John Battista comes in with seven victories on the season, looking for a rebound after Talladega sent him to fourth in points. Scott Jackson, Ryan Heuser and Ken Pettit are all within 100 points of each other atop the standings, starting 8th, 11th and 20th respectively.

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

The caustic winds grow cold in the Martinsville autumn air, as Zakk Miller flies by pole-sitter Tim McDonnell for the lead. Dave Miller and Alex Crapser would linger inside the top-4 for the first 40 laps.

Miller led the first 178 laps of the event, with Ryan Heuser making a charge at the tail-end of the run. He had crawled methodically from the 11th position, and encapsulated the grandeur of victory across the grandstands.

Before lap 200, Tim McDonnell made his bid for the lead and did so successfully. He would stay on top for 64 laps, hoping to earn his right to win his third straight Championship crown after a slow start to the chase.

Dave Miller took the lead around the halfway point of the event, leading a couple laps before the caution flag fell and sent everyone into different strategies.

Rick Jackson stayed out on older tires, leading 121 laps before the fuel run sent him into the pits.

John Battista and Dave Miller were two of the three  strongest of the cars with more fuel, stretching as far as they could to make it on just one more stop. 

John Tharp looked to head back into the Championship picture, nabbing top-10 finishes all season, though still eluded with that first victory of 2021. He, Ken Pettit, Zach Michael, Johnny Reed Foley and Matthew Dominique have been the biggest snub surprises so far.

Ben Geer and Steven Spears came out of the pits entangled and clipped leader Battista, damaging the #39's front end and giving Dave Miller the lead coming to the caution flag. Miraculously, Battista would beat Miller out of the pits and re-take the advantage, leading to a final shootout to the finish with Battista heading the restart.

Alan Nesfeder was the fastest car on the track in the late-going, barraging up to second place before knocking Dalton Lucas out of the way in turn 1. It would bring out the final caution of the event.

Battista cruised through the final 30 laps, through lapped traffic and all, to keep a couple car-length distance between he and Nesfeder to win his 8th race of the 2021 season at Martinsville. Congrats to Battista, crew chief lew Money, and the entire Lucas Racing crew for an excellent victory!

2021 Yellawood 500 Race Video, Part 1

2021 Yellawood 500 Race Video, Part 2

2021 Yellawood 500 Race Video, Part 3