- iRacing.com Announces iRacing 2.013,049
- iRacing.com to create virtual McLaren MP4-12C GT39,282
- Scanning What’s in Store for iRacing with Tony Gardner7,401
- Dave Kaemmer Comes Clean on Dirt7,399
- The iRacing.com Protest System – May, 20126,716
- Improving the Sound of iRacing5,634
- iRacing 2.0 Debuts in 2011 Season 34,934
- Preview Shots of HPD ARX-01C, Ford GT & Suzuka4,892
- Two New Cars and Two New Tracks Coming to iRacing Soon4,800
- iRacing.com to Build Digital Honda for New Super GT Series4,523
- iRacing.com Announces iRacing 2.0 41
- The iRacing.com Protest System - May, 2012 30
- iRacing Announces Added Features, Lower Prices 24
- No Obstacles Here 18
- Scanning What’s in Store for iRacing with Tony Gardner 18
- Improving the Sound of iRacing 15
- V8 Supercars to Sanction iRacing.com Series 14
- iRacing 2.0 Debuts in 2011 Season 3 13
- Tips from a Human Sim-Racer 12
- iRacing.com to Build Digital Honda for New Super GT Series 11
- iRacing.com2340
- NASCAR 1893
- Motorcycles 1844
- Formula Cars 1708
- WRC 1430
- IndyCar 1299
- Touring Cars 873
- Sports Cars 307
- Other Racing 356
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.
Tim Terry
Contributing WriterTim Terry, aka the voice of Maritime stock car racing, fell in love with sim racing in 2004 after he joined the Sim Racing Network crew as a pit reporter. From October 2004 to SRNtv’s closure in June 2007, he’s covered prestigious races and leagues such as the Online 500, FLM Fall 400, Real Racing Online and the DMP Racing League – each as the lead broadcaster for the company. At the same time the wheels started to turn in another direction as he began announcing stock car racing locally. Terry became the assistant announcer at Scotia Speedworld in May 2007 and took over full duties in May 2009 when long-time voice Mike Kaplan retired from the track. Terry also became the series voice of the Parts For Trucks Pro Stock Tour in ’09 and continues to hold down both posts in 2011. He has also announced races for the Pro All Stars Series, Atlantic Open Wheel and Maritime League of Legends tours and has called races at six different Atlantic Canadian tracks. Terry can be heard online at WebRacingNetwork.com, RLMtv.com and OLRtv.com covering sim races. He also makes occasional appearances on PSRtv.com. In addition to inRacingNews, his articles and columns can be read on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca, MaritimeProStockTour.com and his own website at timterryonline.com.
David Allen
Contributing WriterNorth Carolina born and raised with over 15 years of computer/IT experience, I combine two of my biggest hobbies -- racing and technology -- here at inRacingNews. In my spare time I run a Nascar fan site and cure my own need for speed riding atvs. If it involves technology or racing I'll be there, but combine the two and I'll be looking a front row seat. Stop by and say hello anytime!
Allen Krier
Contributing WriterAllen was born in West Palm Beach, Florida but grew up in Atlanta and attended Georgia College and State University where he received a BS in Information Systems. Currently a resident of Albany, GA, he started sim racing in 2008 while in college when iRacing was first released to the public. Since then, Krier has been a two time iRacing Pro Series driver (2009 and 2010), picking up one Pro Series win at Daytona in ‘09. Besides sim racing, Allen’s other hobbies include RC Car racing as well as “attending and watching any sporting event that I can including going to the local dirt track.
Chris Cunningham
Contributing WriterChris is 20 years old, and recently moved to Charlotte, NC during his sophomore year in college to feed his need for speed. More than just an auto racing enthusiast, Cunningham has risen through the ranks of BMX Racing, Sailboat Racing, and Cycling. Cunningham recently took up go karting, and qualified as an alternate for the 2011 Red Bull Kart Fight at the PRI expo. Aside from racing, Cunningham has recently picked up the hobby of competitive eating (Ranked #7 Collegiate Eater in the country!), and competes all over the east coast in various contests. Chris also enjoys sim racing, writing, playing the drums, and enjoying college at UNC Charlotte.
Tim Doyle
Contributing WriterI've been a race fan since before I can remember, going to dirt tracks around the Washington, DC area since the early 70's with my parents. I got away from racing during my school years but in 1989 a friend and I went to a race in Hagerstown, MD and from there my life was all about racing. I currently live in Winchester, VA and while Dirt Late Models is my favorite form of racing, I also enjoy many other forms such as F1, IndyCar, 410 sprint cars on dirt and (probably more than anything) sim racing. My favorite driver is Ayrton Senna.
I was introduced to sim racing in 1989 when a friend turned me onto Indy 500 The Sim by Papyrus. It took me a few years to own my own PC but once I did, all I wanted to do was sim race. I tried to race my friends as much as possible via modem racing back in the 90's before joining TEN in 1998. From there I devoted a lot of time to online racing enjoying every minute of it. I was able to meet a lot of my competitors from all over the world at LAN events and races I went to. Being able to call some real world drivers friends as a result of sim racing is probably the neatest part of this whole deal!
David Roberts
Contributing WriterDavid lives in Brisbane and is a former Australian National Formula Ford Champion who now owns his own marketing and design company. After racing in Europe, David returned down under to swap a career behind the wheel for a career in the creative department. He now has three children, an ongoing love affair with the good ol’ days of motor racing, and just enough spare time left to enjoy a bit of sim-racing with a few of his old mates.
Ben Rothberg
Contributing WriterI was born and raised in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne where I still am situated. I am currently at University studying for a Certificate in Motorsport and hoping I will be able to achieve my top goal and become a part of a race team. In the sim-racing world, I won an rFactor V8 Supercar season and also was awarded with Best & Fairest award. I am now situated with the best simulation in the world (iRacing.com!) and love every minute of it. I currently race in the V8 Supercar Online Series and finished 16th overall in 2012 Season 1.
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.
Stewart takes first win of 2011
September 19th, 2011
Tony Stewart ended a 32-race winless streak at Chicagoland Speedway, saving enough fuel while fending off a charging Kevin Harvick to kick off his Chase campaign with a victory in a rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
The two-time champion ran among the top five for most of the 400 miles after recovering from a poor qualifying that left him only 26th on the grid. By halfway through Stewart was already running behind the leaders but only when the caution waved for the sixth time, due to debris on the track, did he emerge as a serious contender for victory.
With 52 laps still remaining when the leaders pitted for the final time under the caution, it looked uncertain whether anyone would be able to drive to the chequered flag without stopping for a splash of fuel. Michael Waltrip Racing’s Martin Truex gambled on staying out and took the lead, hoping for a further caution that was never waved in the end.
As the lap-count faded fuel economy dictated the pace of the field up front, some running slower than others in an effort to save enough to get to the end. Stewart had been running at Truex’s pace but once the latter inevitably pitted for fuel, he grabbed the lead with 14 laps left.
Behind him Roush Fenway’s Matt Kenseth and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson started to drop back with their fuel-saving tactics, while from behind Richard Childress driver Kevin Harvick went on a charge to try to make the most of having saved fuel earlier in the final stint.
Harvick moved up to second and started to close on Stewart but in the end the leader picked up his pace slightly after overtaking some backmarkers, keeping his rival at bay to claim the third Chicagoland victory of his career and his 40th at Cup level.
“I had a migraine all day yesterday so I am kind of glad we didn’t race,” said Stewart. “It’s nice to finally get one of these this year and I guess if you have to wait to get the first one, it’s alright to pick it here.
“We’ve had a miserable year but the last three weeks we really started coming into it. Going into the race I don’t think [crew chief] Darian Grubb and I shared a thought that we would had as good a car as we needed to win.”
Harvick had been around Stewart from the early laps as both made their way through the field from their poor starting spots. The RCR driver lamented a poor day in the pits and missing a possible fifth win of the season but still celebrated taking the Chase lead for the first time in his career.
Johnson and Kenseth ran out of fuel on the final lap, handing third to Dale Earnhardt Jr, the best placed of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers both in the race and the Chase. Earnhardt struggled at stages but ran strongly in the final stint – moving up in the order while capitalising on others failing to save enough fuel.
Roush’s Edwards was fourth in the end after his team looked to be the pacesetter early on, while Penske’s Brad Keselowski finished fifth ahead of his team-mate Kurt Busch. The former struggled with balance initially but following a strategy gamble he was able to move up in the order and secure a strong finish. Meanwhile Busch – who led the most laps – voiced his frustration on his radio over the lack of balance of his car on the last run, but still secured a solid finish.
Kenseth crossed the finish line eighth while pushed by fellow Ford driver Travis Kvapil after his tank ran empty. As the rules state a car cannot be assisted on the final lap he was penalised and pushed down to 21st as the last car on the lead lap.
That promoted Stewart’s team-mate Ryan Newman to eighth despite running out of fuel, while Hendrick’s Mark Martin and his team-mate Johnson – also out of gas – completed the top 10.
The fuel-saving gamble did not pay off for former Chase leader Kyle Busch, who pitted right before the end and finished 23rd, a lap down.
Similarly Jeff Gordon suffered a blow to his title hopes as he finished 22nd. Tyre and balance issues hampered him early on and after recovering and closing on a top 10 finish he also ran out of fuel.
Denny Hamlin pitted under green in the opening stages with a vibration and dropped a lap down, and later suffered a left-front puncture. An eventual 30th-place finish but puts him out of title contention.
Results – 267 laps:Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet 2h47m41.000s
2. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 0.941s
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 7.043s
4. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 12.579s
5. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 15.649s
6. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge + 16.897s
7. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet + 17.240s
8. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 18.477s
9. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet + 19.606s
10. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 20.182s
11. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford + 20.671s
12. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota + 20.930s
13. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota + 21.464s
14. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 22.349s
15. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 22.717s
16. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 23.242s
17. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet + 23.456s
18. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 25.025s
19. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 38.038s
20. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 40.161s
21. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 1 lap
22. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 1 lap
23. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford + 1 lap
24. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 2 laps
25. Mike Bliss FAS Lane Ford + 2 laps
26. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 2 laps
27. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford + 2 laps
28. Andy Lally TRG Chevrolet + 2 laps
29. Casey Mears Germain Toyota + 2 laps
30. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet + 3 laps
31. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 3 laps
32. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota + 4 laps
33. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet + 4 laps
34. JJ Yeley Front Row Ford + 4 laps
35. Scott Speed Whitney Ford + 7 laps
36. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 8 laps
37. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 31 lapsRetirements:
Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 163 laps
Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge 77 laps
Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 45 laps
David Stremme Inception Chevrolet 44 laps
Josh Wise Max Q Ford 41 laps
Michael McDowell HP Toyota 25 laps