Scott Jackson and Ryan Heuser are currently 1-point apart atop the points standings. Ryan dominated the show in qualifying, putting up a lap over 1-second ahead of the rest of the field. This is the first time in modern Extravaganza history that this has happened, putting up a 1:20.128 over Johnny Reed Foley's 1:21.138. It's doom or die for Scott Jackson, who is 3.5 seconds slower and starting 38th. Scott hasn't finished worse than 11th in the chase, and looks to keep that streak going as he inevitably passes the slower traffic. Here are the results for both drivers during the chase:
Scott Jackson Darlington: 9th Las Vegas: 3rd Bristol: 1st Talladega: 7th Martinsville: 11th
Ryan Heuser Darlington: 5th Las Vegas: 1st Bristol: 5th Talladega: 20th Martinsville: 5th
David Butterworth backs out of the Charlotte Road race with back issues, something that he has been struggling with for the entire season. "I feel multiple pops every time I turn the wheel, like someone is throwing fireworks into my abdomen." says Butterworth. "I'll spot Dan through the traffic. He'll need as much help as me." Dan will start 31st today as Butter grabs the binoculars for the first time.
John Battista has his eyeballs geared for a 10-victory season. He will be the first since Brandon Beyke in 2007 if he can accomplish the feat. Battista led the most laps during the Charlotte road event in 2020, and looks to maintain the positive momentum coming out of Martinsville. He starts 6th in a field filled with road-racing prowess up ahead, looking to gain ground on the front two in the standings.
Tony Pizzaro won the fabulous inaugural Charlotte road race event last season. This season has been rumoured to be the curtain-call for the event, as Pizzaro looks to sweep the only two Charlotte road events in Extravaganza. He has only been in victory lane one time this season, seeing the headlines dwindle ever since the chase started five races ago. He will start 17th on the grid, looking to re-gain his confidence after a horrifying Martinsville race, and a 9th place in the points.
John Battista comes in with seven victories on the season, looking for a rebound after Talladega sent him to fourth in points. Scott Jackson, Ryan Heuser and Ken Pettit are all within 100 points of each other atop the standings, starting 8th, 11th and 20th respectively.
The caustic winds grow cold in the Martinsville autumn air, as Zakk Miller flies by pole-sitter Tim McDonnell for the lead. Dave Miller and Alex Crapser would linger inside the top-4 for the first 40 laps.
Miller led the first 178 laps of the event, with Ryan Heuser making a charge at the tail-end of the run. He had crawled methodically from the 11th position, and encapsulated the grandeur of victory across the grandstands.
Before lap 200, Tim McDonnell made his bid for the lead and did so successfully. He would stay on top for 64 laps, hoping to earn his right to win his third straight Championship crown after a slow start to the chase.
Dave Miller took the lead around the halfway point of the event, leading a couple laps before the caution flag fell and sent everyone into different strategies.
Rick Jackson stayed out on older tires, leading 121 laps before the fuel run sent him into the pits.
John Battista and Dave Miller were two of the three strongest of the cars with more fuel, stretching as far as they could to make it on just one more stop.
John Tharp looked to head back into the Championship picture, nabbing top-10 finishes all season, though still eluded with that first victory of 2021. He, Ken Pettit, Zach Michael, Johnny Reed Foley and Matthew Dominique have been the biggest snub surprises so far.
Ben Geer and Steven Spears came out of the pits entangled and clipped leader Battista, damaging the #39's front end and giving Dave Miller the lead coming to the caution flag. Miraculously, Battista would beat Miller out of the pits and re-take the advantage, leading to a final shootout to the finish with Battista heading the restart.
Alan Nesfeder was the fastest car on the track in the late-going, barraging up to second place before knocking Dalton Lucas out of the way in turn 1. It would bring out the final caution of the event.
Battista cruised through the final 30 laps, through lapped traffic and all, to keep a couple car-length distance between he and Nesfeder to win his 8th race of the 2021 season at Martinsville. Congrats to Battista, crew chief lew Money, and the entire Lucas Racing crew for an excellent victory!
Tim McDonnell starts on the pole at Martinsville in the same race he won last season in rain-shortened style. That race turned around his chase, leading to his second-straight Championship. It is clear skies in the forecast this time, hoping to hold back race favorites Matt Raboin and Ryan Heuser. Points leader Scott Jackson starts 8th in the field, looking to win his first Championship in 12 years in a career-rebound season. It's a very conventional top-20 on the grid, so the cream-of-the-crop is already up front. Grab your wildfire corn-cobs from Nashville and get final Martinsville showdown of 2021 on the way!
Quick-Silver Motorsports opens the guns early on the Johnny Reed Foley recruiting. The Quick-Silver headquarters are known for their five-star curbside and kitchen, and have offered Foley a 24-7 on-call food service as a lure to join the team. This goes with the millions of dollars that will surely be paid on the side to the musician-turned Extravaganza superstar.
Johnny Reed Foley Will not extend contract with Shake N' Bake Racing, several sponsors interested.
William Perry May extend contract with PHR Racing, Dodge sponsorship will stay with driver.
Jonathan Skrabacz Multi-year independent open to join multi-car team. Boeing will stay with driver.
Donald Stewart Rumors indicate Jonathan Cheeseman will be the new driver, no official word on sponsorship or interest in leaving team
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Ben Geer Released from Top Geer Motorsports. Sponsor will not stay.
Rob Scarberry Old Farts Racing going to single-car operation in 2022 due to owner points. Rob is rumored to ask for his release. STP sponsorship will stay with driver.
Mark Guthrie Will probably stay with Old Farts Racing, unless Scarberry leaves. Miller sponsorship will stay with driver.
Kevin Corbat One more year on his contract, looking for a buyout from another multi-car team.
Jack Paynter Currently no ride, no sponsors interested
Brandon Raines Currently no ride, low-funded Havoline sponsorship for Bonanza Series
Geno Sphere Bonanza Series driver for Cyrcle-Turn Motorsports. Will join Extravaganza team in 2022. Several sponsors interested.
Talladega looks to be the dark-horse event for all of the non-chase drivers to earn a victory, and clinch their way into the All-Star Race for 2022. For the Big-10, it could be the make-it or break-it event heading towards the half-way point of the final ten races. 45 drivers start, giving any DID-NOT-FINISH the highest penalty possible.
Pole-sitter Zach Michael comes in 10th in points to lead the first four laps of the event. Alex Crapser led the next six with a three-wide move on the inside. Rick Jackson led the next four.
Tim McDonnell took the lead on lap 15 and held point through lap 49, leading nearly the entire green flag run. He and Rick Jackson were side-by-side for several laps until the first round of green flag pit stops on lap 51.
Lap 80 saw teammates John Battista and Adam Crapser make contact on the backstretch, leading to a five car pileup towards the rear of the field. Bill Werkheiser, Alan Nesfeder and Aaron Cummings were also involved in the accident. After the restart, Zakk Miller and Brian Lowe stirred up and accident involving chase contenders Zach Michael and Tim McDonnell. They would finish 33rd and 27th on the day.
Matt Raboin, Matthew Dominique, Ben Geer, Craig Lee, Glenn Kaufmann, Dave Miller and John Battista would all endure engine failures. Battista dropped to 4th in points, while Lee fell to 7th with only six races left in the season.
Scott Jackson took the lead away from Logan Sheets on lap 125, looking to steal the points lead away from Ryan Heuser, who would go a lap down on fuel strategy later in the going. Jackson led 9 laps before Ryan led his only circuit of the event before having to come in. Mark Guthrie and Dan Johnston took the point before Jackson nabbed it back before the next yellow flag.
Dan Johnston was sandwiched between Ken Pettit and Scott Drake on lap 148, entering turn 4 with all three in a tailspin. Adam Crapser and Dakota Wilkins were catapulted into the outside wall, hindering Wilkins outside the top-25, while Crapser finished 16th with a hoodless racecar. Dakota was involved in the next accident with 27 laps to go. Points leader Ryan Heuser found his kryptonite, slamming into the outside wall on two wheels with Alex Crapser, Michael Henson, Jimmie Stevens and Mark Guthrie also involved. Ryan would finish 20th and drop to second in points to Scott Jackson. Chase contender Crapser was involved in his second crash, finishing 30th.
Bink Lucas led the ensuing restart with 21 laps to go, leading the next six laps before Scott Jackson took the point. Donald Stewart pushed Rick Jackson to the front during the same lap, leading the next three before Stewart and Tony Pizzaro took their turn late. Jackson re-took the lead with nine laps left.
Jackson flew several car-lengths ahead of the pack after navigating lapped traffic. This gave the edge to Tony Long with an unbelievable run entering turn 1 with only five laps to go. He took the lead, and would be surrounded by Race-2-Win teammates during the few waning laps.
Despite the horsepower of the teammates, pre-rookie Bonanza Series regular Bink Lucas flew by the #15 with two laps to go. A heavy push from Mike Carroll on the bottom would prevail the Lucas Racing protegy to the front, hoping to hold off the crowd of competitive Extravaganza regulars behind.
A crash between Logan Sheets and Al
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The Standings are tighter than ever after last and second-to-last in points both fought hard for good finishes at Bristol. Only 200 points separate the top-guns of Extravaganza with seven races to go. Chase contender Zach Michael comes in 200 points out to win the pole for tomorrow, with Craig Lee on the outside leading the Quick-Silver brigade. There will be 45 entries in this event, inviting more devastation for any of the big-10 to crash or loose their engine during the 188-lap scramble. Losing the lead draft could be the difference of 50+ points, so pit stops may play as the biggest role in this one if it stays green for more than 50 laps at a time. Spring race winner John Battista comes in 2nd in points, losing one spot to Scott Jackson after his big victory at Bristol. Jackson starts third today. Battista and points leader Ryan Heuser are off the grid 12th and 8th.
After a half-decade of up and down finishes, devastating accidents and several catch-fence concussions, Ben Geer will not resign with Top Geer Motorsports for 2022. His 40th place finish at Bristol added to the devastating results on short tracks this season. He has not recorded a top-20 in his five attempts. His devastating accident in the spring race at Atlanta forced him to miss Martinsville and battle hard for the top-35 in points for most of the season. He will join Johnny Reed Foley as the top-2 available free agents.
Ben Geer's 2020 season was a sign of optimism, recording 8 top-10's and a near-victory at Darlington in the spring. His season highlight was the fall Rockingham race, leading 82 laps and keeping up with Ryan Heuser, Battista and Lee all day. A near victory at Las Vegas just two weeks ago was a shade of that previous season. That may be the race that keeps his competitive Extravaganza career alive.
Pole sitter Adam Crapser looks like a dark horse coming into the final Bristol race of the season, looking to steal the spotlight from the chase contenders. Points leaders Ryan Heuser and John Battista start 19th and 25th, with a herd of cattle in front ready to be pounced.
Zakk Miller was the cause of major catastrophe on lap 1, after contact with Ryan on the start saw him go for a spin in turn 1. On the restart, he and Johnny Reed Foley made contact, slamming Zakk into the inside wall with severe force. The damage was devastating enough for him to come in and fix the damage. Coming out of the pits, he made contact with Mike Carroll, ending his 12-lap reign of horrifying luck. He wound up passing one car down the stretch, finishing 41st on the day.
Rick Jackson took the lead early, with Jonathan Scrabacz and Donald Stewart in tow. Pole-sitter Adam fell off fast and quickly skidded outside of the top-10, while chase contenders Ken Pettit, Alex Crapser and Zach Michael rolled towards the front.
Craig Lee was easily the fastest car on the racetrack, rolling from 11th to first to take the lead. Matthew Dominique was looking to steal the show from behind, eventually leading 26 laps on the day. Craig led 31.
Dominique and Jonathan Scrabacz swapped the lead while Tony Pizzaro and Philip Parker lurked from behind. Adam Crapser found his way back to the front as well, passing Zach Michael who dominated the day. Michael led 112 laps in total.
Jimmie Stevens got in on the action, looking to win a race at Bristol for the second season in a row. His redemption for not making the chase payed off in spades, leading 81 laps and recording a top-10 finish on the night.
During green flag pit stops, Matthew Dominique and Ben Geer made contact, sending themselves into a frenzy from hell entering turn 3. The two went for a minor spin, though the yellow flag only put 8 cars on the lead lap.
After the final restart, Bill Werkheiser and Scott Jackson were the main contenders for the victory. The W.A.S.P. Motorsports teammates look to battle it out hard at a non-speedway racetrack, a complete rarity in the past half-decade. There was still over 100 laps to go.
Alex Crapser came into the mix after several side-by-side battles slowed the teammates down. The three swapped the lead several times, with Bill leading the most laps between lap 400 to 449.
On lap 450, Scott Jackson took the lead away and never looked back. He navigated through lapped traffic perfectly, and put himself in perfect position to win with a full second advantage with less than 5 laps to go.
Crapser was able to pass Werkheiser for the second position, but it was Scott Jackson to his fourth victory of his well acclaimed comeback season at the checkered Congrats to Scott, crew chief Linwood Smalls and the entire W.A.S.P. Motorsports team for another excellent victory!
