Stephenson Handles Bristol

Harrison Widelitz (1) and Parker Kligerman (4) battle side-by-side.

The 30-degree high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway provide one of the most intense rides in motorsports. With lap times nearing 14.9 seconds, it is no walk in the park getting around this half-mile speedway without putting yourself and most likely others into the wall. Even with all of that pressure, 2,120 sim racers were up to that challenge as each one of them took the green flag for at least one race during Week Four in the NASCAR iRacing Class C Fixed Series.

Malik Ray (Carolina) was able to take the virtual checkered flag in the week’s top Strength of Field event by leading all 55 laps en route to a 0.418-second margin-of-victory over fellow Carolina club member Brodie Kostecki. The podium was rounded-out by Dylan Duval (Canada), who started from the 12^th position and quickly drove his No. 2 JDR Graphics/DX-Gaming.com Silverado into the top three. Fourth place went to Kevin Champagne (New England) who started deep in the field and worked his No. 11 truck into the top five as the checkered flag waved. The final spot in the top five was filled by Nicholas Goertzen (Canada) who started from the outside of the second row in the No. 4 machine. The 4585 SoF was slowed five times for cautions, which resulted in a drowsy 21 laps being ran under the yellow flag.

Although he did not compete in the top SoF event for the week, Don Stephenson (Florida) was able to earn the most championship points with 272. Kostecki made seven starts during the week, resulting in three wins and 265 points. Connor Anton (Canada) took the green flag for four events during the week, recording three top five finishes and adding 256 points to his season total. Fourth place went to NASCAR Nationwide Series regular Parker Kligerman (New England) who made three starts during the week, one of which resulted in a trip to victory lane. Look for Parker every week during the NASCAR Nationwide Series events in the No. 77 Toyota Camry for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Completing the remainder of the top five was Duval who only made two starts during the week, but was able to record a top five finish, which netted him a solid 251 points.

Several Silverados race in close quarters.

For the third week in a row, Kostecki set the fastest qualifying time of the week with a blistering pace of 15.041 seconds around the Bristol half-mile. SoF winner Ray finished a successful week in the second position with a time of 15.057 seconds. Georgia native Luke Christian set the third fastest time of the week with a fast time of 15.058. The remainder of the top five was EJ O’Rourke (New England) and Eric Hoggarth (Plains) who turned in times of 15.062 and 15.080 seconds, respectively.

With a successful week under his belt, Kostecki now holds a 22 point lead over second place Goertzen. Christian Pedersen (New England) holds down the third position, 103 points behind Kostecki after four weeks of action. Michael Guest (Indiana) occupies the fourth position, but is currently 114 points out of the lead. The final spot in the top five belongs to Aleksi Elomma (Finland) who is 129 points behind Kostecki.

After four weeks and four unique tracks, week five will continue that streak as the drivers of the NiCCF take a trip into Canada for 15 laps of action at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit is sure to provide seven days of exciting online racing. Check back in a week’s time for a full recap of the action that took place during Week Five.

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