High-horsepower madness envelops the Michigan faithful. A close points race for the top-10 adds to the excitement, with most of the top-20 starting up towards the front. Points leaders Ryan Heuser and Timothy McDonnell grid second and third, with Marlboro man Dave Miller clinching his Bud-Shootout birth with the pole.
The green flag waved in sheer euphoria as the 46-car field flew under the stand and across the starting line. Dave Miller dominated the entire run, with only a charge from Ryan Heuser and Alex Crapser but to no avail. Drivers were attempting to hog the dominant middle-lane in both corners, making it easy to lose multiple spots if stuck on the bottom.
Logan Sheets entered Michigan 61 points ahead of the chase cutoff. A blown left-front tire on lap 22 sent his car down the racetrack off of turn-2, clipping the Dan Johnston car and into the outside wall. Jonathan Skrabacz slammed into his left-front, sending both into a spin in front of the back-third of the field. Michael Henson slammed into the #48 while the rest of the pack made it through unscathed. Henson would finish 36th, with Skrabacz and Sheets limping to 32nd and 34th. Sheets would drop to 10th in the standings, only 43 points ahead of 11th place Ken Pettit.
It was more of the same at the front of the pack. Bids for the lead between Matthew Dominique and Alex Crapser were unsuccessful, with the #90 keeping the pace up front. This green flag stint would only continue for a few laps.
A monster crash starting with contact between Randy Dobbins and Steven Spears brought out the caution on lap 30. Dobbins bounced off the wall, clipping Markell Murphy after the impact. The Red Bull machine was tagged by Ben Geer and Joe Polson before Dalton Lucas pulverized his passenger-side, devouring the #88's front end while Markell flew miraculously in the air. He would spin 11 times overall, stopping on the frontstretch apron. Both drivers were okay despite the devastation. Markell would drop from 48-points behind the chase cutoff to 117, 17th in the standings.
Six drivers stayed out on old tires, with Alex Crapser taking the green at the helm. He would remain there through lap 40, before Matt Raboin took the top-spot. Both drivers come in within 70 points of 10th in the standings, each earning their five bonus points early. Before long, Dave Miller was back up front.
Lap 57 saw Rick Jackson attempt to take the lead away. He failed, with the outside grip too strong and giving the second-place advantage to Matthew Dominique. Two lap later, the #25 took the top-spot away, staying there for seven circuits before losing the lead to Zach Michael.
Michael started the event in 46th place, only needing 65 laps to make his way to the front. Lap 77 saw Dave Miller take the lead back for the third time, easily the most dominating car of the race while his two teammates barely nip at the top-10. All six drivers who stayed out on the previous caution came in to pit, only for a debris caution to trap them a lap down. Alex Crapser, William Perry, Matt Raboin, Mark Heron, Aaron Cummings and Jonatnan Skrabacz all go down a lap in the process.
Miller, Johnny Reed Foley, Zach Michael, Cristian Torres and Bink Lucas all take turns at the helm before a devastating crash on lap 140. Tony Pizzaro was in fourth position when his engine annihilated spinning in his own oil directly in the racing line. Dan Johnston slammed the rear of the #12, causing he and Jimmie Stevens to pile up against the outside turn-3 wall. Scott Drake pulverized the left-front of Pizzaro's car, spinning into Philip Parker and Johnny Reed Foley. Miraculously, none of these drivers were seriously hurt in the accident.
Bink Lucas has pulled off another masterful performance during the mid-summer stretch, leading most of the laps between lap 100 through lap 150. It his his fifth race led in his last six events after starting the season with only four total. He lost the top-spot to Zach Michael on lap 149 as he, John Battista and the Jackson cousins made their attempt at the victory.
The auto manufacturer's grab their binoculars to watch their Extravaganza race cars fly by at the 2-Mile Michigan Speedway. Here are your winners the last four seasons:
Michigan Winners: 2019 to Present
2019: Donald Stewart 2020: Rick Jackson 2021: Dave Miller 2022: Ryan Heuser
Pole-sitter Dave Miller has a 1.5 average finish in his last two races here. He comes in 202 points behind 10th place in points, currently 21st in the standings with four races left. With the road course stretch coming up, this is the race the "Marlboro Man" needs to take advantage of if he hopes to successfully defend his 2022 Championship title. Dakota Wilkins goes for victory #2 at California's sister track, with a stereotypical qualifying order otherwise. The only anomaly is Zach Michael, who crashed hard entering turn-1 on his qualifying lap. A hard way to go after his Brickyard 400 victory. Good luck to the Michigan faithful! And to every manufacturer with stakes in this race, including Pontiac!
8th through 17th in the Extravaganza Series standings are within 140 points with four races remaining in the regular season! Matthew Dominique stands on the bubble, finishing 9th, 11th and 16th just enough times to keep within Championship distance. John Tharp stands just 22 points behind with only one top five all year, finishing nearly every lap of 2023 before his crash at Indianapolis last week. Despite more dominant efforts, Alex Crapser and Johnny Reed Foley combine for nearly 700 laps led on the year, mired behind due to early-season accidents. Up front, Ryan Heuser and Timothy McDonnell swapped the lead in the standings. Without a devastating turn of events, they will be the two first drivers to clinch the 2023 chase.
Points Standings (After 22 of 36 Events) 1. Ryan Heuser: +530 (+1) 2. Tim McDonnell: +506 (-1) 3. John Battista: +367 (+1) 4. Tony Pizzaro: +367 (-1) 5. Zach Michael: +298 (+2) 6. Rick Jackson: +273 (-1) 7. Zakk Miller: +184 (-1) 8. Logan Sheets: +61 (+2) 9. Jimmie Stevens: +41 (-1) 10. Matthew Dominique: +22 (+2) --------------------------------------------------------- 11. John Tharp: -22 (-2) 12. Alan Nesfeder: -45 (+1) 13. Markell Murphy: -48 (+1) 14. Alex Crapser: -55 (+1) 15. Matt Raboin: -63 (-4) 16. Ken Pettit: -93 17. Johnny Reed Foley: -101 (+1) 18. Adam Crapser: -179 (-1) 19. Donald Stewart: -183 (+2) 20. Craig Lee: -193
The 2023 running of the Brickyard 400 started the week off with a couple of massive blows in the qualifying race. Chad Glass, Doug Spark and Ken Joynt lay in hospital beds while a field of 46 cars attempts domination and glory at the yard of bricks. $10,000,000 goes to the winner, with Tony Pizzaro and and Rick Jackson winning the first two 2023 crown jewel events in an R2W sweep. Jackson will start on the pole today.
Many worried that the green flag would result in another turn-2 accident, just like last season with Zakk Miller slamming into the catchfence. Despite some lack of experience towards the back-half of the field, all 46 cars would complete the first circuit cleanly. Jackson would lead the field for the initial 13 laps before Ryan Heuser took over the spot exiting turn-1.
A hardcore battle between Jackson and John Battista for the second position gave Heuser a half-second advantage over the field. The #44 regrouped and meandered back by the Wendy's machine, recapturing the lead on lap 30 with a pass exiting turn-4. A turn-2 crash involving Cristian Torres and Aaron Cummings brought out the first caution flag. both failing to finish inside the top-30 due to the damages.
Jackson, Heuser and Battista took four tires on their pit stops, dropping outside the top-10 while Zach Michael, Logan Sheets, Bink Lucas, Adam Crapser and Bill Werkheiser restart as the top-5 cars with a zero-tire strategy. Michael led the 1/4th mark of the event before relinquishing the spot to Sheets. Sheets had finished 6th the year before, looking to improve on his performance with his first career victory and a $10,000,000 pay check. He would be passed by Johnny Reed Foley on lap 53, keeping up with the fresh-tire cars despite also taking no fresh rubber.
Ryan Heuser helped the #3 draft through the traffic to re-take the top spot on lap 56. Before long, the drivers with fresher tires finally meandered their way through the pack and occupied the top-3 spots. Alex Crapser made his bid on lap 63, taking his first lead of the race exiting turn-2 with Rick Jackson in tow. The #44 stole it away two laps later.
The race for the $200,000 halfway bacon bonus was heating up in grand style. Crapser and teammate John Battista held a Lucas Racing 1-2 punch at the front of the pack, keeping the two legends of Extravaganza speedway racing in their wake. All four leaders entered the pits during the same lap, with Crapser's crew pulling off a miraculous stop to send him up front. Johnny Reed Foley made his stop one lap earlier, gaining track position and drafting with Crapser to pull away from the rest of the field. They would swap the lead multiple times to position themselves for the lap-80 bonus. Crapser would wind up getting earning the money, and the immaculate bacon.
The #04 and #3 dominated the green flag run, with Foley pulling ahead by over two seconds as the field spread out. Twelve seconds were gapped between he and 10th place Zach Michael, with veteran Scott Jackson miraculously lurking in 9th place despite having one of the slowest cars all week long. A second caution flag involving Cristian Torres brought out the yellow with 50 laps to go. It was the same turn he crashed in earlier, this time after contact with Randy Dobbins.
A three-wide maneuver between Dobbins, Tony Long and Trae Larkin proved unsuccessful, with the #96 pulverizing the outside turn-2 wall. Tony Long flew down the racetrack into the path of Dave Miller, slamming into the passenger-side of the #15, nearly flipping the Budweiser chevrolet and clipping Markell Murphy in the process. William Perry bashed Miller with his front end, bringing an end to the accident. John Tharp broke his radiator after slight contact with Philip Parker while braking for the crash. It would result in his first DNF of the season, with Dan Johnston suffering the same fate after an engine failure on lap 44. Timothy McDonnell would finish the day as the only DNF-less driver in 2023.
After the restart, Johnny Reed Foley lost the top-spot to Ryan Heuser only two laps into the run. They would both swap the lead multiple times before the #138 took it for good, crossing the line in first at the 30-to-go mark with John Battista and Zach Michael directly behind. Heuser and Michael pulverized through the air to earn a three-second advantage over the field with just 20 laps remaining, all s
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Tony Long pulled off a miraculous victory in his Brickyard 400 qualifier, exiting the event with renewed confidence after his devastating crash at Chicagoland three weeks ago. Rick Jackson and Ryan Hesuer occupy the front row for the main event, with the #138 closing in on points leader Timothy McDonnell after two-straight second place finishes. He won this race last season, with teammate Craig Lee finishing second in shades of last week's finish at Pocono. Towards the back, Molemar Diggs will run a second Wizards of Speed entry and start his first career Extravaganza Series event. He will grid 38th, two spots ahead of points leader McDonnell. Another go-or-go-homer Geno Sphere pulled off a Cinderella qualifying lap, starting 5th in the fourth W.A.S.P. Motorsports entry. The odds-makers say QSM will win by a landslide. It's 10,000,000 for the victory, so whoever brings home the trophy also brings home the heat!
The two most popular drivers in the Extravaganza Series will conjointly miss the field. Steven Spears and Dalton Lucas failed to make the 2023 Brickyard 400. Spears blew a tire while leading the qualifying race, raced his lap back the hard way, but ran out of time to clinch the top-11. Dalton Lucas started towards the rear of the field and methodically worked his way through. Unfortunately, he was too patient and wound up 18th. Some of the #88's effort will go towards the Molemar Diggs effort, a driver Lucas hand-picked to drive their #40 Bonanza Series entry. Spears's team immediately went home, resting for next week at Michigan.
Points Standings (After 21 of 36 Events) 1. Timothy McDonnell: +447 2. Ryan Heuser: +426 3. Tony Pizzaro: +344 4. John Battista: +291 5. Rick Jackson: +212 (+2) 6. Zakk Miller: +206 (-1) 7. Zach Michael: +189 (-1) 8. Jimmie Stevens: +40 (+1) 9. John Tharp: +31 (-1) 10. Logan Sheets: +19
--------------------------------------------------------- 11. Matt Raboin: -19 (+1) 12. Matthew Dominique: -57 (+3) 13. Markell Murphy: -64 (-2) 14. Alan Nesfeder: -64 (-1)... Read more »
"Chad Glass has suffered a cracked skull, currently in serious condition with moderate facial and brain bruising. The upside-down cockpit impact from Steven Davis's #45 caused the trauma. He is in a semi-coma, after a carnage rating of 10,726, the highest since Forrest Grove in ARCA, and highest since Russ Charneski in our top-three series. Doug Spark is in serious condition, but is able to move and speak. His right legs is broken, his pelvis fractured, but no head injuries. The impact of the head-on collision with Ken Joynt caused most of his wounds. Spark has prayed for the Glass family. We in Extravaganza do the same. Ken Joynt has suffered two broken ribs and a moderate concussion. Despite a horrifying passenger-side impact and several hits afterwards, he looks to make a full recovery. Joynt has also prayed for the Glass family."
Chad Glass entered the Indianapolis weekend 35th in Bonanza Series points, with one top-5 at Texas. Born in Nova Scotia, he is one of several Canadian regulars in the series. It was his dream to make the Daytona 500 or Brickyard 400. In his own way, he did. His first career win was at Richmond in 2021. He replaced Poppa Harding Jr. in the #36 in 2022, after his sponsor Apex Brasil released him from the #6 for the younger Yeray Rodriguez. He would struggle last year, averaging a 29th place finish with 13 DNF's. A miracle victory at Road America was the lone bright spot, and helped him secure his ride for 2023.
64 drivers attempted to qualify for the 42-car Brickyard 400 qualifier field. He time-trialed 42nd with a 183.978 MPH lap, just one spot away from not making the race. His racecar was faster than usual. By lap 10 he had gained ten spots. By lap 25 he was inside the top-30. A miraculous green flag pit stop by his all-Canadian crew sent him out 21st, just ten spots away from making the Brickyard 400 field. After the restart, he would lose the rear end, dropping back to 32nd and hoping just to finish. He wouldn't make it. The enormous crash on lap 74 sent his car into a holocaust for the ages. Let us pray.
Tony Long is back! He will be one of the headline drivers for the Brickyard 400 qualifier, driving the #15 Budweiser Shake N' Bake Chevrolet for the first time since his accident at Chicagoland. Every field this season has been determined by Duels or 10% pre-qualifying heats. The Brickyard 400 qualifying race is an 80-lap qualifying race, with 42 cars attempting to make the field. Only the top-11 will make the 2023 Brickyard 400!
Extravaganza Regulars' Starting Positions
33. Geer-5 Racing #29: 1632 34. Old Farts Racing #42: 1629 35. Delta Sim Racing #02: 1614
-------------------------------- 36. Shake N' Bake Racing #15: 1599 37. Team Danger Zone #65: 1555
After the Tony Long injury, the Shake N' Bake Racing #15 team dropped out of the top-35 in points. This is despite Jared Mogard staying out of trouble and nabbing a decent 22nd-place finish at Pocono.
An extraordinary front-row effort by Matthew Dominique and Craig Lee, two drivers who have failed to win a race this season. They are both hungry for a new lease on life in 2023, with Lee ready for redemption after the early-summer event at this facility fell through his fingertips. Rookie of the Year leader Chauncey Redmond Jr. and New Hampshire near-winner Bink Lucas also start inside the top-5.
The green flag flew out with the usual three and four wide spread before the entrance to turn-1. Craig Lee made an easy pass on Matthew Dominique on the Long Pond Straightaway to lead the first lap of the event. In shades of the Pocono 400 one month ago, he would nab the initial 10 laps before John Battista took over the helm, leading his first laps since Daytona.
The Quick-Silver domination of last season is imbued early on. Lee re-took the advantage on lap 16. Teammate Ryan Heuser caroused from the 11th starting spot to take the top-spot away on lap 19, holding his own for the remainder of the green flag run. The field would spread out tagging behind the record-breaking horsepower.
A crash between green flag pit stops shuffled the leaderboard, with Heuser dropping to the rear of the field while Donald Stewart and Dalton Lucas took his place at the front. Ben Geer drifted high entering turn-3, squeezing Steven Spears into the wall. Both drivers slid, sustaining minimal front-end damage and continuing on at race pace.
Donald Stewart could not hold off the Wendy's #39, passing the #55 for the lead and crossing the lap-50 mark with only Bink Lucas directly behind. A two tire strategy by Stewart put him back at the helm on the ensuing restart, after a Scott Jackson accident in the tunnel-turn. He could not hold the lead for 100 feet, losing it in a three-wide effort to Ken Pettit and Johnny Reed Foley. Stewart would drop to 8th place while starting the second lap.
Ken Pettit and Johnny Reed Foley swapped the top-spot for the next several circuits. It was a mild change of pace from the usual, with Heuser still meandering through the field, working his way back into the top-20. Craig Lee, Timothy McDonnell and the recently immaculate Bink Lucas all loomed towards the front during the entirety of the stint.
Ben Geer ran out of fuel coming to the entrance of pit road on lap 90. His stalled car brought out the caution flag, with Cristiano De Sa and Ryan Heuser completing their pit stops just before the leader took the caution. De Sa would pass through the field and take the green flag as the leader, accumulating the first laps led of his career. After he lost the lead to Heuser on the ensuing restart, he remained inside the top-10 for 8 laps, pulling off a decent 24th place effort. It would be his first top-30 finish since California in February.
A devastating accident on lap 106 started with contact between Alan Nesfeder and Scott Jackson entering the tunnel-turn. Michael Henson devoured the rear of the #38, destroying his right-front and skidding to a voilent stop near the inside wall. Black smoke cascaded the speedway, as Trae Larkin, David Baldinger, Ken Joynt, Scott Drake and Mark Heron all pinballed the #38 into oblivion. With Frank Womack blowing up under the yellow, a total of seven cars were eliminated during the incident. All were unhurt.
After the chaos unfolded, a mounted charge by Adam Crapser resulted in taking the lead away from Tony Pizzaro with 35 laps remaining. Towards the back, Zach Michael was the only car to take four tires during the caution and was flying by racecars with relative ease. Within 10 laps, he could easily watch Crapser and Craig Lee battle for the lead through his helmet lens. By lap 136, he would be racing with them.
Despite taking advantage of the fresh tires in full execution, Michael would gamble and stay out four laps later than the field. He would lose his track position, dropping to 18th place with only 20 laps remaining. Up front, Timothy McDonnell and Ryan Heuser swapped the top-spot in a five-car breakaway from the rest of the field. It was the usual R2W and Quick-Silver Motorsports bri
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Points leader Timothy McDonnell attempts to recapture his dominant mid-summer stride hoping to sweep Pocono for the second time in his career. The first time was during the multi-Pocono Duels a few years ago, needing to run 50 more laps this season in an arguably more impressive feat. He will start three spots behind pole-sitter's Matthew Dominique and Craig Lee, who are both looking for their first victory of 2023. New Hampshire near-winner Bink Lucas also starts within the top-5, along with Rookie of the Year leader Chauncey Redmond Jr. Who has the horsepower and drafting skills to dominate the show? Probably not you! Unless you are amongst the 46-faithful running the 2023 Pennsylvania 400!
Points Standings (After 20 of 36 Events)
1. Tim McDonnell: +405 2. Ryan Heuser: +379 3. Tony Pizzaro: +307 (+1) 4. John Battista: +299 (-1) 5. Zakk Miller: +276 (+1) 6. Zach Michael: +257 (-1) 7. Rick Jackson: +185 8. John Tharp: +77 (+1) 9. Jimmie Stevens: +62 (-1) 10. Logan Sheets: +13 --------------------------------------------------------- 11. Markell Murphy: -13 (+2) 12. Matt Raboin: -19 (+2) 13. Alan Nesfeder: -25 (-1) 14. Alex Crapser: -64 (+1) 15. Matthew Dominique: -68 (+2) 16. Ken Pettit: -92 (-4) 17. Adam Crapser: -146 (+1) 18. Dave Miller: -158 (-2) 19. Johnny Reed Foley: -170 20. Scott Jackson: -235
Tony Long remains in good spirits resting in the mid-west while Jared Mogard makes his Extravaganza Series debut in his place. He will start 40th, defeating Extravaganza veterans Michael Henson and Steven Spears on the grid, a remarkable achievement. Cristiano De Sa endured a miraculous crash in qualifying, preparing a show-car backup outside Wild Willy's Burgers in Watertown just two days prior. He will probably start-and-park.
The fans await in severe agony in the fields outside the facility. Campers from New England all across the grounds, awaiting in anticipation after the loss of Westboro Speedway left them in a daze many years ago. The newly-built racetrack has given New England racing fans hope, just in case the Boston Red Sox go in another 100+ year slump.
A remarkable outside front-row begins the show. Mark Heron nabs his career-best second-place qualifying run, with speedway specialist Donald Stewart on the pole. Needless to say, both of them drifted back to the wolves, with Ryan Heuser taking his usual first-place spot at one of his favorite racetracks.
Despite some hard charges by Matthew Dominique and Zakk Miller up front, Heuser was able to maintain his advantage through the entire green flag stint. It's been an uncharacteristically consistent year for the #138 so far, slightly lower in the victory and DNF columns for 2023. With points leader Timothy McDonnell struggling to stay inside the top-20, this is the perfect opportunity for Heuser to re-take the points lead.
After pit stops, Heuser relinquished the lead and dropped back with a bad set of tires. Zakk Miller took led his first laps of the day after a miraculous pit stop, finding himself up front despite pitting two laps after the rest of the leaders. Rick Jackson would steal the spot away just after the one-third mark of the race.
After what appeared to be another Championship run, Dave Miller blows up for the second-straight week. He started the season with four top-5's in the first six races, leading the standings by 55 points over Johnny Reed Foley. Both drivers have dropped dramatically, with Miller and Foley ending the race 18th and 19th in the standings with only seven races left in the regular season. Ken Pettit was in the opposite direction, progressing to 12th in points after four-straight top-20 finishes before a blown piston on lap 116.
2023 has been the epitome of a sophomore slump for Bink Lucas. Just like Brad Keselowski in NASCAR, Bink Lucas won at Talladega before his rookie eligibilty. He repeated his success with a victory in the Eddie Money Classic in 2022, earning 12 top-10's and nearly defeating Logan Sheets for the Rookie of the Year battle. This season, he has only two top-10's, but looks remarkably strong at New Hampshire today and possible back to form.
Rick Jackson is making it look easy up front, leading from lap 109 through lap 170 with hard charges from Miller and Lucas from behind. John Tharp was directly behind the three leaders, pitting in two laps earlier than Jackson and coming out 1.3 seconds ahead of the field. He would extend his advantage to over three-seconds before lapped traffic hit, crossing the two-third's mark in excellent shape for his second victory of 2023.
Tony Pizzaro meandered through the lapped traffic extremely well, leading at his home track after a pass over John Tharp before the final green flag stops. With 77 laps to go, Bink Lucas took the chance of a lifetime. Just within the fuel window, the #5 LIFESAVERS team decided to short-pit and use their tire advantage to steal a miracle victory. It's an enormous risk, due for a caution flag to trap him a lap down after a season-best effort.
The strategy worked, coming out with a 6.5-second lead over the field with 40 laps remaining. A caution now would still be devastating, having to pit for tires or hold off the field directly behind without rubber. Fortunately, the field stayed green throughout, easing his pace behind the lapped cars of Scott Jackson and former Bonzanza counterpart Jared Mogard as the field narrowly caught up. With 10 laps to go, Bink had been captured.
