It's important to look at the big picture. Despite the greatness and speed of Ryan Heuser and John Battista this season, The reliance of engine parts can not be dismissed when it comes to the Championship. Tony Pizzaro comes in 6 points ahead of Tim McDonnell heading in to Chicagoland. The one benefactor of both is the lack of DNF's in 2021.

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

On the pole is Ryan Heuser along-side his 3rd-in-points teammate Craig Lee. He dominated the show early, staying car-lengths in front of the field before Matt Raboin snuck by on the outside lane coming to one of the caution flags. It took no time for Ryan to re-gain the lead.

After the caution, Rick Jackson was not to be denied. All of his 32 laps led on the day came in the early going, as the field fought tooth-and-nail to crab by the Race-2-Win machine. He led 32 laps in total, though got caught a lap down after pitting before the final caution flag. He finished 27th, falling to 15th place in points.

A horrifying crash on lap 66 devastated the racing world. Zakk Miller flew into the catchfence and tumbled several times before getting clobbered by Jonathan Scrabacz. Zakk suprisingly suffered no concussion, but only a bruised rib and bruised esophagus in the incident. He would finish 2nd-to-last on the day.

Dan Johnston was the only car to stay out on old tires and made out a couple of laps at the front. Matt Raboin, Tony Pizzaro, Rick Jackson, Scott Jackson, John Battista, and last years winner Randy Dobbins all stood behind as Dan fought his way to stay as the leader. He would lead four laps in total before relinquishing to the field.

Lap 97 saw another violent accident. Dave Miller flew into the outside turn 1 concrete barrier, ending up in his side while riding over the sponsors. He flew back down the track, only to be killed by Ken Pettit and Dalton Lucas. It was a "crazy eights" night mare for Dave, flipping over several times to a stop near turn 2 exit. Dave would finish 38th, dropping to 12th in the points standings. Ken would likewise drop two positions to 8th after finishing 39th.

Adam Crapser had a devastating impact closer to the mis-race point. His car stuck inside the wall, somehow escaping without injury. Meanwhile, a battle for 3rd turned sour after contact between Matt Raboin and Bill Werkheiser. Matt slammed the outside wall hard, while Bill spun around and rebounded to a 7th place finish. Matt finished 32nd, and dropped to 11th in the standings.

Tony Pizzaro, John Battista, Matt Raboin (before the crash) and Rick Jackson were the late race dominators. Pizzaro and Battista dominated the stretch, swapping the lead several times during multiple green flag runs. Both drivers finished in the top-5, with Battista leading 72 laps and Pizzaro with 44 on the day.

It was the same story within the final 100 laps. A battle for 5th between Ryan Heuser and Randy Dobbins with 40 laps to go saw the caution come out right after a Rick Jackson pit stop. He would be trapped a lap down for the rest of the race, and Randy would fail to win his second-straight Chicagoland event. 

Jackson made his pass on the outside lane with 14 laps to go. Miraculously, a hard-charging John Tharp came from several seconds behind to catch up to the leaders in time to make a move. He made it past Battista with 6 laps to go, and found his way by Jackson on the outside lane coming to two laps to go. Lapped traffic loomed ahead, and the outside lane was not the place to be. Scott charged to the bottom as the battle for third place nearly ended in disaster from behind. Tharp tucked to the bumper of the #38 off of turn 4 but to no avail.

Scott Jackson perservered through the lapped traffic in spades, passing Tharp in the final two laps for the second straight event. It was Scott's third win in the past 6 races, and is in one of the most dominating stretches of his career. Unprecedented to say the least. Congrats to Scott, crew chief Linwood Smalls and the entire W.A.S.P. Motorsports team for another excellent victory!

Tropicano 400 Race Video