An exhilarating day at Darlington Speedway ends in shear fantasy for one of Extravaganza's waning veterans. The great Scott Jackson starts on the pole and looks to end his frivolous winless drought since Indianapolis of 2018. The favorites will start behind, as Craig Lee looks to repeat as winner of this grand Spring event.
Race Results
Points Standings
Schedule
Several drivers attempted to steal the lead away from #38 early on. Lee was the first, and did so successfully. Dan Johnston stole the top spot after the first caution flag by staying out, as Jackson easily slipped on by. He would lead up to lap 31.
The first caution of the day was brought out by Michael Henson and Cristian Torres, who made contact and spun. Henson battled on to finish 15th, while Torres lost a lap and came home 31st. Ryan Heuser was the first casualty of the race, blowing up 54 laps in and dropping from 4th to 7th in the standings.
The first big crash of the day saw Alan Nesfeder go up and over once on the frontstretch. After a long green flag run, Dave and Zakk Miller pushed up the racetrack three-wide and sent the #78 around. Dave pushed the car over at 150 MPH and came back on it's wheels. Alan would finish 21st.
Randy Dobbins stole the lead away on lap 32 and through to lap 66. John Tharp led from lap 67 to the Nesfeder caution on lap 96. He lost the lead to Bill Werkhesier just a few laps later, who would have his most dominating race in several years up until near the end.
Bill and Matt Raboin were side-by-side for two laps when the #87's engine expired on the frontstretch. He was credited for leading one lap, which is hardly consolation for dropping from 8th to 10th in the standings. Dalton Lucas and Mark Murphy brought out the yellow a couple laps later after spinning on the backstretch.
The ensuing restart gave Tharp his only chance to creep by the #6, but couldn't clear him for the lead. Tony Pizzaro and Dave Miller worked together to catch the dominant car but to no avail, failing at a three-wide maneuver into turn 1. Bill world lead an incredible 116 laps on the day.
On lap 144, Donald Stewart's car slowed down, getting run over by Scott Deutsch. Teammate Glenn Kaufmann couldn't avoid the #55, who was spinning up into traffic. Stewart's car went for a flip and came back down on four wheels on the apron. He would continue to finish 39th.
After a Zach Michael spin on the frontstretch, the caution flag flew. Bill was the only driver to stay out on old tires, while the rest of the field gambled and tried to make it to the end on fuel. Bill was freight-trained. Despite pitting early and nearly un-lapping himself on fresh tires, he could only manage a 24th place finish on a day of domination.
Scott Jackson and Ken Pettit battled hard for the entire run to the finish, with the #38 being up front for most of the go. Ken made an attempt for the win with 6 laps left and nearly cleared the #38, but to no avail. Jackson stayed up front and kept his distance, looking to win his first race in nearly three years.
Scott Jackson was successful. Just two weeks after hiring Linwood Smalls as crew chief, the #38 ATEUP team has finished 5th and 1st, leading some to believe that Jackson isn't done shining for victories and competing for championships after all. Congrats to Jackson, crew chief Linwood Smalls, and the entire W.A.S.P. Motorsports team for an excellent victory!
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