Walt Flowers final race at The Rock ended with a 27th place finish. Up front, the talk was all about Tony Pizzaro and Matthew Dominique. One came in with nothing to lose, and one with everything to gain with the #22 machine pulling away with the Championship lead.

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

Scott Jackson and Johnny Reed Foley battled hard early. Like Pizzaro and Dominique, one was in severe Championship contention and the other in a make-or-break season. It wouldn't be wise to presume fate before lap 10, but the one with most at stake would have trouble late, and limp to a 39th place finish.

Points leader Tim McDonnell made an incredible save after contact with Ryan Heuser on the frontstretch. The #22 machine went low as the Quicksilver NOS machine endured a terrible tailspin after another engine failure. Another last place finish would put him out of the points hunt for good, after starting the year as the favorite.

Dave Miller was up front again, racing Tony Pizzaro for the lead early. He finished with 24 laps led, but an accident late in the race would take him out. Pizzaro continued to be one of the fastest cars on the track all day long, finishing with 106 laps up front.

Coming in only 99 points behind leader McDonnell, it was Craig Lee's time to shine. The Quantum Racing duo followed right behind, with Foley, Dave, Ben Geer and Ken Pettit right at the tail. For the first time all season, the #29 machine was a factor from green to checkered. 

Dominique began his run of 82 laps led after passing the #101 machine, becoming the third drivers to eclipse 1000 for the season. He is the only driver in championship contention of the three, and looked to gain more valuable points on the #22, who was currently mired back in the field.

With 61 laps to go, Dave Miller was in 8th place before a tire let go. He spun out of control across the turn-3 asphalt, with Michael Henson making contact. Craig Lee, who was in second place, didn't see the wrecked racecar and smacked the entire right side off of the car, ending his night and pretty much ending his championship hopes. The most dominant car of the chase has endured bad luck one too many times. The QSM stable is near-officially OUT.

Within the last 60 laps, Ben Geer and Rick Jackson raced side-by-side for the lead multiple times. The final attempt saw Ken Pettit take advantage on the bottom, stealing the top position from both drivers. The quietest chase driver all season was now in contention for victory #2 and a Championship title.

Scott Jackson's title dreams ended up in smoke with 35 laps to go. He was the fastest car on the racetrack, working his way up to second before the explosion. His 39th place finish will make it nearly impossible to catch McDonnell, who had just gotten back on the lead lap in 13th place.

Rick Jackson re-took the lead on the final restart before Ben Geer slid by on the backstretch with 14 laps to go. 2 laps later, Ken Pettit dove underneath in turn 3, sending Ben up towards the wall as John Battista dove underneath three-wide on the frontstretch. Battista took both positions. Two laps later Rick re-took the lead with help from lapped car Dalton Lucas. With five laps to go Alan Nesfeder drove by both Battista and Jackson, who had worn out their tires up front. He led until there was 2 laps to go. John Tharp and Ken Pettit went on a rampage run on the bottom lane and flew past the field. Tharp, who was in 21st place and one lap down just 50 laps before, was battling for the win with fresh tires. 

Ken and John were side-by-side for the entire final lap. Tharp used the momentum of the high line to stay barely ahead of the #8 machine exiting turns 2 and 4, and pulled off a miraculous side-by-side-at-the-line finish that would go down in infamy, gaining 56 points on Tim McDonnell in a miraculous victory that swings him to second in points. Congratulations to John, crew chief King Joe Dawkins and the entire PHR team for an excellent victory!

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