Mungin Marches Closer to Modified Crown

Giovanni Mungin continues to inch closer to his first NASCAR iRacing.com Tour Modified Series (NiTMS) championship after a strong showing during Week Nine and Ten of the series. When the weekly points were awarded at the Milwaukee Mile and USA International Speedway, it was the championship hopeful besting all his nearest rivals at the top of the charts. Those performances brought him closer to the overall title, something he can see in the virtual windshield with just two weeks remaining in the season.

The highest strength of field (sof) race for Round Nine took place on March 29th. The 75-lap online race at the Milwaukee Mile was set at 4293 sof and was so strong that the top five in this race would end up in the top five on the weekly standings sheet. Mungin started from the pole and led 60 of the laps in the race, which saw three cautions and the lead exchanged thrice amongst three drivers. Reigning NiTM champ Brandon Salvatore led 13 laps before having to settle for second, ahead of Herb Engelhart, James Poleske and Shane Kline. Mungin’s prize for the win was 261, while Salvatore put 234 in the books for his efforts.

The historic Milwaukee Mile hosted Week 9 of the NiTMS.

Trent Hullum, Brett Osborn and Jeremy Williams each made four starts at the Milwaukee Mile, which set the bar for starts in Week Nine. Mungin and Osborn each took two trips to victory lane with Gary Holbrook, Samuel Dick, Engelhart, Zach Brewer and Bruce Hilton each recording one win at Milwaukee. Mungin’s quick time of 27.986 seconds in qualifying was tops over Salvatore, Engelhart, Dick and Derrick Cormier2. Kline was on top when it came to the Time Trial competition over Osborn, Holbrook, Hullum and Hilton.

While Mungin was the weekly point winner during Round Ten at USA International Speedway, it was Pennsylvania sim racer Samuel Dick who took the honors in the highest sof race of the week. Dick captured a 3674 sof race on April 7th, which featured one caution over the 100-laps of the event. Dick would lead wire-to-wire from the pole, coming home ahead of Cormier2, Osborn, Poleske and James Hearns. The margin of victory was just over two seconds. Dick would go on to make two additional starts on the week, which affected his point total and relegated him to fifth in the weekly standings with 173 points. Cormier2’s 204 points for second place placed him second overall for the week.

Mungin’s win would tip the sof scale at 3470. The race which saw him overtake the field for the weekly point win happened on April 5th and would feature four yellow flag periods. Mungin, who started from the pole, led all but one lap in the race en route to the win over Jamie Collier, Poleske, Ray Farlow and Richard Smith5. Mungin’s win was worth 217 points while the finishes of Poleske (189) and Farlow (176) placed them third and fourth in the standings respectively for the week. Collier would finish sixth on the weekly standings after winning twice in a total of four starts at USA.

14 of the 100+ Tour Mods to tackle USA International Speedway prepare for the green flag.

Chad Wills was the busiest driver of the week, punching the clock for eight races in the virtual Florida sun. Jerold John has a trio of wins, the most of any other driver of the week. He joined Dick, Collier, Williams, Rick Webster, Sebastian Taylor, Hearns, Darrell Pyrtle, Michael Morrison2, Steven Clagg, David Markham and Mungin as winners on Week Ten. Salvatore was the quick man in qualifying, posting a time of 19.637 seconds at USA. He was quicker in the qualifying sessions for the week over Mungin, Dick, Nathan McGee and Collier. Gary Holbrook took the top honors in Time Trials over Larry Pyrtle, Osborn, Morrison2 and Justin Chase.

Mungin has a huge advantage with two weeks to go over Salvatore as he leads the reigning champ by 284 points, 1817-1533. Taylor Meyn (1491) occupies third with Engelhart (1401) and Dick (1384) rounding out the top five. Divisional leaders from Divisions Two to Ten include David Markham, David Chmura, William Kabela, David Ross, Timothy Finnegan, David MacDougall, James Falcon Pratt, Curtis Berleue and Nicholas Maxwell. Two leaders only have single digit leads with Ross leading David Schamp by nine points in Division Five and MacDougall pacing Sebastian Taylor by eight points in Division Seven.

The series heads back to New England to close off the 2012 Season One schedule. The North East swing will begin with 75-lap events at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Who will take away the final few checkered flags of the season? Find out here at inRacingNews!

Until then, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!

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