Illini Mighty at Michigan

Illinois sim racer Brandon Buchberger flexed his muscle during Week Two as he took the overall win in the NASCAR iRacing.com Class C Series (NiCCS) at Michigan International Speedway. Over 2000 sim racers took to the track, but it was a win on August 14th that put Buchberger over the top for the victory.

Three of the 2000+ iRacers to tackle MIS in Week 2 come to the stripe.

Buchberger bagged the win to take home 236 points. With an sof rating pegged at a 3770, the winner led just seven laps in the highly competitive race which featured a total of 21 lead changes over the 80 lap duration. The race was slowed by six yellow flags and saw Justin Fuller come home in second, ahead of Kwame Adjei, Carl Taylor and Ryan Ameen. Justin Brooks led the race with five laps to go with NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship (NiSWC) driver John Gorlinsky keeping pace with him up in front but the two failed to finish the race. Gorlinsky (37 laps) and Brooks (25 laps) led the most circuits of the event. Fuller scored 223 points for his second place finish in the race, which put the New York racer in second overall for the week at Michigan.

Brooks came home third for the week though based off his performance in the 3538 sof race which went green on Friday. Brooks led 50 laps of the race which saw 18 trucks take the green flag. Taylor was second in the event followed by Stephan Pottier, Brandon P Smith and Derek Copeland. The race featured four yellow flags and saw Brooks win the race from the pole position and net 221 championship points in the bargain.

Landon Cassill Qualifying Challenge II champion Kenny Humpe put his racing skills to the test in Week Two by coming home with three victories in three starts at Michigan. His biggest win came during a 3658 sof race on August 10th as he took a convincing win over Randy Hockaday by leading 52 laps and building an advantage of well over three seconds at the checkered flag. Brandon Six brought his truck home in third while Jared Gordon and Chad Schilling also earned top five finishes. The 19 truck field was slowed only one time by caution and featured five lead changes. When combined with his other big win of the week, a 212 point outing in a 3397 sof race, Humpe left Michigan with 220 points.

Fifth place for the week was Jeremy Harrington. Harrington put two wins in his back pocket out of three starts made for the week. Ironically though, his biggest point haul for the week, a 222 point night came with a second place finish to Hockaday in a 3789 sof race, the highest rated race of the week. Hockaday led 68 laps in the event, besting Harrington at the line by just over a second. Thomas Smith, Schilling and George Buhr rounded out the top five in the race. After his second highest point total was factored in, Harrington completed the week with 218 points.

Hockaday finished his impressive week at Michigan with a dozen wins, more than any other driver in the series. Karl Boyd sat atop the starts list in the Irish Hills though, as the Division Seven driver started 37 races for the week. Humpe topped over 800 other qualifiers by pacing the field with a 41.389 second lap around the two mile oval. Pottier, Hockaday, Brooks and Nick Ottinger completed the top five in qualifying while it was Thomas D Smith who topped the field in the Time Trial contest. Mark Russell, Florian Kirchhofer, Cody Byus and Ricky Small also came home with top five runs in the competition which saw over 300 drivers participate in Round Two.

After Week Two on the NiCCS schedule, it is Humpe out front of the series with 429 points, 11 more than second place Justin Brooks. NiSWC regular Byron Daley is third, eight points behind second while Buchberger and Justin Fuller round out the top five after two rounds. Divisional leaders after Richmond include Justin Brown, Ludovic Louis, Paul Hesla, Cody Evanson, Ben Atcher, Brian Manchester, William Byron Jr, Daniel Coleman and David Cirilli.

From one of the biggest tracks on the schedule to the smallest track – the NiCCS now heads to the NASCAR iRacing.com Class C Series (NiCCS) at Bristol Motor Speedway for some side-by-side, fender-to-fender, paint swapping action on the high banks. Who will come out with the win and who will lead the series after three rounds? Be here next week to find out!

Until then, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!

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