Former Extravaganza Series Champions Tim McDonnell and Rick Jackson come into Talladega with a top-3 starting spot, hoping to turn their uninspiring 2023 seasons around. Both are just inside the top-20 in the standings, with hard luck and a slight lack of speed the culprit for their moderate starts. With the plate on, these veterans are among the favorites to win their first race of 2023.
John Battista leads the field to the green, looking to seize his first speedway victory of the season. A caravan led by Johnny Reed Foley and Matthew Dominique made their way to the front on lap 7, with Rick Jackson taking the lead on lap 10. 45 cars remained in the lead draft during the initial stages, with rookie Joe Polson the only driver to fall.
For three laps, the #44 and #138 battled two-abreast for the top-spot before draft help from Tim McDonnell gave Ryan Heuser the lead. He would remain there through lap 23, with John Battista and CFM teammates Johnny Reed Foley taking turns ahead of the three-wide action behind. In the back, Tony Long and Mark Heron would lose sight of the main pack.
The lap-50 mark ensured that drivers could make the finish on only three stops, going back to the 22-gallon fuel tank for the second straight season. Rick Jackson, Ryan Heuser, Michael Henson and Tim McDonnell came out of the pits in a four-car secession several seconds ahead of the field. Jackson and Heuser were able to pull away all by themselves, dominating the second green flag run in a four-second breakaway.
Logan Sheets helped lead the second pack to the leaders by lap 100. They were still in a 29-car mob as we headed for the second round of stops, still without a single caution flag. Connor Germain became the first casualty of the race with an engine explosion just before the halfway mark.
Michael Henson came out of the pits in the lead with former Shake N' Bake Racing teammate Johnny Reed Foley in tow. Henson has had a fantastic run over the last three races, finishing 14th or better during the short track stretch, jumping from 35th to 24th in the standings. Alex Crapser, Jimmie Stevens, Alan Nesfeder, Matthew Dominique, Adam Crapser, Zach Michael and Ryan Heuser all took their turns up at the front, with no car able to remain there and help spread out the pack.
A miraculous three-wide move by rookie Chauncey Redmond Jr. put him atop the heap for the first time on lap 134. He would remain there for four laps before Nesfeder, Henson and points leader Tony Pizzaro took the lead with a convoy slipstream from Zach Michael on the inside. Michael and Pizzaro remained alongside for six laps before the final green flag stop.
A terrifying crash off of turn 4 sent Donald Stewart head-first into the outside wall in a devastating impact. Smoke protruded between the #55 and the wall, as Chauncey Redmond, Alex Crapser, Alan Nesfeder, William Perry and Rob Scarberry all skidded across the racetrack in severe dismay. The caution many drivers wanted finally flew out. Scarberry, Redmond and Stewart would tow to the garage.
Tony Pizzaro led the field to the green flag in a 38-lap dash to the finish. He and teammate Ken Pettit battled Dan Johnston and Michael Henson for the top-spot before a lapped traffic interlude put the #8 up front. Ken Pettit is looking for his first victory in over four years, showing up at the right time with an immaculate battle with Markell Murphy. Ironically, Murphy is attempting to continue a victory streak, winning exactly one race during the three seasons Pettit hasn't.
Markell Murphy and Adam Crapser were 1-2 with 10 laps remaining, with Crapser looking for his first career victory in over four full seasons. 2023 dominator John Battista flew by him just one lap later, with he and Murphy side-by-side for the top-spot. Battista would win that fight, with Murphy and the Race-2-Win teammates hard in battle for the second place spot.
Qualifying Results John Battista came out as the big winner during the three-race short track stretch, averaging a 3.67 place finish and winning two out of the three. This week we head off to Talladega, where Lucas Racing horsepower has dominated over the early part of the decade. It continues once more, with Battista on the pole for the first time in 2023. Tim McDonnell starts on his outside, coming in with five finishes 28th or worse in his last six events. Look for him and plate-master Johnny Reed Foley to be at the front of the pack by lap 10. Towards the rear, Scott Deutsch makes his first start for his new team, pairing with Connor Germain, Scott Drake and Geno Sphere in a 2022 rewind. Deutsch's former Ontario Motorsports shop was bought out by Wizards of Speed during the offseason, buying out old cars from the Lowe Racing stable. Look for these guys to pair up in the back in an attempt to steal some glory. In direct result of their fortune, David Butterworth will miss his second event of the 2023 season.
Talladega Winners Since 2020 2020 Spring:Alex Crapser 2020 Fall:Matthew Dominique 2021 Spring:John Battista 2021 Fall:Bink Lucas 2022 Spring:Tony Pizzaro 2022 Fall:Alex Crapser *green indicates Lucas Racing driver
Canadian Joe Polson has qualified for his first career Extravaganza Series event in the Montreal Canadians Canadian Roadhouse Inc. Pontiac. He will become the first driver from British Colombia to enter a race, and is the first driver with the #007 in an Extravaganza field. This is an enormous win for Pontiac as well, who's return to the series with Mike Carroll and NSRA Racing in 2020 failed to pan out. Joe's only two Extravaganza in-race appearances before this season was a 35th and 24th in the two Nashville Duel's in 2021, accumulating in no points. Look for Joe 46th on the grid, hoping to stay in the draft all race long. Friday, April 21st, 6:00 ET
Eight drivers come into Martinsville within 100 points of the lead in the 2023 standings. Leader Tony Pizzaro comes in on the outside front-row after his victory at Bristol, with Matt Raboin on the pole after two-straight top-5 outings during the short track stretch. Look for higher speeds and more attrition as we run under the lights, with one extra car in the field from previous seasons.
Lucas Racing went 1-2-3 for the first time in their history just a couple of weeks ago at Richmond. They enter this event scattered throughout the starting order and see minimal hope of perfecting the same feat. Up front, pole-sitter Matt Raboin led the first 11 laps before a Ryan Heuser spin after contact with Matthew Dominique brought out the first caution.
A fuel-only stop for Zach Michael and a two-tire change for Dakota Wilkins put them into the 1-2 positions on the restart. During the pit stop, a hard collision between fourth-in-points Dave Miller and sophomore driver Bink Lucas put both of them out of the race. Dave would drop to 9th in the standings, with Bink continuing his streak of zero top-10's in 2023.
Fantastic racing for the second position was in full view of the 200,000 capacity crowd while Zach Michael defended his lead in grand style. Wilkins, Tim McDonnell, Matt Raboin, Johnny Reed Foley and Alex Crapser all took swipes underneath the quarter panel of the Coca-Cola #20, but to no avail. Chauncey Redmond Jr., Cristian Torres, Zakk Miller, Tony Long, Adam Crapser and Matthew Dominique all benefited from Zach's defensive strategy to keep the lead, with 12 cars within two-seconds at the top.
41 cars remained on the lead lap through lap 90 with the hard-fought racing up front. That would change when Alex Crapser finally took the lead away on lap 91, pulling ahead immediately and navigating through Dan Johnston and Bill Werkheiser at the rear. Zach Michael would have to pit for fuel just before a Ken Pettit and Steven Spears spin, making him the third lapped car after the second yellow.
Johnny Reed Foley took the lead after the caution flag and led through lap 188. A Cristiano de Sa engine failure forced him to stop in the racing groove, directly into the path of Ken Pettit in a horrifying impact. Steven Spears, Bill Werkheiser and top-10 drivers Tony Pizzaro, Matthew Dominique, Craig Lee and Adam Crapser all pulverized into the accident with no foresight whatsoever. Pizzaro miraculously continued to finish 12th with a damaged front end, while Dominique, Lee, Crapser and Spears all fell out with extreme radiator damage. Lee and Dominique would drop to 15th and 16th in points, with Adam falling from 2nd to 4th.
Foley would continue to lead the field after the ensuing restart, looking to pull away from the field again before a literal devastating blow. An obliterated right-front tire handed the lead to rookie leader Chauncey Redmond Jr., keeping the top-spot through the halfway point to win his first career bacon bonus. John Battista would take his first lead of the night on lap 262, chipping away from his 38th qualifying position all race long.
Obliteration from Kevin Corbat, who has qualified for his fourth-straight Extravaganza event, brings out the fourth caution flag just before the lap 300 mark. Battista had jumped to an 8-second lead after the long green flag run, erasing it to zero and forcing pressure from William "Tex" Perry after the restart. Perry had been quietly inside the top-10 after the big turn-4 accident, taking the lead away on lap 352 in an attempt to win his first Extravaganza race in nearly a decade.
In what can be considered a career-saving season for Tex, he would lead a whopping 55 laps after short-pit strategy helped swap the top-spot between he and Battista for the next 100 laps. It was the first lap Tex has led since Lime Rock Park last season, and the first double-digit lap led performance since Darlington of 2021, when he was teammates with John Tharp in the #85. Battista's long-pit strategy would pay off, putting Tex to the tail end of the lead lap after a crash between Ryan Heuser, Markell Murphy and John Tharp on the frontstretch.
Two more caution flags helped put 11 cars on the lead lap, including David Butterworth in 3rd, William
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A pair of top-5 finishes after the first two-thirds of the short track stretch has bumped Matt Raboin from 28th to 18th in the 2023 points standings. He is on the pole at Martinsville, with current points leader and Bristol winner Tony Pizzaro on the outside. The man starting last is two-time Champion Scott Jackson, who has endured the worst start of his Extravaganza Series career so far, entering the show 29th in points. He finished runner-up in both Martinsville events last season, securing half of his top-5 finishes in 2022. Look for him to at least drive into the top-20. Markell Murphy looks to earn his so-far yearly victory in his young Extravaganza career by repeating his win from last year's spring event. Fall winner John Battista and race favorite Ryan Heuser will have to come from the rear. Eight drivers enter within 100 points of the standings lead, and all eight have had at least moderate success at this facility:
Points Standings (After 8 of 36 Events) 1. Tony Pizzaro: - 2. Adam Crapser: -8 3. Zach Michael: -24 4. Dave Miller: -50 5. Ryan Heuser: -59 6. Johnny Reed Foley: -61 7. John Tharp: -94 8. Zakk Miller: -98
For the second week in-a-row, one of Extravaganza's mainstay's will not be in the field. Aaron Cummings qualified dead-last for the 50-lap pre-qualifier, gaining only three spots while passing zero cars on speed. "We didn't have the setup. It's that simple." said the Eddyville, Kentucky native. "Mello Yello has been pressuring us to perform and we overcompensated. We attempted a hybrid of what we ran last year at New Hampshire. It didn't work. We'll have a head-start for Alabama." Miracle man Scott Deutsch nearly won the event after blowing up with six laps to go. "We had a 44-lap engine for a 50-lap race. Too bad. I should've eaten a couple franks beforehand. My weight would've lowered the horsepower."
The sun couldn't shine any brighter at Bristol Motor Speedway, setting the grandstands ablaze for a spectacle of the ages! Despite the luminous sky, temperatures in the high-30's have promoted record-setting lap times, with pole-sitter John Tharp capping the charts with a 130 mile-per-hour time. Expect similar speeds during the first quarter of the run, as race-day favorites Johnny Reed Foley and John Battista attempt to crawl from the back of the field.
An enormous crash on lap 1 takes out Dalton Lucas after contact between Rob Scarberry and Ken Joynt sends the back-half of the field into a frenzy. Joynt and John Battista narrowly slide through, as the aftermath from behind collects Lucas, Scarberry, Chauncey Redmond Jr., Bill Werkheiser and Steven Spears. The #88 went for a duel-flip across the turn-3 apron, ending his day immediately.
Points leader Johnny Reed Foley carefully meandered by the lap-1 accident. The restart saw a miracle pit crew performance from the #46 team capitalize on Corbat's outside front-row start by giving him the lead! Not long afterwards, William Perry and Dave Daniels tangled in turn-1, impacting the outside wall hard and sliding directly into traffic. Craig Lee, Adam Crapser and Tim McDonnell survive with minor impairment, while Aaron Cummings and Logan Sheets slammed into the carnage with severe front-end damage. Perry, Daniels and Sheets would all fail to continue, dropping Logan from 4th to 9th in the standings. Both Perry and Cummings would drop outside the top-35 in points after the race, needing to qualify for the show next week at Martinsville.
Ziggy Moonglow led the field to the green flag, leading his first 17 laps since his pole-sitting performance at Atlanta. Miracle-man Kevin Corbat took the lead on lap 36 and remained there for the following 37 circuits, dropping the lead to Alex Crapser one lap later. he would grab his five bonus-points and hand the top-spot over to Dakota Wilkins.
A blown right-rear tire from points leader Johnny reed Foley dropped him three laps down, forcing him to fight through attrition for the remainibg 400+ laps to keep himself atop of the standings. Up front, Steven Spears pulled off Foley's plan of taking the lead on lap 99 after starting outside the top-30. He would remain there through lap 155, in easily his most dominant Extravaganza Series performance to date. He, Matt Raboin, Alan Nesfeder, Ryan Heuser, Tony Pizzaro and Rod Weston would swap the top-5 positions for the following 20-laps.
The third accident of the event mimicked the Perry-Daniels crash entering turn-1. This one involved Donald Stewart and Jonathan Skrabacz, with the #55 pulverizing the outside wall and escaping any residual impacts from the traffic behind. Afterwards, Alex Crapser destroyed the front end of his car in the same corner, ending his day as well as Stewart's. Both drivers would fall outside the top-10 in points after finishing 37th and 38th.
Lap 177 saw Ganza-whacker Rod Weston take the lead for the first time in 2023. Finishing 21st in the Bonanza race didn't dispell his spirits, qualifying 6th for the 500-lapper and staying up front through lap 220. Alan Nesfeder and Tony Pizzaro would exchange the lead several times in the following 20 laps, with the #78 earning the halfway bacon bonus.
For the first time in his Extravaganza Series career, Steven Spears would lead a race twice. A lap 240 pass over Pizzaro and a hard-fought battle between he and Nesfeder put him up front for a third time, remaining there before the Team Danger Zone wagon-train caught him from behind. Zakk Miller and Steven Spears would lead for the remaining green flag run, with Matthew Dominique lurking from behind.
An enormous check-up in turn-1 sent Jimmie Stevens into the rear of Ryan Heuser, spinning the #138 around rear-first into the outside retaining wall. He would continue on to finish 8th despite the setback, as leader Zakk Miller took the field to the green. Tony Pizzaro and Zach Michael flew by him with 150 laps to go, swapping the top-spot several times before Matthew Dominique snuck it away from both of them. He would pull away from the field by over two seconds.
A complete miracle lap by Kevin Corbat puts him on the outside pole at Bristol Motor Speedway! John Tharp's time of 14.679 seconds puts him atop the board, looking to re-gain his confidence after two-straight finishes outside the top-20. New-found points leader Johnny Reed Foley will start 41st after nearly losing the racecar off of turn-4 in his first qualifying lap, hindering both runs. Towards the back, Dalton Lucas (27th), Steven Spears (33rd), and Aaron Cummings (39th) will attempt to bypass Dan Johnston and Ziggy Moonglow in the standings, who are both tied for 35th in points. Two-time Champion Scott Jackson is need of a good run, averaging a 27th-place finish on the season and only 17 points ahead of the cutoff. Race-favorites Ryan Heuser and John Battista will start 12th and 30th respectively, with the #39 attempting to be the first driver with three victories before anyone else gets two in 2023. Good luck to all at Bristol!
David Butterworth has gone nearly a decade without missing an Extravaganza Series race. Today, he fails to make the Food City 500 field after a 10th-place effort in the pre-qualifier, two spots behind the cutoff. He qualified in the third position, dropping back with an extremely loose racecar and no pit stops to adjust. You can blame the companion race Ganza-whackers. You can blame running out of gas at Atlanta. You can blame the horsepower, the crew chief, and every circumstance in the book. In the end, David Butterworth was not fast enough to make the 43-car field. This is a devastating blow for High Octane Racing, who started off as a three-car organization in 2021. At least for this week, only Dan Johnston remains. He will start 38th.
Several of the top short track Extravaganza athletes will show off their short-track skills for the first time in 2023 at Richmond Raceway! The first race under a mile in length produces the greatest odds for grass-roots drivers to cross the checkered flag as the winner. Richmond dominator Ryan Heuser will start on the pole, looking to regain the points lead he lost last week at Texas.
Over one-hundred thousand screaming fans flash the speedway with cameras up and buckles down! Heuser led the field to the green in grand style as the bottom line prevailed, giving he and Matt Raboin the 1-2 spots entering lap #2. Towards mid-pack, three and four wide racing prevailed in an attempt to gain that early track position.
Points Leader Dave Miller started the event in the 41st position, gaining ground early by clinching the top-30 by the 20th circuit. By lap 40, Heuser and Raboin were a couple seconds ahead of the rest of the field, with Tony Pizzaro and outside pole-sitter Adam Crapser battling for the third position. Lapped traffic on lap 72 gave Raboin the advantage entering turn-1 and took the top spot away for the events' first lead change.
Two laps of side-by-side action at the front saw Heuser nab the lead back from the #87 just a couple of laps later. They would remain nose-to-tail for the remainder of the run before a piece of debris from the #26 car brought out the first yellow flag on lap 90. Raboin would beat Heuser out of the pits, earning himself his second lead of the evening.
The #87 would dominate the second run out of the gate, leading the field by over a second through lap 150. Heuser would make a pass in turns 3 and 4 for the lead as they battled lapped traffic again, this time with Zach Michael and John Battista on their tails in a four-car breakaway for the top-spot. Michael and Raboin swapped the second position multiple times before the #20 prevailed, giving us the first different 1-2 order of the race just before the halfway point.
Zach Michael earned his five bonus points on lap 180, taking the advantage as Heuser drifted up the racetrack entering turn-3. The #39 machine flew by as well, setting himself up to pass Michael just one lap later. A battle for the 10th position would end the progress, seeing Alex Crapser and Rick Jackson spin towards the outside wall in turn-3. Both cars received minimal damage from the accident, and would miraculously remain in the lead lap for the remainder of the event despite the misfortune.
During the green flag run, points leader Dave Miller lost three laps fixing the damage to a blown right-front tire, finishing 39th and dropping to third in the standings. His teammate Craig Lee hoped to capitalize on the misfortune by taking the points lead, but blew up just a few laps later, finishing dead-last and dropping to 12th in the standings. Tony Long would also fall to the engine bug, a small misfortune to an otherwise excellent start to his season.
The green flag flew out after the Jackson-Crapser incident brought out the second yellow flag of the race. The #39 and #20 dominated the run, pulling away from Raboin, Adam Crapser and Heuser who were all entrenched in a battle for third while racing around the faster lapped-traffic. On lap 256, Zach Michael took the lead away from John Battista, but not in time to lead the halfway bacon bonus.
The Tony Long stall on the exit of turn-2 brought out the third caution flag of the evening. Battista was able to beat Michael out of the pit road after a masterful pit stop by the Wendy's crew. Fourth place Ryan Heuser suffered a loose wheel on the restart, coming into the pits during the waving of the green flag and lost a lap to the field. He would never get it back, finishing 23rd on the day after leading 117 laps. After the restart, Ziggy Moonglow blew an engine directly in front of Tim McDonnell, ending the night for the #02 while losing the Rookie of the Year battle to Chauncey Redmond Jr., who finished 23 spots ahead. McDonnell's damaged car would drop him to 28th after an easy top-20 night.
John Battista looked to end the streak of different winners in 2023 while dominating the second-to-last green flag run. A short-pit strategy with 50 laps to go gave Tony Pizzaro and out-of-knowhere one-
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Zakk Miller bumps himself into the top-10 in points with his victory last week at Texas, becoming the 6th different winner after six events in 2023. We enter a three-race short track stretch starting at Richmond Speedway, where drivers like Ryan Heuser, Alex Crapser and Matt Raboin have dominated in the past. Heuser will start on the pole, ending four-race streak of uncharacteristically bad qualifying runs. He has certainly healed from his time-trial accident at Texas and looks to become the first two-time winner this season. Points leaders Dave Miller and Johnny Reed Foley start 41st and 22nd, with Miller attempting to keep his streak of completing all the laps in tact by not getting caught down early. Last year's Richmond winners Matt Raboin and Zach Michael will grid 3rd and 9th.
Extravaganza Series veterans Steven Spears, Aaron Cummings, David Butterworth and Dalton Lucas all had to qualify on time and were successful in their endeavors, making the top-9 in the 20-car pre-qualifier. All four drivers come in within 35 points of Michael Henson for the top-35, hoping to earn their provisional spot for next week at Bristol.
A tremendous battle for the top-35 in points overshadows the top-gunners coming into the Russ Charneski 500. Extravaganza big-dog's Scott Jackson, Michael Henson, Jonathan Skrabacz, William Perry, Rob Scarberry, Dakota Wilkins, Dalton Lucas, Dan Johnston, David Butterworth, Aaron Cummings, Ben Geer and Steven Spears all race for their 2023 livelihood in an attempt to secure their starting spots for the remainder of the season. Two-time Champion Jackson will start on the pole, attaining a head start on the mission at hand.
Front-row starters Scott Jackson and newfound Mr. Consistency Donald Stewart roll to the green flag in front of Russ Charneski, who waved the green flag in grand style. After a well-needed bonus point, Zakk Miller passed through both drivers on the bottom lane to capture the lead on lap 2. He would remain there for the entire green flag run.
Johnny Reed Foley, Chauncey Redmond Jr. and Logan Sheets all took their turns behind the #30 car without significant hope of bidding for the lead. After the first round of pit stops, Miller pulled ahead by a staggering six seconds before getting reeled in by Sheets, Bill Werkheiser, Johnny Reed Foley and Chauncey Redmond Jr. He would hold them all off through lap 100.
The second round of stops invited a staggering pit entry by Kevin Corbat, who re-introducing himself to the high-horsepower Extravaganza Mustangs. Points leader Ryan Heuser would suffer a broken oil line, losing 16 laps in the process and dropping to fourth in the standings, re-handing the lead to Dave Miller. Much later on, Bill Werkheiser suffered the only engine fatality of the event, finishing worse than 40th for the second straight week.
Only the second green flag lead change of the evening occurred on lap 109 with an inside turn-1 pass by Logan Sheets. He would be looking for his fourth top-5 in-a-row, a miracle feat considering not qualifying inside the top-20 all season. He would remain up front for five laps.
Johnny Reed Foley took the top-spot on lap 114 on the exit of turn-4, only to hand it back to Sheets two laps later. The two would swap positions once more as we closed towards the third green flag stop, with Dave Miller, Tim McDonnell and Chauncey Redmond Jr. well in tow. Dave Miller would exit with less than a second advantage over Foley, who re-took the spot to win the Halfway Bacon Bonus.
A blown right-rear tire from Michael Henson sent him directly into the path of Ben Geer and Jimmie Stevens, both knocking their front-ends out of alignment. Geer would spin driver-side first into the outside wall, ending his day in the 44th position. Stevens would also fail to continue, finishing 45th and dropping from 14th to 24th in the standings.
Johnny Reed Foley led the field to the green, leading through lap 219 before Dave Miller and teammate Tim McDonnell took over the lead positions. 2019 Texas winner Alex Crapser flew by all three to take the top-spot away before the 100-to-go mark, leading through the remaining green flag cycle. Tim McDonnell would take the lead on a minor short-pit strategy, only to have Crapser nab it back with 52 laps remaining.
Tim McDonnell entered the pits for the final time with 26 laps to go. he pulled off a miracle pit stop over Crapser, who exited in the fourth position while McDonnell came out with a three-second advantage over Craig Lee and Zakk Miller. His gap would evaporate sparingly over the next 10 circuits.
With ten laps remaining, Zakk Miller was on the prowl. He had cruised past Craig Lee for the second position just a couple laps earlier and forced his way side-by-side with McDonnell for the lead with nine laps to go. He would clear him on the exit of turn-2, staying at least a car-length ahead of Lee and McDonnell for the remainder of the race.
Ryan Heuser sits atop the points standings for the first time in seemingly ages. This time last year he was sitting out after a crash at Homestead, watching Trae Larkin drive his car with moderate success. He will start 44th tonight after a devastating turn-1 flip in qualifying. Up front, Scott Jackson wins the pole with a 196.693 mile-per-hour lap! This is the boost he needed to turn his season around, qualifying 30th or worse in three of the first five events and failing to record a top-5 so far. Third-in-points Donald Stewart will start on the outside front row, looking to continue his hot-streak of top-13's to begin the season. 45 cars and 45 starts will take the field once more at Texas! Here is the race for the top-35 in points:
26. Ziggy Moonglow: +60 27. Matt Raboin: +58 28. Chauncey Redmond Jr.: +53 29. Scott Jackson: +44 30. Michael Henson: +36 31. Jonathan Skrabacz: +34 32. William Perry: +22 33. Rob Scarberry: +10 34. Dakota Wilkins: +9 35. Dan Johnston: - ----------------------------------------------- 36. Dalton Lucas: - 37. David Butterworth: -33 38. Aaron Cummings: -35 39. Ben Geer: -36 40. Steven Spears: -47
A horrifying qualifying crash entering turn-1 sent the #138 into a frenzy for the ages. After a hard rear impact and flipping three times, Ryan Heuser walked out of his racecar with only a limp and a bruised-up right knee. He is already good to go for tonight, with icepacks galore in the pit area. Ben Geer also suffered a crash exiting turn-4, gridding 45th in the field after finishing second in the 34-lap pre-qualifier. Heuser will need to traverse through the field to maintain his points lead. Geer will need the run of his life to gain his 36-point disadvantage from the top-35.
