Doctors clear Zakk Miller to race at Nashville. "Thank the lord" he said. "We're getting free stuffed muffins at the Five Daughters Bakery next week. Thank you to Brad Capers and Caper's Cafe!" After the hospital slop he ate for two straight days, toenail flavored donuts surely take the cake! He'll have to pay for those, which he may barely afford after the medical bill. "They charged me $20.00 a pound for the artichokes. They tasted like roasted pinecone with extra sap." Hopefully his esophagus will heal in time for Saturday lunch.
It's important to look at the big picture. Despite the greatness and speed of Ryan Heuser and John Battista this season, The reliance of engine parts can not be dismissed when it comes to the Championship. Tony Pizzaro comes in 6 points ahead of Tim McDonnell heading in to Chicagoland. The one benefactor of both is the lack of DNF's in 2021.
On the pole is Ryan Heuser along-side his 3rd-in-points teammate Craig Lee. He dominated the show early, staying car-lengths in front of the field before Matt Raboin snuck by on the outside lane coming to one of the caution flags. It took no time for Ryan to re-gain the lead.
After the caution, Rick Jackson was not to be denied. All of his 32 laps led on the day came in the early going, as the field fought tooth-and-nail to crab by the Race-2-Win machine. He led 32 laps in total, though got caught a lap down after pitting before the final caution flag. He finished 27th, falling to 15th place in points.
A horrifying crash on lap 66 devastated the racing world. Zakk Miller flew into the catchfence and tumbled several times before getting clobbered by Jonathan Scrabacz. Zakk suprisingly suffered no concussion, but only a bruised rib and bruised esophagus in the incident. He would finish 2nd-to-last on the day.
Dan Johnston was the only car to stay out on old tires and made out a couple of laps at the front. Matt Raboin, Tony Pizzaro, Rick Jackson, Scott Jackson, John Battista, and last years winner Randy Dobbins all stood behind as Dan fought his way to stay as the leader. He would lead four laps in total before relinquishing to the field.
Lap 97 saw another violent accident. Dave Miller flew into the outside turn 1 concrete barrier, ending up in his side while riding over the sponsors. He flew back down the track, only to be killed by Ken Pettit and Dalton Lucas. It was a "crazy eights" night mare for Dave, flipping over several times to a stop near turn 2 exit. Dave would finish 38th, dropping to 12th in the points standings. Ken would likewise drop two positions to 8th after finishing 39th.
Adam Crapser had a devastating impact closer to the mis-race point. His car stuck inside the wall, somehow escaping without injury. Meanwhile, a battle for 3rd turned sour after contact between Matt Raboin and Bill Werkheiser. Matt slammed the outside wall hard, while Bill spun around and rebounded to a 7th place finish. Matt finished 32nd, and dropped to 11th in the standings.
Tony Pizzaro, John Battista, Matt Raboin (before the crash) and Rick Jackson were the late race dominators. Pizzaro and Battista dominated the stretch, swapping the lead several times during multiple green flag runs. Both drivers finished in the top-5, with Battista leading 72 laps and Pizzaro with 44 on the day.
It was the same story within the final 100 laps. A battle for 5th between Ryan Heuser and Randy Dobbins with 40 laps to go saw the caution come out right after a Rick Jackson pit stop. He would be trapped a lap down for the rest of the race, and Randy would fail to win his second-straight Chicagoland event.
Jackson made his pass on the outside lane with 14 laps to go. Miraculously, a hard-charging John Tharp came from several seconds behind to catch up to the leaders in time to make a move. He made it past Battista with 6 laps to go, and found his way by Jackson on the outside lane coming to two laps to go. Lapped traffic loomed ahead, and the outside lane was not the place to be. Scott charged to the bottom as the battle for third place nearly ended in disaster from behind. Tharp tucked to the bumper of the #38 off of turn 4 but to no avail.
Scott Jackson perservered through the lapped traffic in spades, passi
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The first night race at Chicagoland should provide excitement for the masses as Randy Dobbins looks to steal the show for the second straight season. Another dark horse Jim Fitzmaurice qualifies inside the top-20, with Steven Spears and Rob Scarberry also starting top-20 in the field. Ryan Heuser pulled a blistering lap of 28.667 and looks to dominate the show like he did in 2016. Up in the points, Tim McDonnell will start the race as the points leader, qualifying 14 positions ahead of current leader Tony Pizzaro. McDonnell was struggling in happy hour, leaving many to believe that the night conditions will be the downfall for the CAT crew in this event. Tim has still completed every lap in 2021.
Besides the top-4 in points (and Ken Pettit), it has been boom-or-bust for most of the Extravaganza Championship contenders. All victories except one are outside of the top-4, meanwhile the top-5 and top-10 percentage skyrockets towards the Pizzaro-McDonnell duel for the regular season Championship. This could be the first time in Extravaganza Series history that the top-2 could be winless after 26 races. Here is the current chase cutoff with only 11 races left:
4. Jimmie Stevens: +173 5. John Battista: +173 6. Ken Pettit: +166 7. Ryan Heuser: +128 8. Alex Crapser: +123 9. Dave Miller: +72 10. Matt Raboin: +55 -------------------------------- 11. Johnny Reed Foley: -55 12. Scott Jackson: -94 13. Rick Jackson: -127 14. Zach Michael: -137 15. Zakk Miller: -151 16. John Tharp: -172
Cristian Torres comes into Chicagoland with a fractured right shin and a concussion from last Tuesday's Extravaganza event at Sonoma. Torres's car catapaulted into the turn-11 pit wall at full speed, resulting in the worst crash of his career since Atlanta of 2018. That incident caused him to miss most of the season, while this one looks to grudgingly keep him in the car for Chicagoland. Cristiano De Sa will be in the pit box if Cristian needs a relief driver. Here are the worst rated crashes of 2021 so far:
Extravaganza Bodywork Damage Rating (4500 max) Cristian Torres @ Sonoma: 3214 Matt Raboin @ Talladega: 3143 Randy Dobbins @ Dover: 2714 Steven Spears @ Phoenix: 2095 Mark Murphy @ Texas: 1976
Jimmie Stevens has compiled one of the most unlikely success seasons in modern Extravaganza history. From 18th in points one year ago, Speedy has amassed an average finish of 12th (good enough for top-3 in points in most seasons), and has climbed his way to fourth in the standings. This is the highest points rank that Speedy has encountered during his ten year career. In 15 races, he has accumulated 8 top-10 finishes despite only qualifying in the top-10 once (10th at Charlotte). There are four multiple-time winners behind him in points, and has turned himself into a serious contender for the Championship. Here is a breif history of how Jimmie "Speedy" Stevens got to where he is today.
Many years ago, James Parker grew tired of the conformity of high school. He started playing the new Extravaganza video game "King Joe's Beat the Heat", and was immediately hooked. He started watching Extravaganza races on the old MoSport cable channel, and quickly took an interest in their boat racing series. He soon quit high school and traveled to the Russian Kolyama Lowlands in search for his passion. He learned the ins and outs of drag boat racing in the Indugirka River, and moved back to the United States with a new identity. He would change his last name to "Stevens" in honor of Steven "Shrimp" Spangler, his favorite legend driver in the Beat the Heat video game.
Stevens stationed himself in New Orleans to learn more about boat racing. He was a mechanic in Beck Hillman's drag boat crew as a teenager, and remained there for over a year. Beck would continuously tell him "the real money is in asphalt", and the words eventually fell through. He moved to Ponoma, California in late 2006 and never looked back. Stevens miraculously won seven races in his only two drag racing seasons at the top level, becoming the youngest winner in the sports history.
In 2009 he drove for former drag racer Dean Bonanski's Busch Bonzana team in the #2 Heineken ford. Bonanski drove the famous "Baconator" funny car during the 1990's, and developed a locked-in goal to inherit drag racing talent onto the oval ranks. Stevens finished 16th and 11th in points during his only two seasons before the team shut down due to lack of funding.
Stevens made a hole-shot decision and bought out the Bonanski team with his drag racing earnings and full support from the Heinekin beer company. With Miller aboard Walt Flowers and Budweiser in a lifetime contract with Joe Dawkins, it was finally time for a new beer brand to steal the spotlight. He would jump to Extravaganza as an owner-driver with Heineken providing full sponsorship and engine support from the renowned W.A.S.P. Motorsports.
Unbelievably, Stevens beat NSRA Racing and Busch Bonanza Champion Zach Michael for the rookie of the year in 2012, finishing 10th in points and looked to be Extravaganza's next superstar. He finish 9th in points the next season, before the bottom started to fall through. Without teammate support, his results dwindled over the next few seasons and Heineken left the organization.
The greatest asset for Stevens was his marketability. He was coined "Speedy" for his drag racing prowess, and used the term to market himself for years. Kevin Corbat and Auto Value decided to buy out his independent team in 2016, scooping up Tony Long the next season. During the last three years, Stevens has finished a disappointing 19th, 18th and 18th in the standings. It appeared this would be the trend-setter for the rest of his career, but 2021 has proven to be the lightning bolt Speedy needs to re-gain his Championship confidence.
We come to the first road course race of the 2021 season. This year we are up to five road races, easily the most since the Extravaganza inception in the early 50's. It's more important than ever to be a road-course ringer, giving even more advantage to the Tim McDonnell's of Extravaganza.
Odds-on favorites Tim McDonnell and Tony Pizzaro start in the back, though Johnny Reed Foley and John Battista were mistake-free in qualifying as the duo led the first 20 laps of the event. Just after the first caution flag flew, Battista's engine failed after amassing a 10-second advantage. He would finish 41st and drop from 3rd to 5th in the standings.
Tim McDonnell and Randy Dobbins attempted to split Steven Spears through the esses, but to no avail. The three tangled and flew into the tire barriers without much time for brakes. Spears and Dobbins would finish outside of the top-25, though McDonnell rallied profusely to a 13th place finish in a mangled car, three spots ahead of points leader Tony Pizzaro. He would finish the day just 6 points behind in the Championship.
Shake N' Bake Racing earned it's road course testing dues early on, running 1st and 3rd during the second green flag stint. Alan Nesfeder, John Tharp and Jimmie Stevens also ran strong, and looked poised for their first victories of the season.
Johnny Reed Foley endured a horrifying pit stop, leaving Michael Henson out as the first car with fresh tires and full fuel. The other leaders came one lap later, leaving Craig Lee to lead out the run after pitting earlier in the go. Bill Werkheiser attempted to fly past lapped traffic and catch the #101, but to no avail.
Several incidents came off the first set of esses. Cristian Torres, Rick Jackson, Tony Pizzaro and Kevin Corbat all flew across the dry Sonoma dust and into the turn 4A traffic. Cinderella story Michael Henson wrecked hard attempting to avoid the Pizzaro accident, finishing 36th after leading 6 laps. He remains without a top-10 on the season.
Adam Crapser inhereted the lead after Craig Lee came in for his pit stop. It took less than a lap for Henson and Zach Michael to fly by the #4. Henson would lead his 6 laps before pitting during the next flag. From there, Zach Michael took the reigns.
Zach led three laps after battling had with Jonathan Scrabacz on the restart. He came down to pit during the next caution, assuming the rest of the field would do the same during the course of the event. Up front, Scrabacz failed to maintain the lead pace, as the wiley veterans John Tharp and Scott Jackson took over the show.
A horrible pit-wall crash with just 5 laps to go sent Cristian Torres to the hospital. He and Kevin Corbat made contact entering turn 11. Torres's car catapaulted through the tire barriers passenger-side first and came to a complete stop on impact. Word is still out on whether he can race at Chicagoland.
It was a final two-lap shootout to the finish. Scott Jackson got the jump he needed on the restart and flew through the gears entering turn 1. He and Tharp were side-by-side through the first two corners before Jackson cleared Tharp into the uphill. It was a multiple car-length distance from there.
A drought of nearly 100 races couldn't shatter the confidence of Scott Jackson. Since his crew chief change just five races ago, nobody has amassed more points than the #38 Ateup crew in shades of his golden days. Jackson would cross the finish line first in his unprecedented second victory in the past four races. Congrats to Scott, crew chief Linwood Smalls, and the entire W.A.S.P. Motorsports team for an excellent victory!
The annual Sonoma pre-race "techno-explosion" circa 1998
Johnny Reed Foley finally nabbed his first top-5 of the season last week at Charlotte. He led laps for the second-straight event for the first time this year. Now, he has earned his third-straight front-row starting position at the Sonoma road course. In fact, he is on the pole. Watch for Foley to maintain his track position and win for the first time since Las Vegas of last season.
Tim McDonnell comes into the Sonoma race as the tied favorite to win the event. A well needed boost of confidence after losing the points lead last week to Tony Pizzaro. John Battista is 118 points behind in third and is the other half of the Vegas bias atop the heap. McDonnell has not recorded a top-7 finish in 6 straight weeks. He and Pizzaro will have their work cut out, starting 39th and 40th in the field.
Odds to Win Sonoma John Battista: 6 to 1
Tim McDonnell: 7 to 1
Tony Pizzaro: 7 to 1
Johnny Reed Foley: 10 to 1
Alex Crapser: 12 to 1
Zach Michael: 12 to 1
John Tharp: 18 to 1
Young guns Adam Crapser and Mark Murphy nearly won this race last season before late-ace trouble struck them down. Veteran Matthew Dominique won the race, and is desperate to find victory lane again. He finished a career-worst 44th last week, and has an average finish of 33rd his last 6 events. He comes into this race an unbelievable 259 points behind his teammate Matt Raboin for 10th in the standings. He starts 24th today, and can hopefully salvage a top-15 finish to boost his recent statistical woes.
The tide stands still as we await the longest race in Extravaganza. The points leader is on the pole, while his former counterpart Johnny Reed Foley looks to break out of his top-5 slump and win the Coca-Cola 600 for his title sponsor. Steven Spears pulls off a miracle 5th place qualifying lap in one of the four biggest races of the Extravaganza Season.
The 46-car field went green just after dusk with Tim McDonnell leading the first lap. The R2W teammates rampaged to the front early, earning that early momentum in hopes of more glory at a racetrack that's been good to them in the past.
John Battista led 29 laps duing the first long green flag run after the R2W cars got tight as the track cooled down. Ryan Heuser pulled off a miracle run, going from 24th to 1st in only 47 laps. He would lead through green flag pit stops and past lap 100.
The big crash of the night occurred early in the going. Teammates Zakk Miller and Steven Spears made contact in turn-3 battling for 23rd spot. Spears was pile-driven by the Matthew Dominique machine, ending both nights on impact. The Mello Yello machine slid down the track and into Bink Lucas. Dominique locked the brakes in the racing groove, leaving Scott Drake no room to pass the crash. He went barrell-rolling twice off of turn-4 after another hard impact from Dan Johnston. All drivers were uninjured in the accident. Drake, Lucas, Dominique, Spears, Johnston and Scott Deutsch all dropped out of the race due to the incident.
The race leader was involved in the accident. Heuser made light contact with the #89 car and got spun from behind from Mark Murphy. He tapped slid towards the outside wall and grazed it with the drivers-side door with hardly any damage. An immaculate job of saving the racecar under duress, he would only drop four positions in the pits and contend for the win still. Johnny Reed Foley became the new leader.
Foley led the next 40 laps with drafting help from lapped-driver Dave Miller. Heuser flew by with a mission on hand, as he and Tony Pizzaro swapped the lead several times during the half-way stretch.
Through lap 340, Heuser and Bill Wekheiser had pulled to an extreme advantage over the field. Each took turns at leading the event as they managed through traffic, with points leader Tim McDonnell looking like the fastest car on the racetrack in third. Heuser would lead 202 laps, on the day, with Bill finishing at 67.
High Octane Racing endured their woes during the event. Three seperate spins off of turn-2 solidified it's status as "calamity corner" in 2021. Both Mike Carroll and Dan Johnston would finish outside the top-34. Rick Jackson and Kevin Corbat ended the day 29th and 30th.
Ryan Heuser found the speed after coming out behind Bill during the final green-flag stop. Heuser got loose and turned Werkheiser into the outside wall. Bill kept trucking with minimal right-side damage while Heuser made a miraculous save through the road-course infield. #138 would be the leader withing the next lap, while Bill dropped out of contention.
Scott Jackson was four seconds behind in second when Steven Spears went for a wild-ride in the infield. He flew up into Randy Dobbins, causing a four-car pile-up involving teammate Zakk Miller and Jaxon Vaccher. This would commence a 12-lap dash to the finish.
Heuser pulled away by nearly a half-second early. Jackson's car found speed just a couple of laps shy, running down the "rocket man" and finishing under two car-lengths behind to the flag. Heuser would tie John Battista with most victories on the season with three heading towards the half-way stretch in 2021. Congrats to Ryan, cre
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Points leader Tim McDonnell is on the pole. He has to run 400 more laps on Tuesday to complete his 14th-straight race of completing every lap in 2021. The gutsy change from Honda to Volkswagen after his 2019 championship campaign has proven to be the correct choice. Look for Tim to be one of the favorites to win the Coca-Cola 600.
2021 has been a Chevrolet dominated season. The bow-tie guys have won 10 of 13 races, and occupy 6 of the top-8 spots in the points standings. Despite this, the top-2 in the standings are a Volkswagen and Ford. Conventional Fords, Dodges and Volkswagens have won zero events all year, leaving concerns for the #22, #12, Team Danger Zone and PHR teams. Some argue that the lower attrition rates of the Chevrolet's compared to the top-2 in points make up the difference. Quantum Racing begs to differ. "The Viper engines have been the quality of brand-name cream cheese" says Matthew Dominique, who is currently 15th in points, over 100 behind the cutoff. Here are the only two drivers to win in a non-chevrolet:
Matt Raboin (Viper):Bristol, Martinsville Mark Murphy (Mustang):Dover
Halfway through the regular season, usual contenders are falling behind in chase pace, while newer names are gaining ground. Jimmie Stevens finds himself 139 points ahead of the cutoff. This time last year he was 20th. Cristian Torres has dropped from 11th to 31st in the standings this season, hoping to re-gain his confidence starting at Charlotte. Zakk Miller has gained the most since 36 races ago, going from 31st to 13th in the standings with the higher-attrition Danger Zone engines.
22 drivers gear up for one of the biggest events in all of Extravaganza: The annual N.O.R.L. Extravaganza Series All-Star Race. Alan Nesfeder and Rick Jackson have won the last two, and they are both in the field today. On the pole is the #3 race favorite Tony Pizzaro. On the outside is the Shootout King Johnny Reed Foley. They will be a heavy front-row blockade for the other 20 drivers to endure for the 100 lap feature. $10 million dollars are on the line tonight!
Early in the 100-lap feature saw Adam Crapser go for a wild spin in a battle for last place. Once the field got settled, it was John Battista and Tony Pizzaro going for broke up front.
Rob Scarberry went for a frontstretch spin to bring out the second caution early. In the aftermath of the restart, Battista would lose the lead to Matthew Dominique as the rest rampaged behind.
The three drivers involved in the previous two cautions were all involved in the third. It was not the Cinderella story for Rob, Adam or Randy. Dominiwue and Battista would lose the lead under yellow flag stops.
Three-wide action for the lead saw the R2W teammates on the bottom, sneaking through the inside to take the #1 and #2 positions. From behind, Zach Michael and the race-sponsor #20 pulverized through the traffic to take the All-Star Race lead after halfway.
The Team Danger Zone cars seemed to have the advantage late, as Michael and Mark Murphy flew by the Race-2-Win brigade to take the 1-2 spots in the event. Dave Miller flew from outside of the top-10 to take a top-3 spot as well. Early leaders Battista and Dominique could not advance into the top-10 despite their tire advantage.
Zach Michael led the final 45 laps as the race stayed green for the entire second-half of the race. It was a Team Danger Zone 1-2 finish for the second time in two weeks, looking to build momentum for the second half of the season. Congrats to Zach, crew chief Justin Knapp, and the entire Team Danger Zone crew for an excellent All-Star Race victory!
There are some huge names in All-Star Qualifier #2. Jimmie Stevens, John Tharp, Ken Pettit and Bill Werkheiser all have excellent speedway horsepower, capable of winning the big show if they can only advance. Only the top-3 will make it.
Busch Bonanza Series Champion Mark Heron started on the pole at his favorite racetrack. He faired well, though it took very little time for John Tharp to fly by for the lead and bring some of the rest of the field with him.
With no caution flags, the guys that started near the front were racing for the lead throughout. Bill Werkheiser and Jimmie Stevens made it past the #14 who was battling a loose condition. Bink Lucas found his way to third as the #6 and #2 continued their side-by-side endeavor.
Jimmie Stevens did an excellent job staying up front through most of the 40-lap event, but the field behind took advantage of their tire-saving strategy during the final 10 laps. Speedy banked for a caution that never came, as Ken Pettit and Adam Crapser flew to the top-3 with only 2 laps to go
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Ken Pettit went from 13th to first on only 40 laps to win the second All-Star Qualifier. Adam Crapser and Bill Werkheiser were side-by-side for second, beating Ben Geer to the line by a car-length to advance to the Big Show. Congrats to Ken, Adam and Bill for their All-Star Race birth!
