Eyebrows Raise at NHMS
January 11th, 2013 by In Racing News
New Hampshire Motor Speedway seems to always provide a shake up to the NASCAR iRacing.com Class A Series (NiCAS), and Week Ten at the tricky one mile track lived up to expectations. Door to door racing is the nature of the beast when it comes to NHMS, where real estate is at a premium and everyone is searching for the same groove on the track. It was how some people went about obtaining the preferred line that raised many eyebrows.
Sunday night at 9:00EST once again hosted the top split of the week, this time in the likes of a 4720 SoF which would reward 301 points to the victor. Early in the race it became evident that the victory would be decided between NASCAR iRacing.com Pro Series (NiPS) driver Paul Kusheba, and NiCAS competitor PJ Stergios. However when push came to shove on lap fifty, both drivers would sustain damage heavy enough to end their chances at a big win. While this was an unfortunate break for the top two, it kicked the door wide open for the rest of the field seeking New Hampshire glory.
After a solid green flag run which saw close, respectful racing throughout the field, a late caution would setup a two lap dash to the finish. Dylan Duval led the field to the green, with NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship (NiSWC) driver Alex Warren filling up his mirror. As the field entered turn three coming to the white flag, Warren got into the back of Duval, sending the number three machine hard into the outside safer barrier, ending the race under yellow. After a heated conversation between the two drivers, Warren crossed the line first with Peter Bennett and Brandon Buie rounding out the top three. A very heated Duval finished twelfth after leading with only a handful of laps remaining.
It was a dead heat it the stat column for the most starts on the week, with Howard Bell and James Robinson leading the charge with twelve starts. The slight edge would have to be awarded to Bell as we was able to find victory lane, as well as six top fives on the week. Former NiSWC drivers Greg Spears and Steven Gilbert both won five races, three more wins than anyone else. Gilbert won in dominating fashion as he scored wins in all but one race he competed in during the week, while Spears won an impressive five of eight races he ran.
Status quo in the points standings as Michael Conti still leads by a wide margin, now with a 326 point advantage over Peter Bennett. Brandon Buie rounds out the podium while Kyle Peddle sits fourth and Greg Spears could be gearing up for another NiPS run next season, currently sitting fifth in the standings.
Next week is a trip back home for the series as the Chevrolet Impala’s will take to Charlotte Motor Speedway for 110 laps around the mile and a half circuit. All drivers and teams are very familiar with Charlotte, and will hope to use Week Eleven as an opportunity to grab the late season spotlight. Be sure to check back next week at inRacingNews for a full recap, along with the weeks highlights and top stories.