Race Weekend Central

iRacing Weekly Roundup: Road Racers Rejoice

A slew of road races in the real world means a slew of road races in the virtual one as well. Most official NASCAR series on iRacing are following the calendar, so after a few weeks of fantasy racing, things are getting back on schedule.

In the last two weeks, every single one of the communities we cover here raced at least once at a road course. Of course the eRacr.gg Roval Racing Series did, but so did 100% Cup at Watkins Glen, FTF at Indy Road, Monday Night Racing at Homestead-Miami’s Roval and Road To Pro also went over to Watkins Glen.

Check out the latest results in this week’s edition of the roundup.

ERACR ROVAL RACING SERIES | SATURDAYS AT 7:00 p.m. ET

RACE 3: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, July 31

The Indianapolis road course isn’t the current version of the track. It’s coming at some point, seeing as iRacing’s scan van was recently at IMS, but for now, there are a few extra turns in the infield and one less chicane on the outer oval.

In the third week of the eRacr.gg Roval Racing Series, a pair of eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers in Vicente Salas and Casey Kirwan joined in on the fun for the first time this season. The two duked it out throughout the first stint, working their way around lapped traffic and each other. Salas would win out and took his first win of the season in Class A.

Class B was won by Matt Taylor, his second win of the season, while Hunter Reeve took his first victory in the Ballistipax Trucks Class C.

INDY ROVAL CLASS WINNERS

  • CUP CLASS A: Vicente Salas
  • NXS CLASS B: Matt Taylor
  • BALLISTIPAX TS CLASS C: Hunter Reeve

RACE 4: New Hampshire Motor Speedway Road Course, August 7

Halfway through the inaugural season, the fourth event of six would bring the eRacr.gg ROVAL racers up north for some New England road racing. The New Hampshire Motor Speedway road course uses the majority of the oval but takes a detour in the first turn towards the infield before going back out to the oval.

The fun part of this ROVAL is that the track goes outside instead of inside, and races a few corners on the backstretch before reentering the track to take turns 3 and 4 as normal.

Vicente Salas returned for his second race of the season and dominated the Class A race. Matt Taylor took another one, his third of the season. In the Ballistipax Class C, Brandon Paunetto won a very emotional victory, his first of the season.

NEW HAMPSHIRE ROVAL CLASS WINNERS

  • CUP CLASS A: Vicente Salas
  • NXS CLASS B: Matt Taylor
  • CWT CLASS C: Brandon Paunetto

Through four races and with the drop week finally included, each class’s points are becoming clear entering the final stretch. Matt Danson won the first two races of the season, but after a bit of a fall-off in the last two weeks, he only leads by 15 points over Vicente Salas, who only has two starts.

Class B is Matt Taylor’s points battle to lose, while the Ballistipax Class C is the closest battle. David Grantham leads Brandon Paunetto by two points and Jeremy Breault by six. Paunetto won’t be able to make the finale, so he’ll have to rely on his dropped race and Auto Club finish to carry him to a possible title.

Check out the action over at eRacr.gg.

100% CUP SERIES | SATURDAYS AT 8:30 p.m. ET

RACE 23: Watkins Glen International, August 7

Jon Dulaney earned max points in the series’ return to action at Watkins Glen last week. Dulaney started on the pole position, won both stages, and led all but seven laps en route to his sixth win of the season.

Thomas Miller, who finished second, was the only other driver to lead.

WATKINS GLEN TOP 5

  1. Jon Dulaney
  2. Thomas Miller
  3. RJ Root
  4. Matt Baker
  5. Cameron Stone

With now three races until the playoffs begin, seven drivers have a victory and are a lock for the title hunt. Will anyone else be able to steal a win from the trio of Dulaney, Bryson Hixenbaugh or Adam Benefiel?

STANDINGS | SCHEDULE

Check out all the previous race broadcasts over at 3 Wide TV.

FTF CUP SERIES | SUNDAYS AT 8:00 p.m. ET

RACE 24: Indianapolis Road Course, August 1

Indianapolis turned into another Hawkin versus Reynolds battle. Blake Reynolds, still searching for his first career FTF Cup Series victory, seemed to have the advantage early on, but in the later stages, Brandon Hawkin took control. Fuel mileage was in play, and Reynolds didn’t believe Hawkin had enough.

Hawkin did have enough, and he held on for his second win of the season, keeping Reynolds at bay once again.

INDIANAPOLIS ROAD TOP 5

  1. Brandon Hawkin
  2. Blake Reynolds
  3. Brian Mercurio
  4. Tyler Garey
  5. Michael P Frisch

RACE 25: Michigan International Speedway, August 8

The way things were set up by the league, Michigan was essentially a superspeedway race for the majority of the time. There was aero push and tire wear to deal with, but for the most part, drivers were packed up and driving flat out.

The big surprise of the night came from Kyle Riley, who was able to work his way to the front with his teammate Justin Melillo early on. Riley proved to be a contender all night, but Blake Reynolds was still extremely hungry for his first win. The two came off the final corner side-by-side. They made contact but held it straight, and Reynolds was able to take his first career Cup victory.

MICHIGAN TOP 5

  1. Blake Reynolds
  2. Kyle Riley
  3. Alan Ballachino
  4. Brian Mercurio
  5. Brandon Hawkin

The final race to set the playoffs takes place this weekend at the Daytona International Speedway, but the older version. The field is basically set for the playoffs, but drivers like Jack Paynter, Ryan Pandiscio or Andy Margo could shake it up and make the playoffs with a win on Sunday night.

STANDINGS | SCHEDULE

Check out the broadcast replays over on BottomSplit.

MONDAY NIGHT RACING | MONDAYS AT 8:00 p.m. ET

RACE 12: Talladega Superspeedway, August 3

With Adam Alexander and Dave Moody on the call, the opening race of the Round of 10 proved to be a chaotic one by the end. The 36 drivers all played chess to get themselves in position at the end, but Steven Ellis flipped the table over, surviving the last lap mayhem which involved every single driver in the lead pack.

Ellis had to send Brad Perez to the moon in order to make it through, but the sim racing gods were on his side as the contact barely slowed him down, if at all.

TALLADEGA TOP 5

  1. Steven Ellis
  2. Max Kennon
  3. Adam Cabot
  4. Gabe Wood
  5. Jason Keffer

RACE 13: Homestead-Miami Speedway ROVAL, August 10

The finale to the Round of 10, three more drivers would face elimination after 75 minutes of racing around the Homestead-Miami Speedway ROVAL. Gabe Wood wasn’t the fastest driver on the night, but he kept things fairly consistent towards the final stages of the race.

After Nick Sanchez wiped out a bunch of the leaders and was disqualified, Wood took over and held off a late charge from David Schildhouse for his first career victory.

HOMESTEAD ROVAL TOP 5

  1. Gabe Wood
  2. David Schildhouse
  3. Garrett Smithley
  4. Robby Lyons
  5. TJ Majors

Moving on to the Round of 7, the following drivers still have a chance to win the title:

  • Garrett Smithley (NASCAR Cup Series Driver)
  • Adam Cabot (Esports Racing League Champion)
  • Rajah Caruth (NASCAR Drive for Diversity, ARCA Driver)
  • Max Kennon (Kyle Busch Motorsports Engineer)
  • David Schildhouse (Kligerman Sport Community Manager)
  • DJ Cummings (NASCAR Digital Platform Manager)
  • Robby Lyons (NASCAR Xfinity Series Driver)

Check out the broadcasts over at Podium Esports.

ROAD TO PRO QUALIFYING SERIES (ROUND 2)

RACE 3, SPLIT 1: Watkins Glen, August 5

The first split was a Brian Lockwood road racing showcase on August 5th. Lockwood, who was towards the bottom half of the standings after Knoxville and Homestead-Miami, moved himself up to 31st overall after his dominating performance.

Series points leader Donovan Strauss managed a fourth place finish, maintaining his lead, while Cody Byus moves up to third overall in the standings after a P2 run.

FIRST SPLIT TOP 5 AT WATKINS GLEN

  1. Brian Lockwood
  2. Cody Byus
  3. Adam Gilliland
  4. Donovan Strauss
  5. Kollin Keister

RACE 3, SPLIT 2: Watkins Glen, August 5

The second split was a little more interesting for the battle for the win. Kyle Peddle took the pole position and led 13 laps, but through pits and other on-track action, Dylan Ault managed to take the lead. Ault held on for the win after starting second and leading 19 laps. Ault moves into the Top 20, now 16th after the event.

Briar LaPradd maintains his second-place standing overall with a fourth-place finish. Peddle falls to fourth in the standings, while Jordy Lopez Jr. moves up to fifth with a runner-up finish.

SECOND SPLIT TOP 5 AT WATKINS GLEN

  1. Dylan Ault
  2. Jordy Lopez Jr.
  3. Brian Mercurio
  4. Briar LaPradd
  5. Kyle Peddle

Strauss, LaPradd, Byus, Peddle and Lopez Jr. lead the standings after three weeks.

Check out the broadcasts over at Podium Esports and Podium 2.

COMING UP

eRacr.gg’s Roval Racing Series will run the Auto Club Speedway ROVAL on Saturday night, completed before this roundup posts. Like the 100% Cup Series, the recaps will be posted next week. Check out the action on Saturday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET on eRacr.gg.

100% Cup Series will head to the Indianapolis road course on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. ET. The replay will be available on 3 Wide TV.

FTF Racing will wrap up their regular season at legacy Daytona on Sunday, live at 8:00 p.m. ET on BottomSplit.

Monday Night Racing heads to Darlington Raceway in iRacing’s 1987 NASCAR Stock Cars vehicles this week to kick off the Round of 7. The broadcast will start at 8:00 p.m. ET on Podium 2.

Finally, the Road to Pro Qualifying Series (Round 2) will be at Rockingham Speedway on the 19th of August. The designated first split will be on Podium eSports and the second will be on Podium 2.

About the author

Since the beginning of 2021, Justin Melillo is now the iRacing Editor for Frontstretch.com. With a B.A. in Journalism from Hofstra University, Melillo has been writing about NASCAR since 2013. Focusing primarily on eNASCAR and virtual motorsports, Melillo hopes his writing and coverage can help to grow the eSports reach in the motorsports world and beyond.

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