Ben Geer and his Gator Hunter business partners have bought out half of the original Extravaganza Gear-5 team, looking to start his career anew in the Western New Jersey confines. Opposite from the newly formed Gear-5 Busch Bonanza operation on the other side of Raccoon Creek, Ben's new team will summoned to the Amish lands of Mullica Hill Township. The community has been surprisingly praiseful of the incoming garage shops, hoisting lumber across the land in euphoria. "The Extravaganza Series is the only sport in the Nation to take pride in Christian traditionalism." Says Glenn Kaufmann. "We'll be the first to explore the value of our non-televised fans. Thankfully we have plenty of generators." Donald Stewart, who is still looking for a high quality ride, may stay within the organization if both drivers can come to a two-car agreement.

Going into Homestead, five drivers have a realistic shot at Championship victory in 2021. Ryan Heuser and John Battista are the two favorites coming into the event, coming in 42 and 62 points behind leader Scott Jackson, who starts 9th. Ken Pettit comes off the grid 14th, only 8 points back. 

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

The start of the event was a two-wide extravaganza from front to rear. Pole-sitter Jimmie Stevens led the first five laps before Bill Werkheiser stone the lead on the outside lane. He would stay up front for 17 circuits.

The Championship bonus point battle commensed when John Battista found his way to the front. From behind, Scott Jackson and Ken Pettit were dropping back through the field, leaving Battista and Ryan Heuser as the drivers duking it out for the crown during the first green flag run.

The Wendy's machine would yield for tire saving as the Fenway Park Ford Fusion and regular season Champion heralded the advantage. Pizzaro would not stay for long as the QSM horsepower loomed in short distance.

Ryan Heuser finally had his turn, leading the rest of the green flag run. Earlier on, Matt Raboin came in for a flat tire early and short-pitted to the lead. He would hold ground for 10 laps before the field engulfed him to smithereens. Heuser was still your leader.

A three-wide battle for control of the field commenced late in the second green flag run. Rick Jackson power-moved to the outside lane and took the lead, looking to spoil the Championship party and win his third race in the final four events to end the 2021 season.

Johnny Reed Foley was the only driver who could keep up with Jackson, as the two battled for victory as well as the 11th-place Championship crown. Both drivers would have been serious title contenders if they had clinched their spot in the chase, but it stand as is. Foley is enjoying his final drive for the Shake N' Bake racing crew.

It was an R2W race to the finish. Ken Pettit was ahead of Ryan Heuser by less than 20 points coming in to make the final pit stop. He was hovering from 7th to 14th in a heap of turmoil, as Heuser made up the points distance with a solid top-5 showing. Meanwhile, Jackson and Pizzaro would use completely different strategies to find their possible route to victory lane.

With 22 laps to go, Pettit decided to roll the dice and make a four-tire change. He dropped from 13th to 36th. Heuser got the call and came in the next lap, coming out four spots ahead. Neither driver knew if anybody could make it on gas, as Scott Jackson attempted to make the distance. He could not, coming in with 5 laps to go and a zero-tire call.

As Pettit and Heuser battled for the Championship, Pizzaro and Battista battled through lapped traffic to race for the victory. Nobody could make it on fuel, leaving Battista and an excellent spot if he could find his way past the #12. Somehow, Pettit and Heuser had used the tire advantage perfectly and were fourth and third, not far behind the battle. Pettit has the Championship wrapped up barring dire circumstances. Rick Jackson dropped back to 5th on conventional pit strategy.

An all Race-2-Win day as Jackson led the most laps, Pizzaro wins the race, and Ken Pettit becomes your 2021 Extravaganza Series Champion with a come-from-behind fourth place finish. Congratulations to the entire team for a dominant season, as all three cars earned their stripes on speed down the final stretch. Slim Horton and the gang has found himself a Championship crown!  ... Read more »

2021 Extravaganza Series Championship

Ken Pettit goes down as the first Extravaganza Series Champion not to win a race and have an average finish above 13th place. He narrowly clinched the Chase after a clutch 4th place finish at Richmond, vengeance for his summer collapse of 2020. After that the momentum skyrocketed, and redeemed his horrifying road course stretch with a miracle 2nd place finish at Charlotte Road. A miracle season with a very unlikely stat-line for a Champion. This proves just how competitive the Extravaganza Series has become over the last 70 years.

Ken Pettit Season Statistics

Wins: 0
Top-5's: 7
Top-10's: 19
Laps Led: 467
Overall Average Finish: 14.89
Regular Season Average Finish: 16.54
Chase Average Finish: 10.60

 

Ken Pettit Season Results

1. Daytona: 24th
2. Richmond: 9th
3. Homestead: 22nd
4. Rockingham: 11th
5. Phoenix: 3rd
6. Atlanta: 8th
7. Bristol: 18th
8. Martinsville: 24th
9. Michigan: 13th
10. Talladega: 9th
11. Texas: 8th
12. Darlington: 2nd
13. Dover: 26th
14. Charlotte: 23rd
15. Sears Point: 8th
16. Chicagoland: 39th
17. Nashville: ... Read more »

Tuesday, November 16th, 5:30 PM ET

Quick-Silver Motorsports had lured him a new kitchen, a 5-year Corn Flake sponsorship agreement, and the fastest power-plant in all of Extravaganza only to turn it down. Johnny Reed Foley will replace Ben Geer in the #29 Budweiser car, taking the risk of teaming up with Tim McDonnell for the second time. "Tim has stepped up his game since we split, he's handed the most durable engines in all of Extravaganza, and I want in. Grab your Corn Flakes for 2022. We'll be unstoppable." Foley later apologized for plugging the wrong sponsor.

After the McDonnell-Foley Motorsports fallout of 2015, nobody would have ever predicted this story. During the 2014 offseason, the team was in the midst of the biggest sponsorship offer in Extravaganza history by NAPA Auto Parts. The team accepted the enormous deal and expanded to four cars, luring veterans Dale Rosendaul and Walt Flowers to drive their equipment. Walt and Dale were contracted to drive NAPA cars for the next two seasons, with Tim and Foley on a part-time basis. NAPA also encouraged every car to switch to Toyota full-time. Foley finished well outside the top-10 in points in 2014 driving a Chevrolet, though he was still not comfortable with the idea of the change. The season would go on wit high hopes for the newly branded organization.

McDonnell was leading the 2015 points with only seven races left, and was in front during the fall Dover event, a racetrack he historically struggled at. With 32 laps to go, he made an attempt to lap his teammate Dale Rosendaul. The two made contact, sending both cars hard into the outside wall. After the initial contact, they touched again, and again, putting second place Tony Pizzaro in a tailspin before Bill Werkheiser pulled off the upset victory. Rosendaul would quit the team the following week to upstart his former Busch Bonanza team Old Farts Racing, recruiting Flowers after the season. McDonnell would eventually lose the Championship to Craig Lee, teaming up with Ben Geer and Honda the following year and losing no ground. Foley surprisingly grew to enjoy driving the Toyota and continued doing so for years, though was adamantly distrustful of the NAPA monopoly that encursed the 2015 season. This would be the only four car team in Extravaganza Series history that went extinct in just one year. We will see how the new history will enfold.