Lucas Racing occupies the top-2 positions at the start and looks to be the powerhouse of Speedweeks. They dominated the finish of the Daytona 500 last year, with lofty perseverance and the horsepower of a spacecraft throughout the week. It's more of the same in 2023, with 18 other drivers attempting to defeat the Crapser-Battista duo and crown themselves Big Bud Shootout Champion!
The green flag waved with a congregation of fans waiting to see their favorite Extravaganza Series drivers for the first time in 2023. Zach Michael made headway with draft help from Ryan Heuser at the start, darting past the Lucas Racing duo and into the top-spot. Ryan would make his bid for the helm one lap later, leading through lap 10.
John Tharp led laps 11 through 14 with draft help from Johnny Reed Foley, looking forward to his second season driving the CFM #3. Ryan Heuser would lead through lap 20 before the good handling cars found their way to the front. Bink Lucas, Tony Pizzaro, Johnny Reed Foley, Dave Miller and Donald Stewart all led a lap before green flag pit stops just after the halfway mark.
The three Lucas Racing entries entered pit road first on lap 31. The QSM cars followed suite two laps later. In between, Michael Henson, Tim McDonnell, Bink Lucas, Donald Stewart, Rick Jackson and Matthew Dominique all had miraculous pit-stops and engaged a six-car cavalry at the head of the field.
The first crash of 2023 occurred on lap 36 after contact between Zach Michael and Ryan Heuser entering turn-3. Heuser slid up the racetrack into Johnny Reed Foley, careening the outside of both of their cars hard into the wall. Craig Lee received minimal damage while attempting to avoid the accident, and all three were rendered too impaired to compete for the win.
The field bunched back up with Tim McDonnell at the helm, after meandering in the back all evening. It is a 10-lap shootout to the finish. Michael Henson flew by McDonnell on the inside lane in hopes of pulling off the upset of the century. He would make it stick, keeping the top-spot through lap 44.
The Lucas Racing dynasty have traipsed their way back to the front. Alex Crapser made his move with 7 laps to go and succeeded, sending Henson's Cindarella story to the dumpster fire. Out of nowhere, Zach Michael skyrocketed to the lead and dominated the final five laps, keeping at least a 1 car-length distance throughout and to the finish.
Despite a holocaust of lapped traffic coming to the checkered flag, the decade of second-place finishes in this event has been conquered! Zach Michael is finally your 2023 Big Bud Shootout Champion! He led the first lap along with the final five, and enters the 2023 season with the momentum of a railcar. Congrats to Zach, crew chief Justin Knapp and the entire Team Danger Zone crew for an excellent victory!
FIRE ENGULFS THE SKY AT DAYTONA SUPERSPEEDWAY!!! A COMET OF HORROR HAS SENT TREPIDATION INTO THE SOULS OF THE EXTRAVAGANA FAITHFUL. THE SHOOTOUT WILL BE POSTPONED AGAIN!!!
A downpour for the ages has arrived prior to the start of the Big Bud Shootout! Fans, drivers and crew-men alike are meandering in hysteria as the enormous deluge of horror confiscates the entire 2.5-mile facility! A new start date has been determined. Until then, grab your favorite canoe and fish for the ghosts of Extravaganza past! Lucas Racing teammates John Battista and Alex Crapser lead the field to the green!
The storm has provided time for Geno Sphere and W.A.S.P. Motorsports to strike a deal for the Shootout! Geno will drive Scott Jackson's ATEUP Chevrolet, arguably the best ride in the field that isn't qualified for the show. He will drive Scott's backup car in the event, so time will tell how prepared the car is for the 50-lap run.
20 pole-sitters in 36 races made 2022 hot-laps the talk of the season! Ryan Heuser led the league with five, capturing the triple-crown by leading the green at Lime Rock, Martinsville and Daytona! He's healthy and ready to go, coming in as the favorite to win the 2023 Championship. Sophomore driver Geno Sphere comes into the event without a ride, winning the pole in a miracle lap at Rockingham during the spring. He has fully recovered from his devastating practice crash at Darlington and hopes to find a way into the show. 2022 Championship battlers Scott Jackson and Ken Pettit will watch the event from the sidelines, as Geno and Michael Henson look to pull off a surprise victory to start off the season. The rest of the field is filled with the Extravaganza Series elite. It's an all Lucas Racing front row, with John Battista leading the field for the 50-lap Big Bud Shootout!
The offseason "branding right's settlement" between Coca-Cola and Team Danger Zone has officially been finalized! The Coca Cola Company is now allowed to expand it's marketing in Extravaganza, choosing to fund Bonanza's Delta Sim Racing in promotion to the Extravaganza Series full time! They are also sponsoring Cristiano de Sa to reinstate the successful #18 at Shake N' Bake Racing. Supporting three rookie teams after spending millions to terminate their Danger Zone monopoly is a high-stakes gamble in a high-stakes racing series. This is the company that can make it work.
Former Lucas Racing Bonanza Series prodigy Chauncey Redmond Jr. is the fourth full-time rookie in Extravaganza for 2022. The former Ontario Motorsports shop in Buffalo, New York has been bought out in a tag team effort by former New England Patriots Chauncey Redmond Sr. and Shyrone Parkman. They have re-located the team to Sudbury Massachusetts behind Willis Pond, where Babe Ruth dropped his piano 105 years ago. They have named their team "Wizards of Speed", hiring Redmond Jr. with engines built and shipped by Tony Tonto in the Lucas Racing shop.
2023 Extravaganza Series Schedule February 10th, 2023: Big Bud Shootout* February 13th, 2023: Daytona Duel #1* February 15th, 2023: Daytona Duel #2* February 17th, 2023: Daytona February 24th, 2023: California March 3rd, 2023: Homestead March 10th, 2023: North Carolina March 17th, 2023: Atlanta March 24th, 2023: Texas March 31st, 2023: Richmond April 7th, 2023: Bristol April 14th, 2023: Martinsville April 21st, 2023: Talladega April 28th, 2023: Darlington May 5th, 2023: Kansas May 12th, 2023: Pocono May 19th, 2023: All-Star Race* May 26th, 2023: Charlotte June 2nd, 2023: Gateway June 9th, 2023: Sonoma June 16th, 2023: Nashville Superspeedway Duels* June 23rd, 2023: Nashville Superspeedway June 30th, 2023: Daytona July 7th, 2023: Chicagoland July 14th, 2023: New Hampshire July 21st, 2023:... Read more »
