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!
The first qualifier for the 2021 All-Star Race presented some flying colors, including Alan Nesfeder, Zakk Miller, Donald Stewart and William Perry as the favorites to win the event. Only the top-3 will advance. Dan Johnston is on the pole.
Dan Johnston and Alan Nesfeder raced side-by-side during the initial laps. Johnston re-rook the lead early, with Rob Scarberry in tow as the rest of the field battled two and three-wide behind for the third place spot.
Contact between Philip Parker and Zakk Miller off of turn-2 sent the #79 machine into the inside wall to bring out the only caution. Neither would wind up advancing, but looked forward to their qualifying effort for the Coke-600 next week.
Before the caution, Dan and Rob battled for the top-spot with Dan prevailing to the yellow. Unfortunately, a blown tire after hitting debris on the backstretch forced him to pit and put on tires. He would rally from 20th to 4th during the final 10-lap shootout. Up front, Rob Scarberry and Aaron Cummings battled for the win, with Stephen Lowe holding the rest of the field behind to make the Big Show.
Somehow Lowe was able to hold off a fresh-tired Dan Johnston for third and make the show, as Rob Scarberry won the battle to the line to win his first ever Extravaganza event in a long career. Congrats to Rob, Aaron Cummings and Stephen Lowe for making the show!
There have been 16 different winners in the last 36 races. These grand Champions will all compete for Extravaganza All-Star Race glory. Drivers like Scott Jackson and Mark Murphy squeezed their way into the field at the last second, while veterans Ryan Heuser, Rick Jackson and Matthew Dominique endured a year of anticipation. Ken Pettit, Jimmie Stevens and John Tharp will be the favorites to race their way into the show. Thankfully, there will be six bonus entries between two consolation races. Will any of the big names be snubbed? Which entry will be the underdog? We will find out this Tuesday at the great Charlotte Motor Speedway!
All-Star Race Entry List Tim McDonnell: Homestead, 2020
Tony Pizzaro: Phoenix, 2020
John Battista: Talladega, 2021
Craig Lee: Richmond, 2021
Dave Miller: Michigan, 2021
Alex Crapser: Daytona, 2021
Ryan Heuser: Texas, 2021
Matt Raboin: Martintsville, 2021
Rick Jackson: Atlanta, 2021
Zach Michael: Watkins Glen, 2020
Johnny Reed Foley: Las Vegas, 2020
Matthew Dominique: Talladega, 2020
Scott Jackson: Darlington, 2021
Randy Dobbins: Chicagoland, 2020
Mark Murphy: Dover, 2021
Mark Guthrie: Bristol, 2020
Mark Heron has been fired from Old Farts Racing. In a wild counter move, Heron's Bonanza team Can-Bandit Racing has bought the Extravaganza #33 Packdude Racing team. Jack Paynter will no longer be the driver, and the new Can-Bandit Racing team will run part-time in conjunction with the Bonanza Series events. Both Ken Joynt, who is 3rd in Bonanza Series points, and Heron, will run full-time in Bonanza with the expectation of jumping to Extravaganza full-time next season. This is a scary fact for the Bonanza Championship contenders to have Mark Heron ready to re-dominate the series.
Jack Paynter has started 49 Extravaganza Series events. He led his first ever laps at Dover last weekend. Now he is without a ride. Paynter made his first full-time stint in Extravaganza in 2020. The season started out with a promising 7th place finish at Rockingham, and things looked to be on the up. He wound up finishing 33rd in points, with one top-5 at Talladega. This season, his average finish went from 27th to 31st despite an 11th place effort at Dover. The greatest moment of his career was qualifying outside-pole to the great Rick Jackson at Indianapolis. With good high-horsepower qualifying skills, look for Paynter to be back in a top-tier series ride in the near future.
In only 12 events, 13 drivers have led at least 100 laps this season. Winner at Dover last season John Battista has led the most by far with 697. He will start 28th in the field, tied with his worst starting position of the season. Race favorite Ryan Heuser looks to rebound after a last place finish at Darlington last week. His teammate Craig lee will start on the pole, with points leader Tim McDonnell diagonally behind. Tim has still completed every lap this season. He has two-thirds of the season left to be the first driver in Extravaganza history to pull off the feat of completing them all.
Rob Scarberry: 2021 Results
Rob Scarberry finished 23rd again last week. The team claims he is possessed by the Shadows of Forester past, dungeoned inside provisional limbo, and vortexed to finish 23rd or 26th in every race this season. What a horrible fate subjected by the Extravaganza Gods. Will he do it again at Dover?
