100 drivers were selected by the 45-man Extravaganza panel to compete in the Nashville Superspeedway Duel-Qualifying heats this weekend. This included 50 Extravaganza Series regulars, 35 Bonanza Series regulars, 7 Tundra Cup Series regulars, 3 ARCA Bonzai Series regulars, 2 local Late Model drivers, a former Formula Europe driver and 2 celebrities. 84 drivers of the 100 were able to qualify their way into the show via two-lap time trials, with the top-35 in Extravaganza Series points earning provisionals into the heats.
Heat #1: 42 of the odd-numbered qualifiers (1-83) will re-qualify and race a 50-lap heat. The top-14 finishers of the 42 drivers will advance to next week's 300-lap feature.
Heat #2: 42 of the even-numbered qualifiers (2-84) will re-qualify and race a 50-lap heat. The top-14 finishers of the 42 drivers will advance to next week's 300-lap feature.
Heat #3: The top-35 in Extravaganza Series points who didn't advance will get a final chance to race into the show. The top-finishing drivers in the first two heats who didn't advance will fill up the remainder of the field until it reaches 42 drivers. They will all re-qualify and race a 50-lap heat. The top-14 finishers of the 42 drivers will advance to next week's 300-lap feature.
Consolation: There are no provisionals for the top-35 in Extravaganza Series points if they don't qualify after Heat #3. With bad luck or an improper setup, one big-name driver could easily miss the feature. In consolation, The 15th to 26th place finishers of Heat #3 will receive Extravaganza Series points (15th will get 34, 26th will get 1), and be credited for an Extravaganza Series start.
Heat #1: Friday, July 17th, 9:00 ET
Heat #2: Friday, July 17th, 9:45 ET
Heat #3: Friday, July 17th, 10:30 ET
Dave Miller and Johnny Reed Foley jumped within 100 points of the two leaders in the standings after Gateway. Neither Tony Pizzaro or Zach Michael have recorded a top-15 finish in the last two weeks, though both look for a rebound at a track that has produced them variable success in the past. Michael will start on the pole just as he did in 2019. Pizzaro, Foley and Miller will fight their way from outside the top-10.
Craig Lee snookered Michael on the start with the outside lane advantage, coming out with the lead entering turn 2. Cristian Torres would follow the two leaders for the first several laps while the rest of the field scurried behind. Surprisingly, only Ben Geer seemed to have enough speed of the top-10 drivers to keep up with the lead-3 in the early going.
The #26 Game Stop mobile was towards the front for the first time since Martinsville in April. He made an attempt for the lead in turn 11 to no avail, though stayed inside the top-3 before the first round of green flag stops on lap 38. Lee would lead the field through the entire first-third of the event.
David Baldinger exited the pits too high and clipped the Matt Raboin machine, bringing out the yellow flag and closing green flag stops. It was the second spin of the event, with Ken Pettit and John Tharp getting together in the early stages battling for the 6th spot. Zach Michael and John Battista were the biggest front-running victims of the caution, not coming in under green and having to drop to the rear of the field.
Lap 50 saw the first green flag lead change on the day. Ben Geer took the top-spot during a miracle road course performance, looking to intensify his program during his first year with owner Glenn Kaufmann. Geer would stay atop for 17 laps before short pitting on lap 67, leaving Craig Lee and John Tharp to battle for the lead.
Johnny Reed Foley drove by Lee and Tharp to take his first lead of the day on lap 76. He appeared to have the fastest car in the field, driving by racecars with relative ease while the rest of the pack struggled to make a pass on anybody. A debris caution would come out towards the end of green flag stops, forcing Lucas Racing teammates John Battista and Alex Crapser to be penalized for their excellent fuel mileage again. They would be two of the only three drivers to pit under yellow and drop to the back.
Ben Geer endured the option of benefiting from his early short pit to take the lead, knowing he would have to make one more stop while the rest of the field would cruise to the finish. He would decide to drop towards the rear and play it safe. Restarting in 25th, Mike Carroll and Matt Raboin spun in front of the #29 Twinkies Chevrolet, slamming Geer into the direction of the inside tire-barrier. He would hit it hard, ending his unbelievable day into the Goodyear barricade. He'd finish 41st, ahead of only Tony Long who suffered an engine failure three laps earlier.
Johnny Reed Foley pulled out of turn-2 multiple car lengths ahead of Jimmie Stevens on the restart and kept on digging. He was a full second faster than the other leaders, with only Ryan Heuser able to make headway. He made his way by Scott Jackson for the 6th position with 20 laps to go, though was still seven seconds back from the lead.
Heuser would fly by Rick Jackson two laps later. He nabbed his teammate Craig Lee with 16 laps to go, then power-drove past John Tharp in turn 11 to take the third position. He would use the middle-portion of the course to get by Stevens for second place, a part of the racetrack we haven't seen passing at all race other than on restarts. He would cross the 12-to-go mark a full 11 seconds behind Foley.
By way of complete miracle, Foley's tires had completely faltered while running by himself while Heuser's Goodyear's stayed afloat driving past the traffic. In eight laps, the #138 had run down the AC Delco machine and made his move with a bump-and-run effort entering the turn 4A chicane. Heuser would clear Foley down the straightaway and sail off into the sunset
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Forward progress on Zach Michael's run to the top of the Championship standings continues after a 93.3-second lap propels him to the pole at Sonoma. Danger Zone teammate Zakk Miller looks to extend his league leading streak of six top-10's in-a-row after a fourth place finish last season. He and John Tharp have been the ultimate dominators as of late, with Tharp looking for redemption after losing the race to Scott Jackson last year on a late-race restart. Tim McDonnell will be the ultimate talk of the garage area, as the "East Coast Swingers" come back from the Lime Rock Park Bonanza race in a 3,000-mile aerial excursion. He was found to be jet-lagged during qualifying, winding up 34th on the grid with the expectation of flying through the field. McDonnell has the best average finish at this facility during the past three seasons, but no victory to show for the domination.
Sonoma Average Finish (2019-2021) 1. Tim McDonnell: 6.00 2. John Tharp: 6.67 3. Scott Jackson: 8.00 4. Jimmie Stevens: 8.33 5.Craig Lee: 8.33
St. Louis welcomes the first ever Extravaganza Series race near the Mid-Western Mississippi River valley since the 1960's. Bonanza has held venue to this great facility for over two decades, producing outcast talent that helped turned near vagabonds into Extravaganza legends. Hometown hero Tim McDonnell turned his road-racing background into Extravaganza oval glory here. Expect his immortality to continue tonight at Gateway.
Bristol winner John Tharp leads the field to the green flag to commence the 240 lap event. Scott Jackson and Johnny Reed Foley would make the pass on Ryan Heuser for second and third place on the opening lap while Tharp pulled to a four car-length advantage. He would extend the lead further before a lap 14 caution bunched the field back together. Johnny Reed Foley would take the lead away after the restart.
The first caution othe night involved Michael Henson and Aaron Cummings after contact entering the first corner. Both would continue on and finish outside of the top-30, with Ben Geer suffering an engine failure under the yellow. William Perry and Dave Butterworth would crash in the same way entering turn-3 on lap 64. They would also finish outside the top-30.
Johnny Reed Foley led throughout the chaos in search of his league-leading third victory in 2022. It would become a difficult fulfillment with Ryan Heuser scurrying past Rick Jackson and John Tharp on the restart, making his way by Foley on lap 76 to become the third leader of the event. Heuser has still not earned a victory this season despite leading in all but two events that he's entered. Tonight might be the night.
Heuser would lead the field through lap 133, winning the half-way bacon bonus in the process. A battle for the 8th position one lap later sent Tim McDonnell and John Battista hard into the outside wall. Miraculously, both drivers would repair their damages and limp to a 16th and 18th place finish.
Ken Pettit inherited the lead when Heuser dove to pit road just before the yellow flag. Unfortunately, an accident in the pits involving Geno Sphere and Markell Murphy took out the struggling Champion and destroyed the entire front end of his Bob Marley automobile. He would finish 41st for a miraculous 5th time this season, dropping to 30th in points just 11 races from the cutoff.
Heuser regained the lead coming to the restart. He would be forced to battle with drivers trapped one lap down from ahead, while contending with Donald Stewart and Matthew Dominique from behind. A three-wide maneuver through the middle by Stewart placed the #55 Clorox machine up front with exactly 100 laps to go.
The #138 NOS Energy chevrolet found itself dropping back to the 5th position within 10 laps before another devastating blow occurred for the team. He and Randy Dobbins were battling for the fourth spot when the two tangled into the turn-1 outside wall. Ryan suffered minimal damage and remained competitive, finishing 8th on the night after leading 61 laps. It was one short of Rick Jackson's race-leading 62. Dobbins wasn't so fortunate, as the accident ended his race.
Leader Donald Stewart was involved in a caution flag accident with Markell Murphy, leaving the Geer-5 team with no other option but to pit. His car would work the rails, passing 20 racecars in 73 laps en-route to a 9th place finish. Rick Jackson and Dave Miller would swap the lead multiple times during the last portion of the event, awaiting green flag stops to determine the final outcome.
Jackson pulled out to a three second lead over Bill Werkheiser and five seconds over Dave Miller after the stops. The #44 crew entered the pit lane four laps earlier and seemed to be maintaining enough pace to cruise to the victory. A late Tony Pizzaro spin would damper Jackson's hopes, leading to an 8-lap shootout to the checkered flag. Dave Miller would exploit his four-lap tire advantage and pass Jackson coming towards the white flag lap.
Zakk Miller has flown from 29th to 13th in the standings since Martinsville seven races ago. His victory at Charlotte last week on a last lap route over Tim McDonnell is combined with a league-leading five-straight top-10 finishes. McDonnell himself has two-straight top-5 finishes and an All-Star Race victory after recording no top-10's to start the 2022 season. He will be looking for a victory in the first ever Extravaganza Series event at his home track of Gateway, starting the race in 25th. Miller will start 10th, with John Tharp recording his second pole of 2022. Tharp has likewise been on a tear since Martinsville, earning four straight top-10's and a victory at Bristol. He's jumped from 26th to 11th in points during the stretch. Points leader Tony Pizzaro endured a 31st-place finish last week, letting Zach Michael catch to only 30 points back as we head towards the half-way point in the season.
An enormous crowd roars over the Charlotte Motor Speedway as we await the 2022 running of the Coca-Cola 600. Many drivers have concerns about the likelihood of their car making the 400-lap distance. Ryan Heuser is one of them, dominating and falling victim to attrition alike in the past. He will start fourth on the grid and is the favorite to win today.
The first 21 laps saw pole-sitter Tony Pizzaro at the helm attempting to defend the high-horsepower Ryan Heuser and John Battista machines. This would be the 11th race he has led in 2022, second behind Battista and Rick Jackson's 12. He would enter the event 72 points ahead of second place Zach Michael who was mired around 20th position.
Tim McDonnell replayed his All-Star Race dominance by capturing the lead on lap 22. He would maintain a small advantage over Ryan Heuser and Battista, who power-swapped second place multiple times with Rick Jackson lurking directly behind. By green flag pit stops, it was McDonnell, Heuser, Jackson, Battista, Werkheiser, Pizzaro, Zakk Miller, Tharp, Scott Jackson and Lee your top-10.
A terrible collision on pit road ended the competitive days for the Heuser and Pizzaro machines. The #138 made contact with Donald Stewart while entering his stall, with Pizzaro colliding with his rear-end. Both drivers would wind up finishing poorly, with Heuser 35th and Pizzaro 31st. The #12 would somehow maintain his points lead. Up front, Tim McDonnell and Rick Jackson pulled away from the field while trading the lead on multiple occasions.
McDonnell and Jackson had extended from fourth place by over 13 seconds as they crossed the halfway mark of the event. Alan Nesfeder was holding his own in third position, trapped in a five second bubble between Jackson and fourth place John Battista. Deterring any further progress was the first caution on lap 231. Michael Henson and Logan Sheets made contact off of turn-2, sending the #58 Pizza Hut dodge hard into the inside wall. He would finish 40th.
Champion Ken Pettit and Stephen Lowe had fallen to engine attrition by the 350-mile mark as the field went green once more. McDonnell led the restart behind lapped-car Randy Dobbins and scattered the lead lap cars into a myriad of confusion. Rick Jackson made the pass for the lead over McDonnell exiting turn-2, only for Tim to cross-over and retake the advantage on the straightaway. The jockeying sent John Battista by both of them for his first lead of the night.
Battista and the Wendy's Lucas Racing Chevrolet team dominated the ensuing green flag run, leading from lap 240 to 290 before having to come in for tires. Back in the pack, Donald Stewart would spin out on the frontstretch just after his Battista's stop. John could not see through the smoke and power-drove the #55 hard in the rear, destroying both automobiles and putting an exclamation point to Battista's remarkable day. They would finish 36th and 38th, with Stewart dropping from 12th to 19th in the standings. Battista would remain inside the top-10 in points.
The disintegration of the field was not as devestating as some would have predicted so far. Stephen Lowe, Dalton Lucas and William Perry all fell out of the event due to engine trouble. Champion Ken Pettit ended his race after hitting the pit wall in a bonzai attempt to gain track position under green. 35 drivers were still on the racetrack attempting to finish with 100 laps to go.
Zakk Miller led the ensuing restart and looked to drive away before lapped cars Randy Dobbins and Zach Michael made their way on the inside. Bink Lucas followed suit, leading the next four laps before Tim McDonnell nabbed the lead again. Tim's early-race dominance came into fruition once more, with him and Matt Raboin pulling away from Bink, Craig Lee, Zakk Miller, Rick Jackson and the rest of the field.
Matt Raboin missed his pit road entry coming to the final stop of the race, losing 10+ seconds in the process and ending his chance at a victory. Leader McDonnell gained
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Points leader Tony Pizzaro is on the pole looking to earn a league-leading third victory in 2022. Starting in the row behind him was the dominator of last season's 600-mile event, Ryan Heuser. He led over half of the race and edged out Pizzaro and Scott Jackson for his third of seven victories in 2021. This year he has zero. John Battista is also on the winless column entering Charlotte despite some dominating performances and earning eight victories himself last season. Second-in-points Zach Michael will start towards the rear in 26th, though some point to him as one of the favorites after a hard-charging performance from the rear in the All-Star Race. Will Heuser and Battista finally knock off a victory? Will Pizzaro dominate the race unchallenged? Will Tim McDonnell earn his second straight top-10 after an All-Star Race victory? It will all unhinge in the 2022 Coca-Cola 600!
The 2022 All-Star Race includes Champions like Ryan Heuser, Tony Pizzaro and Rick Jackson still at the peak of their dominating careers. Young guns John Battista, Zach Michael and Alex Crapser look to dethrone the heralds of Extravaganza tonight, with Michael going for his second victory in-a-row in this grand event. All three will grid in the last three positions entering the 100 lap feature.
The green flag flew out with Ryan Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley leading the field entering turn-1. Rick Jackson power-dove underneath the #138 entering turn-3 and nabbed the top-spot, crossing the line in front to lead the first lap. He would remain there for the opening 15 circuits before teammate Tony Pizzaro made his charge to the front.
Both Jackson and Pizzaro swapped the lead multiple times during the first-half stint, giving Tim McDonnell and Bink Lucas the opportunity to reach the top-2. These four drivers would pull away from the field, with the NOS Quick-Silver cars struggling to find the handling and dropping outside of the top-10. Bink would fall a few seconds behind while the remaining three prepared for green flag pit stops.
The entire field came in on lap 64. Tim McDonnell's crew would pull off the pit stop of the century, attempting to make up for all lost during the 2022 season. Despite coming out within two seconds of McDonnell, both Race-2-Win cars dropped back hastily while Dave Miller, Bink Lucas and Alan Nesfeder attempted to scurry towards the #22 Volkswagen from five seconds back.
Miller had picked up a full two seconds by the 20-to-go mark and seemed poised to catch the Caterpillar #22 by the end. Unfortunately, Nesfeder made his bid for the second position multiple times during the final stint and withheld their maximum progress for the victory. He would eventually nab the spot on the final lap when Miller ran out of fuel.
In a season brimming with sheer detriment and devastation, crossing the finish line in first is exactly what the doctor ordered for CFM. McDonnell would do so in monumental fashion, a full 2.8 seconds ahead of second place Alan Nesfeder to earn his third Extravaganza All-Star Race title in the last six years. Congrats to Tim, crew chief Kenzou Yamada and the entire CFM Motorsports team for an excellent victory!
It's been ten years to the day since former Extravaganza Series road-ringer and executive Rounder Renfroe passed away of cancer at the age of 75. He and the Forester family ran the Extravaganza Series from 1979 to 1998. Rounder played an enormous role in beheading the Franz McFerrend Extravaganza tenure after he attempted to sell one-third of the series events to European circuits in 1978. From there, he was concerned and wary of the Harrison James and Roscoe Riker dominance of the 1980's and early 90's, attempting to make all car manufacturer's and race teams as equal as possible. His stance on having television cameras show each spot in the field equally helped promote sponsorship to everyone in the Series. The competitive events that we see today are largely a result of Rounders' intuitive mind. He also promoted the first Extravaganza Series All-Star event in 1988, as we await the 35th-annual race. May he rest in peace.
All-Star Race Entry List Tony Pizzaro: Talladega, 2022 Zach Michael: Homestead, 2022 Johnny Reed Foley: Darlington, 2022 John Battista: Martinsville, 2021 Alex Crapser: Road America, 2021 Bink Lucas: Talladega, 2021 Scott Jackson: Bristol, 2021 Matt Raboin: Kansas, 2022 Craig Lee: Dover, 2022 Donald Stewart: Rockingham, 2022 Mark Murphy: Martinsville, 2022 John Tharp: Bristol, 2022 Rick Jackson: Homestead, 2021 Dalton Lucas: Daytona, 2022 Alan Nesfeder: Texas, 2022 Tim McDonnell: Daytona, 2021 Ryan Heuser: Rockingham, 2021 Logan Sheets: Heat Transfer Dakota Wilkins: Heat Transfer Dave Miller: Heat Transfer Cristian Torres: Heat Transfer
The top-20 from the first All-Star heat will race tumultuously for the top-4 positions. This will be an assiduous 40-laps towards Extravaganza's holy grail event, with hard-chargers Zakk Miller and Bill Werkheiser starting towards the rear. Dakota Wilkins pulled off a miraculous lap-time to capture the pole, looking to hold off 19 of Extravaganza's best and clinch his first All-Star Race feature appearance.
Wilkins set the bar high in the early going, pulling ahead of the field and leading his first competitive Extravaganza laps since Pocono of last season. Cristian Torres, William Perry, Ken Joynt and Logan Sheets all fought hard for the second position in pursuit of the #77 Rockies machine. Outside pole-sitter Jimmie Stevens drifted back to 7h position, while Stephen Lowe encountered a problem on the starting grid, rendering his race unredeemable.
An enormous crash on the frontstretch on lap 8 took out contenders and pretenders alike. Ken Joynt and William Perry made contact coming out of turn-2, sending the #70 Flex-Fuel Dodge into the infield grass. William re-entered the racetrack into Joynt and both slammed ferociously into the outside wall. Chaos ensued from behind with Jimmie Stevens, Dave Daniels, Ben Geer, Tony Long, Geno Sphere, David Courtney and Joe Polson all suffering major damage in the accident. None of these drivers would advance to the top-4.
Leader Wilkins could not pull away on the subsequent restart as Logan Sheets made his bid for the top-position just after the half-way point. He would take the spot successfuly and remain there as Wilkins, Cristian Torres, Dave Miller, Bill Werkeiser and Zakk Miller made vigorous attempts to crack and stay inside the top-4. Wilkins had fallen to 5th by the 10-to-go mark, but sped back in with a hard-charging pass underneath veteran Dave Miller. Both Miller and Torres were able to surmount the #6 Werkheiser machine, leaving Bill and Zakk on the outside looking in during the final few laps.
Logan Sheets would cross the finish line with an easy multiple car-length victory over Dakota. A miracle top-2 in the making with Dave Miller and Cristian Torres clinching the final two spots in the All-Star Race field. Miller came out as the only top-5 favorite to clinch, with Jimmie Stevens, Matthew Dominique and Champion Ken Pettit all involved in accidents that took away their chances. A poor qualifying run in Heat #2 took away Zakk Miller's hopes, having to play catch-up without the proper time management. Good luck to the 21 entries entering the 100-lap feature All-Star Race event!
