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David Phillips
Editor and ChiefDavid Phillips is a long-time contributor to print and electronic publications in the U.S. and abroad, including Racer, Autosport, AutoWeek, Motor Sport and SPEEDtv.com, oversees the daily updating of news stories and assigns, edits and contributes feature material for inRacingNews.com.
Chris Hall
iRacing.com Series WriterChris Hall has been writing since the nineties and moved into motorsports reporting in 2005, covering series such as ALMS, British GT, FIA GT, Le Mans and 2CV racing for Full Throttle magazine, Motorsport.com, The-Paddock.net, GTGateway.com, L' Endurance and, of course, inRacingNews. During 2008 and 2009, he worked with the RSS Performance Porsche Carrera Cup Team (and former British GT(C) champions) as a data engineer for a variety of drivers and models of 997s.
Jameson Spies
Contributing Writer19 years old, Jameson Spies lives in Quartz Hill, California. He grew-up surrounded by racing. His mother raced late models throughout Southern California while his father built and setup the car. Not surprisingly, Jameson began racing go-karts at the age of 13, and is now racing Spec Trucks at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He has a passion about all forms of racing and hopes to make a career out of it.
Jason Lofing
iRacing.com Series WriterJason is 21 years old and was born and raised in Elk Grove. California. A big time NASCAR fan, he hasn’t missed a race on Sunday in years. Lofing is also a huge San Fransisco Giants fan and tries to take in at least a couple games a year. Other than sim racing, his biggest (and far more expensive!) hobby is photography. Although he is rather new to sim racing, Lofing has already accomplished some pretty impressive results, qualifying for the 2011 iRacing Oval Pro Series in Season 1, 2011, winning the inaugural Landon Cassill Qualifying Challenge and finishing runner-up in the second one.
David Ifeguni
Contributing WriterI was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1988 and moved to Midland, Michigan when I was two years old. I stayed there until third grade when I moved to Farmington Hills, Michigan and now I currently live in Naperville, IL where I'm attending Metea Valley High School as a 9th grader. In the past, I have participated in soccer and this year I plan on joining swimming or water polo. My family includes my 15 year old sister, a 7 year old sister and my mom and dad. I have been writing since 6th grade and have participated in many writing contests in my school and have received several awards for writing.
My fascination for motorsports began when I was nine. The first NASCAR race I watched on TV was the 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, won by Kasey Kahne. My favorite NASCAR drivers are Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jimmie Johnson. I have watched all the races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series since 2010. I currently have three wins on iRacing, two of them in the Nationwide car at Daytona and one in the Street stocks at Charlotte. My favorite car and type of track on iRacing is the Nationwide Series (B Class) car and superspeedways.
Katier Scott
Contributing WriterI am a veteran sim racer who first started racing way back in 1993 on the SPRTSIMS section of Compuserve with a league who can trace themselves all the way to the present. Within that league I act as Chief Steward and try to bring the unique viewpoint that this experience gives me into my articles.
I have a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Editorial design and have been writing for seven years and currently cover the Lotus 79 CTC and Radical series alongside my freelance work. Living in the UK, as well as motorsports I love Photography, Arts and Crafts and reading.
Dylan Sharman
Contributing WriterI was born in Adelaide and we moved-out for Angle Vale for a few years until I was about 7 years old, when we moved to the Barossa Valley where I live now. I'm 19 years old and currently traveling back and forth weekly as I'm studying for a Diploma of Furniture Design and Technology.
I've always had a love for racing as my close family did some racing and we were always out at the local dirt track. I joined iRacing back in 2010 and slowly but surely got the hang of it as this is my first experience with sim racing and am loving it each time I race. I've won two SK Modified titles (almost had three in a row but finished P2 in 2011 S4), an inRacingNews Challenge championship (2012 S1 Mazda) and was also an AustralAsian Intel GT Series Finalist.
Nathan Aljoe
Contributing WriterNathan's passion for motorsport first began in the late 1980s, captivated by the season in which Aryton Senna won his first F1 title with McLaren. Over the years his interest widened to include the British Touring Car Championship, World Rally Championship, NASCAR and various other forms of motorsport. Nathan began sim-racing in the mid 1990s using games developed by Papyrus. He later moved onto SimBim simulations such as GTR, GTR2 and GTR Evolution and has most recently joined the iRacing community.
When he's not working or sim racing, Nathan enjoys spending time and relaxing with his family. Other hobbies include going to festivals, tinkering with his car and doing up his house.
Austin Hartenfels
Contributing WriterBorn and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I have always had a serious passion for cars and motorsports. Hoping one day to become an automotive journalist for a magazine, I constantly crave the exciting competition that comes along with racing and sim-racing. Having participated in a mere test session in a Legends car at Old Dominion Speedway, I have not been able to get into any real-life competition . . . yet.
As a sim racer, my interests date back to "GTR Evolution." My goal is to have fun and win some races. I made it to Oval Pro in 2010, but did not become very successful. I enjoy any mixed road racing competition and love racing the Silverados around almost any track.
Jordan Hightower
Contributing WriterJordan began sim-racing in 2005 with the NASCAR Racing 2003 Season sim and then joined the iRacing community in June of 2008. He hails from Fort Smith, Arkansas where he is currently enrolled at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith, after which he plans to attend the University of Arkansas to earn his MBA. Although he enjoys watching and playing basketball, most of Jordan's focus is on motorsports, particularly NASCAR: "Anything that burns gas and goes fast, I like."
Scott Kelly
Contributing WriterBorn and raised in the greater St. Louis, Missouri area, Scott Kelly has had a love for motorsports ever since his father did the right thing by introducing auto racing into his life. No longer able to quench his need for speed by spectating NASCAR races on TV and watching dirt track stars slide around local tracks, Kelly eventually picked-up sim racing in his teens, wheeling cars found in Ratbag Games' "Dirt Track Racing" and "World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars" while also becoming introduced into multiple Papyrus sim-racing series. Joining the iRacing ranks in late 2011, Kelly set his sights on the short track racing he was familiar with, focusing on the sprint car, while also driving the Legends and street stock in multiple iRacing.com leagues.
Kelly brings not just his enthusiasm for racing to the highest-rated motorsports simulation, but also his B.A. degree in English; he covers the action seen in the iRacing.com Sprint Car Series, while also placing the spotlight on various leagues within the service. Enjoying his start to a career in motorsports journalism, Kelly also doesn't mind visiting victory lane from time-to-time.
Kenneth O'Keefe
Contributing WriterKenneth was born in Smithville, Ontario on December 23, 1994. A major racing fan, he enjoys competitive kart racing in the Rotax Max category at Mosport International Karting. Kenneth also tunes into Formula One and NASCAR races on those Sundays when he is not at the kart track.
O'Keefe has been sim-racing since 2005, starting on the Live For Speed simulator. After moving to iRacing in 2008, he was able to qualify for the NASCAR iRacing Pro Series (NiPS) in both 2011 and 2012. He will continue to compete and write about the iRacing.com Skip Barber Series throughout the coming year before taking another run at the NiPS in late 2013.
Chris Owens
Contributing WriterI was born in Florence, South Carolina in 1989 and have lived here my entire life. I've been around racing since I was a young kid watching with my dad on Sundays. In 2009 and found my local track, Florence Motor Speedway and started working for them as a PR guy the same year. At the end of that season, I started writing for RACE22.com, a Late Model Stock Car news site. In 2010, I picked up my first DSLR camera and started shooting races. To this day, I've experienced some of the best races from behind the camera.
I've been with the iRacing service since its public beta in 2008, back when the top oval car was the Late Model. I've been in over 500 races on the service with 70+ wins on both oval and road. My favorite car on the service is the Chevrolet Silverado. Darlington Raceway and Concord Speedway are my favorite tracks simply because everybody hates them.
George Wood
Contributing WriterAfter beginning his racing career with go-karts at age seven, George then turned wrenches on street stocks until he could finally turn the wheel. Following the successes of his friends and family, George has since retired from real-world racing, where he is now a science and mathematics faculty member for several local community colleges. When George isn't grading laboratory reports or iRacing, he is performing at bluegrass festivals in the Northeast, making fishing lures, playing golf, and rooting for his beloved Baltimore Orioles.
Empty Keg Racing dominates at Road America
by Ed Sutcliff and Andy Feldman on January 22nd, 2013
Empty Keg Racing boasts two of the top drivers in the Red Sox Racing League, Paul Hesla and Patrick Guerin. With their history of RSR league wins, no one was surprised when the 2013 season began with a win by Hesla and a strong 4th place finish by Guerin. Riding a wave of momentum out of Florida, the EKR team arrived in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin full of energy for the “Blain’s Farm 30″ at Road America.
Hesla and Guerin dominated qualifying for the event and were the only two drivers to post sub 2:07 laps. Hesla earned his second pole in a row with a lap time of 2:06.391 while Guerin earned the outside position of row one with a lap time of 2:06.853. Brian Irby (3rd), Douglas Beard (4th), Tommy Rhyne (5th), Les Turner (6th), Brad Vincent (7th), John Koscielniak (8th), Nim Cross Jr (9th), and Michael Gagliardo (10th) completed the first five rows of the grid.
The remaining spots were earned by; Chris Weidner, Reed Rundell, Andrew Gantman, Andrew Humphrey, Dean Moll, Pierre Robitaille, Stefan Hojnowski, Tony Duffy, Dean Ayer, Michael Baley, Terry Daul, Dennis Griffen, Scott Husted, Bill McCaw, David Weiss, Gary Jorgensen, Cyril Roberts, Andrew Feldman, Jeff Thomas, James Prostell Jr., Ed Sutcliff, William Kabela, Kevin Kyle, Divina Galica, David Berry, and David Holzwarth.
Road America is a fast road course featuring 14 corners and 3 straights along a sprawling 4.04 mile layout. The long front stretch gives drivers the opportunity to test the top speeds of their cars before they reach the first corner which lulls many into trouble. Despite being nearly 90 degrees turn one can be taken quickly as long it is turned into precisely. RSR drivers managed to avoid the dangers of turn one at the start of the race, but couldn’t complete the full opening lap without incident.
Several drivers had off-course penalties as they overshot corners having not backed up their braking points to accommodate tight traffic at the start, but the most serious incident happened between turns two and three when Dennis Griffen and Dean Ayer tangled on the downhill heading into T3. After light contact with Baley’s rear bumper entering T1, Ayer lost momentum which allowed Griffen to pull ahead on the approach to T3 and when Ayer moved over to setup his entry to the corner, he clipped Griffen’s right rear corner which forced Griffen off track and into a nifty 360 spin through the grass. Griffen’s momentum carried him into the right side of Hojnowski, sending the 17th place starter into a scary two wheeled ride that he somehow saved before his car went completely over and onto its roof.
Griffen ended up at a dead stop, facing backwards on the track as the rest of the field came barreling through at race speed. With no way to avoid the stranded car, Terry Daul managed to stop his ITT Storm Front Racing MP4 just as it reached the front grill of Griffen’s car. The unfortunate pair were forced to sit still while the the field passed them. Likewise, David Weiss and James Prostell Jr. were trapped behind the pair. Hojnowski’s car was undamaged and all drivers were able to continue racing, but Griffen was forced to pit for repairs.
Galica and Kyle both spun in T9 on the opening lap. Galica kicked things off as her car understeered mid-corner and slid off the left side of the course. Kyle, overcorrecting to avoid Galica’s lazy spin, followed suit with an almost identical maneuver. Their cars tapped lightly before coming to a stop in the sand. Both drivers escaped the incident without damage.
On the second lap Husted succumbed to the dangers at T1 when he carried too much speed into a wide entry on lap two and slid off the left edge of the track surface. He spun harmlessly in to the dirt before recovering control and rejoining the action.
Lap five saw another group of drivers risking damage for an extra inch of track at T1. A fierce battle between three drivers trying to remain in the top-10 saw Koscielniak, Rundell, and Gagliardo running 3-wide past the start/finish line and down the front stretch towards T1 at breakneck speed. Rundell wisely eased off the gas before the pack reached the corner, but misjudged Koscielniak’s braking point and lightly tapped the rear of his car has he moved to tuck in behind Koscielniak in the outside line. All three drivers continued racing through the corner without losing position.
Daul was mired in the back half of the field when he got sideways and went off course at T8 on lap five. His car slid backwards through the sand before slamming into the tires, but Daul was able to continue racing.
Kyle had an exciting night, using up three of his nine lives in this race alone. After his incident with Galica in the carousel, he used up the second of his nine lives when he lost control and spun in T1 on lap eight. His car did a lazy 360 spin and avoided contact with the wall, allowing him to return to the track in one piece. He escaped a similar incident in T8 on lap eleven without damage.
Berry was hot on the tail of Holzwarth’s car on lap eight when he lost control of his car at T7. He continued driving despite hard contact with the tire barrier, then did exactly the same thing one lap later. His car must have been built to military specs, because it kept running even after making hard contact a second time.
Duffy nearly collided with Moll as they slowed for T14 on lap eight, but managed to avoid the contact by steering his car off track. “I was expecting Dean to be a little faster coming out of that corner”, said Duffy after the race. “Glad we didn’t hit him!”
Feldman began the race in 28th place and had worked himself into 16th position following his pit stop on lap nine. His hard work didn’t pay off however, as the Arrested Development Racing driver carried too much speed into T8 and spun exiting the corner. The accident happened with Weiss and Prostell right behind him, but both were able to avoid Feldman as he went off track. “We had the car dialed in tonight. I was hoping to steal a good finish and lift the Bluth family’s spirits, but I lost my rhythm after pitting. I’m glad David and James didn’t get caught up in my mistake.”
Roberts began the night near the back of the pack and had worked himself into contention for a top-10 finish before he was forced to pit for repairs after his car slammed into the concrete wall on the left side of T13 on lap nine. “I don’t know what happened there”, said Roberts. “We had been running great laps until that point, but the car was never the same afterwards. We’ll come back strong next week.”
In the closing laps Baley and Feldman were locked in a tight battle ahead of Jeff Thomas when Feldman got into the rear bumper of Baley’s car at T5 of lap twelve. Both drivers were able to continue racing, but Feldman was unable to challenge Baley again.
Duffey and McCaw tangled at the entry of T1 on lap fourteen, an incident caused when Duffey tried to make a pass for position. Duffey had the inside position, but got his right side tires on the rumble strips and was forced to move left as he and McCaw battled through the corner. Their cars side swiped just enough to send Duffey to spin off of the track surface as McCaw continued on a race pace.
Turner and Cross had a good battle throughout the race. Cross passed Turner on lap 4 in a daring move to the inside at Turn 3 and maintained his advantage until pitting. Having pitted several laps earlier than Cross, Turner had enough momentum on lap 8 to carry him around the outside of T1 as Cross exited the pits. However only a few corners later Cross out braked Turner at the approach to T5 and then kept Turner behind him in the closing laps.
Reed Rundell slid wide into the gravel at T1 as he exited the pits on lap 8 allowing Chris Weidner through. Weidner relinquished the spot 2 laps later at Moraine Sweep on the approach to T5 after Rundell exited T3 slightly faster. Rundell then set off after Turner and made a bold passing attempt on the outside of T5 in the race’s final lap. Rundell menaced Turner for the remainder of the lap, however Turner prevailed. Just behind their fierce battle Gagliardo took advantage of a cautious Weidner in T5 and passed him on the run uphill to turn 6.
Ignoring the battles and incidents going on behind them, Hesla and Guerin used incident-free driving to maintain the top two positions for most of the night. Hesla led 13 of the 14 laps run, and only relinquished the lead during the pit cycle. Rhyne was the only other driver to lead a lap. Irby began the race in 3rd place, but dropped to 13th after an off-track bobble on lap two. He was never a factor after that.
Hesla crossed the finish line with a 3.9 second lead over his teammate to earn his second win in a row to begin 2013. Guerin held off a fierce charge from Vincent to secure 2nd place and ensure a EKR sweep of the top-2 spots. Vincent posted the fasted lap of the race (2:07.308) edging out Beard (2:07.383) as he climbed from his 7th place starting position to earn his second consecutive 3rd place finish. Beard and Rhyne rounded out the top-5.
Guerin was thrilled with his race. “We didn’t have much luck in qualifying, but I got lucky and posted a personal best near the end of the session to get onto the front row with Paul. I focused on keeping on Paul’s rear bumper in the early going. We had a good pit stop, but Brad still made up time on us, so he was chasing me pretty hard during the second half of the race. I managed to stay incident free and hang on for 2nd place.”
Cross (6th), Turner (7th), Rundell (8th), Gagliardo (9th), and Weidner (10th) battled hard throughout the race to earn top-10 finishes.
Former RSR champion Turner was eager to speak with reporters after the race. “There was some pretty intense racing up front when we went green. I had some great battles with Tommy, Nim, and Chris in the first half. Nim and I swapped places a few times after the pit cycle. Reed got past Chris and joined us for the last four laps. With the competition out there tonight, and an incident free finish, 7th place feels like a win! Laguna Seca is going to be interesting!”
Hesla, Guerin, Beard, Rhyne, Turner, Weidner, Thomas, and Kabela earned bonus points for completing the race without incident.
Hesla enjoys a nine point lead over Vincent and Guerin in the championship race. Turner, Rhyne, Beard, Gagliardo, Rundell, Koscielniak, and Weidner round out the top ten spots.
Empty Keg Racing (Guerin/Hesla) enjoy a 17 point lead over Team VBR (Vincent/Beard), in the team competition. Storm Front Racing (Koscielniak/Daul), Teamdraft Srt (Thomas/Turner), and TOC Racing (McGrew/Husted) rounding out the top five spots.
Next Race
RSR members travel to California for next week’s race, the “Pebble Beach 30″ at Laguna Seca.
Results / Standings / Video coverage
Race Results: http://rsr.ileaguerace.com/champ/show_event_result/Red-Sox-Racing-League/2866
League Standings: http://rsr.ileaguerace.com/champ/show_champ/Red-Sox-Racing-League/432
League Video Site: http://www.youtube.com/user/draftin11