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!
A tremendous excursion across this 1.5-mile racetrack for 42 cars, battling for top-20 supremacy and lurking into the All-Star Race field. Dave Miller and Zakk Miller start on the front row in seemingly comfortable circumstances before the 40-lap heat. Miracle-man Jonathan Cheeseman will start 4th, while Dave Butterworth and Cristian Torres attempt a maniacal bid from the back.
The first green flag run was only four laps as Dave Miller pulled away from the field. Champion Ken Pettit, Randy Dobbins, Jonathan Cheeseman and Jimmie Stevens all took turns at the second-place position before a three-wide bid for the top-spot on lap 17. Cheeseman rode the bottom line with ease and pulverized through to the lead at a rabid pace.
Ken Pettit and Randy Dobbins went for a spin on the backstretch after contact with Jimmie Stevens, with both cars pulverizing the infield-access outlet and ending their bid at advancing to the All-Star event. This would be the first time in Extravaganza Series history that the reigning Champion will not make the feature. The Lap-4 caution was brought out by contact between Matthew Dominique and Dakota Wilkins. Dominique slid against the outside wall before Mark Heron slammed into the front of his racecar. Philip Parker, Jonathan Skrabacz, Cristiano De Sa, Mark Heron, Rod Weston, Tony Gunk and David Butterworth were all involved. Battling for 16th, Steven Spears, Kevin Corbat and Mike Carroll went for a spin on the backstretch with only 14 laps to go. Only Wilkins would advance to the top-20 out of all the cars involved.
The ensuing restart saw a 10-lap shootout to the finish, with Dave Miller and Ken Joynt making a three-wide bid for the lead. Ken Joynt would take it and pull ahead by five car-lengths over Jimmie Stevens while the battle for 20th heated up. Joe Polson was hanging on by a thread before passing the damaged racecar of Dakota Wilkins for 19th position. Michael Henson and Chauncey Redmond Jr. could have made a bid for the final transfer, but they were racing hard for the 21st spot and handed away their chance.
The final lap saw a side-by-side battle to the line between Ken Joynt and Jimmie Stevens for the victory. Stevens would nab the inside-line advantage and cross the start-finish line as the winner of the first Consolation Race, preventing an enormous upset in the works for Joynt. Congratulations to Stevens, Joynt, Jonathan Cheeseman, Dave Miller, Geno Sphere, Dan Johnston, William Perry, Ben Geer, Cristian Torres, Zakk Miller, Tony Long, Bill Werkheiser, Logan Sheets, Aaron Cummings, Dave Daniels, Stephen Lowe, Rob Scarberry, David Courtney, Joe Polson and Dakota Wilkins for advancing to heat #2!
The 2022 All-Star Race will consist of the 17 drivers who have won in the previous 36 events. A 42-car duel-consolation showdown prior to the main event will add four more to the fray. The first duel will consist of 40-laps, with all 42 non-qualified entries battling for the top-20 positions. Those top-20 will run a final 40 lap dash that will determine the top-4 advancements to the 21-car All-Star Race field. Drivers like David Butterworth and Cristian Torres will attempt to gnaw their way through the Bonanza regulars after starting in the 39th and 40th positions. Chauncey Redmond Jr. will round out 27th in the Adam Crapser machine without a practice lap attempt prior to qualifying. Dave Miller and Zakk Miller will lead the way to the green flag.
The 100-lap All-Star Race feature will include longshot drivers like Dalton Lucas, Markell Murphy, Bink Lucas and Alan Nesfeder attempting to undertake the top-dogs of Extravaganza. There will be a seperate qualifying session to determine the 21-car starting lineup, with transfer drivers able to take their shot at the pole position. Our last three All-Star Race winners will be in the field including Alan Nesfeder, who's victory prompted Pepsi-Co out of Extravaganza competition after the 2019 event. Can he win it again?
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
Adam Crapser has been released from the University of Kansas Hospital this morning after a terrible accident at last week's Extravaganza Series race. The diagnosis is positive, only suffering a concussion and a fractured left shoulder blade. This is a near miracle considering the nine flips, a solid impact with the catchfence, and the impact of falling three stories down back into the asphalt. Fortunately Adam wasn't hit by any oncoming traffic, a fate that Ryan Heuser wasn't able to secure at Homestead just a couple of months ago. For now, it appears Adam will miss the All-Star Race and rehabilitate back home in Wisconsin to run the 600-mile event the upcoming week.
Worst Crashes of 2022 (Carnage Rating) Ryan Heuser (Homestead): 10286 Adam Crapser (Kansas): 10071 Markell Murphy (Rockingham): 9357 Tim McDonnell (California): 8904 Johnny Reed Foley (Talladega): 8297 Ryan Heuser (Daytona): 8143 Dan Johnston (California): 7012 William Perry (Richmond): 6933 William Perry (Homestead): 6905 Zakk Miller (California): 6900
A stupendous achievement to put this racetrack back on the schedule, as the mid-country fans devour the racing atmosphere once more. On the pole is John Battista, who has amassed a 54-race pole-less streak with 8 victories in between. Can he get his first one in 2022? Favorites Rick Jackson and 2020 winner Ryan Heuser also start inside the top-10.
A crash off the exit of turn-4 sent the field for a frenzy of the ages. Logan Sheets was tagged from behind and clipped Scott Jackson, sending both cars hard into the outside barrier. Jackson slammed into the #16 who flew directly into the path of Connor Germain. The #21 spun directly into oncoming traffic while crossing the start-finish line before Craig Lee nailed him from behind. Deutsch was the only driver to fall out after the accident. Lee, Jackson, Germain and Sheets all meandered through the attrition to finish 31st or better.
John Battista was ahead during the first 23 circuits before giving way to Rick Jackson. Both drivers have led a lap in all but two races this season and look to monopolize the field once more at Kansas. Jackson only held the top-spot for 7 laps before Ryan Heuser took the helm. Dave Miller took his turn on lap 54, with Battista, Jackson, Tim McDonnell and Zach Michael all in tow ready for their shot at five bonus points.
Two of the three most dominant cars of the event fell out early in the going. Rick Jackson blew an engine on lap 64 while battle for the fourth position. He would finish 41st. Ryan Heuser led most of the first half of the event before slamming into an Aaron Cummings and Connor Germain accident in turn 1. He would wind up 40th on the day, with Germain and Cummings limping to 29th and 33rd. After the restart, Markell Murphy and William Perry pulverized the outside wall off of turn-4, also involving Dalton Lucas.
Johnny Reed Foley found his way to the front after Matt Raboin inhereted the lead from Heuser's devestating predicament. He would win the halfway bacon-bonus for the second straight week, looking to earn a league-leading third victory for 2022. Alex Crapser. Tony Pizzaro, David Butterworth and Michael Henson were all in tow from behind.
Several attempts to pass Foley went for naught despite a hard charge from both Henson and Donald Stewart late into the green flag run. Donald Stewart finally found his way by on the inside lane coming to the 100-to-go mark. The two would remain side-by-side coming to green flag pit stops.
Tony Pizzaro miraculously progressed from 6th to 1st after the cycle was through. He lurked behind Foley for 27 laps before making his charge with 50 laps to go. Donald Stewart, Matt Raboin and Bink Lucas all caught up during the side-by-side battle, with Raboin eventually taking the top-spot just 20 laps later.
The most devastating accident of the season occurred with 19 laps to go. Geno Sphere and Ken Joynt made contact while exiting the tri-oval. Geno bounced off of Bink Lucas and corralled into the path of Michael Henson, who was having a season-best day in 5th position. Adam Crapser attempted to avoid the #144 on the apron and flew into the air blazing with black smoke.
Adam Crapser went for a gyration from hell, suffering three flips before cheese-grating into the top of the catch fence. The Alvin machine was just a foot from exiting the racetrack and falling 50 feet into the oustide banked-terrain. Fortunately, he fell back onto the asphalt from three stories high, flipping a total of nine times while winding up right-side up on the turn-4 apron. There is no word on his condition as of yet.
Aaron Cummings, Jimmie Stevens and Rob Scarberry brought out the final caution of the night entering turn-1, leaving an 8-lap shootout in the midst. Matt Raboin took the restart flag and jumped to a two car-length advantage with Johnny Reed Foley and Tony Pizzaro ready to pounce on the parade. An unbelievable charge from Foley found the two side-by-side coming to the white flag lap.
