The Bluegrass Battle

Alfalla (1) leads Daley (2), Hightower (3), Mojica (5), and Blackford (4) out of Turn Two.

Fresh off a week of short track racing, Week Eight of the NASCAR iRacing.com Class C Series (fixed setup) took the sim racers on a trip to the Bluegrass State for a bumpy and fast ride at the Kentucky Speedway. With over 1,200 online racers making at least one start during the week, it was a great battle to watch as this week’s Strength of Field involved many drivers who are considered the best at what they do.

This week’s high Strength of Field event took place on December 21st and included six current and former NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship competitors. Byron Daley (New York) led the NiSWC wave leading 31 of the race’s 45 laps to take the victory by 0.490 seconds over fellow NiSWC competitor Bryan Blackford (Florida) in the 4214 SoF. Former NiSWC competitor and current NASCAR iRacing.com Pro Series competitor Pedro Mojica (Texas) finished in the third position after turning the fastest lap during the race. The NiSWC trend continues as Marcus Lindsey (Indiana) finished in the fourth position and Georgia native Brandon Williamson rounded out the top five after starting from the 13th position. The remaining two NiSWC and NiPS competitors in the field were two time champion Ray Alfalla (Florida) and Josh Berry (Mid-South) who made contact early in the race which left Berry heading toward the garage with heavy damage to his Silverado. Alfalla was able to recover slightly better, finishing in the 11th position after battling for the lead early in the going.

With a thrilling victory in the week’s high SoF, Daley left Kentucky with the most championship points on the week, adding 264 to his season total as he attempts to claim the Season Four championship. Blackford’s second place effort earned him a solid 248 points as he looks to break into the top five in overall standings. While Alfalla’s finish in the week’s high SoF race wasn’t what he was looking for, his performance in the three other races he competed in during the week was good enough to earn him 246 points. John William (Carolina) ended Week Eight in the fourth position, earning 232 points for his efforts. Lindsey’s fourth place effort in the week’s SoF event earned him 217 championship points.

Daley (2), Darren Armitage (17), and Blackford (4) work their way up through the field.

The king of the hotlap is back at it once again as he put his name on top of qualifying chart for Week Eight. Simon Crochart’s (France) time of 31.585 seconds was the fastest time of the week by 0.011 seconds over second place qualifier Ryan Luza (Texas). Ken H O’Keefe (Eastern Canada) finished in the third position, just 0.002 seconds behind Luza. Jason Jacoby (Georgia) and Thomas Davis (Mid-South) filled the remaining spots in the top five.

After eight competitive weeks of online racing, Daley holds a 204 point lead over second place driver Berry. Jordan Hightower (Mid-South) sits in the third position, 226 out of the lead. Alfalla sits in the fourth position, 454 points back, and rounding out the top five is Jason Jacoby, who is 467 points back.

Keep a bookmark of inRacingNews.com handy because next week the NiCCS (fixed setup) makes a trip to the NASCAR homeland for some racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Also, be sure to head on over to iRacing.com to be part of the action and you could win a Logitech G27 wheel and pedal set by claiming any of the Season Four divisional championships in the NASCAR iRacing.com Class C Series (fixed setup) or by being chosen at random from iRacers running the Logitech logo in any series. Click here for complete details.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/iracing-news/the-bluegrass-battle

Bob Gerard Gerino Gerini Peter Gethin Piercarlo Ghinzani Bruno Giacomelli