A 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500 sparked Ryan Heuser's 2024 campaign. Four-straight efforts of 35th-or-worse ensued, with a 9th place finish at Texas failing to rectify his situation. The #138 Nos Energy Quick-Silver Motorsports Chevrolet would have to qualify on speed! 38th in the standings rendered Heuser without a provisional for Richmond, having to race Alan Nesfeder, Jimmie Stevens and other unlucky souls for the top-8 in the 80-lap pre-qualifier. Heuser won the race! A third-place effort in the main event got the ball rolling. Still, they were concluded as blackballed from the Chase after such a major deficit. By Chicagoland, the team was up to 29th in points. Seven-straight top-10 finishes including a victory at the Brickyard 400 jumped him the 19 spots they needed! A competitive field kept the middle-pack points getters close; giving Heuser the opportunity to pass two to three spots at a time with each top-10. "The 46-car fields during the summer-stretch was our salvation" said crew chief Mustard Mahoney. "If a guy went out, we'd gain 100+ every time. Fortunately we never had a problem when it counted most. Everyone else did." Heuser enters Homestead leading in six-straight events, attempting to remedy his broken camshaft at Talladega with a fifth Extravaganza Series crown! They come in just 56-points behind Foley, needing the #3 AC-Delco Chevrolet to finish 13th-or-worse to have a chance.
Two Team Danger Zone entries battle for the Championship! Zach Michael's #20 Coca-Cola Mustang's campaign started a little rough, finishing 18th in the Daytona 500 followed by a four-race stretch without a lap led. Two 32nd-place finishes were followed by a 6th and a 3rd at Rockingham and Atlanta, only to blow up from the pole at Texas after dominating the first-half of the event. A 6th-place finish followed by a victory at Martinsville entered their April short-track stretch 9th in the standings, with three of his four teammates well within contention. Three seventh-place efforts at Darlington, Kansas and Pocono were followed by a demonic stretch of bad luck, dropping to 14th in points as he and rookie Molemar Diggs dropped to the veterans of Scott Jackson and Dave Miller. Unlike the rookie, Michael battled back with three-straight top-5's at Chicagoland, New Hampshire and Pocono. Their magnum-opus of the year might be their 4th-place run at Richmond, solidifying themselves into the Chase with teammate Zakk Miller. A crash in the Southern 500 left the team 184 points behind Foley. They would not be denied! Seven top-16 efforts in the next eight events; leading all but one with a victory at Charlotte to boot! Zach Michael comes in 75 points behind Johnny Reed Foley, needing the #3 to finish 18th or worse to have a shot at their first Championship title!
Nobody's completed more laps or earned more poles in their 2024 campaign than Bepis-man Zakk Miller! The #30 Team Danger Zone team enters their fourth season, earning a second-straight chase bid en route to their first top-5 points result. All they have to do is finish 16th or better to pull off the feat! They were the first team to finish outside the top-30, going 22-races before a 42nd-place at Michigan. His two DNF's leads the league, finishing the year as the only man to complete 10,000 laps if John Tharp has trouble. He out-dueled Tharp at Bristol for his only victory of the season, only to get beat by the #14 at the Eddie Money Classic to start-off the chase! Miller was the points leader just two races in. With Johnny Reed Foley, teammate Zach Michael and Ryan Heuser dominating the resuming seven-race stretch, the #30 Bepis Mustang fights for their lives, needing a Johnny Reed Foley dilemma to solidify themselves back in the hunt! They're 118 points back entering the Pennzoil 400.
Quick-Silver Motorsports struggled mightily during the first two months of their 2024 campaign. A second-place finish in the Daytona 500 behind Alex Crapser put Craig Lee in welcome territory, earning the victory at The Rock the following Friday to nab the points lead! From there, eight-straight finishes of 23rd or worse in the following nine events dropped the NOS Energy #101 team to 16th in the standings, with teammate Ryan Heuser narrowly cracking the top-30. An 8th-place finish at Kansas started the ascending climb to the Championship! Fourteen top-20 finishes in the final fifteen events locked he and Heuser in, capping it off with top-3 finishes at Watkins Glen and Richmond. A victory at Talladega was countered by a crash at Charlotte, earning the pole in each to clinch a 2025 Big Bud Shootout birth! Since then, three-straight top-16's kept Lee in the running. He's 119 points behind season dominator Johnny Reed Foley. A problem for the AC-Delco #3 is the only hope. Craig Lee Statistics (2024) Wins: 2 (T-5th) Top-5's: 8 (T-7th) Top-10's: 16 (T-3rd) Laps Led: 218 (15th) Avg. Fin.: 16.7 (5th) Poles: 2 (T-5th) DNF %: 11% (T-5th) Laps Run: 9,676 (5th) Points Behind Foley: -119 (5th)
The Phoenix sun blazes onto the spectators like a McDonald's french-fry deep inside the grease. Sunburn and flames ravage the grandstands, sending fans into an uproar before the first practice. "Some guy opened his cigarette pack and it burned!" said Marie Skeen from Prescott. "He didn't need a match." Her favorite driver John Battista starts on the pole today.
Ben Geer uses the high-groove advantage to steal the lead on lap-1! He's led in four-straight events; the first time in Ben's career in hopes of capping it off with a third-straight top-10 finish. Points leader Johnny Reed Foley and 2022 race winner Ryan Heuser each grapple for the top-spot, with Heuser taking it from the Twinkies #29 on lap-4.
Devastation on the fifth lap! Rob Scarberry and Philip Parker tangle off the fourth corner, sending the five-time Bonzanza Series winner into the inside wall. Scarberry glides onto the racetrack in front of Steven Spears, damaging the Mello Yello #65 and along with Cristian Torres's nose. Spears was looking for career best third-straight top-5 finish. Neither of the four would clinch the top-35.
William Perry and Dave Miller made a bold strategy by staying out on old tires. The track is abrasive, eating Goodyears like like a T-rex devours a Little Caesars pizza; including the box! The Marlboro Man passed Perry on the inside lane, hoping to gain ground on Matt Raboin to finish 12th in the standings. Perry's attempt to nab a top-20 points finish grows closer with his five bonus points.
John Tharp made a couple of bids at the lead; failing to come through after being passed by Ben Geer for the second position. The Twinkie-man re-took the advantage after Miller struggled to pass the lapped car of Rob Scarberry. The two would swap a couple more times. Miracle-man Ken Joynt loomed into the picture, solidifying his status as "late season King" after fantastic qualifying runs and finishes in seasons' past. Joynt finished third in the fall races at Atlanta and Rockingham last year. He also won the pole at The Rock in his seventh career start in 2021.
Johnny Reed Foley takes the lead away on lap-46, extending his points advantage while dismaying the fans who wanted to see a close points battle. Foley's been the commanding car all season, sweeping Atlanta and dominating at Kansas, Gateway, Loudon, Pocono and the Southern 500. He would lead through the first round of stops. Dave Miller re-took the advantage on lap 106, with Geer, Alex Crapser, Scott Jackson, Timothy McDonnell, John Tharp, Zach Michael and John Battista directly in their wake.
Horrible luck for Ken Pettit! The seemingly perennial Championship contender blows up hard on lap 138, struggling all day after minor contact from the early Scarberry-Spears incident. Pettit will finish dead-last, ending his Championship bid after a hard-fought battle with Foley all season. The #8 Bob Marley team was the top-dog out of Atlanta, earning 13-straight top-20 finishes. Just like last season, Rockingham was the killer. Now Phoenix is their death knell. Alan Nesfeder and Logan Sheets also succumbed to motor issues.
Logan Sheets failed to reach pit road after his engine devastation. This brought out the caution during the cycle, trapping race-dominator Dave Miller a lap down while handing points leader Johnny Reed Foley the lead! This man
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The popcorn flies into the air like pellets from a Remington 700. Rick Mast would be proud! So would "Toucan" Sam Elliott; watching Markell Murphy win the Rockingham pole for the second time. Dalton Lucas starts on the outside, with Championship contenders scattered throughout the starting grid. Murphy looks to make it two-straight victories at The Rock!
Steven Spears taps the wall! Dalton Lucas and Geno Sphere spin trying to avoid, with Tony Long pounding the inside wall. Zach Michael gets clipped by the Kingsford #444, bashing the rear-end after a Piper Cherokee smash from behind! Long and Geno fail to continue. Michael continued on, dismayed after failing to traverse through the 44-car morass. He came in only 78-points back. Will the Coca-Cola #20 Mustang remain competitive?
Team Danger Zone teammates Zakk Miller and pole-sitter Markell Murphy led the field through the initial 45-laps. A mortifying crash for the points leader! Johnny Reed Foley pound-cakes the outside wall after a Clorox swipe from Donald Stewart. Tony Pizzaro clipped the #55, sliding him up the racetrack in a battle for the 12th position. Foley's right and left side lay incapacitated with bent steering, with Stewart limping to a 35th-place finish. Will the AC-Delco #3 Chevrolet remain competitive?
Miracle-man Michael Henson races Markell Murphy and Rockingham dominator Ryan Heuser for the lead. Heuser would eventually take it, navigating past the lapped car of Logan Sheets to nab a bonus point and take advantage of the points leaders' misfortune. The #138 NOS Energy team came in 138 points behind Johnny Reed Foley for the Championship, seemingly insurmountable with Pettit and Michael bockading their title path. Surprisingly, The #20 Coca-Cola Mustang rides unhindered with a sheared rear-end. Foley can barely keep pace with the last lead lap car.
Jonathan Skrabacz, Jimmie Stevens and Chauncey Redmond Jr. battled defiantly for the 35th position! The Castrol #48 pulverized the inside wall, breaking the concrete into chunks of glorified powder, choking the fans in the infield campground. "It tasted like chalk" said local-man Jim Stipple. "The frontrstetch got popcorn. We got the wall!" Skrabacz would finish 43rd. Up front, Ben Geer, Zach Michael and Ryan Heuser all took turns leading the field.
Bink Lucas took the top-spot back before the 100-lap mark. Alan Nesfeder immediately stripped it away, leading only his 15th lap since Nashville in June. The #78 Coke-Zero Chevrolet pulled away from the field, entering the pits with a five-second advantage over John Tharp. Miracle-man Adam Crapser went a record-breaking 92 laps before coming in, stealing Ken Pettit's strategy of leading a lap early. The #8 Marley machine would never make it. After the stops, Heuser, Tharp and Nesfeder battled defiantly for the top-spot. Nesfeder would pull away again.
A seven-second advantage over Adam Crapser! The Packers machine pulverized through the field with much fresher tires, but could not catch the Coke-Zero man. Ken Pettit passed Nesfeder to re-take his lap under the same strategy. His fate would not be so lucky. Pettit's #8 Chevrolet got tapped by John Tharp, slamming into the rear of Timothy McDonnell and back up the racetrack. Nesfeder mutilated the "Legend" logo on deck lid, ending both races after the blow. Nesfeder's advantage was gone; out after pure domination. Pettit was 24 spots ahead of Zach Michael and 27 ahead of Johnny Reed Foley before the crash. In fact, he was the points leader at the time of impact. Pettit would finish 38th.
Zach Michael's damage earlier in the event couldn't withstand the pressure, limping home to 34th while the day was done. This provided new life for Quick-Silver teammates Ryan Heuser and Craig Lee, John Tharp and Zakk Miller to win the title! Up front, Adam Crapser and Matthew Dominique alternated the top-spot several times from laps 210 to 280. John Battista, Alex Crapser and pheno-man Steven Spears occ
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The kernels are poppin'! Johnny Reed Foley, Ken Pettit and Zach Michael ain't stoppn'! 78 points divide the top- three Championship contenders, with Foley looking for victory #8. #8 Ken Pettit and Zach Michael finished 5th and 6th here in the spring, with Foley out with a blown engine. Look for better luck to befall the AC-Delco squad. Spring winner Markell Murphy sweeps both Rockingham poles, looking to make it 2-for-2! Marvel-man Dalton Lucas occupies the outside, hoping to extend his Bristol and Martinsville luck to The Rock. Foley grids 37th. Pettit starts 16th. Zach will kickoff dead-last after a near-spin off the tight turn-2 corner. Good luck to all 45 teams in the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400!
2024 Chase Results (Seven Events)
Points Standings (After 33 of 36 Events) 1. Johnny Reed Foley: - 2. Ken Pettit: -67 3. Zach Michael: -78 4. Ryan Heuser: -138 (+2) 5. Craig Lee: -147 6. John Tharp: -153 (-2) 7. Zakk Miller: -186 8. Timothy McDonnell: -294 (+2) 9. Alex Crapser: -350 10. Rick Jackson: -356 (-2)
Bodies roam the Atlanta Motor Speedway awaiting the mass of tungsten and driver flesh to coagulate in 200 mile-per-hour style! One man called it a "death trap on concrete". There is no concrete on Atlanta, but there is a pit stall where the crew has to jump over bushes to reach the racecar! John Battista occupies that stall. Zakk Miller will grid along-side after earning his fifth pole of the 2024 campaign.
The early laps saw candy bar wrappers and bars themselves fly across the windshields. "I didn't know birds pooped brown" said Craig Lee. It was a Three Musketeers! Ryan Heuser took the early advantage from Zakk Miller on lap-3, hoping to narrow a 96-point gap between he and points leader Johnny Reed Foley. All ten Championship contenders showed signs of early speed.
Winless-wonder Logan Sheets took the lead on lap-7. The Quaker State #58's hopes are to dethrone John Battista and Matt Raboin from 11th in the standings. Both drivers are heavily associated with Valvoline and Valvoline accessories. Quaker State looks upon them with fury and disdain. Both Battista and teammate Alex Crapser would chain-link past the #58 on lap-16, solidifying their oil-warfare supremacy.
Points leader and "Memphis Blues" man Johnny Reed Foley took the lead on lap-22. It would be the AC-Delco's 19th race led in 20 events, hoping to cash their stride with an Extravaganza Series crown! Craig Lee and John Battista fought the #3 for the lead, only for Foley to climb his way back. He could not prevent Ken Pettit from leading a lap, with "Marley Man" coming in only 8-points behind in second. Last Week's winner and third-in-points man Zach Michael also maintained his presence at the front.
A horrible break for Dakota Wilkins, Michael Henson and Tony Gunk; falling to the wayside after engine trouble. Rick Jackson endured the same hindrance, limping around at minimum speed to keep his title hopes alive. Up front, Timothy McDonnell was once again a contender! The #22 Caterpillar Volkswagen dominated the stint, leading all 54 laps before a Chauncey Redmond Jr. short-pit put the #64 atop the heap. Redmond, McDonnell, Zach Michael, Johnny Reed Foley and Craig Lee were the front-runners through the halfway mark, with the #20 Coca-Cola Mustang earning the Halfway Bacon Bonus!
Former Race-2-Win teammates Rick Jackson and David Butterworth tangled on lap-180. Jackson would fail to continue, ending his Championship bid with a 41st-place finish. Butterworth limped home to 31st. The ensuing restart saw Chauncey Redmond Jr. tap John Battista on the quad-oval exit. Battista saved his Wendy's machine through the infield apron, with the #64 barreling into the path of Bink Lucas and Matt Raboin. Lucas and Redmond failed to continue. Raboin crawled his way to 34th; well off the pace for the remaining circuits.
Ben Geer, Adam Crapser, Matthew Dominique and Timothy McDonnell led the field to the green with 125 laps to the distance! Discover Card's "Swipe of the race" was given to Ryan Heuser, traversing through lapped traffic to swipe McDonnell for the lead. A three-wide masterpiece handed Markell Murphy the top-spot, driving the car he ran at Texas and Michigan to similar success. Fan-favorite Dan Johnston fell ill with transmission issues, finishing 42nd.
Second-in-points man Ken Pettit inherited the lead while Johnny Reed Foley nibbled in the 10th position. By lap 230, Foley was inside the top-5. Pettit
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For the first time in Extravaganza Series history, the same two teams bookend the field in qualifying! Team Danger Zone and Lucas Racing's Zakk Miller and John Battista occupy the front-row. Adam Crapser and Markell Murphy grid in last, bottoming out after hitting the tar-strips on corner entry. Johnny Reed Foley, Ken Pettit and John Tharp stand alone as Team Danger Zone and Quick-Silver Motorsports hope to tag-team to the Championship crown! A seven-car battle for the title initiated by a four-race stretch starting with Atlanta, then Rockingham, Phoenix and Homestead. Zakk Miller triumphs over points leader Johnny Reed Foley to earn his fifth pole of 2024. Last week's winner Zach Michael starts in the 16th row, with points leaders Johnny Reed Foley and Ken Pettit needing to work their way outside of the top-10. Johnny Reed Foley and Ryan Heuser come in as the favorites to win the 2024 Dunacell 500!
Johnny Reed Foley and Craig Lee can nab twenty top-10's on the year! Foley, Ken Pettit, Ryan Heuser and John Battista already scored ten top-5's. Zach Michael, Craig Lee, Alex Crapser and Tony Pizzaro are two away. Dakota Wilkins is one victory from tying Foley for the most with six. Zakk Miller passed Foley for the most poles with five! Foley is 232 laps led from 1,500. Ryan Heuser is 171 from 1,000. Ken Pettit and Zakk Miller are tied for least DNF's with two. Foley, Ken Pettit, Zach Michael, John Tharp and Zakk Miller each have a realistic chance of completing 10,000 laps in 2024!
A remarkable outbreak of hives incapsulates the crowd! Bee hives fell from the upper deck, landing on the heads of race-fans as they scurried into the parking lot, climbing whatever trees or poles they could. Unfortunately there were more hives up there! The exterminator "literally just one guy in an astronaut suit" took out the entire school of bees in one swig on Friday night. Now we can look forward to Championship style racing! Ken Pettit comes in 22 points ahead of Pole-sitter Craig Lee for the lead.
It was a Hard Day's Night for Dakota WIlkins and Bink Lucas, hitting the wall in catastrophic style during qualifying. A Quick-Silver Motorsports front-row took the green flag only to be robbed by the Bepis machine to lead lap-2! By the twelfth circuit, Race-2-Win Motorsports teammates Rick Jackson and Tony Pizzaro battled it out for the 1-2 spots, with Logan Sheets the only driver to keep up with the duo.
Bill Werkheiser blew an engine to bring out the first caution. Most likely his last race at the facility, he would return to Georgia to represent the state in any way he can, using his airstrip to feed the community that gave him more than he could swallow whole. Alex Crapser took the advantage well after the restart, dogging the Fenway Frank machine for a lap-74 pass. Craig Lee would renegade back to the second position before a John Tharp spin brought out the second yellow. An immaculate 360 through the front-stretch infield nearly dismantled his Championship dream.
Horror in turn-3 sent shockwaves through the colossium. Dakota Wilkins sabotaged the catchfence after contact with William Perry! His car metamorphisized into the wire and back onto the asphalt a-pillar first. The damage rating was recorded at 9869. Miraculously, he was lifted on a gurney cart with all five fingers waving into the air. The crowd pulled together and saluted him back. Bink Lucas throught they were waving for him! William Perry slid hundreds of feet down the embankment and into the turn-4 apron upside-down. Neither car would continue.
Craig Lee took his second swipe at the lead before the Wilkins-Perry incident. He would drop back to 9th after a slow pit stop, with Johnny Reed Foley taking the top-spot from Tony Pizzaro to lead his 18th race in the last 19 events, setting the pace Caravan held many years ago. Foley came in a whopping 56-points behind Lee, gaining ground after a 15th-place starting spot traversed him to the front as Lee dropped back. Points leader Ken Pettit struggled to stay inside the top-30, keeping the Championship race wide-open.
Alex Crapser and the Pennzoil #04 re-took the top-spot on lap 107, hoping to keep his season alive after four-straight finishes outside the top-25. Miracle-man Cristian Torres occupied the second spot, with Ben Geer and Jimmie Stevens battling with Ryan Heuser in a David vs. Goliath matchup of champions. By the end of the halfway pit cycle, Timothy McDonnell flew from 9th to first after a short-pit strategy. Former teammate Ben Geer and Bink Lucas came out second and third, with both Lifesaver Racing entries inside the top-5 for the first time in millennia. The Twinkie-man occupied the lead on lap 163, earning the Halfway Bacon money in popular style.
Craig Lee and Jeremy Hebel go for an enormous spin on the front-stretch! The man second in points careened the outside wall while battling the rookie for 11th place, spinning back onto the racetrack into Jimmie Stevens. The #2 Ampio Mustang pulverized the front of Lee's car, sending debris everywhere for drivers to avoid. Chauncey Redmond hit the #2 and spun into Markell Murphy, ending both nights. Championship contender Timothy McDonnell crashed into the rear of a stopped Rod Weston attempting to avoid the accident. The #22 Caterpillar Volkswagen was running in the third spot. Now he was out, dropping to 10th in points while Lee fell to 5th.
