Faulks Vaults Atop Championship With Homestead Win

Faulks leads Joe Slama and Larry Scott Jr. in the feature race at Homestead.

As the final season of the 2014 NASCAR iRacing Class B Open Oval Series comes to the half-way point, it has became apparent that a large host of suitors are in the running for the season-ending trophy.  Randall Faulks threw his name into the hat during Week 3 at Homestead-Miami Speedway by not only winning the week, but also taking over the points lead with three races remaining on the schedule.

2014 Season 3 champion, Lowline Racing’s Trent Ringler, came to Homestead the week with a 33 point lead over Gale Force Racing’s Larry Scott Jr.  However, by the end of the sim racers left the digital South Florida track, BRB Motorsports’ Faulks had jumped the pair with a win in a rare late week top strength of field race.

“This season has been amazing so far.  I can’t thank the guys over at BRB enough.” — Randall Faulks

BRB Motorsports was setting up for a strong week as Brian Lovingood won on opening night in a 3304 SOF race and looked like the result would hold as the week progressed.  The usual trend had been that the top races fall in the prime time early in the week, but Friday night’s 9:00 EST race dispelled that theory as Faulks made his claim to victory lane.

Wicked Autosports’ Joe Slama led the 21-car field to the green flag in the 3778 SOF race around the 1.5-mile Homestead oval for the 80 lap feature.  Slama stayed on point until the first caution when David Lam picked-up the lead out of pits on Lap 13.  Larry Scott Jr. took over the lead three laps later and held on to it until Lap 39 when Faulks and Slama began swapping the lead until the second caution of race at Lap 44.  From there, Faulks and Scott exchanged P1 several times with Slama waiting for his opportunity.  Although he got around Scott, Slama fell short of Faulks at the line by a nose with a margin of victory of .086 seconds.  Scott Jr. was right there for third .717 seconds behind while BRB’s Danny McCune Jr. took home fourth, 1.564s back and Lowline’s John Mycka rounded-out the top five 3.229 seconds back.

With the checkered flag in sight for this truncated season, there is no shortage of contenders for the Class B Open title.

“Coming into this race, I was just looking for a solid finish to lock in some points,” said Statesville, NC’s Randall Faulks.  “As the race played out, I realized that I had a great chance to win.  Coming down to the end, I thought Joe (Slama) might have had a better car but I hammered down and went to work getting the win.  This season has been amazing so far.  I can’t thank the guys over at BRB enough.  Those guys are committed to bringing the fastest car possible each and every week and I can’t wait to go out these last few races and try for a championship for these guys.”

“I thought Joe (Slama) might have had a better car but I hammered down and went to work getting the win.”– Randall Faulks

Slama set the fastest lap of the race at 32.723 seconds.  Larry Scott Jr. led the most laps at 33 with Faulks at 29, Slama at 15, and Lam with three.  The feature race had three yellow flag periods for 12 laps along with seven lead changes.

The late week win earned Faulks 239 championship points for Homestead.  The Friday night victory was Faulks’ only race of the week.  Larry Scott Jr. earned one win and three top fives in three starts to take second for the week with 215.  Lovingood held onto third for the week, winning both of his starts for 213 points.  BRB Motorsports rounded-out the top five with Shannon Segler earning two top fives in three starts for 196 points and Danny McCune Jr. putting-in work for fifth with six wins, ten top-fives in 12 starts for 190 points.

Chris R Jennings continues to get his money’s worth out of his iRacing membership, posting 27 races at Homestead for 2063 laps.  Chris earned six wins and 23 top fives.  Jennings, with TruSpeed Motorsports, has racked-up 77 starts during the first three weeks of the season.  He tied Danny McCune Jr. with most wins for the week at six.  TruSpeed’s Michael Vanosdol led with week with seven poles in nine starts, and also led the most laps for the week with 452.

With 77 races in three weeks — including six wins in 27 starts at Homestead — Jennings (2) is the runaway leader in Class B’s “Get Your Money’s Worth” award.

With Ringler’s 15th place finish for the Homestead week, Faulks jumped to the lead of the championship standings sitting at 626 points.  However, it is a slim lead with Larry Scott Jr. lurking nine points backs.  Ringler falls to third 30 points behind while Lovingood holds down fourth 77 points back.  Lowline’s Brian Ammerman rounds out the top five 83 points back.

Division winners for week 3 at Homestead were: 1 – Randall Faulks 239 (Carolina).  2 – Shannon Segler 196 (Mid-South).  3 – Yannick Van Broeck 136 (Benelux).  4 – Philipp Wigert 114 (DE-AT-CH).  5 – Mark Magnotta 86 (Pennsylvania).  6 – Jerry Favorito 81 (New York).  7 – John A. Schulte 93 (Indiana).  8 – Nicholas Winzurk 89 (Georgia).  9 – Donald Brooks 67 (Mid-South).  10 – Don Runkle 38 (California).

Division leaders after three weeks are: 1 – Randall Faulks 626 (Carolina).  2 – Shannon Segler 519 (Mid-South).  3 – Yannick Van Broeck 402 (Benelux).  4 – Hunter Lowe 298 (Virginias).  5 – Eli Rocha 277 (Brazil).  6 – Jerry Favorito 263 (New York).  7 – John A Schulte 246 (Indiana).  8 – Mike B. Logsdon 144 (Mid-South).  9 – Tim Lempe 106 (California).  10 – – Don Runkle 46 (California).

The ominous high banks of Bristol await the NASCAR iRacing.com Class B Open Championship for Week 4.  The .533-mile bull ring in Bristol, Tennessee, will most likely be a game-changer in the chase for final season of 2014.  As Ringler’s 1/2 point loss in the final standings of 2014 Season 2 proved, every point is critical.  With only six races and one drop — and a trip to Talladega on the horizon — the week at Bristol could be key to securing a chance at this season’s title.

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