Race #5: Watkins Glen International (21Feb18)

[Hootius]

 

Race was sponsored by vWardude​

 
Race Length: 23 Laps
Race Name in Game: I Love New York 355 at the Glen

 

[Hootius]

**Pre-Race Interview**
1. Hitting up the only Road Course on the schedule this week. What part of the Glen do you feel is your srongest? Weakest?

2. To say the league has had an "interesting" start to the season would be kind wording. How do you see the current state of the league now after Martinsville and the bye week?

 

[Hootius]

1. Hitting up the only Road Course on the schedule this week. What part of the Glen do you feel is your srongest? Weakest?
After doing some practice races with other folks, I feel like the Bus Stop is my strongest section... which stinks cuz that is the last place that I would want to pass someone at lol. My weakest I think is the Carousel. I just feel like I can't push through the turn how I would like. I can hit the 1:08.1s and .2s regularly and sprinkle in flat here and there. I'm pretty sure the Carousel is what is preventing me from hitting a 1:07

2. To say the league has had an "interesting" start to the season would be kind wording. How do you see the current state of the league now after Martinsville and the bye week?
I never want to remove people from the league, but I will always put the need of the league first. Hate to say it, but some peeps had to go. Not only did it improve morale, but I am very happy with the new group of drivers who are now in the league. Not only from a speed and skill standpoint, but just the chats and banters have been fun again. While we have drivers still working on their craft and we all know that everyone can make mistakes and no one is perfect, the fact that we went caution free at Martinsville tells me that we have a solid group here and things will only get better.

 

[Meattyloaf]

I feel my strongest at the Glen in turns 6 and 7. I can hit those turns really well and tend to gain some time through them. My worst part of the track is the esses. I can't seem to get through them right and think I lose a lot of time through it. I also struggle with the carousel as I can hit it pretty well on some occasions while other times I hit it to hard and wash up to the outside costing me time.

I think this has been the healthiest the league has been since the mid-point of last season. The start of this season had a lot of struggle. Had one guy that if he wasn't constantly leading he was causing troubles for people in the chat and on the track, from calling someone else winning a race a fluck and intentionally wrecking others to get to the front. I still have sour feeling because of my run-ins with the driver. Next was 'Dega and the whole fiasco there with another driver taking out the leader, trying to bring out a caution. Due to these incidents though it had created a weird looking points standings as guys who typically find themselves always at the top towards the bottom. This seems to have worked it self-out a little bit as its back to looking like its old self, but point margins are still pretty tight. I, honestly think we have seven guys still in the running for the league championship. I hope the rest of the season continues to function as well as it did at Martinsville. Hands down one of the best races we have ever ran as everyone was racing. I remember passing a group of multi-lapped cars and they were in a group racing one another like it was the last lap in the cleanest fashion I have ever seen in any racing game. Giving each other plenty of room and making way for the faster cars to get through, while staying off of everyone. I feel there is a lot of respect in the group we have now and I am glad to see it.

 

[XSYSE]

1.  I don't have a strong point so by default its all a weakness.
2.  I feel the league is still strong with a good line up of clean drivers that cover the speed spectrum

 

[vWardude]

1. Hitting up the only Road Course on the schedule this week. What part of the Glen do you feel is your srongest? Weakest?

I finally figured(for the most part) out this track, I never really gave it a chance before which in return never gave me a shot for a win. My strongest is the bus and carousel it seems and my weakest has definitely been the last turn. If I can keep consistent I can see a top 3 and possibly fighting for a win. Either would be a huge accomplishment for me here.

2. To say the league has had an "interesting" start to the season would be kind wording. How do you see the current state of the league now after Martinsville and the bye week?

We will see tonight. This will be a test of patience with only 22 laps.

 

[Meattyloaf]

Q: I don't know dced going back to the lobby. (14th)
I felt if I didn't DC I would be been in the top 5-7.

R:9th
I felt good at the start of the race I gained 7 spots in the first two laps. However, after a bad pitstop on the first round of green flag stops I feel back to 11. Over the course of the race I managed to gain 2 of those spots back. On the last lap I had a great battle with setx, however when I went to pass in turn 6 he closed the door after I locked the brakes and held me off coming out of turn 7. It looked like we was battling for a win but that spot was 8th. I feel I've gotten a pretty good handle on the track. I definitely need to clean my line up a bit but other than that I felt it was a good race for me on a road course

 

[Hootius]

Q: 2nd
Not the greatest lap, cost myself a couple tenths coming off of the final turn. Wouldn't have mattered however as Jake had an absolute heater for the pole.

R: 1st!!!!!!
Recoved from a curb slip after Turn 1. Droped to 4th and got my way back into 2nd. Had a solid first pit stop and that put me on the bumper of Jake. Was able to get around him after he had a slip exiting the Bus Stop and built a small gap. My big break of the race was catching a lapped car right before the Esses and Jake and War getting caught up a little bit. Had a 2nd quality pit stop and built a bigger lead with War and Jake fighting for 2nd. By the end, just worried about putting down clean laps and finally broke my Glen curse.

 

[ZeKe_h30]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mljbCrh6kI

 

[Hootius]

The 5th race of Season 4 of our Nascar Heat League had the crew turning right for the only time this season, as the drivers wheeled and deal'd around Watkins Glen International for just the 4th road course race in League history. We would crown a new road course king with this race as the 3 previous road course winners [Mitchell Riggs (MitchMan009), Peirce Jackson (El_Majacko), and Sean Ryan (Sean420Cali)], would not be in attendance tonight.

For the 2nd race in a row, Jake Giroux (JakeGirouX24) took the Pole, and the track record at Watkins Glen, with a 1:07.955. It was the first time a driver has broken the 1:08 mark in the League, and he would break it again in the race. Charles Sumner (Hootius), Michael Caterino (vWardude), Nick Michaud (NickCM12), and Kyle Spencer (KDawgHonda777) rounded out the Top 5.

Before we start the recap, kudos again have to go out to the whole League for this race. Like last week at Martinsville, the crew tackled Watkins Glen with a lot of action, but NO YELLOWS!!!!!!! This is the first time in League history that we have raced back-to-back races caution free. Hats off to everyone. 

As the field took the Green, we had an intense battle in Turn 1. Jake and Charles battled side by side until Charles had some wheel spin on the outside curbing and had to correct the car. This allowed Jake to pull out to an early lead, Kyle to take 2nd, and Randal Sparks (Setx_90) to jump up in 3rd (who gained 4 positions in the first turn), with Charles and Michael right behind. Randal was the first to have a slip in the Bus-Stop. While it did not wreck out his car, the mistake dropped Randal out of the Top 5, in which he was unable to recover fully from. The 2nd slip came from Kyle as the curbing in Turn 1, of the follow lap, would knock Kyle's car up on 2 wheels, luckily avoiding a flip. This dropped Kyle down to 5th behind Nick, in which those two drivers would hold those positions throughout the rest of the race on their way to Top 5 finishes. After Kyle's issues, Jake wold hold a 3-4 second lead over Charles and Michael until the first round of pit stops. Charles' crew had the fastest stop, which allowed him to be right on the tail of Jake after the pit cycle. Jake would have a slip exiting the Bus-Stop, which allowed Charles to take the lead. Charles would not look back from there and lead the final 13 of the 22 laps to claim the victory at the Glen. This was Charles' 8th League victory, giving him sole possession of the All-Time record. In the battle for 2nd, Michael would overtake Jake on the 2nd set of pit cycles, which lead to a multi-lap battle between the two. Michael would catch a break with Jake making a mistake entering the Esses, and would use that gap to secure a runner-up finish. While Jake finished 3rd, he would also capture his 2nd Career Fastest Lap of the Race award, beating the track record he set in qualifying. Christopher Johnson (MeattyLoaf) took the Hard Charger Award for the race. Christopher started in the rear of the field after disconnecting in qualifying, but rebounded to a +6 on his way to a Top 10 finish.

Here are the Top 10 finishers from Watkins Glen:
1. Charles Sumner (Hootius) - 2nd win this Season; 8th Career win (PRL Record)
2. Micheal Caterino (vWardude) - 3rd Top 5 this Season; 31st Career Top 5 (PRL Record)
3. Jake Giroux (JakeGirouX24) - 2nd Top 5 this Season
4. Nick Michaud (NickCM12) -  3rd Top 5 this Season
5. Kyle Spencer (KDawgHonda777) -  3rd Top 5 this Season
6. Brandon Wedding (BWedding92)
7. Jake MacLeod (SassaFrass_3)
8. Randal Sparks (Setx_90)
9. Christopher Johnson (MeattyLoaf)
10. Adam Zemke (Zeke_H30)

The Driver's Championship saw Charles Sumner (Hootius) gain an extra 5 points on the field, increasing his lead up to 13 points through 5 races. Micheal Caterino (vWardude) moved up to 2nd place in the standing after his runner up finish. Adam Zemke (Zeke_H30) dropped to 3rd, tied with Kyle Spencer (KDawgHonda777) as both drivers are now 25 points off of the lead.  Nick Michaud (NickCM12) is 5th in the standings, just 5 points behind Adam and Kyle.

The Playoff Championship has a lot on the line going into the cut race at Auto Club next week. Charles has moved on to Round 3 with his win, with Michael and Kyle sitting with comfortable double digit leads over the cut line. There are 5 drivers with in a 8 point gap, all vying for the final 3 transfer spots to the Round of 8. 

The Team Championship still has not seen a team breakaway yet after 5 races. Car Ramrod (Charles and Christopher) hold just a 3 point lead over defending Champs One-Two Racing (Michael and Nick). Wall Riders Inc. (Adam and Brian) had the first major hiccup of the Top 3 teams at Watkins Glen, and currently sit 31 points back of the lead.

The crew will have a tough one on their hands on Wednesday night, tackling the fast and unforgiving Auto Club Speedway in California. Feel free to join in on one of the many drivers in the League who stream their POVs on Twitch every Wednesday night at 9PM EST for all of the fast paced action.
https://www.twitch.tv/oldmanhoot
https://www.twitch.tv/kdawghonda777
https://www.twitch.tv/zeke_h30
https://www.twitch.tv/xsyse
https://www.twitch.tv/lilmanr3dn3ck
https://youtube.com/jakegiroux24