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.
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 »
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
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.
The most dominant car in 2021 Speedweeks has a good chance of not earning his spot in the 2022 Big Bud Shootout. John Battista and the Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers Lucas Racing #39 Chevrolet Monte Carlo red, yellow and white organization have accumulated 8 victories, 12 top-5's, 20 top-10's and 1219 laps led. Somehow they have not won a pole. Adam Crapser leads the team in poles with 2, and will tag-team with his brother Alex during the 2022 event if Battista can't nab a pole position at Homestead. If Ken Pettit wins the Championship and Battista wins the most races this season, it will be the first time in Extravaganza history that the Champion and winner of the most events has not one a pole in the same season. 18 other drivers have accomplished the feat and the bonus earnings. Only one race remains.
Ken Pettit enters this race 22 points ahead of Ryan Heuser, with Scott Jackson directly in sight. Pole-sitter Zakk Miller will try to hold those three off and claim his first victory of the season.
Five-wide madness was the initial start, seeing the middle of the pack bunch up while the front and rear scatter. All of the contenders flew through the madness unharmed.
Miller led the first 12 laps before Tim McDonnell earned his status as top-dog of the race. McDonnell came in 85 back in the standings, hoping the bonus points will fulfill his hopes of winning his third straight Championship.
Several contenders look to steal the show away, as Scott Jackson started to fly his way through the field. Craig Lee made an attempt to pass McDonnell on the inside but to no avail, as Randy Dobbins, Alex Crapser and Rick Jackson lurked behind with possibly faster racecars.
Scott Jackson earned his bonus points late in the first run after passing McDonnell. He pulled away from the field, earning a multi-second advantage before the first round of green flag stops.
The first caution came out after a David Butterworth spin in turn-4. His car obliterated while shifting gears exiting the pit lane, and got tagged by another car. Randy Dobbins also blew up during the event while well inside the top-10.
Rick Jackson pulled off a three-wide move on the restart to rummage through the field and catch his cousin up front. The #44 and #38 looked to be the two fastest cars in the field.
Rick would complete the pass on Scott before the halfway point and didn't look back. He would pull away to lead 174 laps on the day, giving R2W half of the laps at Phoenix this season.
Despite a dominant performance in the spring event, Ken Pettit struggled all day long. He went a lap down to Rick before the final pit stop and never gained it back. He would lose the points lead to Scott, falling 8 points behind after a 23rd place finish.
Ryan Heuser had dominated his way to second place, making two passes over Dave Miller and Johnny Reed Foley. He was well-ahead in the points as things stood, and in excellent position to win the Championship heading into Homestead. With two laps to go, he ran out of gas, lost a lap, and fell to 27th position at the finish line. Heuser is now 42 points behind.
Rick Jackson made it look easy again, winning his second race in three events. His team has stepped up very late in the season, showing impressive signs of life coming into 2022 at a racetrack he has not always had success at. Congrats to Rick, crew chief Falco Lombardi, and the entire Race-2-Win team for an excellent victory!
Zakk Miller clinches a spot in the Big Bud Shootout in 2022, becoming the 18th different pole winner this season. Behind him, Tim McDonnell and Craig Lee attempt to re-find their regular season dominance after gridding 3rd and 4th. Points leader Ken Pettit starts a frightening 28th, though he led an unbelievable 154 laps during the spring race here. Second in points Ryan Heuser won that same event and looks to continue his Phoenix domination in grand style despite also starting towards the rear. This will be the first race with the use of the dogleg on the backstretch. It's a completely different ballgame, and the biggest curveball for the Championship crown.
The battle for 11th place heats up! Johnny Red Foley is ahead by 65 points over Rick Jackson and 69 over Zakk Miller. Look for the "AMPIO" mobile to close the gap on all three!
Logan Sheets will join the Dodge Viper brigade for 2022! A completely unexpected move, given the teams' reputation as a two-car tandem for years. Pizza Hut will be the sponsor, looking to bring the "Pizza Wars" on full display between Quantum and Team Danger Zone. The second big-name rookie has been signed! "My contract forces me to eat nothing but Pizza Hut for three years. It's a dream come true for all involved!" The upstart team will look for a realistic top-25 in the points next season!
