contact on the backstretch, sliding into the path of Craig Lee and bringing out the caution. Lee would fall outside the top-10 in points, with Molemar dropping to a devastating 40th. Up front, Markell Murphy and John Tharp pull to a one-second advantage! Points leader Ryan ... Read more »