Welcome to Miami
November 20th, 2013 by Jaime Baker
With the second week of competition taking place in the Arizona desert, Week Three brings the NASCAR iRacing Class C Fixed Series back to the east coast with a trip to South Florida for 30 circuits around Homestead-Miami Speedway. The speedway was reconfigured in 2003 from its original flat configuration to a progressively-banked high speed racing facility and has been a favorite among drivers and fans alike as 2,244 sim racers took the green flag for at least one event during the seven days of online racing.
Paul Kusheba (New England) piloted his No. 1 Silverado to a victory in the week’s top Strength of Field event after leading 19 of the event’s 30 laps. Not only did Kusheba lead the most laps during the event, he also did so starting from the ninth position. Kusheba’s closest competitor was Christian Pedersen (New England) who crossed the finish line 0.927 seconds behind Kusheba after starting from the 14th position. Pole sitter Kyle Wicka (California) led the opening seven laps before being relegated to the third position when the checkered flag flew. Wade Hustad (Midwest) and James Hudson2 (Ohio) filled the remaining positions in the top five as the checkered flag flew on the 4363 SoF. The event was slowed just one time for caution for a total of three laps and included four lead changes among four drivers.
By earning the victory in the week’s top SoF event, Kusheba earned 275 championship points as he looks to make a run at the Season Three championship. Frequent frontrunner Jason Jacoby (Georgia) made one start during the week which resulted in a win and 255 total points. Pedersen capped off a successful week by earning 253 points after making 13 starts and finishing in the top five in all but one. The remainder of the top five was held down by Wicka and Jeremy R Allen (Indiana) who netted 244 and 240 points, respectively.
David Krikorian (California) ended Week Three qualifying with a time of 32.565, the fastest of the week. Second place went to Jason Martin3 (Australia/NZ) who was just two thousandths of a second behind Krikorian with a time of 32.567 seconds. The final spot on the podium went to Florida native and NASCAR iRacing Series World Championship competitor Brandon Kettelle who was just one thousandth of a second behind Martin with a time of 32.568. The final positions in the top five were filled by Pedersen and Ryan Lowe (Virginias) who turned in times of 32.572 and 32.582 seconds, respectively.
With the victory in the week’s top SoF event, Kusheba has propelled himself to the top of the season standings after three weeks of online racing. Kusheba holds a four point lead over Kettelle heading into Week Four at Bristol Motor Speedway. Nathan McGuire (Carolina) sits in the third position and is currently 20 points out of the lead. Wicka (-25) and Jacoby (-28) fill positions four and five.
After a week of race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the NiCCF Series makes a trip to Bristol, Tennessee for 55 laps around the half-mile speedway. Check back for a full recap of the action in a week’s time!