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?
An exhilarating day at Darlington Speedway ends in shear fantasy for one of Extravaganza's waning veterans. The great Scott Jackson starts on the pole and looks to end his frivolous winless drought since Indianapolis of 2018. The favorites will start behind, as Craig Lee looks to repeat as winner of this grand Spring event.
Several drivers attempted to steal the lead away from #38 early on. Lee was the first, and did so successfully. Dan Johnston stole the top spot after the first caution flag by staying out, as Jackson easily slipped on by. He would lead up to lap 31.
The first caution of the day was brought out by Michael Henson and Cristian Torres, who made contact and spun. Henson battled on to finish 15th, while Torres lost a lap and came home 31st. Ryan Heuser was the first casualty of the race, blowing up 54 laps in and dropping from 4th to 7th in the standings.
The first big crash of the day saw Alan Nesfeder go up and over once on the frontstretch. After a long green flag run, Dave and Zakk Miller pushed up the racetrack three-wide and sent the #78 around. Dave pushed the car over at 150 MPH and came back on it's wheels. Alan would finish 21st.
Randy Dobbins stole the lead away on lap 32 and through to lap 66. John Tharp led from lap 67 to the Nesfeder caution on lap 96. He lost the lead to Bill Werkhesier just a few laps later, who would have his most dominating race in several years up until near the end.
Bill and Matt Raboin were side-by-side for two laps when the #87's engine expired on the frontstretch. He was credited for leading one lap, which is hardly consolation for dropping from 8th to 10th in the standings. Dalton Lucas and Mark Murphy brought out the yellow a couple laps later after spinning on the backstretch.
The ensuing restart gave Tharp his only chance to creep by the #6, but couldn't clear him for the lead. Tony Pizzaro and Dave Miller worked together to catch the dominant car but to no avail, failing at a three-wide maneuver into turn 1. Bill world lead an incredible 116 laps on the day.
On lap 144, Donald Stewart's car slowed down, getting run over by Scott Deutsch. Teammate Glenn Kaufmann couldn't avoid the #55, who was spinning up into traffic. Stewart's car went for a flip and came back down on four wheels on the apron. He would continue to finish 39th.
After a Zach Michael spin on the frontstretch, the caution flag flew. Bill was the only driver to stay out on old tires, while the rest of the field gambled and tried to make it to the end on fuel. Bill was freight-trained. Despite pitting early and nearly un-lapping himself on fresh tires, he could only manage a 24th place finish on a day of domination.
Scott Jackson and Ken Pettit battled hard for the entire run to the finish, with the #38 being up front for most of the go. Ken made an attempt for the win with 6 laps left and nearly cleared the #38, but to no avail. Jackson stayed up front and kept his distance, looking to win his first race in nearly three years.
Scott Jackson was successful. Just two weeks after hiring Linwood Smalls as crew chief, the #38 ATEUP team has finished 5th and 1st, leading some to believe that Jackson isn't done shining for victories and competing for championships after all. Congrats to Jackson, crew chief Linwood Smalls, and the entire W.A.S.P. Motorsports team for an excel
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Scott Jackson wins his first pole since 2019 at Rockingham. Points leader Tim McDonnell looks to finish his 12th-straight race on the lead lap. Quick-Silver Motorsports swept the two Darlington events last season. Expect Zach Michael, Dan Johnston, Scott Jackson and Ben Geer to recuperate after all having an issue while leading in the 2020 spring event. Also expect Donald Stewart to rise after his top-5 performance at Texas, being the top-3 fastest in all practice sessions during the week.
