The Standings are tighter than ever after last and second-to-last in points both fought hard for good finishes at Bristol. Only 200 points separate the top-guns of Extravaganza with seven races to go. Chase contender Zach Michael comes in 200 points out to win the pole for tomorrow, with Craig Lee on the outside leading the Quick-Silver brigade. There will be 45 entries in this event, inviting more devastation for any of the big-10 to crash or loose their engine during the 188-lap scramble. Losing the lead draft could be the difference of 50+ points, so pit stops may play as the biggest role in this one if it stays green for more than 50 laps at a time. Spring race winner John Battista comes in 2nd in points, losing one spot to Scott Jackson after his big victory at Bristol. Jackson starts third today. Battista and points leader Ryan Heuser are off the grid 12th and 8th.
After a half-decade of up and down finishes, devastating accidents and several catch-fence concussions, Ben Geer will not resign with Top Geer Motorsports for 2022. His 40th place finish at Bristol added to the devastating results on short tracks this season. He has not recorded a top-20 in his five attempts. His devastating accident in the spring race at Atlanta forced him to miss Martinsville and battle hard for the top-35 in points for most of the season. He will join Johnny Reed Foley as the top-2 available free agents.
Ben Geer's 2020 season was a sign of optimism, recording 8 top-10's and a near-victory at Darlington in the spring. His season highlight was the fall Rockingham race, leading 82 laps and keeping up with Ryan Heuser, Battista and Lee all day. A near victory at Las Vegas just two weeks ago was a shade of that previous season. That may be the race that keeps his competitive Extravaganza career alive.
Pole sitter Adam Crapser looks like a dark horse coming into the final Bristol race of the season, looking to steal the spotlight from the chase contenders. Points leaders Ryan Heuser and John Battista start 19th and 25th, with a herd of cattle in front ready to be pounced.
Zakk Miller was the cause of major catastrophe on lap 1, after contact with Ryan on the start saw him go for a spin in turn 1. On the restart, he and Johnny Reed Foley made contact, slamming Zakk into the inside wall with severe force. The damage was devastating enough for him to come in and fix the damage. Coming out of the pits, he made contact with Mike Carroll, ending his 12-lap reign of horrifying luck. He wound up passing one car down the stretch, finishing 41st on the day.
Rick Jackson took the lead early, with Jonathan Scrabacz and Donald Stewart in tow. Pole-sitter Adam fell off fast and quickly skidded outside of the top-10, while chase contenders Ken Pettit, Alex Crapser and Zach Michael rolled towards the front.
Craig Lee was easily the fastest car on the racetrack, rolling from 11th to first to take the lead. Matthew Dominique was looking to steal the show from behind, eventually leading 26 laps on the day. Craig led 31.
Dominique and Jonathan Scrabacz swapped the lead while Tony Pizzaro and Philip Parker lurked from behind. Adam Crapser found his way back to the front as well, passing Zach Michael who dominated the day. Michael led 112 laps in total.
Jimmie Stevens got in on the action, looking to win a race at Bristol for the second season in a row. His redemption for not making the chase payed off in spades, leading 81 laps and recording a top-10 finish on the night.
During green flag pit stops, Matthew Dominique and Ben Geer made contact, sending themselves into a frenzy from hell entering turn 3. The two went for a minor spin, though the yellow flag only put 8 cars on the lead lap.
After the final restart, Bill Werkheiser and Scott Jackson were the main contenders for the victory. The W.A.S.P. Motorsports teammates look to battle it out hard at a non-speedway racetrack, a complete rarity in the past half-decade. There was still over 100 laps to go.
Alex Crapser came into the mix after several side-by-side battles slowed the teammates down. The three swapped the lead several times, with Bill leading the most laps between lap 400 to 449.
On lap 450, Scott Jackson took the lead away and never looked back. He navigated through lapped traffic perfectly, and put himself in perfect position to win with a full second advantage with less than 5 laps to go.
Crapser was able to pass Werkheiser for the second position, but it was Scott Jackson to his fourth victory of his well acclaimed comeback season at the checkered Congrats to Scott, crew chief Linwood Smalls and the entire W.A.S.P. Motorsports team for another excellent victory!
The historical standpoint of Bristol Motor Speedway added a new chapter last fall, handing an unbelievable upset to Mark Guthrie for his first career victory. He made the field again today, out in the back in 38th. Only Adam Crapser and Rick Jackson were able to crack the 14-second margin, with Adam earning his second pole of the season. He is looking for his first victory tonight at a track that has provided many upsets over the recent years. 2017 saw Michael Henson in victory lane for his only career win, with the aforementioned Guthrie three years later. Look for Jonathan Scrabacz to enter the fray as well, climbing up to 23rd in the standings over the past several weeks and starting in row #2. Points leaders Ryan Heuser, John Battista and Craig lee start 19th, 25th and 11th.
Tim McDonnell had gone on a miracle stretch of 71 straight events without a DNF. That streak ended when his engine expired on the tri-oval last week, ending his day in 36th. A horrifying accident took him out of the Charlotte race in 2019. It's been near-perfect sailing ever since.
Gill Shephard, also known as "Texan Gill", was an attemptee-mainstay in the Extravaganza Series from 1977 to 1985. His best ever finish was a third place at Nashville in 1980, driving a blue #39 unsponsored Oldsmobile for the Geckman brothers. During and after his racing career, he was a professional flute player for the Jethro Tull tribute band "Mother Goose". Gill had just turned 79.
What looked like an easy call to the office of Champions turned into a definitive blow for the two consistency dominators of the season. The tides will turn in the 3rd annual Eddie Money classic, seeing the horsepower dominators kill two birds while dominating the standings.
Pole sitter Scott Jackson lost the lead early to Dave Miller and John Battista, the latter looking to extend his 45-point lead in the points. There were no surprised up front, seeing the usual half-mile suspects like Rick Jackson, Tony Pizzaro and Ryan Heuser up front.
Johnny Reed Foley had lost his sponsor, though saw the front of the pack without needing binoculars all day. Tim McDonnell and Zach Michael look to rebound after poor performances last week, as Rick find the lead early en route to leading a race-dominating 48 laps.
Ben Geer looked unstoppable, pulling off his usual 3 out of 36 race dominance at the speedways. Pocono was the first, though there was something seemingly "experimental" about this car. Ben was easily the class of the field during the early to middle-stages.
Three crashes including three different chase contenders took out the competitive forces of Alex Crapser, John Tharp and Tim McDonnell. Two of the accidents were identical, with the final involving Tharp for a second time. Crapser would miraculously rebound to 6th, with Tharp 23rd.
A horrifying crash off of turn 2 set up the destruction of two powerhouse-players for the championship all season. Kevin Corbat and Tony Pizzaro went for a wild ride off of the fourth corner, seeing the #46 slide roof-first for thousands of yards while the #12 went through a miraculous infield flip in shades of Darlington last season. During the crash, Champion Tim McDonnell blew up on an upshift after narrowly avoiding the accident. It would be his first DNF of the season, as well as Pizzaro's. Points leader Battista was also involved, hindering his progress all day and resulting in an 18th place finish. He would drop to second in the standings.
Long green flag runs were abundant after the accidents, seeing a miraculous comeback from Alex Crapser and an emotionally wounded Johnny Reed Foley lead the field away from the frenzy behind. Ryan Heuser, Randy Dobbins, and the Jackson cousins also looked to join in on the action.
Ryan Heuser went from the lead to nearly outside of the top-10 after short-pitting during the final stretch. Crapser and Jackson flew by, with Craig Lee on everyone's tail with the freshest tires in the field.
Craig found his way past the Scott Jackson machine and pulled away from the field. A near race-leading 42 laps led from 31st starting position looked to be the stat-line towards victory lane, before a Steven Spears spin with less than 30-to-go forces a late-race restart.
On cold tires, Ryan pulled towards the front on the restart and miraculously made it by Craig. Scott Jackson took pursuit as well, with Ben Geer closing the gap in third. It was a three-car battle for victory towards the end.
Ben Geer made it past the #38 with 2 laps to go and gained all of the distance to catch the #138. It was to no avail, as Ryan defended to his 6th victory of the season and into the points lead for the first time all season. Congrats to Ryan, crew chief Mustard Mahoney and the entire Quick-Silver Racing crew for an excellent victory.
The points standings have already taken an ebb and flow of 155 points from Darlington winner John Battista. He is already 45 points ahead of second place, as we are finally seeing the big winners of this season also creep up to the top of the standings. Ken Pettit, Alex Crapser and Zach Michael faltered to the bottom of the totem pole last week after accidents ruined their lead-lap days. In fact, only two chase drivers finished in the top-6, leading to believe that the nothing-to-lose mentality is the way of the future. Dan Johnston and Aaron Cummings are looking for their second straight top-5 finish in the third annual Eddie Money Classic!
After missing the chase and only capturing 3 top-5's in 27 races, both Amp Energy and Coca-Cola have parted ways with the team for the 2022 season. This is a devastating blow for Foley, who has seldom seen the front all season and was hoping to resurrect the team with a manufacturer change to Toyota. This will also dissuade Adam Beresford's 6-race initiation effort for next season, and possibly lose his Busch Bonanza ride. Instead of battling the tide, Foley has elected to be released from his contract, which has one year left. It was approved this morning by Shake N' Bake co-owner's Mumford Walls and Jazzy Joel.
Ten drivers welcome the Darlington Raceway with open arms and happy hearts, knowing their status as happy-go-lucky chase contenders. Craig Lee is on the pole, with his teammate Ryan Heuser on the outside in Quick-Silver blockade in front of the other 44 drivers.
Early on, Ken Pettit looked to use the rebound-momentum on his season to capture the lead early. He led more of the early-going laps than anybody else, nabbing a full 36th on the night.
Teammates Ken and Rick Jackson dominate the veteran top-5 in shades of the spring event, where Scott Jackson and John Tharp finished 1-2. Ben Geer eased his way into the picture, leading one lap as he auditions for a possible new ride in 2021.
Rookie Logan Sheets pulls to the front to lead some of the first few laps of his young Extravaganza career. The veterans vulture from behind, looking to swarm the New York Jets machine into a frenzy of bits at the end of the back.
Chase contender Ryan Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley were involved in an accident entering the pit road. Both drivers would rebound to a top-12 finish. Matt Raboin went for a flip up near the front of the pack, involving Sheets and finishing a dead last 46th. Sheets finished 44th.
Heuser found his way back up front in the middle-going, leading 58 laps in total. Towing behind were chase contenders Scott Jackson and Ken Pettit, looking to denounce the great Heuser from his Darlington throne. Zakk MIller and Jimmie Stevens were proving their worth as well, both finishing inside the top-10.
A huge restart crash saw Zach Michael go up-and-over in the front of the pack. A consistent day went in ruin, as he limped to a 40th place finish and down to 10th in the standings after the first chase week. Rick Jackson was also caught up in the accident, finishing 42nd.
The final stages of the event saw Zakk Miler towing the field, with horsepiower-kings John Battista and Ryan Heuser up in the mix for the victory. Aaron Cummings was miraculously up through the field, looking to outdo his 11th place effort last week.
John Battista guided he and Dan Johnston past the #138 for the lead as Miller and Cummings dropped slightly back. With his teammates all outside of the top-15, the Lucas Racing machine relied heavily on the shoulders of the #39. Johnston was looking to rebound after his near-victory at the Darlington spring race 1 year ago.
Johnston led over 20 laps during the final stretch and nearly pulled off the victory. He was ahead by multiple car-lengths and lapped traffic between, but somehow the Wendy's machine propelled through with less than 10 laps to go to re-take the top position.
John Battista led the final laps in grand style, leading a whopping 76 in total and jumping to 1st in the standings for the first time in his career after his Southern 500 victory. Congrats to Battista, crew chief Lew Money, and the entire Lucas Racing team for an excellent victory!
Craig Lee is on the pole and looks to conquer the $5 Million Bacon Bonus for winning two of the crown jewel events this season!
Points Standings: Race 26 of 36
1. Tim McDonnell: - 2. Tony Pizzaro: -5
3. John Battista: -10
4. Craig Lee: -15
5. Zach Michael: -20
6. Alex Crapser: -25
7. Ryan Heuser: -30
8. Ken Pettit: -35
9. John Tharp: -40
10. Scott Jackson: -45
Regular Season: Most Laps Led 1. Ryan Heuser: 960
2. John Battista: 941
3. Craig Lee: 615
4. Tony Pizzaro: 557
5. Matt Raboin: 471
Regular Season: Most Laps Led Races 1. John Battista: 5
2. Ryan Heuser: 5
3. Tim McDonnell: 4
