Rick Jackson is on the pole at Bristol after ending his winless streak last week at Atlanta. Race dominater in last season's event Zakk Miller starts sixth, with three Team Danger Zone cars starting inside the top-10. Quantum Racing enters the race as the favorite with two of their cars inside the top-5. Matthew Dominique looks to complete as lap this time around, breaking a camshaft on the grid in 2020.
Winner last season Jimmie Stevens attempts to continue his hot stretch for 2021. Despite a 25th place finish at Atlanta, he remains just 11th in the standings and is easily the biggest surprise of the year. The new "Ampio" colors are flying high in the deep south of Bristol Tennessee.
Points leader John Battista has led all but one race, qualified 4th or better in all but one race, and has an average finish of 7th for the season. He looks to win his 3rd event of the season and pull away from the points pack from the 11th starting spot.
Dick Seymour: 1962, Shot By Uncle Raymond Hale: 1979, Heart Attack Wimpy Brown: 1972, Heart Attack at North Wilkesboro Corpse Johnson: 1970, Drowned Art Kaufmann: 1995, Heart Attack Grassy Fin: 1985, Malaria Buddy Griswald: 2015, Old Age Father Mitchell: 2002, Stroke Cannonball Sap: 2017, Old Age Shorty McMichael: 1994, Prostate Cancer Cobb Hogan: 1997, Car Accident Mert Socks: 2019, Diabetes Caravan Hayes: 2007, Lung Cancer Woody Barrett: 2016, Lung Cancer Andy Wycoff: 1994, Heart Attack Willingham Stone: 2003, Mesothelioma Hayes Ellis: 2009, Kidney Cancer Alexander Von Rathmann: 1981, Injuries from Michigan Accident Dunn Alexander: 2018, Heart Attack Harrison James: 2003, Injuries from Chicagoland Accident
Points leader Ron Stout starts 9th and looks poised for another strong finish at Bristol. Logan Sheets is only 34 points behind and starts on the pole, attempting to hold off the cup regulars among the field. Mark Heron, William Perry, Johnny Reed Foley, Scott Drake and Alex Crapser will be in attendance tomorrow.
It was a fantastic day for most of the field, as they awaited sunshine and high speeds entering the 2021 QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta. Zach Michael and Tony Pizzaro start on the front row, with Pizzaro looking to win his second straight race at the facility. It's safe to say that this will be one whale of a 500-mile high-speed extravaganza.
The first laps saw Pizzaro rush to the lead early, with John Battista following close behind. The Wendy's machine saw it's nose in clean air for a few laps while the rest of the field lurked in the shadows.
Pizzaro took the lead back with ease, while Bill Werkheiser used his Speedway prowess to finagle past the #12 just a few laps later. After pit stops, Ryan Heuser made his inevitable bid at the top-spot and stayed there for 14 circuits. Zakk Miller and Rick Jackson were in view while the tires were fresh.
John Tharp flew through the field with ease as the pack condensed, taking the lead on lap 85. Ryan grabbed it back a couple laps later, handing it to his teammate Craig Lee on lap 90. Lee and Tharp swapped the lead several times before the first caution flag.
Jack Paynter blew up on lap 106 and got knocked by Jonathan Skrabacz. The field stayed green. Brandon Raines and William Perry made contact entering turn 3 18 laps later. Raines flew into the outside wall, bringing out the first yellow.
Tharp led the first 11 laps of the restart after Craig Lee got jammed behind lapped traffic. Donald Stewart, who was in danger of missing the top-35 cutoff, made his way by Tharp on lap 142 and grabbed his 5 bonus points. Craig Lee, Dave Miller and Ken Pettit all found their way at the top heading towards the midway point.
A terrifying crash on lap 159 held every Ben Geer fan's breath in check. Tony Pizzaro and Donald Stewart made contact in the dogleg. Both drivers spun downward into Ryan Heuser and Scott Jackson. Jackson and Geer wheel-hopped, sending Geer several feet into the air and slamming into the catchfence. Miraculously, nobody was hurt in the incident. Geer, Jackson and Pizzaro would finish outside of the top-28.
After the oncoming restart, Tony Long and Mark Guthrie were involved in a crash out of turn 4. They would both finish outside of the top-30, which is consistent with their standing in the points. Both of them look for a rebound during the short-track/superspeedway stretch.
Zakk Miller took the lead after staying out on old tires. Rick Jackson took it and kept it for several laps before fresh-tired Tim McDonnell and Ken Pettit flew by the crowd. Jackson was surprisingly able to keep up with the pack. He re-rook the lead from Pettit and stayed up front for the rest of the run.
Johnny Reed Foley took the lead on lap 260 and gave it back to Jackson. He would lead for 3 more laps while Jackson battled lapped traffic. Rick gained it back, but pitted a little later than some during his final stop. Randy Dobbins and William Perry were ahead of him and looked to pull off a Cinderella story for the ages.
It took 8 laps for Rick to pass the #85 and #96. Surprisingly, Dobbins took the lead back on lap 314 and kept it for 2 laps before relinquishing back to the #44. Rick Jackson would sail away from there to earn
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Extravaganza race car driver Conley Pride died yesterday at age 76. He was a devout fisherman in his spare time, attempting to capture the "Golden Croaker" with his friend Trent Wetzel the day after each race. They never found the great beast, but ate a lot of fried bass, 'taters and Old Milwaukee's along the way. Conley never won an Extravaganza Series race, but maintained his status as one of the great New Jersey dirt track racers, rising through the ranks at New Egypt speedway and Flemington. He would continue to race at Flemington after his retirement, and won one of the first late model features after the track became paved in 1990. A crash in 1992 at the facility ended his career as a driver, though helped evolve the standard use of "foam blocks" at race tracks across the east coast. Conley also enjoyed watching drag racing at Englishtown whenever he got the chance, bringing his cooler of fish and beer to the grounds. His father Walter was the last Morristown Speedway track champion before the facility closed down in 1955.
Zach Michael comes off of a devastating crash just one week ago to win the pole for the 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500! He won this event just three years ago, and has recorded top-10 finishes in each of the last two events at the facility. Points leader and outside pole-sitter Tony Pizzaro won the event last season and is looking to record his 6th-straight top-6 finish to begin the young season. They will have their work cut out trying to defend John Battista, Craig Lee and Ken Pettit from passing through. Here is the laps-led percentage of these four drivers in the first five races:
1. John Battista: 22.14% 2. Ken Pettit: 15.65% 3. Craig Lee: 15.20%
Battista, Pettit and Lee have amassed a combined 833 of 1572 laps up front. These are Wimpy Brown/Grassy Fin numbers.
Rob Scarberry misses his second-straight event after starting the season with four top-30 finishes and easily in line to clinch the provisional cutoff for the season. Unfortunately, it will not happen after this race.
Coming to the final race of the cutoff, Donald Stewart and Ben Geer are the powerhouse drivers on the bubble. Both drivers finished inside the top-20 in points in 2020. Stewart, who is one spot out, has not recorded a top-24 finish all season. Geer has not recorded a top-30 finish since Daytona and is only 14 points ahead of the #55. If they miss the cut, it takes only one missed race to get caught in no-provisional limbo for years. It's something that Scarberry has battled ever since joining Old Farts Racing.
Complete domination is what is expected from the top qualifiers in the field. All 11 top-times were in the top-20 in points last season, with Tony Pizzaro at the helm. Last year's winner Mark Murphy starts a respectable 13th, with John Battista ready to roll in his attempt at three in-a-row at Phoenix.
The event started in grand style with Craig Lee and Dave Miller flying by the pole sitter. 8th place qualifier Scott Jackson would be the first casualty after a blown motor, finish last and dropping from 12th to 21st in the standings. Craig would continue the trend of Battista, Lee and Pettit leading over half of all laps this season.
The first crash occurred on lap 4 towards the back of the pack. Glenn Kaufmann got loose while in the middle-three wide off of turn 2. He corrected into Brandon Raines, both slamming the outside wall. Kevin Corbat was also involved in the wreck.
Pizzaro found the lead once more after a beautiful pit stop. He restarted at the top, while Dave Miller pulled the same move on Pizzaro that Lee did several laps before. Lee would also share his viewpoint, telling the field that he would like a second shot at the top position. He would succeed in style. Craig brought Ken Pettit and Bill Werkhesier with him. For the next 200+ laps, it would be the #101 and #8 leading practically all of the show. Bill couldn't keep up pace, dropping to 7th by the end of the event. Dave Miller, Matthew Dominique, Ryan Heuser, and Rick Jackson were all within near grasp of the top-2 during this period.
Ken Pettit was the first of the leaders to come in for tires. Lee followed through afterwards, though neither could match the speed of the Quantum Racing #25 pit crew. Matthew Dominique would lead 6 laps before the dynamic-duo took back the helm.
By the end of the event, Ken Pettit would achieve 150 laps led for the first time in his career. Combined with the 91 he led at Rockingham and 1 the week before, he is only two laps away from eclipsing his 2020 season total after only 6 races. Craig Lee would finish with 78, eventually finishing 6th to record his 5th-straight top-14 finish of the season.
Champion Tim McDonnell was the first of the leaders to come in. Rick Jackson followed suit behind and pulled the first recorded sub-13-second pit stop of the season. This miraculously put Rick at the top of the heap, traversing through lapped traffic a second ahead of second place teammate Ken Pettit.
The caution finally came out with 33 laps to go, recording 272 straight laps of green flag racing. Aaron Cummings and Jonathan Skrabacz off of turn 2 and both slammed hard into the outside wall. Both drivers would round out the day outside of the top-30. Later on, Zakk Miller, Jimmie Stevens, Cristian Torres and Alex Crapser were involved in a melee off of the same corner.
The big wreck of the event occurred on lap 287. Steven Spears and Craig Lee had been the two cars on top three-wide for two straight laps, banging doors with drivers jumping the gun underneath. Out of turn 4, the #65 finally spun in front of the #101. Tim McDonnell and Bill Werkheiser spun to the inside attempting to avoid the accident. towards the end of the frontstretch, Zach Michael was boxed in from avoiding the carnage and knocked his teammate Spears onto his roof and back over. The incident appeared to be over. Up ahead, Jack Paynter hit the kill-switch while attempting to avoid the accident. The Spears machine slammed into his rear and careened into the path of Zach. Immediately after, Matthew Dominique pulverized the Domino's car on the drivers side, sending Zach for a violent tumble before stopping on his roof in the dogleg apron.
It was the Jackson-Heuser show once again for the final 8-lap shootout. Ryan had taken the lead before the previous caution while Rick battled lapped traffic. Rick passed the lapped car of William Perry on the first circuit after the restart and imm
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A violent altercation between crew chiefs Lamar Hill and "Underground" Nico Steele occurred after the 312-lapper at Phoenix yesterday. They will both be suspended for six weeks, with interim crew chiefs yet to be announced. Steven Spears and Jack Paynter made contact on pit road right after the finish, sending both crews over the pit wall and into hysteria. #33 Crew Chief Steele dropkicked #65 rear-tire changer Zeddicus Hunt into the car's front quarter panel, knocking his head onto the hood several times before Spears came to his rescue. #65 crew chief Hill had two Paynter crew-men in a head-lock while jack-man Buster Gore threw tools at Jack Paynter's head. The brawl ended when a disturbed Tim McDonnell fan grabbed a moonshine rifle and starting shooting into the sky.
The accident that caused the excitement occurred on lap 287. Craig Lee and Steven Spears made contact off of turn 4, sending the #65 around and into Tim McDonnell and Bill Werkheiser. Zach Michael slammed into his teammate Spears, sending him for a flip. Jack Paynter avoided the wreck with ease, but accidently hit the kill switch and stopped on the racing groove. Spears slammed into him head-on and thoroughly demolished the already destroyed racecar. Zach Michael endured a furious shunt from Matthew Dominique afterwards, which angered Spears on the radio. After the event and fight came to a close, Dominique apologized to Spears and used an infield pay-phone to call Michael after the altercation.
New-found Team Danger Zone owner Zach Michael was rushed to the Western Regional Medical center by helicopter when he heard news of the altercation. Michael was slammed by the Matthew Dominique machine directly in the drivers-side door, though he remained conscious enough to finish the event. After getting out of the racecar, he passed out and fell flat to the ground, causing concern to the crews around him. "He fell to the concrete faster than Butch Forester can say "monopoly"", said Glenn Kaufmann. Dan Johnston was directly at the scene: "It made my 'Dega wreck look like a water-slide ride. I can't believe that tough son-of-a-bitch finished that race". Michael looks on track to compete at Atlanta this weekend, looking to add a bright spot to a so-far treacherous season.
