Tommy Rhyne used a two tire stop to win the Coastal Safety Auditors 150.
The Premier Racing League AdvoCare Cup Series’ Round of 16 came to a conclusion at the virtual New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Tuesday when title contender Tommy Rhyne used a clever bit of tire strategy to earn his second victory of the season. Rhyne held-off Savage Spinners Pole Award winner Rett McBride in the closing laps after taking just two new tires on his final pit stop. Rhyne’s victory in the Coastal Safety Auditors 150 on Tuesday helped put a exclamation point on his Round of 16 performance, and helped him advance to the Round of 12 starting next week at Dover.
“I just try not to get in a hurry and just try to keep track position,” Rhyne said post race. “I don’t feel like I have to lead every lap like I think some in here try to do. I just try to run my race.”
Rett McBride’s second place finish was good enough to advance him to the Round of 12 as well. Robert Barney, Tim Johnston, and Will Warstler also had solid nights and made up the rest of the top five finishers. Josh Parker led the most laps but was involved in a wreck with 10 laps to go when James Krahula got lose battling with Parker on the outside on Turn 2. Krahula finished 19th but was still able to advance to the Round of 12, while Parker finished in 20th.
Chase contenders #21 Nick Kohan and #76 Rick Thompson were involved in an early wreck.
With the sim racers arriving at the Magic Mile for the elimination race, the bubble around 12th position in the standings was watched closely on Tuesday. Matt LaCross (who has been plagued with internet issues) and Ryan Howard both failed to start, leaving all eyes on Nick Kohan, Don Runkle Jr., Rick Thompson and Kalvin Filarski to see who would advance past the Round of 16. Kohan and Thompson were the first to find trouble when Kohan spun going into Turn 3 on Lap 21, collecting Thompson in the bargain. While Kohan recovered to hold on to 11th spot at the finish and advance to the Round of 12, Thompson would be 50 laps down at the end of the event and a dozen points out of 12th. Filarski also found trouble early and failed to finish the event. On the other hand, Runkle Jr. was able to secure the final transfer position with a top ten finish. Johnathon Caddell, Drew Carroll, Scott Eckrich, Ricky Hardin, Rich Jette, Dan Murray, and Jake Wright also secured Round of 12 spots.
Rett McBride leads the field to the start of the Coastal Safety Auditors 150.
Next week the AdvoCare Cup Series starts the Round of 12 at Dover International Speedway for the Host Venom 200 on September 27th. Tune in at 9pm ET on the Global Sim Racing Channel and check out the Premier Racing League at www.PremierRacingLeague.com and at https://www.facebook.com/PremierRacingLeague.
