Late Model Championship Review

As usual, the NASCAR iRacing.com Late Model Series attracted big fields in 2013 S4.

As ever, some sim-racers achieved great success while others came up short of their goals in the 2013 Season 4 NASCAR iRacing.com Late Model Series.  Ty Majeski won the overall championship with with 1612 points over Landon S Sciacca by 174 points.  Nathan Hammock finished third 45 points behind Sciacca with Scott Howell and David Lam completing the top five.

1.    Ty Majeski 1612                   14. Raymond Emmons 1110
2.    Landon S Sciacca 1438        15. Dale Jason Shaw 1102
3.    Nathan Hammock 1383        16. Chalmas Parker 1061
4.    Scott Howell 1305                17. Stan Bragg Jr  1034
5.    David Lam 1303                   18.  Andrew Simmons 1034
6.    Ty Spearman 1246               19.  Todd Sipe 985
7.    Cody Thompson 1217           20.  Bill Martin 982
8.    Kevin Berg 1211                   21.  Rocky Battenfield 978
9.    Ron Hagolin 1191                 22.  Jarrett Lawrence 959
10.    Tyler Price 1175                  23.  Dustin Bolgrihn 942
11.    Blake Southerland 1138        24.  Mike Budzien 926
12.    Kevin J Myers 1134              25.  Mark Parker 913
13.    Robert Oneal  1128

I had a chance to speak with Ty and many of the division champions, who graciously shared their thoughts on the season with the readers of iRacingNews. . .

Majeski scored an amazing 121 wins from 135 starts en route to his third Late Model title in four seasons.

Ty Majeski: Overall Champion and Division 1 Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    I kind of over-achieved my goals, I wanted to run as many races as I could so I could take the record for most wins in the season.  I wasn’t exactly focused on points but the way it worked out I ended up taking the overall.

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    Plan to run the Super Late and Late Model.  A lot depends on how the tire model works out and how much I like the Super Late; not sure if I’m going to go for points or just run races.”

Ty Spearman: Division 2 Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    To be honest I was never running for a championship. This was my first ever season running the Late Model. I think I skipped New Smyrna and South Boston and finally made up my mind to run every track the rest of the way out. The points were never in the picture until two or three weeks before the season ended. With that said, I was very lucky to bypass the guys ahead of me.

Spearman collected 56 wins and the Late Model Division 2 title.

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    March will make one year in iRacing (after a 10 year hiatus from sim-racing). My goals were to learn what I could, but most importantly have a good time. 2014 will bring new challenges as I hope to be more competitive with the help of a great team and great friends. But most importantly my main goal in 2014 is to lend a hand where I can to help sim-racers enjoy the iRacing experience.

Chalmas Parker: Division 3 Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    Yes I did meet my goals for the season. This was the first season I put forth the effort to run for points and it paid off.  I’ve mainly been running league races at the Can-Am Racing Series in the MRolfe Designs Late Model tour. I have one championship and the most overall record for wins, top fives, top 10s, and laps led.  I’m currently going for another championship where, if I win, it will make me the first repeat champ in the LM division. I started this official season to run for points ’cause I now had time to work on setups. With the help of my friend Tyler Price and a little help from others such as Ty Majeski and Brodie Kosteki, it all became possible and I thank them for all their help.

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    My goal for next season is to go for the overall championship.

Mark Parker: Divison 4
Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself  and did you achieve them?

A:    I did actually accomplish my goal of winning my division championship. Other than that, for the overall standings I wanted to just be a contender in any race I was in and always have a chance to win. I didn’t really have any goals besides having fun and racing clean.

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    For season 1 2014 may be a little different as most of my time will be getting my real race cars ready for the upcoming season. So you can say my goals are the same: just have fun and learn anything I can from other drivers here on iRacing.

Parker took five wins and 26 top fives in claiming the Division 4 laurels.

Scott Schrader: Division 5 Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    My goal was just to finish in the top five in my division but as it turned out I found myself leading the points. Man, for my first ever season I couldn’t be more happier. I had some help towards the end from some better veteran racers on set-up tips that really helped a lot also. Being Division 5 Champ is pretty exciting for me anyway!

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    As far as the 2014 season, I’m going to continue to try and improve on my setups and win races. There are a lot of great drivers out there like Majeski, Howell, Lam, Spearman . . . guys like that I want to beat someday.  So I’m hoping to finish in the top 25 overall this new season in LM overall and I also plan on running the Super Late Model to and try and get those figured out also.

James Linkiewicz: Division 6 Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    I believe I’ve exceeded any goals I’ve set for myself. My goals were to try and become a stable, smooth, and consistent driver, mostly in the Late Model. The Late Model is the reason I joined iRacing. I never expected to win a division championship. It’s just something that sort of “happened.”  There’s still tons of room for driver improvement, but this season was fun… especially being my first full season in iRacing.

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    My goal for season 1 of 2014 is to gain more knowledge on car setup and become a better driver.

Gary Grunden: Division 7 Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    I really didn’t have any goals for this season, I haven’t been on iRacing in over a year because I’ve been busy with my kids and a new job. Thankfully my cousin was able to help me get back in the swing of things (and use his cockpit to race), so without him none of this would have been possible.

“I just plan on racing whenever I have the time and having as much fun as I can.” – Greg Grunden

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    I don’t think I’ll have much in the way of goals next season either–I never know when my hours will change or what kind of sports and other extracurricular activities that my kids will take an interest in.  So I just plan on racing whenever I have the time and having as much fun as I can.

Brandon Furr: Division 10 Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    I did complete the goals that I had set for myself this season. Being new to iRacing, I’ve learned that being a great driver consists of several skills. But the most crucial skill for any new racer is patience. Whether it be taking time to practice or an awareness during the race, patience is truly a virtue. Patience was not my goal at the beginning of this season, but I quickly realized its importance.

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    Going forward, I hope for consistency rather than wins. I know that if I can improve my consistency, success will follow. The iRacing simulator is wonderful because of its variety and the ability to race with some of the most skilled online racers in the world. In a world where money dictates many opportunities, iRacing has given me the chance to experience competitive racing, with real-world physics, no matter what your skill level for me. That is the challenge that motivates me.

Darek Gress: Rookie Division Champion

Q:    Do you consider your Season 4 2013 season successful and what goals did you have set for yourself and did you achieve them?

A:    I didn’t really have any goals when started playing this sim; that may sound silly to you. I race Super Late Models up in Wisconsin. Lately, I haven’t been running much. I have no sponsors, and as you probably know, SLMs are not cheap in any way.

Q:    What are your plans for Season 1 2014?

A:    My goal is to race with racers, and until I win a race without lapping someone in a 70 lap race that wasn’t wrecked, my goals are unmet.

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