The Brickyard 400 is synonymous for it's electric fanbase and driver dexterity. Ryan Heuser, Jimmie Stevens, John Tharp, Rick Jackson and Dave Miller are on the outside looking in, and all but one have had immaculate success at this racetrack.
No Extravaganza driver has won the Brickyard 400 under the age of 30 since the 1990's, as the top-4 in qualifying all signify the old school of racing. Bill Werkheiser won the pole, and looked to hold off Craig Lee, Rick Jackson and Dave Miller to end his long winless drought.
Rick Jackson took the lead early, staying up front for 5 laps before Jimmie Stevens pulled through. Stevens has only led 45 laps heading into today, adding 13 more to the resume as he holds of the challenge from 2019 winner Dave Miller.
Tim McDonnell came from 25th to first within the fuel run to take the lead and seemingly run away with the show. He would lead 36 laps on the day, as nobody could catch his bumper in the early going.
Ryan Heuser looked to repeat last year's victory with a double-down over Tim McDonnell heading into turn 1. Both cars were immensely strong, staying within the draft group nearly all day.
The only caution of the day came off of turn 4, with Tony Long and Donald Stewart spinning into the pit road after contact. Dalton Lucas, Johnny Reed Foley and Scott Jackson were involved in the incident as well. Foley would rebound to 17th, though drop back to 11th in points. Jackson finished outside the top-30 and fell to 14th.
John Tharp and Matt Raboin restarted behind the #22 and tag-teamed by. Raboin would move past Tharp immediately, eventually leading 30 laps while Tharp nabbed his 12th top-10 of the season after a slow start for 2021.
McDonnell, Raboin and Craig Lee were at the helm towards the end of the show. John Battista and Dave Miller were on fast approach from behind, with Ryan Heuser and Tony Pizzaro pulling the two fastest lap times in 6th and 7th.
Dave Miller was leading before the final green flag pit stop. Behind him, Craig Lee's crew amped up the tape in response to the recent Quick-Silver engine rumours, and flew by his teammate in an attempt to win his third Brickyard 400 in the last 5 years.
John Battista looked to end the over-30 streak at Indianapolis, and was the only car in Lee's way to the checkered. After the pass, Battista blew a tire and dropped from 2nd to 38th place.
Craig Lee had pulled away by 4 seconds when he crossed the finish line in first, scoring yet another Brickyard 400 victory. Congrats to Craig, crew chief Spook Millikan, and the entire Quick-Silver Racing crew for an excellent victory!
A season dominated by two drivers starts with both on the inside lane up front. Tim McDonnell is the pole sitter, looking for his 2nd victory at the facility in it's three year history.
Tony Pizzaro takes the lead on lap one as the #12 and #22 scurry away from the field. Pizzaro would lead the first 14 laps while Matt Raboin, Scott Jackson and Jimmie Stevens try to hold up the road ringers behind.
Extremely bad starting spots left many of the chase contenders in a hole from the start. Craig Lee, Dave Miller, Johnny Reed Foley and Ken Pettit endured the rapid pace of the front-goers and could not keep pace. Three of the four would finish one lap down and outside of the top-30. Foley was able to navigate to 16th with the help of a caution flag to bunch up the field.
Between laps 15 and 21, McDonnell and Pizzaro swapped the lead five different times. Later in the run, they would exchange the spot five more times before McDonnell took it outright on lap 50.
During the hard-fought battling up front, John Battista and Zach Michael scurried hard to make up the distance. It was a four-car race for the lead coming up to the halfway bacon bonus.
Battista took the lead on lap 58, keeping his pace through the first green flag pit stop. He would extend his lead by two seconds after the stops, contending with lapped traffic and putting down Pettit, Jackson and Lee.
The battle behind the four leaders and the two Quantum Racing cars proved among the best all day. John Tharp, Scott Jackson, Alex Crapser and Jimmie Stevens were in the safety zone, just inside of the top-10 and nearly completing their goal of a chase-pace finish.
After the first and only caution for debris, Dakota Wilkins took the lead and maintained it for several laps. Zakk Miller took the charge on lap 116, but had to come in for fuel just a few laps later.
Wilkins re-gained the lead and stayed through lap 122 when the rest of the field flew by with fresher tires. Tim McDonnell and John Battista made their way to a great battle towards the end.
The final 15 laps saw Battista following McDonnell through the lapped traffic and beyond. With two laps to go, Battista made his move in the second right-hander and passed the #22 machine, dropping him back to fourth after a last lap holocaust.
John Battista would win his fifth victory of the season, placing him #1 on the winner leaderboard for 2021 and up to 3rd in points. Congrats to John, crew chief Lew Money, and the entire Lucas Racing team for an excellent victory!
The ultimate grand prize of the 2021 season is winning the third annual Country Time at The Lime. McDonnell and Michael have proven worthy of winning the golden lime trophy, but can the others manage the same fate with the same poise and dexterity. 140 laps at Lime Rock are going to be an unbelievable journey of left and right hand action. You may even see some cars going straight! Avoid the bridge at all costs, and you will be gone from worry. Good luck to all at Lime Rock!
Looking to break into the realm of opportunity lie 16 drivers still in the immediate hunt for the Championship. With six races to go, drivers like Johnny Reed Foley and Alex Crapser teeter on the bubble as they qualify back in the pack.
Rick Jackson won the pole and led the first 132 laps of the event. Ryan Heuser became the first casualty of the day, dropping an engine and finishing last while dropping to 11th place in the standings.
It was a four car breakaway between Rick, Craig Lee, Matt Raboin and Johnny Reed Foley. Only Foley would finish inside of the top-10 by the races end, while the others struggled throughout, recovering from issues in the earlier going.
The first and only caution of the race saw Mark Murphy flipping towards the entrance of turn 4. He blew up and made contact with Scott Drake, sending him into Ben Geer and over into the outside retaining wall.
Craig Lee and Matt Raboin were sitting pretty inside the top-5 before a loose lug-nut on the #101 and a penalty for the #87 caused them to fall back. They would scatter helplessly all day, finishing 28th and 31st.
Rick Jackson remained the leader as Tony Pizzaro and Alex Crapser joined into the picture. Crapser looked to be the fastest car in the field, casually gaining spots as the attrition rate heightened and the longer runs ran.
Zach Michael went from last place to inside the top-4 in just over 100 laps. Alex Crapser took the lead, making his first bid for two-in-a-row since the race began.
Michael was the fastest car in the field, to the surprise of many as Team Danger Zone looks to continue their high-horsepower hopes for the Championship. He would take the lead after the halfway point, ending with 32 on the day.
Green flag pit stops proved worthy, giving Tony Pizzaro the tire advantage and passing the #20 who was caught behind lapped traffic. From behind, an enormous battle from 5th on back saw the greatest racing action of the second half.
It was Pizzaro, Michael, Dave Miller and Tim McDonnell looking to conquer the checkered flag after the final green flag pit stop. Pizzaro came out ahead, with Miller high-tailing and Michael passing McDonnell for third.
Tony Pizzaro crosses the finish line at New Hampshire first for his first win of the 2021 season, and extends his points lead over McDonnell by 88 points in shades of last year. Congrats to Pizzaro, crew chief Neil Justice, and the entire Race-2-Win crew for an excellent victory!
Qualifying Results Ryan Heuser dropped to the doldrums last week after an engine failure mid-race at Road America. 12 drivers are now in the brigade to make the chase, from 5th to 16th place in the points. Ken Pettit and John Battista both had terrible finishes last week, falling near the cut-line themselves. Seeing a strong start to the season fall to the wayside may seem scary, but New Hampshire provides the antidote. All 12 drivers have had a multitude of success and devastation at this racetrack. 12th in points Rick Jackson is on the pole for tomorrow.
Current Points Positions 5. Ken Pettit: +116 6. Matt Raboin: +81 7. Ryan Heuser: +76 8. Zach Michael: +54 9. Alex Crapser: +39 10. Johnny Reed Foley: +7 ----------------------------------- 11. Scott Jackson: -7 12. Rick Jackson: -35 13. John Tharp: -37 14. Jimmie Stevens: -39 15. Zakk Miller: -72 16. Dave Miller: -77
Connor Germain followed his unbelievable Daytona 2nd place finish with a practical DNS after blowing up on the starting line at Road America. He has now qualified a career-high 4th for New Hampshire. His Rookie-Of-The-Year competitor Dakota Wilkins is just ahead in the points for the award. He has failed to qualify, as Germain looks to steal the show with a possible top-20 today.
The difference between 8th and 16th in points is smaller than a granule of swiss cheese after a nice grating job. By the end, the distance will extend just a little, and two of the three drivers ahead of the cut will find themselves out. Will pole sitter Johnny Reed Foley be one of the drivers to knock the Jackson's out of the Championship bubble?
A climate of sunshine began the first Road America race in decades, as Johnny Reed Foley led the charge. After the second quick caution, David Baldinger took over the lead, barely hanging on with the faster Tony Pizzaro behind.
Followed were two horrendous accidents off of turn 1 into the tire barriers by Donald Stewart and Randy Dobbins. Zach Michael and Tim McDonnell made contact and clipped the #55 machine hard into the Goodyears. Dobbins suffered the same fate nearly last in the pack. They would finish just ahead of Connor Germain, who did not start the event after an engine failure on the grid.
Baldinger led his second straight restart and, eventually his 7th lap led on the day before coming on for a pit stop. Tony Pizzaro led the next 11 laps and pulled away from the field before green flag stops.
It was a Quick Silver Motorsports blowout at Road America. Both NOS Energy cars heaved massive smoke during the mid-portion of the race. Ryan was battling for the lead, losing 100+ points in the process and dropping to only 76 points out of the cutoff. Craig finished outside of the top-40.
Lap 28 turned into a tug-of-war battle between the #29 and #85. Ben Geer and William Perry came out of the pits, and before long they were destroying the infield and outfield grasshoppers. They made contact entering turn 2, with Ben flying through the grass and slamming into Perry's side while back on the track. Several corners later, they tapped again, with Geer flying hard into the outside tire barrier in the kink. He would finish 40th on the day.
John Battista's top-10 run came to a halt after a spin between turns one and two. Fortunately, he would not hit the barriers like most and keep on trucking. He finished 32nd on the day after flying through the field early. Just afterwards, David Baldinger could not re-gain the momentum he had early. An attempt to pass through the field turned sour after contact with Rob Scarberry sent both drivers into the tire barriers. The road ringer would not win today.
The final restart of the event saw Alex Crapser make multiple attempts to pass Pizzaro during the first lap. Good brakes entering Canada Corner saw the #04 come up on top, leading his first laps on the day.
Most drivers made their final pit stop before the 12-to-go mark, leaving Matthew Dominique, Dalton Lucas, and Johnny Reed Foley as the top-3. Rick Jackson and Alan Nesfeder were the final contenders to command the lead. When they came in, it was the tandem of Crapser and Tim McDonnell battling for glory.
McDonnell had fresher tires with the later pit stop, as the famous CAT crew put them in thr running. It took McDonnell three laps to catch the #04, though the excellent Lucas Racing brakes made it nearly impossible to execute a good passing opportunity. They were side-by-side three different times in the final five laps, but to no avail.
Alex Crasper has found the front minimally this season at the intermediate race tracks, and a road course was an excellent change-of-pace to propel him back into the Championship race. He would go from 11th to 9th in the standings, in perfect position with five races remaining in the regular se
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William Perry has been placed on probation for the rest of the 2021 season following an altercation with Ben Geer at Road America yesterday on lap 28. Coming out of the pit road, Perry made what appeared to be intentional contact with Geer entering turn 3, sending the #29 through the infield grass. Geer knocked the #85 into the outside grass after re-entering the racetrack, as the two scattered back into traffic. Perry was able to re-catch the Budweiser machine, bumping his rear end entering the braking zone in the Kink. Geer would lose control of his car and slam hard into the cheese barriers, knocking him into another daze of confusion in 2021. There is no indication of what pre-meditated the incident. Geer has escaped the crash with no penalty, other than another possible concussion.
The road course stretch proves dynamite for some of the chase contenders, as we head towards the first bi-weekly stretch of right handers to send off into the playoffs. Johnny Reed Foley comes in only 16 points behind 10th place Rick Jackson, as he lands his second pole of the season for the 62 lap event. He has only led 193 laps on the season, and looks to eclipse the 200 lap-led barrier for the first time since forming MFI Racing with Tim McDonnell many seasons ago. Road ringer David Baldinger will start on the outside front row.
7. Matt Raboin: +84 (Starts 6th)
8. Zach Michael: +45 (Starts 23rd)
9. Scott Jackson: +40 (Starts 8th)
10. Rick Jackson: +4 (Starts 20th) ---------------------------------- 11. Alex Crapser: -4 (Starts 11th)
12. Johnny Reed Foley: -16 (Starts 1st)
13. Jimmie Stevens: -24 (Starts 4th)
14. Dave Miller: -28 (Starts 14th)
15. John Tharp: -34 (Starts 12th)
16. Zakk Miller: -44 (Starts 13th)
This is easily the closest Championship chase race since it's inception nearly two decades ago. The difference between 8th place Zach Michael and 16th place Zakk Miller is only 85 points. The only four drivers who are relatively safe for the clinch are Tony Pizzaro, Tim McDonnell, Craig Lee and John Battista. Battista will start 41st in the field, dropping his "favorite" status just a tad as he rummages through the field.
