Sparks Flying in the Battle for the Crown

The tenth week of the iRacing.com IndyCar Oval Series saw the return of the IndyCars to Pocono after 24 years away in conjunction with the Indy 400 Triple Crown event. Over a thousand race teams took to the iRacing.com version of the Tricky Triangle in both the Fixed and Open series. The three cornered track is 2.5 miles in length with all three corners carrying their own characteristics.

The iRacing.com IndyCar Fixed Oval Series saw 21 drivers take place in the 3514 strength of field race. The race saw Matt Cooke (Canada) sitting on the pole for the first time as he claimed the #1 Dallara for the event, but Cooke was seen in the garage area early into the race after heavy contact with the wall. Not too long into the event Tim Doyle (Atlantic) managed to take the lead, but it only took one lap as Florian Godard (France) brought out the first caution after making contact with Denis Garese (France). The incident caused Brandon Trost (Penn.) to slam the wall and brake his right front suspension, entering Turn 1 under yellow flag Trost did not perceive the damage his car had taken until it was too late and his car bounced off the wall and collected Jim Rasmussen (New Jersey), Matt A Kingsbury (New England), and Nicolas Parenti (France). Kingsbury, Parenti, and Rasmussen were able to get their cars repaired and back on the track at full speed. Caution number two came out as Parenti under-steered wide into the path of the #18 Dallara of Matthias Willhardt (DE-AT-CH) sending Willhardt into the wall and ending his night, Parenti recovering from the wreck then got into the rear of Kingsbury who had clipped the curb of Turn 3 and slowed drastically as they had gone three wide. Doyle led the restart which saw the rivalry between Dave Judson (Ohio) and point leader Andre Castro (New York) heat up as Judson slammed into the side of Castro as the two continued to rough house each other throughout the race. With five laps to go Jonathan Goke (Mid-South) took control of the race setting the fastest lap of 41.702 on lap 26 en-route to the win under yellow flag. Doyle took second position while Judson finished on the final step of the podium ahead of rival Castro. Troy Eddy (Atlantic) finished fifth 2.391 seconds behind Goke.

The iRacing.com Fixed Oval Series point championship tightens up as Castro leads hard charging Doyle by only 10 points entering the final two week of the season. Third position (1480) driver Goke strengthens his threat to the title this week after winning at the Tricky Triangle. Fourth position 1463) is held by Matt Lambertson (Penn.). Rounding out the top five (1271) is Eddy . It appears the Fixed championship will be a four horse race as Castro, Doyle, Goke, and Lambertson struggle for the title.

The iRacing.com Open Oval Series point standings see Randy Crossno (California) with a 99 point advantage over second position’s (1064) Lambertson. Rounding out the podium (1044) is Cooke. Rob Unglenieks (Michigan) holds the fourth position with 1034. Fifth and sixth place drivers Goke and Martin Miller2 (Mid-South) still appear to be the biggest threats to the title with both not yet having eight starts in the twelve week season.

The penultimate week of the season sees the teams head to Kentucky Speedway. The Kentucky Derby will not be the only horse race in this state as the IndyCar Oval series gallop into town to put on a show that could determine the championship for both series.

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