The tide stands still as we await the longest race in Extravaganza. The points leader is on the pole, while his former counterpart Johnny Reed Foley looks to break out of his top-5 slump and win the Coca-Cola 600 for his title sponsor. Steven Spears pulls off a miracle 5th place qualifying lap in one of the four biggest races of the Extravaganza Season.

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

The 46-car field went green just after dusk with Tim McDonnell leading the first lap. The R2W teammates rampaged to the front early, earning that early momentum in hopes of more glory at a racetrack that's been good to them in the past.

John Battista led 29 laps duing the first long green flag run after the R2W cars got tight as the track cooled down. Ryan Heuser pulled off a miracle run, going from 24th to 1st in only 47 laps. He would lead through green flag pit stops and past lap 100.

The big crash of the night occurred early in the going. Teammates Zakk Miller and Steven Spears made contact in turn-3 battling for 23rd spot. Spears was pile-driven by the Matthew Dominique machine, ending both nights on impact. The Mello Yello machine slid down the track and into Bink Lucas. Dominique locked the brakes in the racing groove, leaving Scott Drake no room to pass the crash. He went barrell-rolling twice off of turn-4 after another hard impact from Dan Johnston. All drivers were uninjured in the accident. Drake, Lucas, Dominique, Spears, Johnston and Scott Deutsch all dropped out of the race due to the incident.

The race leader was involved in the accident. Heuser made light contact with the #89 car and got spun from behind from Mark Murphy. He tapped slid towards the outside wall and grazed it with the drivers-side door with hardly any damage. An immaculate job of saving the racecar under duress, he would only drop four positions in the pits and contend for the win still. Johnny Reed Foley became the new leader.

Foley led the next 40 laps with drafting help from lapped-driver Dave Miller. Heuser flew by with a mission on hand, as he and Tony Pizzaro swapped the lead several times during the half-way stretch. 

Through lap 340, Heuser and Bill Wekheiser had pulled to an extreme advantage over the field. Each took turns at leading the event as they managed through traffic, with points leader Tim McDonnell looking like the fastest car on the racetrack in third. Heuser would lead 202 laps, on the day, with Bill finishing at 67.

High Octane Racing endured their woes during the event. Three seperate spins off of turn-2 solidified it's status as "calamity corner" in 2021. Both Mike Carroll and Dan Johnston would finish outside the top-34. Rick Jackson and Kevin Corbat ended the day 29th and 30th.

Ryan Heuser found the speed after coming out behind Bill during the final green-flag stop. Heuser got loose and turned Werkheiser into the outside wall. Bill kept trucking with minimal right-side damage while Heuser made a miraculous save through the road-course infield. #138 would be the leader withing the next lap, while Bill dropped out of contention.

Scott Jackson was four seconds behind in second when Steven Spears went for a wild-ride in the infield. He flew up into Randy Dobbins, causing a four-car pile-up involving teammate Zakk Miller and Jaxon Vaccher. This would commence a 12-lap dash to the finish.

Heuser pulled away by nearly a half-second early. Jackson's car found speed just a couple of laps shy, running down the "rocket man" and finishing under two car-lengths behind to the flag. Heuser would tie John Battista with most victories on the season with three heading towards the half-way stretch in 2021. Congrats to Ryan, crew chief Mustard Mahoney, and the entire Quick-Silver Motorsports team for an excellent victory!

2021 Coca-Cola 600 Video