Hauff Handles The Rock

Tight racing off Turn Four.

The 11^th week of action in the NASCAR iRacing Class C Fixed Series brought nearly 1,300 sim racers to one of NASCAR’s most historic race venues—Rockingham Speedway. The 1.017-mile speedway opened its gates in 1965 and has hosted hundreds of races throughout its tenure on both the NASCAR circuit as well as many other racing series.

Grant Winchester (Carolina) capped off a successful week by earning the victory in the week’s top Strength of Field event. Winchester bested NASCAR iRacing Pro Series competitor Brandon Hauff (New York) by just 0.168 seconds to take the victory after leading 41 of the event’s 50 laps. William R Harris (Plains) started deep in the field (18^th to be exact) with his No. 13 Silverado and methodically worked his way into the top three at the conclusion of the event. Heath Hindman (Mid-South) started from the inside of row two, but fell back one position at the fall of the checkered flag to finish in the fourth position after leading nine laps. The remaining position in the top five was filled by Clayton Celovsky (Canada) who also started from the fifth position in the No. 9 Silverado. The 4063 SoF saw the caution save six times for a total of 21 laps and saw two lead changes between two drivers.

Although Hauff did not earn the victory in the week’s top SoF event, he was able to take advantage of his second place finish and leave Rockingham Speedway on top of the weekly standings by netting 242 points for his efforts. JR Motorsports late model driver and NiPS competitor Josh Berry (Mid-South) started three events during the week, two of which resulted in a trip to victory lane and the collection of 233 championship points. SoF winner Winchester got behind the wheel an incredible 30 times during the week, having 24 result in a victory for the North Carolina native who also added 219 points to his season total. Harris took to the speedway a total of 10 times, but unfortunately did not get to make the trip to victory lane at the end of 50 laps. Rounding out the top five was Chris M Hall (Florida) who made one start during the week which resulted in a victory and the collection of 212 points.

Side-by-side racing through Turns One and Two.

One of the top short track racers on the iRacing.com service showed why he has earned that title from fellow competitors. Harrison Widelitz (New Jersey) placed his Swan Racing Silverado on top of the qualifying chart with a time of 23.247 seconds. Second place driver Erik Roice (Plains) held the top spot on the qualifying chart for most of the week, but a late effort by Widelitz forced Roice to settle for the second position with a time of 23.264. Anthony Kernich (Australia/NZ) is no stranger to being near the top of the qualifying chart each week, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise he ended Week 11 in the third spot with a fast time of 23.285. Simon Crochart (France), who also frequents the top of the qualifying chart, capped off the week in the fourth position with a time of 23.287. The final spot in the top five was occupied by Winchester with a time of 23.292 seconds.

With just one week remaining in the series, New Englander Paul Kusheba holds a 59 point lead over fellow competitor Nathan McGuire (Carolina). Sean Robbins occupies the third position and is currently 83 points behind Kusheba. Berry still remains in the fourth spot, 126 points behind as Justin Fuller fills out the remainder of the top five; 166 points behind heading into the final week at Daytona.

Will Kusheba be able to hold the championship lead at the conclusion of next week’s action? Who will be able to dodge the patented big one and come away with the victory in the week’s top SoF event? Check back in just a few days for a full recap of the action from Daytona International Speedway!

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