(Nate Siefker leads the field to the green flag!)
The second race of the Sim Racer's Edge Alpha IR18 Series Season 4 presented by Ecency.com was held on the 1.3-mile concrete oval in Nashville. While the track is called Nashville Super Speedway, it's a far cry from the experience that the drivers had in the previous week at Daytona International Speedway. Nashville's concrete surface is much more abrasive, creating higher tire wear, what is also referred to as tire degradation. This degradation leads to chunks of rubber coming apart from the tires as drivers race around the track, collecting on the upper racing surface. This then leads to drivers having difficulty when trying to drive the car on the outside lanes of the track because of the buildup. This was not an event to get caught in dirty air or on the high side of the track.
(Blasting off into turn 1 at the start!)
Qualifying saw Nate Siefker take pole position with a lap time of 23.195, the only driver to get under the 23.2 mark in qualifying. David Cooke would start alongside Siefker in P2, with Chad Simpson and Chris Simard making up row 2. Row 3 would see Jeffrey Bogan start alongside Dan Brasington, with Butch Davis starting alongside Kieran Brughelli in row 4. Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers would be Lyle Swearingen and Jeffrey Rollette in row 5.
(Bogan gets loose in the #3 car turn 1!!)
As the field took the green flag, things looked a little hectic entering turn 1. Midway through turn 1, Bogan got loose and had to fight to maintain control, sliding up the track sideways and causing a major bottleneck from the middle of turn 1 to the exit. Several drivers had to take evasive action, with Davis making slight contact with Brasington's left rear, but escaping the scare with no damage. Rick Ravon, who had a tremendous start, somehow avoided contact as well on the outside as he had to check up for the incident behind Brughelli, losing a few positions in the process. The big winner in was Swearingen, who moved up 4 places in the process.
(Rough and early end to the night for Simard in the #77!)
Brasington, Davis, and Ravon would engage in a battle over the first portion of the opening laps, woth Davis eventually getting around Brasington for P7 on lap 9. Ravon would follow suit, passing Brasington on the next lap to move to P8, demoting Brasington to P9. On lap 5, Ryan Gemmel lost control and got sideways exiting turn 2. He almost had the car saved, but Brett Beasley was unable to avoid Gemmel, resulting in damage for both cars, but not bringing out a yellow flag as Beasley was able to continue and get to the pits while Gemmel took a quick spin through the grass and continued on. Lap 14 would be unlucky for Gemmel's VSpeed teammate Chris Simard, who almost lost the rear of the car and slammed the outside wall while trying to make a correction exiting turn 2. Simard avoided bringing out a yellow flag and limped his stricken car to the pits, but the crew was unable to make the necessary repairs, ending Simard's night. Only 3 laps later, Gemmel would suffer another spin, losing the back end of the car on lap 17 while exiting turn 4 under Walker. Rather than continue with the damage from his previous incident, the team decided to retire the car. The field settled down for the most part, with drivers finding themselves fighting for clean air on the nose of their Dallara IR18s. Kris Walker was the driver on the move, gaining 11 positions from P23 on the grid to P12 at the start of lap 20.
(Gemmel gets sideways!!)
Lap 20 would see the first yellow flag of the night, with contact between Ernie Ludwig and Shane Loveridge sending both cars into the outside wall exiting turn 2. Both drivers were miraculously able to get their cars to pit lane and make repairs. The ensuing pit stops proved disastrous for Brughelli in the #98 car, as he lost two crucial positions during the exchange, with both Davis and Ravon having cleaner and faster stops. As the race went back to green on lap 26, the field was now more aware than ever of how important clean air on the nose of the car was. Ravon made quick work of Davis to move up to P4 after the restart, while William Fletcher and Jeffrey Bogan continued their battle further back in the field, with Fletcher finally making the pass on Bogan for P10 on lap 28. Kris Walker continued his impressive march through the field, now up to P9.
(Ludwig checking the underside of Loveridge's car!!)
On lap 30, Fletcher had a slow exit off of turn 4 that gave Bogan a run to the inside entering turn 1. Dirty air off of Walker's car in P9 caused Bogan to slide up the track and into the left rear tire of Fletcher. This contact launched Bogan's car airborn over Fletcher's car and into the catch fence and retaining wall while Fletcher spun to the inside of the track. Tim Bates narrowly avoided being collected in the accident, slipping by on the low side just as FLetcher was spinning. Paul Krumrei had slowed on the outside for the accident and was sure to avoid any issues when he was slammed into from behind by Carl Burk, who had not slowed for the accident. Near the bottom of the track, Bentley Glaser also slowed to avoid the incident, but was hit from behind by Jari Bruppacher due to not slowing enough for the accident. This multi-car accident would end the night for Krumrei, Glaser, Bogan, Fletcher, and Burk.
(It's the BIG one!! Multiple drivers out of the race after this one!!)
The field would settle down yet again for a long run, with green flag pitstops starting on lap 67 for those who had not pit earlier. This would start a cycle that saw the lead handed to David Cooke, Lyle Swearingen, and Butch Davis. Lap 80 would be the next time the field would see the yellow flag, this time brought out by Mark McFadyen, who lost control trying to make his green-flag pitstop. This caution would hurt several drivers who had pitted under green, with Nate Siefker narrowly avoiding being caught a lap down by making a quick pass on leader Davis just before the yellow. The top 5 at the time of caution were Davis, Simpson, Walker, Brasington, and Rollette. O'Brien was having a quiet night, but found himself P6, followed by Bruppacher in P7, and Siefker in P8, the last car on the lead lap. Trapped behind the leaders due to their green flag stops, Ravon was P9, McFadyen P10, Cooke P11, Brughelli P12, Swearingen P13, and Bates P14, all one lap down to the leader. Ludwig was now two laps down in P15, with Grandy running P16, 8 laps down to the leader and last car running. Siefker didn't pit under yellow as his green flag stop had taken place only 7 laps prior to the yellow. This allowed Siefker to retake the lead while all of the other lead-lap cars pitted for tires and fuel. All of the drivers who were one lap down stayed out on track under yellow, with the exception of McFadyen, who was low on fuel and had not made his pitstop yet. This allowed those drivers who were one lap down to unlap themselves when the leaders pitted, placing them back on the lead lap at the tail end of the field.
The field took the green again on lap 85, with Siefker leading, followed by Davis, Simpson, Walker, and Brasington. Lap 113 saw the #89 of Jari Bruppacher lose control exiting turn 4, miraculously keeping the car from spinning completely and getting it straightened out just as he crossed the line to start lap 114. Unfortunately for Bruppacher, it was only a short reprieve as he subsequently lost control in the very next corner but avoided making contact with anything, sliding to a stop on the top of the track and bringing out another yellow flag. All of the drivers took advantage of the opportunity to come to pit road and fit 4 new tires and fill the cars with fuel.
The race would restart on lap 119, with Siefker maintaining his lead, rocketing away from the field. Ravon took advantage of a slightly slow restart by Brasington and made the pass stick on the outside of turns 1 and 2, moving him up to P5. Cooke would follow Ravon through on the next lap, demoting Brasington back to P7. Lap 120 saw Swearingen get into the outside wall exiting turn 2, able to keep the car going but sustaining significant damage. A lengthy pit stop a couple laps later to make repairs saw him rejoin the race 5 laps down. On lap 140, Cooke wiggled in the middle of turns 3 and 4, eventually losing control on the exit of turn 4 and spinning through the grass on the front straight and onto pit road. Cooke chose to jump to his pit stall, but incurred a penalty for unsafe pit entry that hurt him dearly, rejoining the race 3 laps down to the leader. Of the leaders, Simpson would be the first to hit pit road on lap 146. This triggered the start of green flag stops for all of the drivers on the lead lap with the lone exception of Brughelli, who opted to play strategy and stayed out hoping for a caution. His prayers would be answered on lap 162, when an incident between Cooke and Bates brought out the yellow as the two made contact entering turn 1. The accident would end Cooke's night, while Bates was able to continue after extensive repairs. Brughelli's strategy would pay off as he was able to leapfrog Davis in the running order overall and slot into P2.
(Bates and Cooke in the wall late. Rubber buildup can be seen on the high side!)
The final restart on lap 168 saw Siefker lead the field into turn 1, followed by Brughelli, Davis, Simpson, Ravon, Brasington, Walker, and Rollette on the lead lap. Mike Grandy tried to give way to the lead lap cars, but in doing so, lifted off of the throttle a little too early, allowing the lead lap cars of Simpson and Ravon the opportunity to pass too early. Both drivers were black flagged, but Race Control deemed their flags unwarranted considering the nature of how they were received. Ravon was able to jump Simpson on the restart and take over P4. The final 8-lap dash to the finish was mostly uneventful, with Siefker holding on for a dominant victory.
(Siefker takes the victory!!)
With the win, Nate Siefker gets his season back on track after a horrendous season opener at Daytona. Kieran Brughelli and Butch Davis round out the podium and keep momentum on their side after great finishes at the first two events. Rick Ravon finished in P4, another driver that had a strong showing after a mostly lackluster Daytona. Chad Simpson also rebounded well after Daytona in P5, with Kris Walker in P6 after starting 23rd, the biggest mover of the race. Dan Brasington finished a strong 7th, followed by Jeffrey Rollette in P8 as the last car on the lead lap, Ernie Ludwig in P9, and Kevin O'Brien rounding out the top 10. Timothy Bates came home 11th after his late-race incident, Mike Grandy was 12th, and Lyle Swearingen 13th, the last car running at the end of the race. David Cooke finished 14th after the previously mentioned incident with Bates, followed by Jari Bruppacher in 15th, Mark McFadyen in 16th, Shane Loveridge in 17th. Paul Krumrei finished 18th, Bentley Glaser 19th, Jeffrey Bogan 20th, William Fletcher 21st, and Carl Burk 22nd after the major accident on lap 32. Ryan Gemmel finished 23rd, Brett Beasley 24th, and Chris Simard 25th.
The series heads to Watkins Glen next week for round 3!! See you there!!