The historical standpoint of Bristol Motor Speedway added a new chapter last fall, handing an unbelievable upset to Mark Guthrie for his first career victory. He made the field again today, out in the back in 38th. Only Adam Crapser and Rick Jackson were able to crack the 14-second margin, with Adam earning his second pole of the season. He is looking for his first victory tonight at a track that has provided many upsets over the recent years. 2017 saw Michael Henson in victory lane for his only career win, with the aforementioned Guthrie three years later. Look for Jonathan Scrabacz to enter the fray as well, climbing up to 23rd in the standings over the past several weeks and starting in row #2. Points leaders Ryan Heuser, John Battista and Craig lee start 19th, 25th and 11th.
Tim McDonnell had gone on a miracle stretch of 71 straight events without a DNF. That streak ended when his engine expired on the tri-oval last week, ending his day in 36th. A horrifying accident took him out of the Charlotte race in 2019. It's been near-perfect sailing ever since.
Gill Shephard, also known as "Texan Gill", was an attemptee-mainstay in the Extravaganza Series from 1977 to 1985. His best ever finish was a third place at Nashville in 1980, driving a blue #39 unsponsored Oldsmobile for the Geckman brothers. During and after his racing career, he was a professional flute player for the Jethro Tull tribute band "Mother Goose". Gill had just turned 79.
What looked like an easy call to the office of Champions turned into a definitive blow for the two consistency dominators of the season. The tides will turn in the 3rd annual Eddie Money classic, seeing the horsepower dominators kill two birds while dominating the standings.
Pole sitter Scott Jackson lost the lead early to Dave Miller and John Battista, the latter looking to extend his 45-point lead in the points. There were no surprised up front, seeing the usual half-mile suspects like Rick Jackson, Tony Pizzaro and Ryan Heuser up front.
Johnny Reed Foley had lost his sponsor, though saw the front of the pack without needing binoculars all day. Tim McDonnell and Zach Michael look to rebound after poor performances last week, as Rick find the lead early en route to leading a race-dominating 48 laps.
Ben Geer looked unstoppable, pulling off his usual 3 out of 36 race dominance at the speedways. Pocono was the first, though there was something seemingly "experimental" about this car. Ben was easily the class of the field during the early to middle-stages.
Three crashes including three different chase contenders took out the competitive forces of Alex Crapser, John Tharp and Tim McDonnell. Two of the accidents were identical, with the final involving Tharp for a second time. Crapser would miraculously rebound to 6th, with Tharp 23rd.
A horrifying crash off of turn 2 set up the destruction of two powerhouse-players for the championship all season. Kevin Corbat and Tony Pizzaro went for a wild ride off of the fourth corner, seeing the #46 slide roof-first for thousands of yards while the #12 went through a miraculous infield flip in shades of Darlington last season. During the crash, Champion Tim McDonnell blew up on an upshift after narrowly avoiding the accident. It would be his first DNF of the season, as well as Pizzaro's. Points leader Battista was also involved, hindering his progress all day and resulting in an 18th place finish. He would drop to second in the standings.
Long green flag runs were abundant after the accidents, seeing a miraculous comeback from Alex Crapser and an emotionally wounded Johnny Reed Foley lead the field away from the frenzy behind. Ryan Heuser, Randy Dobbins, and the Jackson cousins also looked to join in on the action.
Ryan Heuser went from the lead to nearly outside of the top-10 after short-pitting during the final stretch. Crapser and Jackson flew by, with Craig Lee on everyone's tail with the freshest tires in the field.
Craig found his way past the Scott Jackson machine and pulled away from the field. A near race-leading 42 laps led from 31st starting position looked to be the stat-line towards victory lane, before a Steven Spears spin with less than 30-to-go forces a late-race restart.
On cold tires, Ryan pulled towards the front on the restart and miraculously made it by Craig. Scott Jackson took pursuit as well, with Ben Geer closing the gap in third. It was a three-car battle for victory towards the end.
Ben Geer made it past the #38 with 2 laps to go and gained all of the distance to catch the #138. It was to no avail, as Ryan defended to his 6th victory of the season and into the points lead for the first time all season. Congrats to Ryan, crew chief Mustard Mahoney and the entire Quick-Silver Racing crew for an excellent victory.
The points standings have already taken an ebb and flow of 155 points from Darlington winner John Battista. He is already 45 points ahead of second place, as we are finally seeing the big winners of this season also creep up to the top of the standings. Ken Pettit, Alex Crapser and Zach Michael faltered to the bottom of the totem pole last week after accidents ruined their lead-lap days. In fact, only two chase drivers finished in the top-6, leading to believe that the nothing-to-lose mentality is the way of the future. Dan Johnston and Aaron Cummings are looking for their second straight top-5 finish in the third annual Eddie Money Classic!
After missing the chase and only capturing 3 top-5's in 27 races, both Amp Energy and Coca-Cola have parted ways with the team for the 2022 season. This is a devastating blow for Foley, who has seldom seen the front all season and was hoping to resurrect the team with a manufacturer change to Toyota. This will also dissuade Adam Beresford's 6-race initiation effort for next season, and possibly lose his Busch Bonanza ride. Instead of battling the tide, Foley has elected to be released from his contract, which has one year left. It was approved this morning by Shake N' Bake co-owner's Mumford Walls and Jazzy Joel.
Ten drivers welcome the Darlington Raceway with open arms and happy hearts, knowing their status as happy-go-lucky chase contenders. Craig Lee is on the pole, with his teammate Ryan Heuser on the outside in Quick-Silver blockade in front of the other 44 drivers.
Early on, Ken Pettit looked to use the rebound-momentum on his season to capture the lead early. He led more of the early-going laps than anybody else, nabbing a full 36th on the night.
Teammates Ken and Rick Jackson dominate the veteran top-5 in shades of the spring event, where Scott Jackson and John Tharp finished 1-2. Ben Geer eased his way into the picture, leading one lap as he auditions for a possible new ride in 2021.
Rookie Logan Sheets pulls to the front to lead some of the first few laps of his young Extravaganza career. The veterans vulture from behind, looking to swarm the New York Jets machine into a frenzy of bits at the end of the back.
Chase contender Ryan Heuser and Johnny Reed Foley were involved in an accident entering the pit road. Both drivers would rebound to a top-12 finish. Matt Raboin went for a flip up near the front of the pack, involving Sheets and finishing a dead last 46th. Sheets finished 44th.
Heuser found his way back up front in the middle-going, leading 58 laps in total. Towing behind were chase contenders Scott Jackson and Ken Pettit, looking to denounce the great Heuser from his Darlington throne. Zakk MIller and Jimmie Stevens were proving their worth as well, both finishing inside the top-10.
A huge restart crash saw Zach Michael go up-and-over in the front of the pack. A consistent day went in ruin, as he limped to a 40th place finish and down to 10th in the standings after the first chase week. Rick Jackson was also caught up in the accident, finishing 42nd.
The final stages of the event saw Zakk Miler towing the field, with horsepiower-kings John Battista and Ryan Heuser up in the mix for the victory. Aaron Cummings was miraculously up through the field, looking to outdo his 11th place effort last week.
John Battista guided he and Dan Johnston past the #138 for the lead as Miller and Cummings dropped slightly back. With his teammates all outside of the top-15, the Lucas Racing machine relied heavily on the shoulders of the #39. Johnston was looking to rebound after his near-victory at the Darlington spring race 1 year ago.
Johnston led over 20 laps during the final stretch and nearly pulled off the victory. He was ahead by multiple car-lengths and lapped traffic between, but somehow the Wendy's machine propelled through with less than 10 laps to go to re-take the top position.
John Battista led the final laps in grand style, leading a whopping 76 in total and jumping to 1st in the standings for the first time in his career after his Southern 500 victory. Congrats to Battista, crew chief Lew Money, and the entire Lucas Racing team for an excellent victory!
Craig Lee is on the pole and looks to conquer the $5 Million Bacon Bonus for winning two of the crown jewel events this season!
Points Standings: Race 26 of 36
1. Tim McDonnell: - 2. Tony Pizzaro: -5
3. John Battista: -10
4. Craig Lee: -15
5. Zach Michael: -20
6. Alex Crapser: -25
7. Ryan Heuser: -30
8. Ken Pettit: -35
9. John Tharp: -40
10. Scott Jackson: -45
Regular Season: Most Laps Led 1. Ryan Heuser: 960
2. John Battista: 941
3. Craig Lee: 615
4. Tony Pizzaro: 557
5. Matt Raboin: 471
Regular Season: Most Laps Led Races 1. John Battista: 5
2. Ryan Heuser: 5
3. Tim McDonnell: 4
Ryan Heuser comes in 41 points out after a horrendous outing last week at Watkins Glen. Fortunately, he is the grand poobah of Richmond. Ryan has won five of the last six events here, and seven of the last eleven. Ultimate domination by Extravaganza Magazine's #1 driver of the decade. The odds have him at a near 50% shot at winning it again, in probably the most important race of his illustrious career. Heuser has only missed one chase since his career started in 2006. He had 9 DNF's in 2009, and is on pace to do the same unless he begins the ultimate rebound at Richmond!
Current Points Positions
Barring a fatal accident in practice for Zach Michael (166 points ahead, and will still be in), 10 drivers are still mathematically eligible to insert themselves into the final 5 playoff spots. It's been a miracle run for drivers like Jimmie Stevens, who comes in 43 points up through pure consistency. Meanwhile, Ken Pettit has deteriorated from inside the top-5 just a few races ago to 12th during the road course stretch. Regular Championship contenders Rick Jackson and Matthew Dominique are out completely. Ryan Heuser has led the second most laps and most poles in 2021, along with four victories. He and three-time winner Scott Jackson are on the outside looking in despite their dominance at certain points in the season. Zakk and Dave Miller will rely on severe bad luck from all contenders to capture the clinch. This may be the race of the decade!
