In a world filled with endless madness and misery lies the Extravaganza root-based Rockingham Speedway. Ghosts and ghouls of Extravaganza past haunt the facility after 50+ years of racing, with drivers looking to dominate the masses and extricate from the graveyard of doom. Rookie Geno Sphere pulls of a miraculous Rockingham pole looking to dive deep into the points standings after missing one race earlier in the year.
Geno Sphere led the first 22 laps before Rick Jackson separated himself from the pack. This would be the fourth straight event that the #44 has led this season, looking to turn back to form despite two straight DNF's. Disastrously, Rick and his cousin Scott wrecked entering turn 3 on lap 81, sending the purple and white Race-2-Win mobile into the fence as the rest of the field dove safely into the inside lane.
A log-jam of lapped traffic caused a near collision-course to break out on the ensuing restart. Aaron Cummings took the lead away from new leader Craig Lee and led his first two laps of the season. Johnny Reed Foley wasted no time in his bid, scurrying through lapped traffic after taking the top-spot away with his new-found Top-Gear Motorsports horsepower.
Donald Stewart came into this event 7th in the Extravaganza standings, nabbing a 10th at Daytona and a 3rd place at California. He has always been known for stepping up to the plate at the bigger tracks, though his one top-5 and only 21 laps led in 2021 made it seem that his glory days may be through. The Geer-5 team renewed his contract against immaculate odds to be released to another team, though he would be proving his worth today after taking the lead on lap 130.
Stewart and Foley would swap the top-spot several times during the next 80 laps. The caution came out on lap 212 after contact between Bink Lucas and Matt Raboin in turn-4. Both slid up into the wall, collecting Zach Michael and Rick Jackson in the process. Both Zach and Rick would finish with a DNF, marking Rick's third of the season and dropping Zach to 11th in the standings. Bink would miraculously repair his racecar and finish 6th, with Matt still nabbing a top-20 by the end of the day.
The following restart saw contact between lapped cars Tony Pizzaro and William Perry. Points leader Pizzaro came up the racetrack after the initial hit and catapulted Steven Spears into mid-air. The #65 slid across the racetrack, nearly getting railroaded by the field until Alex Crapser hit the front-end of his car. Both drivers were out of the event after the crash, with Spears out of the top-20 in points and Crapser outside the top-10 by the end.
The cautions continued to breed after contact between Pizzaro and Mark Murphy in the same part of the racetrack. Murphy power-slammed the inside wall and flew 90 degrees up the racetrack into the turn-3 traffic. Randy Dobbins body-slammed his passengers side, slamming hard into the outside wall and into Jim Fitzmaurice, who obliterated Randy back into Murphy's rear end. All three drivers would fail to finish the event. The final crash of the race resulted in Rick Jackson and Michael Henson wrecking while Jonathan Skrabacz was entering the pits. Rick blew his engine in the accident, while Skrabacz and Henson limped to top-25's after the attrition.
Finally green flag racing was at the forefront, with David Butterworth leading the charge on the restart. John Battista took the lead on lap 229 with lapped traffic looming ahead. He wouldn't get by all of it, getting passed by Craig Lee who dominated the rest of the run. The Henson-Scrabacz-Jackson caution initiated a 100-lap shootout to the finish, coming out towards the very end of green flag pit stops. Battista, Dave Miller, Matthew Dominique, Ken Pettit and Tony Long all stayed out on the tires they recently took, while the rest of the pack received fresh rubber while coming in during the yellow. Dave Miller would take the lead on lap 298.
Dave Butterworth pulverized through the field, becoming the first driver with fresh tires to reach the top-spot. It's been a remarkable season for the #81 team thus far, entering the race 13th in points and on the up with two top-15 finishes despite qualifying 30th or worse in all three races. Donald Stewart and Bill Werkheiser are also hungry for the victory and ready to pounce from behind.
The Rockingham victory this week will be fully up for grabs with Ryan Heuser recuperating up in Vermont. Rookie Geno Sphere pulls off a miracle pole run in shades of Ken Joynt last season, with Kevin Corbat directly behind. A very versatile field, with Trey Larkin off the grid in 7th in his first Extravaganza start. Favorites John Battista, Tim McDonnell and John Tharp all start in the rear of the field, looking to powerhouse through the pack to prevent getting lapped early. Good luck!
An intense third event of the season at the second ever pre-spring race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dominator of the fall race in 2021 Rick Jackson will start on the pole, with points leader and teammate Tony Pizzaro directly behind. Race favorites John Battista and Ryan Heuser start 2nd and 5th respectively.
The first laps saw Rick Jackson lead the first 28 laps before teammate Pizzaro flew by. Two laps later John Battista took the helm, leading 2 circuits before Heuser stole the show for a one-lap extravaganza. There was four different leaders during the first 33 laps. Towards the middle of the pack, Tim McDonnell would suffer an unknown liquid leak and lose 6 laps, adding to an already frustrating start to the season.
Adam Crapser held nothing back with his Lucas Racing horsepower, coming from 16th to first in just 35 laps to nab his first lead of the night. Dave Miller took it for good on lap 40 and never looked back, taking his QSM rocket-ship for a ride to the moon. He would lead through and beyond the first set of green flag stops.
An early pit stop saw drivers with fresher tires catch the #90 on lap 83. A 10-car pack led by rookie Bink Lucas flew past the Marlboro machine and into the lead. Him and Rick Jackson would swap the top-spot a couple of times before handing it back to Miller.
Tony Pizzaro took hold of the lead and stayed there for the next 8 laps before a miracle run by Bandit Racing came to the forefront. Ken Joynt worked his way from 26th to the lead and battled side-by-side with Pizzaro and Ryan Heuser for several laps. Heuser took the point in the end, hoping to reach victory for the first time in 2022.
Tragedy struck on lap 113. Ryan Heuser and the lapped car of Tim McDonnell made contact coming out of turn-4. Heuser's spotter missed the closing rate of the #22 as Ryan spun into oncoming traffic, initially getting creamed by BInk Lucas, who sailed into the inside wall. Heuser spun around a couple of times before a head-on collision from Rick Jackson in the drivers door sent him for a seven-time flip. Alan Nesfeder was the last car to knock Heuser, collecting him in the drivers-side door while stile flipping. Heuser would barrel-roll two more times before coming to a full stop in turn-1. Johnny Reed Foley, William Perry, Dan Johnston, Craig Lee, Mark Heron, Zakk Miller, Matt Raboin, Donald Stewart, Kevin Corbat, Michael Henson and Steven Spears were also involved in the accident.
Ken Joynt had to come in for a pit-road penalty after leading on the ensuing restart, leaving Tony Pizzaro as the leader coming to the halfway point. John Battista would win the halfway bonus money after a pass on lap 132, looking to bring home the full prize in just 133 more laps.
Dave Miller re-took the lead on lap 135, constantly swapping with Miller and Pizzaro throughout the rest of the run. From behind, Matthew Dominique, Bill Werkheiser and Adam Crapser all stayed in touch with the leaders and looked to steal the show for the second upset victory of 2022.
Green flag pit stops saw Dave Miller come in a lap or two after Battista and Pizzaro. The Wendy's crew pulled the #39 ahead of Miller by almost four full seconds. Pizzaro drifted back, though Miller and Zach Michael were able to tag-team past lapped traffic and onto the #39's rear bumper. Miller was able to make the pass on lap 216, with one more pit stop to go.
The Marlboro machine would come in only one lap early, giving him a 3.5-second advantage over Michael and Battista with only 30 laps to go. Battista couldn't keep up with the Team Danger Zone horsepower, as Michael left him in the dust and caught Dave Miller with 10 laps remaining. Coming to 8-laps to go, Michael made his move on the outside lane in turn four and took the top-spot outright.
A horrendous crash on lap 114 involving 15 cars sent Ryan Heuser to the hospital with moderate head trauma. He is in good condition, but received a severe concussion and internal ear injuries during the accident. The crash started when Heuser and Tim McDonnell made contact off of turn 4 while leading the event. He meandered off of the #22 and straight into Bink Lucas, who clobbered the left-front at 179 miles per hour. Ryan spun around three times before getting walloped on the drivers side by Rick Jackson, sending him flipping seven times in four seconds before a deadly blow into the driver window knocked him out cold. The NOS Energy car flipped two more times before coming to a rest. He would be airlifted to the nearby Homestead Hospital where he finally awoke from his hour-long stupor.
The Extravaganza Impact Rating ranked the accident as a 10286, indicating an estimated 2 to 3 week absence abstaining from the analysis of his doctors. Quick-Silver has the highest standards for injury recovery in all of Extravaganza, with an entire wing of their enterprise devoted to therapy and fitness. We all wish Ryan a safe and full recovery. There is no word on who will replace him at Rockingham in seemingly the fastest car in all of Extravaganza.
Homestead-Miami is back for another early springtime spectacle. John Battista and Tony Pizzaro finished 1-2 in both events here last season, and look to continue the trend this week after qualifying 2nd and 3rd on the grid. Fall dominator Rick Jackson will start on the pole. Donald Stewart grids 15th after a spectacular start to his young season, finishing 10th and 3rd so far. On the opposite end, Michael Henson, William Perry, Zakk Miller and Bill Werkheiser look to just finish the event, earning 7 of 8 possible DNF's in 2022. They are all outside of the top-35 on points. Ryan Heuser is the odds-on favorite for victory after leading 60+ laps in both races so far. Good luck!
To the ones who seek truth and to the ones who seek fabrication and fantasy, the latter will be in awe of this empire of a facility. California Speedway is back! Dave Miller and Zach Michael share the front row with 17 cars averaging 190+ miles per hour. A sight for sore eyes for the west coast crowd in definitive need of Extravaganza oval racing.
Dave Miller took the green flag atop the heap and led 12 of the first 15 laps. Rick Jackson and Ryan Heuser nabbed their five bonus points early, with Heuser taking the top spot outright on lap 16. He would lead past the first caution flag.
Lap 63 saw Rick Jackson fly by Heuser on the frontstrtech and take his second lead of the day. He would remain at the top through lap 100, giving way for Craig Lee to win the halfway bacon bonus to refuel the car. The high horsepower duo of Heuser and Jackson seemed to be back in full swing for 2022.
The first caution of the night came on lap 48. Randy Dobbins and Zakk MIller made heavy contact exiting turn 4, sending them both for a spin across the frontstretch. Johnny Reed Foley, Jonathan Skrabacz, Scott Jackson and William Perry were all involved in the high-speed melee. Perry would be the first to fall out of the event.
After the lap 100 pit stop, Rick Jackson misread Craig Lee's yield to pit as Jackson slammed head-on into the rear of the #101. Jackson destroyed the engine, falling out and finishing 41st after a perfect first-half of the event. Lee would limp to 23rd place, the final car on the lead lap. On lap 117, Adam Crapser blew an engine to bring out the third caution flag. He would finish in 40th position.
An enormous accident on lap 126 was initiated by contact between Mark Heron and Cristian Torres. Torres came down and clipped Ken Joynt, turning Heron into oncoming traffic. Tim McDonnell slammed the #01 on the passenger side, flying up into Dan Johnston who careened the #22 hard into Zakk Miller. Michael Henson and Craig Lee failed to slow down in time and mashed the rear-end of Miller's #30, while Bill Werkheiser and John Tharp crashed below trying to avoid the still-spinning Heron. Jonathan Skrabacz, Tony Long and Scott Jackson were also involved in the accident. There was only 31 cars remaining by the lap 131 restart.
Dalton Lucas pitted early under green and found himself second on the restart behind new leader John Battista. He would manage to lead one lap, looking to gain on his early-found points lead to begin the season. Unfortunately, his Little Ceasars chevrolet would blow a piston on lap 149, ending his day in the 31st spot.
Dave Miller found his way backwards after winning the pole only to fly back through the field and take the lead away from Battista. He would lead for four laps before a Heuser-Sheets freight-train on the bottom sailed the #138 into the promise-land. Him and Miller would swap the lead several times before Heuser took it outright with 40 laps to go.
John Battista dropped to the 8th postion before a right-front tire blew after crossing the start-finish line. Matt Raboin knocked the Wendy's machine around for a full-cycle spin into the outside wall. Raboin would fix his front end damage to finish 7th, while Battista limped home to 21st after leading 35 laps.
A restart with 31 laps to go saw Alan Nesfeder on a no-tire strategy to the finish. He was disposed of quickly, with Heuser, Donald Stewart, Matthew Dominique and Tony Pizzaro flying by in a conga-line for the victory. Pizzaro was able to dive past all of them on the inside lane, taking the lead on lap 176 and pulling away from the pack.
A debris caution with 12 laps to go pulled the field back together in hopes of catching the Fenway Fr
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As the series dives back into the Superspeedway roots, California Speedway takes it's place back on the Extravaganza schedule for 2022. Tony Pizzaro is glad to see it back, winning three of the prior five events run at this racetrack. Points leader Dalton Lucas has sustained moderate success here as well, capturing top-20 finishes in both 2019 and 2020. 2019 winner Dave Miller has captured the pole, with Zach Michael on the outside lane. Big names Ben Geer and Dakota Wilkins will miss their second straight race of the season, with Kevin Corbat and the entire Bandit Racing team locked into their place on the grid. Good luck! Provisional Qualifying (Top-7 made the field)
For every driver there is a race that needs to be triumphed. This race has been won by John Tharp and Alex Crapser in the last three years, looking for a new face and perhaps an underdog story to make it's mark on the Great American Race. Three of the last four restrictor plate races have been won by a Lucas Racing driver. With Adam Crapser, Dalton Lucas, and Chauncey Redmond Jr. all winless in the field with high-powered equipment, today could be their day in the moonlight.
The early part of the event was dominated by Ryan Heuser. He started in 6th position, and threw his way past Alex Crapser and John Tharp on the inside lane to lead lap 2. He remained peaked at the front of the railway through lap 8, where Tony Pizzaro led his first laps of the evening with draft help from Johnny Reed Foley.
Foley, Tim McDonnell, Markell Murphy, Zakk Miller, Steven Spears, Rick Jackson and Randy Dobbins all nabbed their bonus points early, one lap after the next of intense lead swapping. Heuser took back the helm on lap 22, giving way to Dan Johnston, Matthew Dominique and Rick Jackson only to re-take it once more.
Heuser and Pizzaro swapped the top-spot one last time before green flag pit stops. It became a Heuser, Dominique and Michael Henson getaway train, pulling away from the second pack with only three cars. Heuser was clearly the class of the show, showing no signs of speed all week only to propel when it mattered the most.
Trouble on lap 70 after the second pack finally caught up. Bill Wekheiser and Adam Crapser made contact in turn two, in shades of the Dakota Wilkins incident during the Daytona Duels. Bill slid violently up the banking and slammed Michael Henson, who went head-on into the outside wall. Both cars would fail to finish the event, and start their seasons void of a top-40 finish. Randy Dobbins also suffered front-end damage in the accident, finishing 36th.
20 of the next 21 laps were led by the #138, monopolizing the field as they stretched three-wide behind. John Battista and teammate Craig Lee used the lapped car of Dobbins to take advantage of the Rocket Man, with Tim McDonnell leading the Halfway Bacon Bonus lap. By the end of the run, it was a Heuser and Rick Jackson lead swap with Dalton Lucas lurking morbidly behind.
Probably the greatest Superspeedway performance during the first three-fifths of an event that we have witnessed on over a decade, Heuser was easily the king and it is worth reiterating. He led 73 of the first 118 laps in a series that is recognized for constant lead changes at Superspeedway races. Even for Quicksilver, this came as a shock to crews and fans alike.
Lucas would lead the field to the second caution of the event caused by debris from the #96 machine. The restart saw Alex Crapser up front, with an immediate pass from Rick Jackson on the first green lap. Mark Murphy, Dan Johnston, Dave MIller, Rob Scarberry, Zakk Miller, Joh Battista, Craig Lee and Scott Jackson swapped the lead at least a dozen times while Heuser was marred back in traffic, struggling to secure the slim-stream back to the front of the pack. There was 50 laps to go.
The horror story of Speedweeks was shown on lap 154 with a display of immense sorrow and detriment from the enormous Daytona crowd. Aaron Cummings and Ryan Heuser were mired back near 30th place and came together, galloping both cars up the racetrack and hard into the outside wall, taking Zakk Miller with them. The grandstands stood in silence, watching the hero of the night sit motionless in the turn-4 banking. Even sadder of a story, Glenn Kaufmann caught the tail-end of the accident with the right-front of his Clorox chevrolet, ending his night and his tri-decade Extravaganza career. Bets of luck to Glenn Kaufmann and his newfound New Jersey Amishland Bonanza team.
With Heuser out of the event, it became anybody's race for the win. A 41-lap shootout to the finish proved to be a fuel-strategy race if the caution didn't fly. Tim McDonnell, Markell Murphy, Alex Crapser and Craig Lee dominated the first 15 laps of the run, with Talladega winner Bink Lucas holding ground for the next 5 laps. Tim McDonnell held the lead until 16 laps to go with a hellacious draft pass between
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To all who defy glory and miracles, this is the place to defy your glory and miracles. The Daytona 500 is here! The past two winners of the Great American Race align the front row, with favorite John Tharp on the pole. The rest of the field attempt to conquer the masses within the rule package of the new 2022 tungsten chassis, hoping to wear their regal crowns by the end of the night. Good luck to start of the 2022 season, where immortality and praise shall vanquish carnage and defeat!
The first Daytona Duel was dominated by one driver alone, leaving some to believe that Duel #2 will be the best of the two events. Logan Sheets, Mark Heron, Mark Guthrie, Connor Germain, David Courtney, Brian Lowe, Jim Fitzmaurice and Ken Joynt will fight for the final three of eight spots to make the Daytona 500 field! Good luck!
A full Top-Gear Motorsports front row saw newfound teammates Tim McDonnell and Johnny Reed Foley ready for 60-lap action, hoping to blockade the field all the way through. It would be all for not, as Logan Sheets immediately power-housed himself to the front, leaving a rotisserie of veterans and rookies alike with their share of the lead.
Every lap seemingly had a new leader through the halfway point, proving that John Tharp's Daytona package may be the one to beat next Sunday. Rick Jackson led a whopping 5 laps during the metamorphosis, the most of any driver. Struggling Ryan Heuser finally found some speed this week and topped the leaderboard, leading laps 31 through 38.
An accident entering the pits with fourteen laps to go halted the record-setting progress, averaging 205+ mile per hour race pace before the crash. Michael Henson and Bill Werkheiser made contact while slowing down for their stops, clipping Jonathan Skrabacz. The #48 spun into oncoming traffic, getting hit by Randy Dobbins, Alan Nesfeder, David Butterworth and Mark Heron. All would continue, though Heron would struggle to keep up and lose his Daytona 500 bid.
Jim Fitzmaurice and David Courtney made a ferocious bid to win the event, attempting to make it on 60 laps of fuel and retaining the #1 and #2 positions. Unfortunately, they would run dry, and separate the pack in the process. Johnny Reed Foley, Tim McDonnell and Mark Guthrie found themselves in the lead during the final 10-lap shootout.
Mark Guthrie and Brian Lowe had easily clinched by staying within the lead pack. Logan Sheets, Ken Joynt and Conner Germain battled heavily in the second pack to earn the final spot, with no chance to catch the leaders. Coming to three laps to go, Alex Crapser made a move to the bottom and took the lead away from the Muzzy machine with draft helf from Shootout winner Dave Miller.
Dalton Lucas found his way to second place, blocking the field for his teammate to earn the victory and front-row spot in the 500. Craig Lee passed him with ease, though a pass on the backstretch failed when Johnny Reed Foley lurked to the inside trying to steal second place away. Crapser crossed the line in first, making it a front row of the last three Daytona 500 winners! Congrats to Alex for the victory, and to Mark Guthrie, Brian Lowe and Logan Sheets for clinching the Daytona 500 field!
