W.A.S.P. Motorsports: Bill Werkheiser will call it quits after the 2024 season. He will be in new colors this year, hoping to take the Piper Archer #6 to victory lane one final time after recieving Randy Dobbins's Ford factory support. Teammate Scott Jackson struggled with speed all season long, free-wheeling from an average starting-spot of 26th and miraculously finishing inside the top-20 in points. W.A.S.P. Motorsports as a whole hasn't been to victory lane since Scott won the Sharipe 500 in 2021. With Geno Sphere in the fold and new sponsorship from Kingsford, this three-car team has hope for the future.
Donald Stewart enters the season elated after a huge victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway to cap off 2023. Last year started off with similar success, earning five-straight top-5 finishes to begin, third in points entering the Russ Charneski 500. Five finishes 41st or worse halted the #55's chances of a chase birth, finishing 18th in the standings with ten top-5 finishes. A new look for Clorox may propel them to the stratosphere, with teammate Ben Geer earning a top-35 provisional spot after David Butterworth left High Octane Racing. With Allstate dropping their sponsorship to the #121 only, the #81 owner points no longer exist, bumping Ben Geer into the Daytona 500 and the first six races. If Stewart can earn a chase birth and Geer finishes top-30 in points, they will render the 2024 season a success!
Jeremy Hebel finished 2nd in the ARCA Bonzai Series Championship last season, losing to Jim Gunk in a head-to-head battle for the title! With the success, Alex Crapser's former crew chief has left the Lucas Racing ladder to join Blazin' Pedals Racing's second Extravaganza ride. The #1 Milwaukee Brewers Chevrolet will compete for Rookie of the Year against Molemar Diggs, Steve Inkman and Bonzai Champion Jim Gunk's brother Tony. Teammate Dakota Wilkins's 2023 Cinderella victory at Auto Club sets the team standard for 2024. They've switched to CFM Motorsports engines in 2024 after Lucas Racing's full commitment to Wizards of Speed's newfound two car organization. If they can get over that hurdle, expect one of these guys to finish top-20 in points and earn another victory!
The glory days with Johnny Reed Foley have yet to replicate for Shake N' Bake Racing. The #18 team is officially defunct, with Cristiano De Sa out of a ride for the Daytona 500. The Budweiser #15 endured an enormous blow after Tony Long's accident at Chicagoland, dropping out of the top-35 in points despite help from Jared Mogard. Long will have to qualify for his Daytona 500 spot, and for an entry in the first six events. Michael Henson's #144 will hold down the fort, hoping to finally eclipse a top-20 result in the standings. A victory for either team would be popular in the Extravaganza Series garage.
Old Farts Racing is back to a two car organization, bringing on David Butterwoth after he lost his Allstate sponsorship with High Octane Racing. Ironically, the sponsor forfeited just before Butterworth railroaded his way into the top-35 in points, earning four top-10 finishes in the final fourteen races. With that car defunct, he will now have to race his way into the Daytona 500 with Coor's Light as his new primary sponsor. Teammate Rob Scarberry maintains his popular standing with STP, looking to improve on his 26th place average finish in 2023. A victory would be nice, but a few top-5's with both cars finishing inside the top-30 in points will be the goal.
Ziggy Moonglow is back! His mortifying Sonoma pit-wall accident last June desecrated his abdomen and broke several ribs, but the doctors render him ready to go for 2024. Coca-Cola will remain the full time sponsor for the #02 after subsidiary Dr. Pepper pulled from the #18 Shake N' Bake Racing ride. Both he and teammate Trae Larkin need to qualify for the Daytona 500, hoping to use Ziggy's experience in the Big Bud Shootout to dominate the Daytona Duels. Delta Sim Racing's goal is for the #00 and #02 to finish the year top-35 in points.
Solomon-Tark Motorsports: Nobody expects anything from Solomon-Tark Motorsports. This two-car organization finished 22nd and 36th in the Bonanza Series standings, without a victory for either Steven Inkman or Tony Gunk. Still, relative sponsorship from Kelpo and Bran Flakes was enough to propel their move to full-time Extravaganza. Both drivers will compete for Rookie of the Year, with Inkman as the short-track ace and Gunk as the horsepower man. Making the Daytona 500 is the goal, with a week-to-week basis mentality for the oncoming races.
Dan Johnston and Rod Weston join the seven-car crowd of independent organizations running full time in 2024. Alan Nesfeder was finally able to top John Tharp for the highest points finisher of a one car team, earning 11th in the standings to Tharp's 13th. Tharp looks for his third Daytona 500 victory, hoping to partner with #26 Cristian Torres during the race as the only two full time Toyota's in the field. Hot Header Racing with Jonathan Skrabacz lost Boeing as a sponsor during the offseason, joining forces with Castrol G
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Alex Crapser's devastating frontstretch accident at Michigan didn't stop this team from earning immaculate glory! He and John Battista finished third and fourth in the 2023 standings, walloping the field with eight combined victories. Seven of them went to John Battista, capitalizing at Rockingham, Richmond, Martinsville, Talladega, Daytona, Watkins Glen and Bristol. Alex earned his at Chicagoland, with Adam Crapser nearly winning both Richmond events. If they can get Dalton Lucas into the Daytona 500 and qualify for the first six races, they will have their usual four-car arsenal for the 2024 season. If not, The #4 team will have to improve on their Speedway program to make up the difference. Expect the #39 and #04 to be Championship favorites.
Zakk Miller stepped up his game in 2023, earning a chase birth with two victories at Texas and New Hampshire. He will be the lone representative for Team Danger Zone in the 2024 Big Bud Shootout due to the teams focus on race setups, something they look to improve upon for the oncoming year. Zach Michael's consistency propelled him to a chase birth as well, dominating the mid-summer stretch with six top-6 finishes between Chicagoland and Watkins Glen. His back-to-back victories at the Brickyard 400 and a 46th-to-1st domination at Michigan were the highlights of the #20's Coca-Cola season. Teammate Markell Murphy raced inside the hornets nest from 15th to 25th all year long, looking to find more speed in 2024. With Steven Spears inside the top-35 in points, Team Danger Zone comes in as the only team with four guaranteed full-time entries. Look for Zach Michael and Zakk Miller to contend for the Championship.
Ryan Heuser finally earned his fourth Exravaganza Series Championship, dominating the show all year long in immaculate style! His victories at Atlanta, Darlington, Talladega and Rockingham combined well with his consistent finishes at short tracks, as well as his lack of engine failures. The #138 team was the saving grace, watching teammates Craig Lee and Dave Miller struggle early in the season. Both were outside the top-19 in points after the Brickyard 400, with Craig Lee and new crew chief Pokey Reese capturing victories at Pocono, Las Vegas and Martinsville to return to form. Hopefully, the #90 Marlboro team can do the same. Quicksilver Motorsports looks to earn their third-straight Championship crown in 2024!
All three drivers made the chase in 2023 for the first time in Race-2-Win Motorsports history. A blown camshaft at Rockingham destroyed Ken Pettit's Championship bid, though an vast improvement from 2022's 20th-place point performance earns a record-high morale for the team. Combining Pettit's Southern 500 victory was Rick Jackson's win at the Coke 600, and Tony Pizzaro's victory in the Daytona 500. Zach Michael's win at the Brickyard cost them the Extravaganza Grand-Slam, but their $143,815,000 in earnings for winning three Crown Jewel events may help the team in the furure. Expect more of the same results in 2024.
Matt Raboin pulled off a miracle run to earn Quantum racing's only 2023 chase birth! A second place finish at Lime Rock, a third at Watkins Glen and a victory at Richmond narrowly beat out Jimmie Stevens and teammate Matthew Dominique for the final spot for a run at the Championship. Unfortunately, the team would struggle for the remaining ten races, with Logan Sheets' second-place finish at Talladega as their only high point. Sheets and the #58 team earned eight top-5 finishes along with three second places, hoping to give new sponsor Quaker State their first career victory. Matthew Dominique and the #25 crew haven't won a race since Talladega in 2020. All three teams have the potential to reach victory lane in 2024, with Matt Raboin a factor at short tracks, Dominique's consistency, and Sheets eventually capitalizing on his second-place efforts.
Four drivers will enter the 2024 Daytona 500 for CFM Motorsports, including Kevin Corbat's #46 and Doug Spark's #03. Corbat has never qualified for the Great American Race after six years of trying, while Spark attempts his first qualification. The two full time drivers Timothy McDonnell and Johnny Reed Foley both come in as immaculate Championship contenders, with Timothy McDonnell first in points after 26 races in 2023. The #22 team earned ten-straight top-10 finishes between Talladega and Chicagoland, with five-straight top-3 finishes between Kansas and Sonoma. He earned victories at Kansas, Pocono, Lime Rock and a huge hometown victory at Extravaganza's second ever race at Gateway. Teammate Johnny Reed Foley saw himself up front early in races, earning 660 laps led but failing to close the deal. Former crew chief Ronnie Pressley joined the Molemar Diggs team, handing three-time Extravaganza Champion Rene Arnoux as the new crew chief for Foley. Look for both drivers to be Championship contenders in 2024.
Bink Lucas's victory at Phoenix propelled Lifesaver Racing to immaculate heights! It ended a winless drought beginning with Bink's victory at the Eddie Money Classic in 2022, slumping his way through the first half of 2023. By the halfway point, the #5 team earned zero top-5 finishes, with teammate Jimmie Stevens 8th in points and on the brink of a chase birth. By the end of the year, the #2 team slumped while Bink led 374 laps, dominating Martinsville and Rockingham and stealing the win away at Phoenix. Team Danger Zone continues to supply engines for the team. If Jimmie Stevens' reliability coagulates with Bink Lucas's late-season domination, both of these drivers may clinch a chase birth in 2024!
Rookie of the Year winner Chauncey Redmond Jr. was bliss or miss for the entirety of the 2023 season. His second place finish at Rockingham pushed him through a horrifying start to the campaign, finishing 35th or worse in the first three events. Slowly their results improved, finishing 2nd to Zach Michael in the Brickyard 400, and leading laps at the short tracks on speed. The team brings in Bonanza Series Champion Molemar Diggs into the fold, graduating from the same Lucas Racing #40 that Redmond drove the previous season. He will drove the #41 Pittsburgh Steelers Chevrolet. Lucas Racing continues to supply engines to the team, hoping to capitalize by earning Wizards of Sp
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February 2nd, 2024:Big Bud Shootout* February 9th, 2024: Daytona Duel #1* February 9th, 2024: Daytona Duel #2* February 16th, 2024: Daytona February 23rd, 2024: California March 1st, 2024: Homestead March 8th, 2024: Rockingham March 15th, 2024: Atlanta March 22nd, 2024: Texas March 29th, 2024: Richmond April 5th, 2024: Bristol April 12th, 2024: Martinsville April 29th, 2024: Talladega May 3rd, 2024: Darlington May 10th, 2024: Kansas May 17th, 2024: Pocono May 24th, 2024: All-Star Open #1* May 24th, 2024: All-Star Open #2* May 24th, 2024: All-Star Race* May 31st, 2024: Charlotte June 7th, 2024: Gateway June 14th, 2024: Sonoma June 21st, 2024: Nashville Heat #1* June 21st, 2024: Nashville Heat #2* June 21st, 2024: Nashville Heat #3* ... Read more »
After several heart-smashing and brain-pounding months, W.A.S.P. Motorsports has finally secured sponsorship for the former #96 Randy Dobbins entry! They bought out Dave Daniels' contract with Kingsford, putting Sim World Motorsports in relative limbo after moving to Extravaganza in 2024. NAPA will join the #56 with Rod Weston. The #0 is now without funding, "We're disappointed." said Daniels, who left the security of the Bonanza Series to chase his longtime dream. "We've been with Kingsford since the beginning. Our plan was to hop the ladder together if we were successful. They'll continue hop, while we run the gutter!"
Geno Sphere's Rockingham pole in 2022 continues to pay dividends. He earned a W.A.S.P. Motorsports ride for the 2023 Big Bud Shootout, coming back for the first time since his Darlington practice injury. A fifth place qualifying effort for their R+D ride at the Brickyard prompted the opportunity to race full time in 2024. That is now in the cards, with Geno ready to run the #444 Kingsford Chevrolet at Daytona and beyond! "Georgia Boot left with Randy, leaving us sponsorless for the 500" said Geno. "Randy's provisional points gave us guaranteed spot in the race. That's why Kingsford's with us. We'll do the best we can for the grilling masters!" The 2021 Bonanza Series Champion has earned his second chance.
Big D: Already clinched playoff spot! Need a win and a Cook loss to win the Grand American Division, and clinch the #1 seed! If not, they will clinch the #5 seed.
Let Him Cook: Already clinched playoff spot! Need a win or Big D loss to win the Grand American Division, and clinch the #1 seed! If not, they will clinch the #5 seed.
St Louis Furry Trash: Need to win, Flamethrowers to lose, and outscore Flamethrowers by 15 points to win the Convertible Division! They cannot win a wild card spot.
Nevada St. Penitentiary: Needs a win, a War Eagles loss, a Manson loss, a King Salmon loss, a Bandits loss and a Furry Trash win to force a six-way head-to-head record tie at 7-7. Then they need to outscore the War Eagles by 57 points, outscore the Manson by 18.9, outscore the Bandits by 3.6, and outscore the Furry Trash by 38.6 to clinch a wild card spot!
Sacramento King Salmon: Need to win, Rams to lose and outscore Rams by 44.6 points to win the Winston West Division! If Rams win, the King Salmon need to win with a Manson loss, combined with a Bandits loss or War Eagles win to clinch a wild card spot!
Lake Elsinore Rams: Need to win or King Salmon to lose. If they lose and King Salmon win, they can't be outscored by more than 44.5 points to win the Winston West Division! They cannot win a wild card. A loss would be a win for the Bandits, giving them the tiebreaker in every head-to-head scenario vs. possible 8-6 teams for the wild card (Rams lost to War Eagles and Manson earlier in the year). If they win and the Drunks lose, they will clinch a Bye!
Brookfield Bandits: A win will almost certainly clinch them a wild card spot! Unless.... the Drunks win, War Eagles win, Manson lose, and King Salmon lose, forcing an even head-to-head record with the War Eagles at 8-6. In this scenario, they will need to outscore the War Eagles by 53.5 points to clinch a wild card spot! They are the only 7-6 team that could lose and still clinch, undefeated against every other team that could go 7-7. If they do lose, they need the War Eagles, Manson, and King Salmon to also lose to clinch a wild card spot!
Boston Flamethrowers: Need to win. If they lose, they need Furry Trash to lose. If they lose and Furry Trash win, they can't be outscored by Furry Trash by more than 14.9 points to win the Convertible Division! If they don't win the Division, they cannot clinch a wild card spot. They will clinch a Bye Week if they win and Drunks and Rams lose, and War Eagles or Manson combine a 1-1 record. If War Eagles win in this scenario, Flamethrowers need to outscore them by 3.5 points. If Manson win in this scenario, Flamethrowers cannot be outscored by them by more than 34.7 points to clinch a Bye Week!
Maryland Manson: Need to win, Drunks to lose, outscore the Drunks by 17 points, War Eagles to lose, or War Eagles to win and outscore them by 38.2 points to win the SuperTrucks Division! If Drunks win, they need to win, King Salmon to win and Bandits to lose. If King Salmon lose in this scenario, they need Bandits to lose, War Eagles to lose or outscore War Eagles by 38.2 points to clinch a wild card spot! If War Eagles win, Drunks lose, and Drunks don't outscore War Eagles by 21.2 points, they need to win, Bandits to lose, and outscore Drunks by 17 points to clinch a wild card spot!
Wagener War Eagles: Need to win, Drunks to lose, not get outscored by Drunks by more than 21.2 points, and Manson to lose to win the SuperTrucks Division! If Manson win in this scenario, they can't get outscored by them by more than 38.1 points to win the SuperTrucks Division! If they win and the Drunks win, they need the Manson and King Salmon to lose, and not get outscored by the Bandits by more than 53.4 points to clinch a wild card! If they win, the Drunks win, and Manson win, they need the Bandits and King Salmon to lose, and not get outscored by the Manson by more than 38.1 points to clinch a wild card! If they win, Drunks lose, and Manson win, with the Manson outscoring them by 38.2 points, and the Manson outscoring the Drunks by 17 points, they need the Bandits and King Salmon to lose, and not get outscored by the Drunks by more than 21.2 points to clinch a wild card spot!
Denver Drunks: Needs a win to win the SuperTrucks Division and clinch a first round Bye! If they lose, they need the War Eagles and Manson to lose. If the War Eagles win in this scenario, they need to outscore the War Eagles by 21.3 points. If the Manson win in this scenario, they can't be outscored by the Manson by more than 16.9 points to win the SuperTrucks Division! If Drunks lose and still clinch the SuperTrucks Division and the Rams lose, they will still clinch a Bye! If they lose, War Eagles win, and Manson win, with the Manson not outscoring the War Eagles by more than 38.1 points, they need the Bandits to lose, and not get outscored by the Manson by more than 16.9 points to clinch a wild card spot! If they lose, War Eagles win, and Manson win, with the Manson outscoring them by 17 points, and the Manson outscoring the War Eagles by 38.2 points, they need the Bandits and King Salmon to lose, and not outscored by the War Eagles by 21.3 points to clinch a wild card spot!
