The last ever Kodochrome photograph was taken at Martinsville during the 2007 NASCAR fall event at the facility. Paul Simon would be proud, with Artie taken aback by the Frank Lloyd Wright-esque colliseum (not to be confused with Basement Artie). King of Queen's man John Battista captures his first pole since Spring Talladega of 2023, enshrining his spot into the Big Bud Shootout after a dry-spell of the ages. Teammate Alex Crapser is the only Championship contender to qualify inside the top-10, with two drivers outside the top-30 in points (Rob Scarberry and Dalton Lucas) beating them all. Points leader Ken Pettit grids 21st. Championship favorite Johnny Reed Foley starts dead-last in the 43-car field, with Zakk Miller occupying the standings-lead from Pettit on the initial green. All ten contenders are still in contention. Will Rick Jackson or Timothy McDonnell end their winless drought? Or will young-gun Dakota Wilkins steal the spotlight for a 6th time in 2024. Ryan Heuser enters the Old Dominion 500 in as the pre-race favorite. If he wins, expect salt shakers thrown at his car after his viral pretzel-making incident on Dailymotion.
An immaculate Rookie of the Year campaign continues. Molemar Diggs continues his dominance with a 108-point lead over Jeremy Hebel. Steve Inkman has fallen off course after missing a couple of starts, hoping to end his three-race DNF streak at his favorite racetrack. Hebel comes into Martinsville with fifteen-straight races finished, catching Molemar after the #41's torrid pace early in the season. Hebel's best finish of 2nd at Martinsville is the best of all rookie campaginers. Kelpo-man Tony Gunk gas three-straight top-21's in races he's made the show, with both he and Rod Weston earning top-20's at Bristol. All five have earned their spotlight-moment in 2024. Which one will win the title?
All four Lucas Racing drivers qualify inside the top-11! Dalton starts on the outside front-row, with winless-wonders Logan Sheets and Rod Weston out-gridding the chase drivers in hopes of their first career Extravaganza Series triumph! Points leader Zakk Miller tries to out-duel Johnny Reed Foley, John Tharp and Ken Pettit in hopes of maintaining his advantage standings through the end of the Sharpie 500!
A crash on lap one sends rookie Molemar Diggs, Alan Nesfeder and Championship contender Timothy McDonnell into the pits for a beat-down. Dalton Lucas wins the battle off pit road over pole-sitter Tony Pizzaro, leading the field for the remaining stint. A Johnny Reed Foley spin brought out the second caution, taking John Tharp with him into the turn-3 wall.
Both Johnny Reed Foley and John Tharp struggled for the remainder of the race, both finishing outside the top-30 with Tharp failing to complete the event. Foley would lose his 15-race streak of leading a lap, while teammate Timothy McDonnell went two-down after a tire-rub from the first caution. McDonnell dropped to 10th in the standings. Tharp fell from 2nd to 5th, while Foley rose up the leader-board after some mid-race attrition to beat 11 cars. He would only fall to third in the standings; still the favorite to win the crown!
Dalton Lucas, Logan Sheets, Dakota Wilkins and Dave Miller dominated the second green-flag stint. All 43-cars managed to hold afloat through lap 200, with no Championship contenders yet to lead a lap. Team Danger Zone, Race-2-Win Motorsports and Lucas Racing all shared the spotlight, occupying over half of the top-16 positions.
An Alex Crapser spin and a Bill Werkheiser engine failure at halfway would bring out the third and fourth yellow flags. Dalton Lucas came in to pit twice due to a loose lugnut, giving up the Halfway Bacon Bonus to Logan Sheets and relinquishing his career best 173-laps led. Logan would dominate the stint before cataclysmic disaster!
Leader Logan Sheets piles into a crash involving Alan Nesfeder and Cristian Torres! Dalton Lucas tapped the #26 Gamestop Toyota, sliding off the wall and into Nesfeder. Blocked by the a-pillar Sheets slammed his left-front into the #26, sending Torres for a half-flip while Logan's victory effort came to an end. He would finish 40th after leading 123 laps.
Steven Spears led his first laps since Talladega in April, hoping to end his recent streak of DNF's with a top-10 finish. Teammate Markell Murphy inherited the top-spot on the restart, with he, Dakota Wilkins, Zach Michael and Ken Pettit battling hard for second-half supremacy! Michael and Pettit are the only two Championship contenders anywhere near the front all night, hoping to gain ground on points leader Zakk Miller who is currently mired mid-pack.
Jimmie Stevens entered the Sharpie 500 a career worst 3nd in points, with only one top-5 at Martinsville in April. Now he is battling for the win! The #2 Ampio Mustang's last victory was here in the spring of 2020, hoping to rectify his year with a late-season victory just like his teammate Bink in 2023. He, Zach Michael and Ken Pettit would battle profusely, with Pettit earning the points lead back with his newly-dominant short-track
... Read more »
Bepis-man Zakk Miller steals the points lead away! A second place at Las Vegas propels Team Danger Zone to the top, capitalizing on Johnny Reed Foley's misfortune while dominating the Eddie Money Classic. Foley is still just nine points behind and one of the favorites to win today. Tony Pizzaro and miracle-man Dalton Lucas earn the front row spots! No Championship contenders start inside the top-9.
Dalton Lucas is making it look easy! No starts better than 19th all year until his 10th last week at the Eddie Money Classic. Now he's qualified on the outside-pole! Look for the #88 Lucas Racing Little Ceasar's Chevrolet to promote their mettle.
Moisture devours the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Johnny Reed Foley awaits his opportunity to lead his 15th-straight event and extend his points lead over Ken Pettit, Alex Crapser and Zakk Miller. Drummer Zigaboo Modeliste will entertain the crowd until the start.
Points Standings (After 27 of 36 Events) 1. Johnny Reed Foley: - 2. Ken Pettit: -30 3. Alex Crapser: -60 (+3) 4. Zakk Miller: -68 5. John Tharp: -92 (-2) 6. Timothy McDonnell: -104 (+3) 7. Craig Lee: -120 (-2) 8. Ryan Heuser: -131 (+2) 9. Rick Jackson: -178 (-1) 10. Zach Michael: -184 (-3)
Five different teams found victory lane since Las Vegas moved to the late-summer Eddie Money Classic! Each winner has less syllables in their surname than the previous, indicating that Ben Geer will break his winless streak beginning at Sears Point in 2017! Former Classic winner and points leader Johnny Reed Foley hopes to continue a streak of his own, leading 14-consecutive races coming into Las Vegas. He will start on the pole, with Geer on the leading the outside row. Bill Werkheiser comes in 27th in the standings, qualifying 5th in hopes of winning his first race since Dover of 2015. Rumors still circulate if Bill is racing his final season. A victory in the Eddie Money Classic might change his mind. Drivers Zach Michael and Rick Jackson hope to earn back points after mortifying luck at Darlington. With their fantastic speedway package and bad fortune from the #3, things may even out in the points!
In 1968, Mert Socks left for India. Dissatisfied with Dodge's reluctance to put a wing on his racecar, he left for Rishikesh with Abe Murlin and E.T. Sink to find peace. This left the table open for Caravan Hayes, leading an Extravaganza Series record of 31-straight events with a lap led! Johnny Reed Foley is almost halfway there, leading his 14th in last week's Southern 500. Will Foley break Caravan's record? If he can hurdle Talladega and Daytona, Johnny Reed Foley might get the job done.
Eddie Money Classic Winners 2019: Matthew Dominique 2020: Johnny Reed Foley 2021: Ryan Heuser 2022: Bink Lucas 2023: Craig Lee
Johnny Reed Foley comes in the winner of the 2024 Regular Season Championship! Only five points ahead of Ken Pettit, he will have to stay dominant over the next ten races to secure the title. Teammate Timothy McDonnell and Ryan Heuser narrowly made the top-10 in hopes of dethroning the #3 AC-Delco Chevrolet. With $10,000,000 on the line, the focus may lie purely on the Southern 500 victory!
Ryan Heuser earns his first pole since Nashville in June! The #138 Quick-Silver entry would lead the initial 19 laps while Ben Geer and Zakk Miller battled maniacally for the second position. #29 Twinkie-Man would take the top-spot on lap 20, pulling the #30 Bepis Mustang to a three-second advantage over the field by the 50th circuit. Heuser, Alan Nesfeder, and rookie Jeremy Hebel round-out the top-5 positions.
Ben Geer and Zakk Miller swapped the lead on several occasions before green flag pit stops, relinquishing their advantage over the field. Towards the back, usual Darlington contenders Timothy McDonnell and Scott Jackson struggled to stay within the top-30, with Dan Johnston suffering an engine issue. A devastating blow, with the #121 team finishing second in last year's Southern 500.
The #30 Bepis Mustang came in for tires two laps before Geer, coming out with the outright advantage and pulling away from the pack. He would lead the lap-100 mark, with Dan Johnston crossing the line after a hard-impact to the inside wall. Bink Lucas tapped him off of turn-4, sending Dan head-first into the inside barrier. The Allstate #121 would finish dead-last on the night. Former teammate and last year's Southern 500 winner Craig Lee narrowly escaped the crash, continuing on unhurdled in 14th place.
A missed lug-nut on the #30 saw Ben Geer re-take the lead on the restart! Miracle-man Tony Long looked to cash in after nearly losing his job, going from 30th to the lead after the one-third distance to solidify himself as an Extravaganza Series mainstay. The terrible-towel's roared into the air like mustard-stained emlbems, surrendering their misgivings over Long's recent misfortune. A hard-charge from Jeremy Hebel couldn't intimidate the Budweiser-Man, but a NOS Energy swipe on the inside-line was indefensible. Ryan Heuser was back up front.
Tony Long and the #15 Budweiser Shake N'Bake Racing team led a whopping eight laps during the stint, doubleing their total on the season. Their performance would pay off with an eventual 9th place finish, second best to Texas earlier in the year. Johnny Reed Foley also found his way past the #15 looking to lead his 14th-straight event in 2024. He would do so on lap 139, taking the lead outright and pulling to a gargantuan 15-second advantage after a record-breaking fuel-stop and 90 laps of dominant CFM horsepower! Tony Long and John Battista were the only two that could stay within a half-lap of the points leader. Scott Jackson and Tony Pizzaro would go a lap down, while title-contenders Timothy McDonnell and John Tharp fought to keep their lead-lap status. Deep behind them, the race for the fourth position was frantic between Jeremy Hebel, Ben Geer, Logan Sheets, Matt Raboin, Alex Crapser, Rick Jackson, Zakk Miller and Zach Michael.
Ryan Heuser endured a blown right-rear tire, losing a lap by the next caution. He would tap the rear of Matt Raboin entering turn-3! The #87 Valvoline Viper smacked the outside wall hard, capapulting into Zach Michael's right-front fender. A devastating blow for both cars with little attrition, as both were unable to continue. The #20 Team Danger Zone entry would finish 44th, breaking the record for most 44th places in an Extravaganza Season with three. They would drop to 184-points behind Foley, but only six behind Rick Jackson who suffered an engine failure after running over debris from the crash.
The Southern 500 is seen as a vortex of Extarvaganza Championship glory! It's also perceived as the deli-slicer of pain, ending some title hopes after week one. Last year every contender except Ken Pettit fell to the wayside, with Pettit leading the points through Rockingham after his immaculate victory that ended a near five-year winless streak! The #8 Bob Marley Chevrolet is back to try it again, with Ryan Heuser miraculously making the chase after seven-straight top-10 finishes to end the regular season. He will begin to defend his title hopes tonight!
Johnny Reed Foley and Ken Pettit have dominated so far! They're the only two teams with an average finish under 15th on the year, swapping the points lead numerous times to secure their status as favorites to win the 2024 title! Multi-Champions Ryan Heuser and Timothy McDonnell sneaked their way into the chase with recent good runs. Heuser will start on the pole tonight! Zach Miller and Zach Michael hope to finally clinch a Team Danger Zone crown with a top-10 run in the Southern 500! Miller will start second. John Tharp will represent the lone Toyota again! Craig Lee, Alex Crapser and Rick Jackson will be the dark-horses. Good luck!
Timothy McDonnell, Rick Jackson, Zach Michael, Dave Miller, Dakota Wilkins, Logan Sheets, Ryan Heuser, Matt Raboin and Markell Murphy all fight for Championship supremacy! Miller enters the Funai 400 just six points ahead Dakota Wilkins for 10th, hoping to race each other while holding off the Richmond elite. Ryan Heuser and Matt Raboin each come in less than 50 points behind both, dominating this facility more than any other driver. Logan Sheets hopes to play spoiler, while McDonnell, Jackson and Michael pray for a decent finish to solidify their title status.
The first career pole for sophomore-man Chauncey Redmomd Jr.! He would hold off Alex Crapser and Matt Raboin for four laps before the Pennzoil #04 took the lead, with Raboin passing Redmond three laps later. A turn-2 crash between Adam Crapser, Dalton Lucas and Bink Lucas re-settled the field on lap-9.
David Butterworth inherits the lead by staying out, with Ryan Heuser and Ken Pettit taking two tires behind. The #81 Coors Light Dodge led only three laps the entire season, holding off the field for 15 more before the second caution flag. While the Coors Light driver leads, the Coors Field car falls to the frontstetch wayside. A morbid blow! Dakota Wilkins is out after only 24 laps, ending his Championship bid after a four-victory season. They entered Indianapolis 166 points ahead of 11th-place Matt Raboin. Now they are out, racing for most victories against Johnny Reed Foley for the remainder of 2024!
Alex Crapser and Ryan Heuser battle ferociously for the top-spot around the lapped car of Rod Weston. The #04 tapped the wall off of turn-2, handing the lead to Heuser while hoping to take advantage of Wilkins' misfortune. The #138 would pull away from the field in-shades of previous years of Richmond dominion. He would lap Rick Jackson. He would lap Timothy McDonnell. Zach Michael, Dave Miller and Logan Sheets hope to capitalize on the #22 and #44's lack of early speed.
A mortifying engine failure for Dave Miller! The drivers 10th and 11th in points are out, joining Wilkins as the remainder of the field roars around in a vortex of glory! Steven Spears, Timothy McDonnell and Trae Larkin crashed on the backstretch to end Heuser's domination. Not long afterwards, pole-sitter Chauncey Redmond Jr. went for a spin, slamming into Markell Murphy, who ricocheted into Timothy McDonnell's front radiator. McDonnell is out! Redmond would also fail to continue, with Murphy enduring on to limp the 400-mile distance. McDonnell came in 106-points ahead of Logan Sheets, 135 ahead of Ryan Heuser and 137 ahead of Matt Raboin. He will have to await word in the garage.
Matt Raboin pulls off a three-wide move off of turn-4 to take the lead from Heuser! Battista takes it back one lap later, earning the top-spot before the Redmond accident. Heuser would go for a spin on the backstretch to the delight of the #22 Caterpillar crew, though the #138 would not be denied! They'd come back out in 20th, driving to 16th after 10 laps in a seemingly unhindered racecar. Up front, Adam Crapser and Scott Jackson battled for the top-spot after staying out, with Jackson coming out on top. The old man "ATEUP" Jackson and "Fenway Frank" Pizzaro would dominate the remaining stint.
Jackson and Pizzaro swapped the lead several times after the halfway-point, with Pizzaro clinching the $100,000 slab! Miracle-man Steve Inkman battled ferociously to catch both of them hoping for the Cinderella story of the millenium! It was too good to be true. Rod Weston blew a tire off of turn-2, getting slammed by Alex Crapser before immaculate horror!
