Miller Magic at New Hampshire
December 19th, 2011 by DavidP
Defending NASCAR iRacing.com Class C Series (NiCCS) Champion Ashley Miller showcased his talent once again in the series by taking the overall win during Week Six of the 2011 Season Four season at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Miller’s victory in the 3012 Sterngth of Field (SoF) race on Tuesday put him over the top for Round Six with 188 points. Seven cautions slowed the 90-lap event for 25 laps and Miller showed his strength by leading 55 laps in the event. Second place belonged to Alan Jones while pole-sitter Heath Hindman, Roger Wagner and Phil Brown completed the top five.
Runner-up in the Granite State belonged to Greg Evans based on his performance in the top split race of the week. The online race, which tipped the scales at 3015 SoF on Saturday saw John Gibson go to victory lane. Gibson led 83 of the 90 laps of the race from the pole position. Evans was second, followed by Larry Pitts, Brad Ferrell and Rock Harris. The lead was exchanged four times between trio of sim racers while eight caution flags slowed the pace of the race. Gibson would go on to make six additional starts during the week – winning in five of those while Evans and his 177 points from this race would lock down second place.
Third on the week also took home 177 points but, in PJ Stergios’ case, it was a win that sealed those points for the NASCAR iRacing.com Pro Series driver. Stergios led 62 laps en route to the win in Sunday’s 2825 SoF contest. The race saw just three cautions and four lead changes amongst four drivers. NiCCS championship contender (and fellow NiPS driver) Brandon Buchberger was second in the race, followed by pole- sitter Maxx Harris, Cody Kutzner and Mike Bass.
Another championship contender appeared near the top of the 854 competitors during Week Six. That would be Alex Warren, who finished fourth for the week, taking a win on Monday that was good for 176 points. The race was rated at 2820 SoF and was run caution-free. Warren led 29 laps and finished nearly a second ahead of second place Phil Juhring. David Krikorian finished in third with Reginald Gill completing the lead lap competitors in the race in fourth. Mitch McCracken, who finished the event one lap down, was fifth.
Michael Guest was fifth for the week as his one win on the week amounted in 174 points for the Indiana driver. Guest led 22 laps in the 2765 SoF race on Sunday after starting eighth to take the win. Thomas D Smith came home in second, followed by Michael McLain, Adam Gilliland and Roger Jett. Gilliland led the most laps of the race (28), which was slowed by seven caution flags while Smith started from the pole position.
Maxx Harris made 28 starts at New Hampshire over the seven day period – the most of any driver during Round Six. Chris Collins took the most victories of any driver at the “Magic Mile,” taking eight wins at the Loudon track. Jeremy R Allen was the quickest in qualifying with a lap of 30.292 seconds. Gibson, Gilliland, Smith and Eric Hoggarth were among the top five of 279 drivers who got on track for qualifying. Meanwhile, Gibson who captured the glory in Time Trials competition over Smith, Mark Lambert, Derrick Stone and Justin Collver.
By scoring ten more points on the week than Buchberger, Warren extended his lead over his fellow NiCCS competitors by 28 points, 1267 to 1239. Smith sits third, 125 points behind Warren with 1142 markers. Division Two leader Evans moved to fourth with 1111 points with Gilliland sitting in fifth overall (1099) at the halfway point in the season. Divisional leaders from Divisions Three to Ten include William Dick, Michael Norris, Milt Matice, William Hart, Kevin Sockow, Dan Hass, Brian Gudesse3 and Frank Hudson.
Next up for the NASCAR iRacing Class C Series is the Iowa Speedway. Who will exit the short track with the lead in the series? Find out here, next week at inRacingNews!
Until then, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!