The final short track race of the season proved to be a worthwhile one, as the ten chase contenders prepare to stay out of trouble and exit the domain in at least half of a racecar. There were 29 lead changes, and a near-record amount that finished on the lead lap.

Race Results

Points Standings

Schedule

The beginning of the race saw action between second-in-points Tim McDonnell, Craig Lee and Matthew Dominique for the lead. All came in within 121 points of leader Rick Jackson, who flew through the field to take the top-spot early.

There was plenty of racing between the same four through the first 150 laps. Tim led 9, Matthew 10, Rick 13, and Craig led a whopping 143 once the day was said and done.

On lap 171, a Dalton Lucas and Dave Miller spin in turn 3 brought out the first caution just before green flag pit stops ended. Zach Michael had just entered the pit lane, and came out a full lap ahead of the field. Today, it seemed like the #20's day to shine.

Much pandemonium and chaos occured during the next restart, as everybody gave themself an anurism trying stay on the lead lap. Zach was 30th in line despite being the leader, and had to navagate past a Cristian Torres and Michael Henson crash in order to save his soul. 27 cars got their lap back in one full swoop. Zach, who thought he was front of the line on the next restart, was supposed to let Matt Raboin by and got penalized. He would drop to 37th, one lap down. Ken Pettit took the lead.

John Tharp was able to drive by Ken through the mid-stages of the race. Despite struggling for seemingly most of the chase, he is only 73 points back of Jackson with two-straight 6th place finishes coming in. A victory would solidify his "back into it" status.

Alan Nesfeder, who has turned up the wick in the past 9 races, took the lead on lap 211, 243, and 309. He led an amazing 138 laps, by far his most of the season and looked to hold off the field to grab victory #2 of the season.

The first big wreck of the day involved Dale Rosendaul, who blew up coming off of turn 4. Dave Miller and Dalton Lucas made contact with the stopped FedEx machine. Then a bottleneck of racecars piled in, including Bill Werkheiser, Scott Jackson and Ben Geer. Other than Dale, all drivers were able to continue. 

Late in the race saw plenty of action, as Craig and Alan, who combined for over half of the total laps led, battled for the lead late. Unfortunately Jimmie Stevens, Ken Pettit and many others were about to sneak their way into the mix and battle for the victory.

Jimmie Stevens took the lead on lap 329, and led for 23 laps before Alan took it back. He would go on to lead one more lap and finish in the 3rd position, which was redemption for the multiple times he had trouble in the later stages of races this season. He would exit this race up to 17th in points.

Mark Murphy blew up with just over 100 laps to go. The ensuing caution bunched the field back up with Alan back at the helm. Within a few laps, Johnny Reed Foley and his aerodynamically ab-neutral machine of dominance flew past and drove away from the field, leading nearly until the end.

Just like Zach Michael last week, Zakk Miller came out of nowhere to catch up to Foley. The #18 had trouble lapping Glenn Kaufmann and gave the inside to the #28. Zakk made the pass and carried off into the sunset for the final 27 laps.

For the second straight season, Zakk Miller has won an N.O.R.L. Extravaganza Race. It was redemption for losing the Daytona 500 with 2 laps to go, but not a surprise for most who are paying attention as of late. He has an average finish of 13.7 in the last 17 races, which is top-5 in the series. Congrats to Zakk and the entire Shake N' Bake Racing crew for an excellent victory!

First Data 500, Part 1

First Data 500, Part 2

First Data 500, Part 3