100 drivers were selected by the 45-man Extravaganza panel to compete in the Nashville Superspeedway Duel-Qualifying heats this weekend. This included 45 Extravaganza Series regulars, 39 Bonanza Series regulars, 5 Tundra Cup Series regulars, 3 ARCA Bonzai Series regulars, 2 local Late Model drivers, 2 Indy Car drivers, 2 Wrangler Outlaws, 1 former Formula Europe driver and a celebrity. 84 drivers of the 100 were able to qualify their way into the show via two-lap time trials, with the top-35 in Extravaganza Series points earning provisionals into the heats.
Heat #1: 42 of the odd-numbered qualifiers (1-83) will re-qualify and race a 50-lap heat. The top-15 finishers of the 42 drivers will advance to next week's 300-lap feature. CFM Motorsports and Race-2-Win Motorsports will fight for ultimate supremacy!
Heat #2: 42 of the even-numbered qualifiers (2-84) will re-qualify and race a 50-lap heat. The top-15 finishers of the 42 drivers will advance to next week's 300-lap feature. Lucas Racing and Quick-Silver motorsports fill spar for immaculate glory!
Heat #3: The top-35 in Extravaganza Series points who didn't advance will get a final chance to race into the show. For drivers outside the top-35, the top-finishers in the first two heats who didn't advance will fill up the remainder of the field until it reaches 42 drivers. They will all re-qualify and race a 50-lap heat. The top-15 finishers of the 42 drivers will advance to next week's 300-lap feature. Rod Weston will miss the show after his accident at Sonoma, handing teammate Dave Daniels the opportunity to make the field for his first race of the season!
Consolation: There are no provisionals for the top-35 in Extravaganza Series points if they don't qualify after Heat #3. With bad luck or an improper setup, one big-name driver could easily miss the feature. In consolation, The 16th to 24th place finishers of Heat #3 will receive Extravaganza Series points (16th will get 28, 24th will get 1), and be credited for an Extravaganza Series start.
Heat #1: Friday, June 21st, 6:00 ET
Heat #2: Friday, June 21st, 6:45 ET
Heat #3: Friday, June 21st, 7:30 ET
John Tharp earns his first career Sonoma pole! He, Timothy McDonnell and Scott Jackson have the highest average finishes here during the last five seasons, with the #22 Caterpillar Volkswagen starting on his outside. Jackson stole the win away from Tharp in 2021 after a late-race restart went awry. This is his chance for restitution.
The San Francisco carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide vaporize the skies! Former bread-truck driver and John Tharp gas-man Bill Webster never imagined being part of this immaculate California breeze. His car would take the top-spot from Timothy McDonnell exiting turn-3, leading the first lap as the "techno explosion" residue falls from the sky.
The Zig-Zag #14's pace was insurmountable, pulling to 10-seconds ahead by lap 16. Timothy McDonnell, Logan Sheets, Matthew Dominique, Geno Sphere, Johnny Reed Foley and Zach Michael raced maniacally for the second position. Behind them, Chauncey Redmond Jr. attempted to hold off the remaining field to stay inside the top-10 and rectify his season. He would fail. Michael Henson became the first casualty, blowing up on lap-23.
Plenty of three-wide action occurred during the first green flag run. Several drivers meandered through the dirt, sending grasshoppers and crickets into the grandstands, alive and otherwise. "I've never seen a praying mantis liver before, but it landed in my Heineken." said one dismused fan. "I'm gonna sell it for a ticket to next years race!"
A turn-1 crash between Rod Weston and David Baldinger brought out the first caution on lap 40. Johnny Reed Foley was the only driver not to pit, trapping Craig Lee, Ryan Heuser, Ben Geer, Dalton Lucas, Steve Inkman, Chauncey Redmond Jr., William Perry, Alan Nesfeder, Markell Murphy, Bill Werkheiser, Dan Johnston and Ziggy Moonglow one lap down. Most would start ahead of Tharp after the restart, sending Geno Sphere and the remaining front-runners into a frenzy!
Impeccable moves put Johnny Reed Foley back to the fourth position after his track-position letdown, John Tharp led the halfway lap, earning the first road course slab of 2024! The bacon may have slowed the #14 Zig-Zag Toyota down with Foley, McDonnell, Matt Raboin, Zach Michael and Matthew Dominique all hard on the charge.
The tenacious battle for second place kept Tharp in the lead despite his slower stride. Johnny Reed Foley occupied the position just before green flag stops, seemingly faster than the #14 and pulling away from third place Zach Michael. Both drivers came in with 32 laps remaining, able to make their way to the finish on fuel. Zach Michael, Adam Crapser, Molemar Diggs, Geno Sphere, Zakk Miller, Cristian Torres and Bink Lucas each failed to pit before the caution flag flew, trapping them all from the finish they deserved.
A gruesome crash in shades of Ziggy Moonglow last season saw Rod Weston penetrate the pit road wall hard! Contact from Ryan Heuser sent both drivers sliding towards the entry, with the #56 slamming driver-side first into the tires. Weston was hurt; airlifted to Santa Rosa for further observation. It's been a difficult season for the Extravaganza rookie, currently 4th of 4 behind Molemar Diggs, Jeremy Hebel and Steve Inkman in the standings. The top-three are inside the top-35 in points, with Weston mired in 43rd despite decent finishes when making the show. Now, we can only hope he can finish the season. Ryan Heuser failed to finish as well but was uninjured. Another devastating result for the reigning Champion, exiting 213 points out of chase contention with only 10 races remaining. Out of the 46 drivers attempting to make every race of the season, Heuser comes out of Sonoma ranking 27th; unfamiliar territory for the team. He still leads the league in laps led, showing similar domination without the results to show it off. David Baldinger and Alan Nesfeder would spin on the ensuing restart, bringing out the third yellow flag of the race.
Zach Michael, Adam Crapser and Cristian Torres all showed top-10 speed during the first 80 laps. All three were now trapped towards the rear, with two falling to the wayside on lap 88. Geno Sphere and Steve Inkman made contact on the frontstretch, sending the #444 into the outside wall and into the Packers #4. Adam and Zach flew towards the inside tire barrier, with Adam able to steer away. Zach and Geno plowed into it hard, ending both of their races. Adam's car flew towards the r
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Johnny Reed Foley closed the gap on Ken Pettit's insurmountable points lead with six-straight top-16 finishes and two victories since Talladega. He was fastest in happy hour and will start ninth on the grid, hoping to capitalize for another road course victory! Teammate Timothy McDonnell and John Tharp will lead the field to the green as computer remnants fall from the heavens and black smoke blinds the turn-10 corner! Last to cross the starting line will be Ziggy Moonglow, searching for restitution after his season-ending accident at the facility in 2023. His team hasn't recovered since, struggling to qualify for events during the first-third of the tour. Each driver hopes for immaculate pit strategy and apex mastery! Good luck at Sonoma!
Points Standings (After 15 of 36 Events) 1. Ken Pettit: +392 2. Johnny Reed Foley: +378 3. Zakk Miller: +249(+2) 4. John Tharp: +245 (-1) 5. Alex Crapser: +237 (-1) 6. Molemar Diggs: +155 7. Zach Michael: +107 8. Rick Jackson: +106 (+1) 9. Dakota Wilkins: +40 (-1) 10. Scott Jackson: +9 (+4) -------------------------------------------------- 11. Craig Lee: -9 (+1) 12. Matt Raboin: -17 (+6) 13. Dave Miller: -18 (+3) 14. John Battista: -34 (-3) 15. Alan Nesfeder: -35 16. Markell Murphy: -44 (-3) 17. Donald Stewart: -65 (-7) 18. Adam Crapser: -67 (+2) 19. William Perry: -86 20. Cristian Torres: -88 (+2)
Miracle-man Ken Joynt tromps the field with an immaculate lap of 32.637! His prismatic green machine looks to hold off the dominators, ready to join Dave Miller and Timothy McDonnell as winners at this facility. The nighttime skies glitter the horizon, ready to be desecrated by the smoke and fumes of Illinois' finest track!
Outside pole-sitter Dakota Wilkins stalled on the grid, handing the outside-pole to Zakk Miller to take the green! The #30 was unable to beat Joynt to the line as the #33 leads his first laps of 2024. Ben Geer and Ryan Heuser both flew by the Bepis machine, with Joynt miraculously holding them off in a shower of Canadian glory!
A turn-3 crash between Bill Werkheiser, Donald Stewart and Jimmie Stevens brought out the first caution flag on lap-2. Dakota Wilkins slammed into the leader during the yellow, blaming the #33 for his early tribulations. Joynt chose not to repair the left-side damage, leading the field to the green before a violent tire rub sent him to the pits. By lap 10, both front-row drivers stood one lap down. Donald Stewart's #55 Clorox Chevrolet would drop out of the race after the initial accident.
Ben Geer's Twinkie machine led the field to the green, remaining there through lap 13 before a Ryan Heuser pass in turn-1. The #138 entered the event 27th in points with 12 race remaining; a morbidly difficult climb to the "Championship Ten". Despite the pains, he's now led his 6th consecutive event in hopes of capping off the night with a top-5 finish and his first victory of 2024.
A Dave Miller spin brought out the second caution flag, caused by contact from Steve inkman in turn-1. Jimmie Stevens, narrowly involved in both accidents would finally lose it all in the pits. He slammed into Dalton Lucas radiator-first as the #88 attempted to leave his stall. Both drivers were done for the night. Lucas would drop to 32nd in the standings. Stevens fell to 33rd, nearly ending his Championship bid after his third-straight finish of 40th or worse.
Johnny Reed Foley took the lead away from Heuser on lap 84, with John Battista, Matt Raboin and Rick Jackson charging from behind. An immaculate performance from the #3 AC-Delco entry, hightailing from the 39th starting spot to dominate the show! His four-wide Bonanza Series flip here in 2011 will live in infamy, re-defining the laws of physics after showcasing his aggressive style to the "Big-Mac" faithful! A Jonathan Skrabacz and Tony Pizzaro spin on lap-100 brought out the third caution, handing Heuser back the advantage with an immaculate pit stop.
A two-man show at the top developed into a battle for the Halfway Bacon Bonus. Foley took the top-position three laps prior, only for Heuser to steal it back and win the slab! The #138 pulled away from the field, forcing Foley to hold off Matt Raboin and Rick Jackson for the second position. Geno Sphere, Ziggy Moonglow, Tony Pizzaro, Steve Inkman, Michael Henson, Matthew Dominique, Bill Werkheiser and Bink Lucas all fell one lap down during the run.
John Battista and John Tharp struggled to stay inside the top-20 during the later stages. They both attempted to stretch their fuel 68-laps to win the Budweiser 300, a Herculean task to take down the King Heuser and the Quick-Silver brigade! Heuser was 15-seconds behind Battista with 20 laps remaining. Both drivers have failed to win a race in 2024, hoping for redemption at the immaculate "City of Arch's"!
Battista's tires felt like soap bars by lap 228, with Heuser already on his bumper and Tharp immediately disposed. Miraculously, Johnny Reed Foley, phenom-man Cristian Torres and Rick Jackson caught Heuser during the run, leading to a five-car battle for the victory! Heuser and Foley passed the Wendy's machine with ease.
The #138 and #3 raced side-by-side with 10 laps-to-go. Torres and Jackson loomed for a "Big-Mac land" upset from behind, with Foley clearing Heuser with lapped traffic looming ahead. Both drivers failed to steamroll through the jungle of cars with ease. Foley stayed ahead of Heuser by several ca
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Miracle-man Ken Joynt pulls off the upset of the Millenium! A lap of 32.627 seconds wins the Gateway pole over Extravaganza's elite, notching himself a spot in the 2025 Big Bud Shootout! Surprisingly, this is his second career pole, earning his first at Rockingham during the Skoal Bandit's rookie campaign in 2021. That day, Ken led the initial seven laps before earning a respectable 29th place finish. Can he improve on that effort? A career best finish of 3rd at Atlanta and Rockingham last season set the tone for this one-lap masterpiece. If he caps it off with a victory, the Gateway Arch will surely explode.
Points Standings (After 14 of 36 Events) 1. Ken Pettit: +365 2. Johnny Reed Foley: +331 (+1) 3. John Tharp: +290 (+2) 4. Alex Crapser: +249 (-2) 5. Zakk Miller: +244 (-1) 6. Molemar Diggs: +191 (+1) 7. Zach Michael: +146 (-1) 8. Dakota Wilkins: +127 9. Rick Jackson: +74 (+1) 10. Donald Stewart: +43 (+2) -------------------------------------------------------- 11. John Battista: -43 (-2) 12. Craig Lee: -44 (+1) 13. Markell Murphy: -54 (+3) 14. Scott Jackson: -56 15. Alan Nesfeder: -60 (-4) 16. Dave Miller: -61 (+1) 17. Timothy McDonnell: -63 (+4) 18. Matt Raboin: -64 (-3) 19. William Perry: -87 (+3) 20. Adam Crapser: -98 (+6)
Adam Crapser wins his first career race in his 194th Extravaganza Series start! Two-straight second place finishes at Watkins Glen and Richmond set the standard for the oncoming season, capping off race #14 with a beautiful drive in the Coca-Cola 600. Adam becomes the fifth Lucas Racing driver to win an Extravaganza Series event. He's also the first driver to win in the #4 since Johnny Reed Foley at Atlanta in 2015, during the McDonnell-Foley Inc. NAPA fiasco. Look for the Green Bay Packers Chevrolet to be a force during the summer-stretch.
Ken Pettit enters the Coca-Cola 600 with a "Whiplash Whopper" whopping 142-point lead over Alex Crapser in the standings. Neither driver has won this Crown Jewel event, but both start inside the top-third of the field in hopes of earning their first. $10,000,000 goes to the winner of the annual 400-lapper at Charlotte Motor Speedway!
Logan Sheets' domination in the All-Star Qualifier continues with an outside front-row starting spot alongside Johnny Reed Foley. Despite monolopizing the front row, Tony Pizzaro flew by both of them on the backstretch to lead the first circuit. He would dominate the initial 60-lap stretch, with points contenders Alex Crapser, Zakk Miller and John Battista in danger of going a lap down early.
Pizzaro stretched to a four-second advantage over Sheets and Ryan Heuser before a Trae Larkin and Jonathan Skrabacz spin brought out the yellow. Sheets capitalized after the restart, passing by Pizzaro on lap 87 to take his first lead of the night. Michael Henson and Philip Parker would also take a ride through the backstretch infield, handing the top-spot to Donald Stewart.
The #55 Chevrolet stayed out on old tires, leading the field to the green. He held off the field for several laps before Dave Miller took the advantage on lap 102. John Tharp would eventually take the lead, with Matt Raboin and John Battista also taking turns at the top-spot as we loom towards the halfway point.
A morbid crash for the points leader on lap 136! A tap from his teammate Tony Pizzaro sends Ken Pettit into the inside backstretch wall hard. The #8 Bob Marley Chevrolet would finish 43rd on the night after a previous worst finish of 25th at Martinsville. He would still maintain the points lead after the event, but it would no longer be the cakewalk he had anticipated.
The only team to finish every race of the season is out, marking the earliest time in any Extravaganza Series season that everyone has a DNF. Up front, Timothy McDonnell's crew pulled off a masterful pit stop to put them atop the heap. The #22 would lead through lap 80 before a pass from Adam Crapser's "Packer Man" #4 Chevrolet.
Adam, Rick Jackson, Dakota Wilkins and Johnny Reed Foley pulled to a minuscule four-car breakaway, crossing the halfway mark with the #4 at the helm. Rick Jackson would take the lead on lap 218 and stayed there for 60 laps. Jackson is looking for his fourth-straight top-5 finish, while second-place Johnny Reed Foley looks for his fifth-straight top-16. The #3 AC-Delco Chevrolet took the helm on lap 279 through green flag pit stops.
Cristian Torres along with the Lifesaver Racing team all fell to the wayside during the mid-to-late stages. Turn-2 proved to be "devastation alley", taking out six of the contenders, including our points leader, Rob Scarberry who's trying to stay inside the top-35, and Bink lucas and Jimmie Stevens; both struggling mightily this season. Up front, Alex Crapser would lead the field to the lap-288 restart.
The Pennzoil #04 earned his five bonus points to help catch Ken Pettit in the standings, but he couldn't hold them off for long. Johnny Reed Foley re-took the advantage just a couple of laps in. Adam Crapser and John Tharp joined in the fray towards the 90-to-go mark. Adam would steal the lead back, with Tharp meandering by both drivers one lap later.
A miracle run by both Dalton Lucas and Geno Sphere put them in contention for the victory late! Foley made it past Tharp with 75-to-go with the myriad of underdogs looming behind. Against all odds, Geno Sphere took his first lead of the night at the race he first attempted to enter four years ago, driving a #43 Cheeto's car for Glenn Kaufmann. Now he is at the helm of the Coca-Cola 600, leading his first laps of the season in the Cinderella story of the millennium! Geno led the filed through green flag pit stops, but a slow tire change pulled him back to the 7th position. No
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Zakk Miller has the opportunity to win $23,000,000 if he can sweep the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600! He won the event two years ago and hopes to dominate again, looking to gap the 169 points from Championship leader Ken Pettit. Miller will start deep in the field, qualifying 40th with the #8 on the outside second-row. Johnny Reed Foley comes in third in points, earning his first pole of the season at 27.227 seconds. Ryan Heuser will start on his outside as the heavy favorite despite his winless effort so far in 2024. Mark Heron looks to play spoiler with his 7th-place effort on the grid. If he fails to make the top-35 in points by Gateway, Heron has promised to deviate from his Extravaganza effort to focus on the Bonanza Series Championship. Finishing the race is the goal for all. Drivers Cristian Torres and Philip Parker have showed strong runs in the past as well, hoping to earn their first career victories. Logan Sheets and Adam Crapser hope to do the same. 45-cars will attempt immaculate glory at the second Crown Jewel event of 2024!
Tony Pizzaro's Fenway Frank #12 led the points after 13 races in 2022 and 2023. This year, his teammate Ken Pettit parallels the same domination while Pizzaro struggles mightily, mired 28th in points with seven finishes of 27th or worse. The reversal of fortunes has been unprecedented. Race-2-Win Motorsports as a whole has been a full-fledged "Rastaman" show before Rick Jacksons' current top-5 streak. Here are their statistics after the Brickyard 400 in 2023, 27 races ago:
Race-2-Win Motorsports (Last 27 races)
Ken Pettit and the "Rasta-Man" Chevrolet led 1,282 laps between his victories in Atlanta in 2019 and Darlington in 2023. Since then he's won two more, monopolizing the team in wins and leading the standings by 142 points while Jackson and Pizzaro struggle. Both drivers have won the Coca-Cola 600 once in the last five seasons, hoping to revitalize their performance with a Crown Jewel banger! Look for all three cars to run strong.
Coca-Cola 600 Winners (Since 2016) 2023: Rick Jackson 2022: Zakk Miller 2021: Ryan Heuser 2020: Ryan Heuser 2019: Tony Pizzaro 2018: Ryan Heuser 2017: Zach Michael 2016: John Tharp
Timothy McDonnell enters Charlotte Motor Speedway hoping for his fifth career All-Star Race victory! He will start 15th, with Zakk Miller, Alan Nesfeder and Donald Stewart eclipsing the 26-second bracket to occupy the top-3 spots in the grid. Nesfeder won the Fall event here last year, hoping to duplicate his success for the $10,000,000 grand prize. Pole-sitter Miller is the 2022 Coke 600 Champion, hoping to hold off the field for the entire 100-lap distance.
The #30 Bepis Mustang dominated the first portion of the race, leading the field for the first 10 circuits. Nesfeder and Donald Stewart raced side-by-side for second, clogging the rest of the pack in a double and triple-file hornets nest extending through last place. Extravaganza greats Alex Crapser, Ken Pettit, Rick Jackson and Johnny Reed Foley battled ferociously for the final four positions.
John Battista power-housed his way to the front, passing Miller for the lead on lap 11 in search for his first career All-Star Race victory! He would keep the top-spot through lap 20. By then, disaster would strike. Contact between Markell Murphy and Craig Lee stirred up a backstretch cataclysm. Logan Sheets got clipped from the rear, getting tapped by Rick Jackson and Alex Crapser before a blow to the drivers-side door from Tony Pizzaro sent him back up the racing groove.
Markell Murphy, Ken Pettit, Ryan Heuser, John Tharp, Bink Lucas, Timothy McDonnell, Scott Jackson and Johnny Reed Foley and all pile-drove into the cloud of smoke. McDonnell's Volkswagen went for a flip for the second time in three weeks, sliding across the turn-3 banks before coming to a stop on the apron. Surprisingly, only Sheets, Murphy and McDonnell would fail to continue. All drivers were void of serious injury.
Contact on pit road between John Battista and Matt Raboin lost the #39 Wendy's Chevrolet the lead. Zakk Miller would re-occupy the spot, leading the field through lap 34 before teammate Zach Michael stole the position. The #20 Coca-Cola Mustang held ground for seven laps before Miller re-took the lead, with Dakota Wilkins, Matt Raboin and Donald Stewart maintaining the top-4 positions by the halfway point.
Miller would nab the $1,000,000 bonus for leading on lap 25 and lap 50. On lap 54, Dakota Wilkins took the helm with green flag pit stops looming. Both Raboin and Stewart would falter in the pits, leaving veterans John Tharp and Rick Jackson as the only cars within distance of the lead two. On lap 73, Miller would re-take the advantage and earn the final $1,000,000 bonus by leading on lap 75. If he can win, the #30 Bepis Mustang will be the only team in All-Star Race history to win the pole and sweep all four segments.
Despite the immaculate effort, nobody could catch the Team Danger Zone #30. Coming in, Miller led the league in laps led with 356, narrowly beating out teammate Zach Michael and Johnny Reed Foley each with 330+. His victories last season at Texas and New Hampshire put him in position to run this event, finally capitalizing on a near decade-long adventure to the Extravaganza promise-land! Miller would cruise to the victory, taking home $13,000,000 by winning every bonus segment.
The crowd roars in astonishment at the feat! Pure domination from the Bepis-man, jumping out of the car in ice-cold Bepis style! Confetti flies in the air like a hail storm, choking crew members and fans alike while the monopoly dollar-bills engulf the stratosphere. Nobody can breathe, but nobody needs to. Zakk Miller just won the 2024 Extravaganza All-Star Race! Congratulations to Zakk, crew chief Carl Kirpatrick and the entire Team Danger Zone crew for an excellent victory!
Another $500,000 prize goes to the winner of the 20-car last chance qualifier. Race #1 winner Dave Miller had to re-qualify along with the rest of the field, starting in the 16th position with adversary Matthew Dominique rearing the pack. Logan Sheets and Bill Werkheiser occupy the front row in a 1-2 punch from Extravaganza's immaculate past and future!
Scott Jackson's victory at Pocono last week clinched 18 cars into the All-Star Race field, dwindling the transfer spots from three to two after the upset. Bill Werkheiser got shuffled after the start, with Ben Geer and Adam Crapser underneath in a three-wide assault for the second position. Crapser would take it away before the reigns kicked in on the Twinkie Chevrolet. By lap 10, Ben earned the penultimate spot back.
Tony Pizzaro was charging through the field in hopes of making his decade-long streak of All-Star appearances continue. He made it by Geer without much of a fight, stringing out the top-4 while Molemar, Dan Johnston, Philip Parker, Matthew Dominique, Trae Larkin and others fought maniacally to put themselves in a position to catch the lead group. Johnston would succeed, handing Sheets, Pizzaro, Geer, Crapser and Dan the top-5 breakaway.
The Fenway Frank machine took the lead just before the halfway mark. From there, the #12 and the #58 worked together to monopolize the field, with Ben Geer narrowly hanging on for life. It was not to be. Pizzaro and Sheets crossed the line in an easy 1-2 finish to the All-Star Race feature! The #58 hands Quaker State their first All-Star Race appearance, and Logans' first since winning his consolation race in 2022.
Tony Pizzaro can now buy 80,000 Fenway Franks with the $500,000 earned! Congrats to he, crew chief Neil Justice and the entire Race-2-Win organization for an excellent victory! Logan Sheets and crew chief David Rattler look to play spoiler, joining the 20-car fray for the $10,000,000 grand prize. Timothy McDonnell will go for three-in-a-row and fifth overall in the race!
