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.
Tony Long will be out of action next week at New Hampshire, staying in the mid-west to continue recieving medical treatment. Despite the severity of the accident, Long has suffered only a broken left leg, bruised ribs, abdominal lacerations and a massive concussion. He is cuurently in great condition, and is looking to be back in Extravaganza action soon. Bonanza teammate Jared Mogard will fill in his place while he recovers, with the fortune of the two schedules no more than a couple of states apart over the oncoming weeks. He will have to qualify for the show, with Ben Geer climbing to 35th in the standings and taking the #15 out. They are only three points back, so making the field and finishing just one spot ahead of Geer will put them back in provisional-land.
Chicagoland Speedway has produced a massive variety of winners over the years. We've seen drivers like David Butterworth and Steven Spears rise to the top. We've seen Bill Werkheiser and Randy Dobbins consistently dominate in one-off performances. This year, expect more of the same.
A stereotypical front row of Rick Jackson and Zach Michael led the field to the green flag. Matt Raboin stalled on the grid, with an ensuing accident just three laps in. Steven Spears barricaded the wall head-first after contact with Scott Deutsch entering turn-1. Spears would fail to continue, finishing a career-worst 46th place. Dalton Lucas was also involved in the crash. He and Deutsch would hobble past the attrition to a 27th and 29th place finish.
The worst accident of the season sent obliteration and horror into the heavens. Tony Long exterminated the outside wall after contact with rookie Trae Larkin. His car descended from 173 miles per hour on wheels to 64 mile per hour against the catchfence in a full second.
Trae got smashed in the driver-side a-frame by Aaron Cummings, while Long catapulted unconsciously over the field. He landed upside-down violently mid-track and cartwheeled like a top eleven times before coming to a stop on his roof. He laid in the infield grass for several minutes before the medical team transported him to the ambulance by handcart. There is no word on his condition.
The race finally resumed with green flag aspiration from below, and prayers to the Tony Long family and Extravaganza community from above. Dave Miller, who took the lead in a much overshadowed three-wide maneuver through the middle, blew up before taking the green. He would finish 39th. Zach Michael, Ken Pettit and Tony Pizzaro led the charge as the field finally took speed for good.
Zakk Miller led the field by nearly a full lap after short-pitting halfway through the run. The tire-wear was a miraculous twenty miles per hour off pace from the initial laps, giving Miller the privilege of putting Adam Crapser, Scott Jackson, Logan Sheets and Jonathan Skrabacz one lap down on the strategy. They would remain there after a Frank Womack and Randy Dobbins accident on lap 89. Neither driver would continue on.
From lap 93 to 187, Alex Crapser led the field, completely obliterating the competition. Zakk Miller cruised directly behind for the first run. After a Dakota Wilkins and Bink Lucas yellow, Crapser would pull away from the field after the restart, giving himself a miraculous seven-second advantage after the tire run.
Amazingly, Zach Michael erased the entire distance and led the way after coming in just a couple laps before Crapser. The two fiercely battled for the top-spot, swapping the lead several times while allowing Rick Jackson to gain on both. The rest of the field were nowhere to be found, leaving it a three-man race with 30 laps to go.
Zach Michael again had the advantage by 1.5 seconds over Crapser after the final green flag stop. Crapser and Jackson were catching before a Ken Joynt and Matt Raboin spin brought out the final caution. Joynt was in 9th place, ending his excellent run while enveloped in another bout of misfortune. Chauncey Redmond Jr. and Rob Scarberry attempted to fly through the crash to no avail. Both drivers and Raboin would fail to continue.
The final restart saw Timothy McDonnell and Donald Stewart suddenly in the fray. They would fail to be a contributor early into the final 15-lap shootout, but side-by-side action between Michael and Crapser with eight laps to go brought the #44 and #55 into the mix. Michael held him off the first time around, but a bonzai move on the outside of turn-2 catapulted the #04 barely against the quarter panel of the #20. The two side-drafted down the straightaway, entering turn-3 where Crapser's two-lap fresher tires proved advantagous. He would lead the field to the stripe with two laps to go and never look back.
Bring out the orange juice! Giant balls of inflated oranges traverse the speedway in a pre-race ceremony of the ages! In a more sour note, this race marks the 20th anniversary of the death of six-time N.O.R.L. Extravaganza Series Champion Harrison James. James died in a practice crash at Chicagoland in July 11th, 2003. His memory continues to live on, without a #40 on the racetrack since that day. Rick Jackson helped take supremacy over the gap James once filled in the series. He will start on the pole Friday Night. Zach Michael, who's earned more top-24 finishes than anyone else in the series this year, grids on the outside.
Bill Werkheiser nearly ended his winless-streak in this race last season, going on eight years since Dover of 2015. His teammate Randy Dobbins won in a miraculous late-race charge two years before in what is so far his last career victory. His other teammate Scott Jackson won here the year after. W.A.S.P. domination has been hard to come by over the last near-decade of Extravaganza Racing, but here it is well in flux. Despite lackluster qualifying spots, expect more of the same at Chicagoland.
Points Standings (After 18 of 36 Events) 1. Tim McDonnell: +361 2. Ryan Heuser: +294 3. John Battista: +248 (+1) 4. Tony Pizzaro: +248 (-1) 5. Zakk Miller: +173 (-1) 6. Zach Michael: +148 7. Rick Jackson: +61 8. Logan Sheets: +53 9. John Tharp: +51 (+1) 10. Jimmie Stevens +36 (-1) --------------------------------------------------------- 11. Matt Raboin: -36 (+3) 12. Dave Miller: -50 (+1) 13. Ken Pettit: -54 (+2) 14. Matthew Dominique: -57 (-2) 15. Alan Nsfeder: -68 (-4) 16. Markell Murphy: -70 (+1) 17. Adam Crapser: -171 (-1) 18. Alex Crapser: -180 (+1) 19. Scott Jackson: -246 (-1) 20. Johnny Reed Foley: -270
Coming into Daytona, 17 races have commenced. Timothy McDonnell has gone on an unexpected rampage to take his first points lead in two seasons, looking to re-capture his prominence and take his fourth Championship crown. Pre-race favorites Ryan Heuser and John Battista will start on the front row, both inside the top-5 in points hoping to catch McDonnell.
45 cars take the grid, tying for the largest summer Daytona field in Extravaganza Series history. Two drivers will make their first starts of the season, Tony Gunk and Frank Womack, the latter making his first career start in the #02 Lowe's Chevrolet for Delta Sim Racing. Womack would struggle to keep up with the draft, while Gunk tested the waters mid-pack.
Alan Nesfeder went from the third position to lead the first lap, giving way back to pole-sitter Heuser on lap 4. The #138 led the pack through lap 11, with the exemption of Matt Raboin for one circuit. Zach Michael, David Butterworth, Jimmie Stevens and Johnny Reed Foley would cycle atop the field, with Heuser taking the lead back on lap 18.
Logan Sheets, Matt Raboin, Tim McDonnell, Alan Neseder, Matthew Dominique, Adam Crapser, Steven Spears, Jimmie Stevens, John Tharp, David Butterworth, Zakk MIller, Michael Henson and Craig Lee would swap the top-spot through lap 50. Heading towards green flag pit stops, Sheets and Dominique would fominate the final ten-lap stretch. The #58 would continue to lead the nine-car lead pack after fuel stops, letting Nesfeder by in hopes of pulling away from the second pack.
Once the second group caught up to the leaders, Ryan Heuser wasted no time re-taking the lead. The #138 NOS Energy chevrolet was up front for 34 of the next 36 laps, capturing the halfway bacon bonus and pulling the 19-car lead group well away from the rest of the field. Behind him, Logan Sheets and Ken Joynt made unscheduled pit stops, losing a lap that they would fail to regain.
Matthew Dominique had the horsepower to power past the #138 just before lap 100. Frank Womack soon led his first two career laps, relinquishing the spot to John Tharp and Ben Geer before the second round of stops. Miraculously, we would remain caution free with 55 laps to go.
All 45 cars were still running by lap 110. Scott Jackson led the field to the first yellow flag for debris off of the rear of Randy Dobbins. Under the stops, Michael Henson slammed into the back of Dave Daniels, destroying his radiator and ending his night. He would be the only driver to fail to finish. Rick Jackson, Adam Crapser and Rob Scarberry each went a lap down during the caution.
Everyone made their final fuel stop coming to the green with 47 laps remaining, except for Bink Lucas. He would gain 21 spots to lead the field, having to go 55 laps on a tank in a bonzai chance to nab his first top-5 of the season. John Tharp, Ryan Heuser, Ben Geer and Matt Raboin would all swap the lead by the 40-to-go mark.
Timothy McDonnell was atop the field from lap 121 through lap 128. Ryan Heuser made a pass on the frontstretch with Ben Geer in tow, with the #29 stealing the lead away one lap later. Dan Johnston received a push from Zakk Miller to take his first lead of the night with 30 laps to go, in search for redemption after his Talladega crash three years ago.
With 28 laps to go, John Battista took the helm and remained there for laps on end. Just nine circuits earlier, he was in 35th place, racing Rob Scarberry and Scott Jackson for last in the lead pack. Miraculously, the Wendy's machine traversed through the field with complete ease, using the Lucas Racing superspeedway horsepower to his advantage. He would remain there for the rest of the event, looking in his mirror for any potential adversaries to reach his back bumper. Nobody did.
Since 2021, there have been nine races at Daytona and Talladega. Lucas Racing has won six of them. Two of them were first time winners. They haven't dominated Daytona as much, but they are easily in the hunt with the dominant speed they showed at both plate-races so far. Their qualifying program was below par, with Zach Michael and Timothy McDonnell starting on the front row. McDonnell gained the points lead after Nashville for the first time since 2021. He, John Tharp and Dan Johnston hope to continue their DNF-less streak for the season. Zach Michael earned his first pole of the year, lookin to cap it off with his first 2023 victory. He comes in 6th in the standings with consistent runs inside the top-half of the field. Look for the trend to continue on Friday night. Rick Jackson, McDonnell and Ryan Heuser will be among the favorite to win over the Lucas Racing brigade. Heuser comes in only 14 points back of the #22. Both are in excellent shape to make th chase, which is ten races away.
Lucas Racing Superspeedway Wins: 2021 Spring (Daytona) : Alex Crapser 2021 Spring (Talladega) : John Battista 2021 Fall (Talladega): Bink Lucas 2022 Spring (Daytona): Dalton Lucas 2022 Fall (Talladega): Alex Crapser 2023 Spring (Talladega): John Battista
Points Standings (After 17 of 36 Events) 1. Tim McDonnell: +329 (+2) 2. Ryan Heuser: +315 (-1) 3. Tony Pizzaro: +277 (-1) 4. Zakk Miller: +193 (+3) 5. John Battista: +187 (-1) 6. Zach Michael: +133 7. Rick Jackson: +134 (+2) 8. Logan Sheets: +127 (-3) 9. Jimmie Stevens: +83 (+1) 10. John Tharp: +27 (+2) --------------------------------------------------------- 11. Alan Nesfeder: -27 (-3) 12. Matthew Dominique: -37 (+2) 13. Dave Miller: -46 (-2) 14. Matt Raboin: -63 (+1) 15. Ken Pettit: -81 (+2) 16. Adam Crapser: -82 (-3) 17. Markell Murphy: -89 (-1) 18. Scott Jackson:
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We head off to the new second-half broadcast crew this week on the acclaimed NEXUS network. The Extravaganza Series was the second highest rated show on the channel last year behind the acclaimed "Pinecone Council", an excellent feat after replacing "Where's My Ash Tray". The ash tray fans have subsided and gave in to the new! Brad Capers, Steven Spock and Randy Orb will fill the booth once again, with Dale Rosendaul covering the pits. Orb will continue to bring his infamous jiffy pop and fresca to the booth. He spilled an entire can on the microphone last season and electrified the crowd from below. Let's see if he does it again.
The old man Bill Werkheiser is on the pole for the second straight year at the new facility. With young driver Molemar Diggs winning the Bonanza Series race at the old racetrack, perhaps the near-elderly Bill can win at the modern arena. He's got 300 laps to hold off the rest of the field and break the half-decade winless streak.
Cristian Torres suffers a blown piston on the grid as the rest of the field blows by. Joe Mersdorf and Adam Beresford make their first Extravaganza Series start, already passing their first car before taking the green. In the first 16 laps, Werkheiser would lead 13 circuits, sharing 3 with former teammate Dave Miller.
John Battista made a three-wide move entering turn-1 to take his first lead of the race. He, Werkheiser and Johnny Reed Foley swapped the top-spot several times before the #6 took the helm for the rest of the green flag run. Ken Pettit and Jimmie Stevens ended the pit cycle 1st and 2nd after a short-pit strategy.
Trae Larkin was having an excellent run in the 8th position before blowing a right-front tire in front of the field on lap 71. Tony Long ran into his rear, drifting into Johnny Reed Foley and squeezing Chauncey Redmond Jr. into the outside wall. Ben Geer pulverized the #3, with Matt Raboin ricocheting the Twinkie #29 into the path of Tony Pizzaro. Aaron Cummings, Dave Miller, Logan Sheets, Geno Sphere, Rob Scarberry, Mark Heron, Jonathan Skrabacz, Dalton Lucas and Alex Crapser all received damage attempting to avoid the accident. Pizzaro, Geer, Redmond and Lucas would all fail to continue.
Congestion on the ensuing restart created contact between Ryan Heuser and Adam Crapser, sending the #4 into a tailspin towards the outside wall. Crapser careened off the barrier and well into traffic, getting slammed by William Perry with Michael Henson directly behind. The #144 spun into the path of Johnny Reed Foley. Foley's front end was demolished, with Henson getting bodyslammed into a flip and landing with sparks along the outside wall. All four drivers would retire from the event.
Matthew Dominique led the field to the green in hopes of a long green flag run to weed out the damage. Ken Pettit re-took the lead immediately with he, Zakk Miller and Jimmie Stevens traversing the top-spot numerous times through lap 111. Pettit tries to end his winless streak, starting from the Atlanta spring race in 2019.
One car able to avoid both crashes without damage was Ryan Heuser, struggling outside the top-20 before the attrition rate set. Once he got through the carnage, Heuser became the fastest car in the field and flew by the top-10 with relative ease. By lap 112, he was the leader, losing it only once to Miller before his green flag stop.
Matthew Dominique attempted a short pit strategy, coming out with a three-second advantage over the #30 and #138 to steal the halfway bacon bonus away. Heuser progressed his way to the second position after passing the #25 with Ken Pettit pulling away, only to blow his engine and spin into the outside turn-3 wall. He would lose the points lead to Timothy McDonnell's buy-a-ride #02 after an eventual 33rd place finish.
Ken Pettit has absolutely dominated this event, leading a race-most 120 laps by the end of the day. He would stay up front through lap 200 before losing it to Zakk Miller in the pits after the Heuser accident. He would gain it back a lap after the restart, meandering through cars at the tail-end of the lead lap to lead the field by lap 222.
An accident between Alex Crapser and Markell Murphy brought the caution out one final time on lap 270. The ensuing restart saw Rick Jackson in the second position. He had been among the last of the cars to pit after every green flag stop, sacrificing tires for fuel mileage all race long. By the end, Rick stayed in sequence to prove he had the fastest car in the field all along.
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