(Track Map of Elkhart Lake's Road America)
The eighth race of the Sim Racer's Edge Alpha IR18 Series Season 4 presented by Ecency.com was held on the very long and fast Road America road course. The 14-turn, 4.04-mile track is very fast with several great overtaking opportunities at the end of the long straights that help push the top speed well over 180mph. The track also has some noticeable elevation changes that can make navigating the course very tricky.
(Siefker and Davis lead the field to the green flag)
Again, road course ace Nate Siefker would be the man to beat for both the pole position and the race win before the event got underway. Nate would again flex his muscle on the road course, setting a pole winning lap of 1:45.478. Joining Nate on the front row would be championship rival Butch Davis, who set a lap of 1:45.730. Chad Simpson would qualify P3 with a time of 1:45.977, and alongside him would be the series' youngest driver, Jake Walsh, who set a time of 1:46.060. Row 3 would see Kris Walker starting in P5 with a lap of 1:46.300, with Lyle Swearingen in P6, who set a time of 1:46.777. Starting in row 4 would be Bentley Glaser in P7 alongside Jari Bruppacher in P8. Row 5 would see Jack Turner grid up in P9 alongside Kevin O'Brien in P10. Chris Simard would start P11, followed by Jeffrey Rollette in P12. Jose Viguera would start P13, next to Mike Grandy in P14. Ernie Ludwig would roll off in P15, next to Dale Weiser in P16, the last driver to record a lap time in qualifying. Jeff Hollingsworth would start P17, followed by Mark McFadyen in P18, Paul Krumrei in P19, Ryan Cruze in P20, and Dan Brasington in P21.
(Everyone makes it through turn 1 at the start)
Siefker would lead the field to the green flag, with the field successfully navigating turn 1 without incident. Behind the field, Swearingen, Viguera, and Cruze opted to start their race from the pit lane. With a long race ahead of them, the drivers quickly sorted positions and got themselves focused on the long haul. Swearingen was making up quite a bit of ground on lap 1, but lost the back end of the car and spun exiting turn 8, slamming the tire barriers on the left at corner exit. At the end of lap 1, Siefker held a little less than a one second lead over Davis and Simpson, with Walsh, Bruppacher, Walker, and Glaser not far behind. Further back in the field, great battles were shaping up between Ludwig, Weiser, Grandy, Krumrei, Hollingsworth, and Brasington. Swearingen came down pit lane to get repairs made to the front wing, exiting just in front of the leaders. Unfortunately for Swearingen, he got loose yet again, this time at turn 5, overcorrecting and sending the car hurtling towards the concrete barriers on the right side of corner exit. The damage would force Swearingen back into pit lane for a more lengthy stay while repairs were made again. Ludwig and Grandy made contact on the exit of the hairpin, with Grandy taking to the grass after the contact. Some front suspension damage would force Grandy into the pits at the end of the lap for necessary repairs. Ludwig would go off-roading in the same corner on lap 5, but luckily was able to avoid contact, only losing one position to Brasington in the process. Walsh used the outside line on lap 9 to get around Simpson for P3, while Siefker and Davis ran 1-2 and continued to pull away from the rest of the field. Walker was now P5 and right on the tail of Simpson. Glaser was P6, a few seconds adrift of the battle for P2. Bruppacher was P7 and Simard P8, both running close together but five seconds off of Glaser. O'Brien held P9 with Weiser in close pursuit in P10. Turner was P11, Krumrei P12, and Rollette P13, all about a second apart from each other. Swearingen was behind Rollette, but a lap down to the leaders and running in P21. Hollingsworth was P14, with Brasington breathing down his neck only a couple tenths behind in P15. Ludwig was P16, Viguera P17, Cruze P18, McFadyen P19, and Grandy P20, all with a lot of space between them.
(Turn 3, which would play a pivotal role later)
With pit stops starting on lap 10, the field would get a little jumbled up during the stops. Siefker brought Davis, Walsh, and Walker with him at the end of lap 10, handing the lead to Simpson. Behind those four, Bruppacher, Weiser, Krumrei, Rollette, and Brasington pitted. Davis slid through his stall and was forced to reverse to get in position for his crew to do work, losing several seconds in the process. Out on track, Glaser motored past Simpson on the run to the hairpin to take the lead. Glaser would lead Simpson to the pit lane at the end of lap 11, effectively handing the lead back to Siefker. Behind Glaser and Simpson, O'Brien and Turner also hit pit road, with Hollingsworth and Ludwig not far behind. Cruze and McFadyen would complete the pit stop cycle at the end of lap 11. Viguera, who had stretched his fuel to pit at the end of lap 12, had technical gremlins strike yet again, ending his race early. Brasington got a little too wide exiting turn 8, dipped the right side tires into the dirt on corner exit, and spun the car to the left and into the barriers. The damage would force Brasington back into the pits, losing significant time overall. At the 1/3rd mark of the race, Siefker held a 2.5 second lead over Davis in P2, Walker in P3, Walsh in P4, and Glaser in P5. Simpson was now P6, Bruppacher P7, Simard P8, Weiser P9, and Krumrei P10. Rollette was P11, Turner P12, O'Brien P13, Hollingsworth P14, and Ludwig P15. Grandy was P16 and Cruze P17, the last car still on the lead lap. McFadyen was P18, Brasington P19, Viguera still classified in P20 after his disconnect, and Swearingen P21 while still sitting in the pits but not officially retired from the event.
(Swearingen heading in the wrong direction)
After a bit of a lull in the action, things got interesting on lap 17. Walsh got a bad run out of turn 5, allowing Walker to get to his inside heading to the uphill turn 6. With Walker having inside position, Walsh turned in just a little too early and clipped Walker's right rear, sending Walsh wide on corner exit and clipping the grass. This sent the young driver into a spin directly in the path of Glaser who had neither the room nor time to react to avoid contact. While both cars were able to drive away from the scene, both were passed by Simpson who inherited P4. With the second round of pit stops approaching, Walker would be the first to head down pit lane for service at the end of lap 20, followed by Walsh, Krumrei, and Rollette. Davis would bring his car to pit lane at the end of lap 21, eventually followed by Weiser and Bruppacher. Siefker would pit a lap later on lap 22, followed by Simpson, Glaser, Simard, Hollingsworth, Ludwig, and the lapped car of Brasington. Turner was able to go a lap further than anyone else on the lead lap, pitting at the end of lap 23, bracketed by the lapped cars of Cruze and McFadyen. O'Brien was the final car to stop, coming in at the end of lap 23. After all of the pit stops cycled through, Siefker maintained the lead, now 8 seconds ahead of Davis in P2. Walker was in P3 and in hot pursuit of Davis, with Simpson not far behind in P4. Walsh would round out the top 5, having recovered from his earlier incident. Simard was now P6, Glaser P7, Bruppacher P8, Krumrei P9, and Turner P10. Rollette was P11, Hollingsworth P12, Weiser P13, and Ludwig P14, the last car on the lead lap. O'Brien was P15, Grandy P16, Cruze P17, and McFadyen P18, all 1 lap down to the leader. Brasington was P19, 2 laps down, and Swearingen returned to the track to run a couple laps to move past Viguera for P20.
(Brasington finds the concrete barriers unforgiving)
On lap 25, O'Brien missed his braking point for Canada Corner and slid off into the barriers, knocking off the front wing of his car in the process. He would eventually head to the pit lane and retire the car at the end of lap 27. On lap 30, Walker got a great run out of the last corner and used his push-to-pass to get alongside Davis on the front straight. The two drivers sailed off into turn 1 side-by-side, with Walker gaining a slight advantage on corner exit. Heading into turn 3, Walker crowded Davis to the outside, but with no room left to spare between himself and the grass, Davis held his ground and contact was made between the two drivers. The contact sent both off into the gravel, with Walker looping his car and getting stuck while Davis was able to continue, though now missing the right main element of his front wing. Apologies were immediately sent from Walker's team to Davis' team, and while accepted, the damage was done and Davis was now focused on recovery mode. The contact, subsequent off-roading, and slowed pace due to damage had cost Davis dearly, losing 10 seconds on that lap alone to Simpson who had inherited P3. Davis elected to stay on track to avoid an extra pit stop due to fuel concerns, so another couple of painfully slow laps would follow before he would pit at the end of lap 32. Further back, Grandy had another excursion off-track but was able to maintain control and continue on. Walsh picked up the pieces from the incident between Walker and Davis and took over P4, but threw it away less than 2 laps later when he missed his braking point for turn 8 and clobbered the tire barriers. Davis would move aside on lap 32 and allow Simpson through for P2, seeing no sense in holding his teammate up while he continued on with the damaged car.
(Walker crowds Davis just a little too much)
(Walker and Davis off into the gravel after contact)
Rollette would be the first driver to make his final stop, coming to pit lane at the end of lap 31. Davis would bring his damaged car to pit lane not long after at the end of lap 32, followed by Grandy, Simard, and Bruppacher. Siefker would hit pit lane at the end of lap 33, with Weiser close behind but now a lap down. Simpson would be next on pit road with Ludwig close behind. Glaser headed down pit road and would soon be followed by the rest of the field, with the exception of Turner who would wait until the end of lap 35 to make his final stop.
(Walsh's race takes a turn for the worse)
With the final stops completed, Siefker had a comfortable lead over Simpson in P2, with Davis pushing hard in P3 trying to close the gap. Glaser and Simard were in a tight battle for P4, with less than half a second separating them on track. Bruppacher was holding steady in P6, the last car on the lead lap. Turner was now P7 after his late race stop, the first car 1 lap down to the leader. Weiser was P8, Krumrei P9, and Rollette round out the top 10. Hollingsworth was P11, Ludwig P12, and Walker P13, all also 1 lap down to the leader. McFadyen was P14, 2 laps down, with Cruze in P15, 3 laps down and the last car running. Davis would make a late-race charge to get to the rear of Simpson, but it would amount to nothing more than a show of pace as Davis had to back off to preserve fuel to make it to the end of the race. The rest of the field held station, with the only further mishap being when Cruze slid off track on lap 34 with no contact.
(Krumrei sends a defenseless cone flying in the background)
Siefker would grab his fifth checkered flag of the season, making it three in a row and five total on the season. Simpson's clean race with no incidents and 2nd place finish helps close the gap to Davis who recovered to finish 3rd, but both continue to lose ground on Siefker in the championship chase. Rounding out the top 5 were Glaser in P4 and Simard in P5, both having great recoveries to get into the top 5. Bruppacher finished P6, the first car 1 lap down to the leaders. Turner came home with a solid P7, the first car 1 lap down, after a clean race with no incidents, the only driver other than Simpson to accomplish that feat. Weiser again had a relatively quiet race and finished P8, continuing his improvement on the road courses. Krumrei finished P9, a solid day for the driver who isn't exactly fond of or comfortable on road courses. Rollette held on to round out the top 10, and did so while extremely ill behind the wheel. Hollingsworth brought the car home in P11 with Ludwig not far behind in P12. Walker's early promise turned to heartbreak and anger at himself, limping home to a P13 finish, the first car 2 laps down. McFadyen wasn't far behind in P14, a decent finish for the "elder statesman" of the series. Ryan Cruze crossed the line in P15, 3 laps down, but just completing the race seemed like a victory for the rookie. Walsh finished P16 and 8 laps down, a disappointment after his strong practice and qualifying pace. Brasington finished P17 and 10 laps down, the last car running in the race. Grandy would be classified P18, O'Brien P19, Swearingen P20, all victims of in-race incidents that ended their races early. Viguera would finish P21, last place, due to technical issues that ended his race.
(Siefker collects another checkered flag)
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