Tim McDonnell comes into Texas as the points leader, on a miracle run by completing every lap of the ten events ran so far. He will qualify 9th today, as race-day favorites Ryan Heuser and John Battista both start ahead. In a miracle run by the underdogs, Adam Crapser earns the second pole of his young career as he looks to nab a top-5 performance at Texas. Aaron Cummings and Jonathan Skrabacz also start in the front two rows.

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

It took no time for Ryan Heuser to blow by the junior-tier Pennzoil #4 machine. Adam was able to hang with the crowd up front, having to endure the already lapped car of Matthew Dominique. John Battista made a three-wide move to take his first lead of the day.

John Tharp, Tony Pizzaro and Rick Jackson all found the horsepower early on. Jackson and Tharp would lead 25 laps on the day, shoving their veteran muscle through the pack in grand style. By the end of the lead swapping, Ryan would find his way back up front.

The #138 led through green flag pit stops and nearly pulled away from the field. Battista took the lead after the halfway point and brought the Race-2-Win clan along for the battle. Craig Lee had come from the 20th starting position to race his teammate for the lead. He led 60 laps by the end. After 200 laps, we are still caution free.

Three engine casualties ended the day early for few. the entire Shake N' Bake racing stable went down during the same green flag run, finishing last and second to last for the first time in team history. Bill Werkheiser also fell with a clutch problem during the second caution flag. Matthew Dominique also expired late in the going, dropping both he and Foley to 13th and 14th in the points standings.

The first crash of the day was a big one for Mark Murphy. Craig Lee had dropped from 1st to 12th after a tight racecar and a bad pit stop during the first caution flag for debris. He and Mark made contact exiting turn 4, sending Craig into the outside wall while Mark spun into traffic. Glenn Kaufmann nailed him on the rear quarter panel, with Aaron Cummings and Jack Paynter getting caught up in the carnage. 
 

The next restart saw caution #3. Champion Tim McDonnell got sandwiched between Jim Fitzmaurice and Kevin Corbat. McDonnell flew through, while Kevin and Jim slid into the path of Glenn Kaufmann and Craig Lee. Craig would limp to an 18th place finish, while the other three finished 29th or worse on the day.
 

Ryan Heuser led every lap of the ensuing restart, with Donald Stewart and Alan Nesfeder tailgating the Quick-Silver machine for a possible upset victory. Alan was able to pass Ryan after their final green flag pit stops with 26 laps to go. In the meantime, Dave Miller and Tony Pizzaro were attempting to stretch the fuel window and make it until the end.
 

The #90 and #12 came in for pit stops, as Ryan found his way past the #78 for the lead. Alan took the top-spot again with 8 laps to go. A cross-over move off of turn-4 on the same lap saw the two side-by-side once more. This time, QSM horsepower prevailed.

Ryan Heuser was able to navigate through the lapped traffic perfectly and stay at least one car-length ahead of Alan for the final 6 laps. He cruised to his second win of the season, jumping up one spot in the standings to 4th, only 112 points behind McDonnell. Congrats to Ryan, crew chief Mustard Mahoney, and the entire Quick-Silver Motorsports team for an excellent victory!

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