iRacers in the Lime Light

by Chris Cunningham on March 3rd, 2010

The Nascar iRacing Late Model Series (NiLMS) made its season debut at Lime Rock Park, a 1.54 mile road course in Lakeville, CT. Online racers from all over the world made their trek to the track with one goal in mind: to win in their Monte Carlo on the first-ever road course race in the entry level NASCAR-sanctioned series. A good percentage of iRacers in all divisions elected to drop this week’s race, focusing on the 11 ovals in the 12 week sim racing season. Lime Rock Park is the sole road course on the NiLMS schedule, and this unique addition to Season One of 2010 could make or break the points race for drivers in their respective divisions. All ten divisions had great racing, and many drivers capitalized in points with great finishes and high Strength of Fields (SOF).

Strangers in a strange land. . . the NASCAR iRacing.com Late Model Series turned left and right at Lime Rock.

Many of the drivers had to become accustomed to the new type of online racing Lime Rock provided in the NiLMS. For many drivers, this was the first road course race of their iRacing career, and several had opt out of the race during warm-up (even the pace laps), because their setups were not as fine-tuned as some of the “road course ringers.”  On the other hand, several drivers commented on how well the Late Model adapted to the track, and said they prefer the Monte Carlo over the Skip Barber car. Illinois driver Scott Fenstermacher commented:

“I have to compliment each and every driver I raced with,” said Illinois driver Scott Fenstermacher.  “Everyone showed a great deal of courtesy to the faster cars, making my life a lot easier. LRP is a fairly tight course, passing is difficult, and forcing a pass on the unwilling can easily go bad and take out both cars”.

Without a doubt, the Late Models were a hit this week, and iRacers from around the globe were surprised by how competitive and fun the car handled this track.   Many drivers would even recommend adding a second road course to the schedule next season.

Division One in the NiLMS saw some great racing and some great points pick-ups. Michael Bidney, who only ran one race at Lime Rock, scored 158 points, the highest number of points an NiLMS driver collected this week. Just one point back, Jason Lofing completed his week with 13 starts, 11 wins, and 13 top fives. This is a stellar effort for Lofing, who just completed his first week in the NiLMS Series.  Patrick Baldwin also picked up 157 points, soaring to victory in his three starts at his home track. Baldwin is also looking to score big points at Stafford Speedway, another Connecticut track, which is going to host the NiLMS in just two weeks.  Baldwin’s strong performance has boosted his points position to 14th place in the Division One standings. Other notable drivers who had strong performances this week are Elmar Erlekotte, who had three wins and five top fives in just six races. Erlekotte picked up 154 points. Both Stephen Rousseau and Rusty Greer went two-for-two, collecting 154 and 151 points, respectively. Greer was commended this week by fellow NiLMS drivers for being allowed to run his complete Lime Rock setup, which gave an incentive for drivers to race throughout the week.

Brett Nesbitt, the new Division One points leader with 684 points, ran five races this week with four top fives and a win. This was Nesbitt’s fourth career road course win in an official iRacing series. Justin Hoyle, who led points going into this week, elected to use Lime Rock as a drop week. As a result, Galen Winesette has now advanced to second, just 52 points behind Nesbitt. In third is Greer, who is just 63 points behind Nesbitt.

Goran Strand, the Division Two points leader, was able to take lead this week after what could have been a disaster for the Scandinavian Club driver. Strand was under the weather for a majority of the week, but persevered to collect 91 points –41st out of the 92 drivers in his division. Strand unfortunately was caught-up in an early wreck, and finished 12th in a split, losing to Division One driver Lofing. In between races, I caught up to Strand regarding his thoughts on his performance at Lime Rock:

Tried to save what could be saved the day and, unfortunately, it was a very low ranked SOF so I only got 91 points,” he said. “However it seems to be enough in the total standings so far – leading the second division by 26 points in total. As an old road racer I had hope of a much better week – but you can’t always control the circumstances.”

However, the resilient Strand rebounded, grabbing the win from fellow club member Timo Ahtianen by 12 seconds.  Strand was able to overtake the points lead in Division Two, and leads over Steven Dager Jr. by 26 points.

Many newcomers and “ringers” from overseas competed at Lime Rock, stealing the Lime-Light from some of the NiLMS series regulars. You have to give every driver credit this week for taking the leap of faith and running the sole road course on the schedule. Less than half of the drivers within each division competed this week at Lime Rock Park. For many NiLMS drivers, they benefitted from this week with strong finishes and high SOF’s. Many drivers though did not want to take the risk, like Hoyle, former Division One points leader who will try to go undefeated next week at the Outer Track at the Toyota Speedway in Irwindale.

Drivers of the Week:

Division 3
Samu Snabb of Scandinavia won two of his eight races at Lime Rock. His performance boosted him to ninety third in points.

Division 4
Jeff Harrington of Massachusetts ran three races at Lime Rock, crossing the line first in two races, and closed out the week with a fourth place finish. Harrington is within the top 800 in points (Dropped all three weeks prior).

Division 5
Bob Meindertsma of Western Canada proved to be one of the most consistent drivers in his division, with seven top fives and a win in seven starts. He is currently just outside of the top 100 in points.

Division 6
Dave Daviault of Eastern Canada won six of his nine races on the road course, with eight top fives. Diaviault catapulted himself into the top 400 in overall standings, electing to drop an oval prior to this week.

Division 7
Aussie Craig Byerly soaked up the spotlight in Division Seven with his seven top fives and three wins in his seven starts.  Clearly, seven was Byerly’s lucky number his first week of the NiLMS season.

Division 8
Italian driver Mauro Licciardello ran more races than any driver – 24. Licciardello’s 21 top fives and two wins placed him in the top 800 overall after making his NiLMS debut this week.

Division 9
Eastern Canadian Martin Turcotte capitalized this week with two wins, 10 top fives in just twelve races. Turcotte also made his debut to the NiLMS series this week, and picked up 74 points (second highest) within his division.

Division 10
iRacing’s own Kevin Bobbitt was a hard charger this week, coming from thirteenth to fourth and second to first respectively in his two starts. It is unclear if Bobbitt is going to continue to run regularly in the NiLMS season, but his strong finishes in the “forgotten” division was enough to steal the Lime-light from many of the elite road course drivers this week. Who knows, he may be the next Boris Said!