Race #5: Watkins Glen International (8Nov17)

[Hootius]

 

Sponsor this circuit for only $2.95 USD​

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[circuit_3][/circuit_3]​

 
Race Length: 22 Laps (Stage 1: 5 Laps/ Stage 2: 17 Laps)
Race Name in Game: I LOVE NEW YORK 355 at the Glen

 

[Hootius]

Road Course Rules for Watkins Glen

Qualifying:
[ul]
[li]There will be no mandatory pit stop. Quali will only be 4 laps. We will take the first lap to pace and let everyone spread out. If you wish to pit, you may do so, but be aware that will only leave you then with 1 real shot a a qualifying lap. [/li]
[li]Drivers who do not feel comfortable at road courses, please be respectful to other drivers and start in the back of qualifying that way no one has to attempt any passes.[/li]
[/ul]
Race:
[ul]
[li]We will pace the first lap to re-organize the field. The game has the odd numbers on the outside going into Turn 1 and also does a poor job of spacing cars. So we will do 1 pace lap and then go green with the odd cars getting the inside lane to Turn 1. Again, no mandatory pit stop.[/li]
[li]There will be no cautions for this race. The only stop we will have is for the Stage break. Driver's are free to make any pit changes they want during pit stops.[/li]
[li]Restarts can easily ruin a number of driver's races in Turn 1 and the S as it did last season. Please please be patient and drive smart through those first few turns so that everyone can have a fair shot at a proper finish.[/li]
[li]While I will not do my normal accident report, driver's can send me a video if someone did them wrong during the race. For any video submitted, I will declare at-faults or racing incidents as normal. The PRL rule is that if you create contact to make a pass, you must return the position and try again without making contact. Last lap dive bombs can be subjected to time penalties per leadership's discretion.[/li]
[/ul]

 

[Hootius]

Pre-Race Interview
1. The Glen is the only road course for Season 3. How do you enjoy the track? How do you like it in Heat?

2. 4 different winners in 4 races this season. Will we go 5 for 5?

3. Kenseth announced that he's taking 2018 off and has no plans with any cars. Do you think this will be Kenseth's retirement?

 

[XSYSE]

1. The Glen is the only road course for Season 3. How do you enjoy the track? How do you like it in Heat?

I like the track, but I'm not a drifter and cant handle the plowing cars, I'll be looking to start in the rear and see where I settle in.

2. 4 different winners in 4 races this season. Will we go 5 for 5?

We will see a new winner but the same front runners for this track.


3. Kenseth announced that he's taking 2018 off and has no plans with any cars. Do you think this will be Kenseth's retirement?

I think he may make a partial run at some point but this is it for a full season ride.

 

[Hootius]

1. The Glen is the only road course for Season 3. How do you enjoy the track? How do you like it in Heat?
About the same as the last game, though the control under braking is only slightly better. PCars has ruined circuit racing for me in the Heat series due to the handling lol. As for the track, I really enjoy WG. I kinda prefer the Nascar layout better than the full GP layout.

2. 4 different winners in 4 races this season. Will we go 5 for 5?
I'm going to do my damnedest to make it 5 for 5 lol  Last season I was easily one of the best 2 cars in that and was looking forward to battling Mitch for the win, until Majacko's lag on the stage restart took me out in Turn 1 and killed my hopes. Sean and KDawg will be really tough this time around, so I know I will have to give it everything I have to get the win.

3. Kenseth announced that he's taking 2018 off and has no plans with any cars. Do you think this will be Kenseth's retirement?
I wouldn't be shocked to see him in a 1-off race here or there, but it kinda feels like this is going to be it for him. He doesn't really strike me as the TV type, but maybe he can partner up with someone established and stay in the sport in an owner's type role or something of that nature.

 

[Meattyloaf]

1. Road Course racing has been pretty good to me in the past but the Heat games not so much. I'm hoping to turn that around this race. I have a ton of practice driving curvy mountain roads in real life, but seem to never translate that to in game.

2. I think we will go five for five. The only current winner I can see winning this is Sean

3. I think this it. I don't think he will return unless it is as a stand-in or one off. Although, I could see him running Daytona with a small team if they need someone.

 

[Sean420cali]

1. The Glen is the only road course for Season 3. How do you enjoy the track? How do you like it in Heat?

Man I love the road courses. I wish we had like 6 road courses lol. The Glen is a lot of fun very fast and flowing. It's different then Sears Point, but still very challenging. You can be really aggressive here to make up time. I will say that under braking the cars are a bit unstable on here compared to other racing games.


2. 4 different winners in 4 races this season. Will we go 5 for 5?

I hope not lol, I plan on ending that But I am excepting a huge battle from Hootie, Kdwag and Wardude for the win. Those are my 3 title rivals at the moment. I know they are looking to make up points on me and get their 1st wins this yr. I am looking to add to my points lead. I'm not sure the pace of everyone else here but an underdog win is always possible.



3. Kenseth announced that he's taking 2018 off and has no plans with any cars. Do you think this will be Kenseth's retirement?

Yeah, I think with the lack of sponsor money in the sport. At his age a sponsor would rather go with a younger guy like Christoper Bell as a better long term investment.

 

[ZeKe_h30]

I actually like road courses, and the Glen is one of the good ones. Fast corners, good passing zones, and wide turn exits make this track a blast. Looking forward to it.

I would like to win back to back races, but that's not something I'm banking on, although I was fairly more competitive at these tracks than I though possible in our last few races at road courses. I like having no cautions, because in one way or another we get spread out enough to the point that you are no longer racing the competition, and instead, you are racing the track. As long as I can keep out of the grass, I feel I can compete for at least a good finish. It's almost impossible to predict who is going to win this race though. Will be fun.

Yes, but I can see him returning in spot starts for teams. I could also see him getting a seat if there is a team that has a driver injury. Even if there is a young driver available to get some seat time, teams would be a fool to not have Kenseth at least mentioned as a fill in replacement. Did they announce who will drive the 20 next year?

 

[Hootius]

Jones is going to the 20

 

[Sassafrass_3]

I wont be able to make it to this race

 

[Meattyloaf]

Q:10th
I didn't get the lap I wanted could've started in the top 5, but couldn't get a clean lap.

R: 8th
Gained two spots over the race. I feel I left a lot on the table. I was expecting more wrecks so I held back to gain position as people wrecked... That didn't happen. Then I was expecting everyone to make two stops in the final stretch so I played fuel saver on the first stretch after the stage and lead a lap, but I ended up losing several seconds in pits which took me from 8th to 10th during the pit cycle. I feel if I fought harder and more, I think I could've finished around 5th, but I'll take 8th and if my gut had been right I probably would've stolen a win or a top 3. However, things didn't work out as I had hoped. Good race though and on to Michigan.

 

[Hootius]

This week, the Nascar crew hit upstate New York for the only road course on the Season 3 schedule, Watkins Glen. The Hall of Fame will get some new names added to each category, as Mitchell Riggs (MitchMan009), who pulled off the Hat Trick the only previous time the League hit the very fast road course, was not in attendance this evening.

Nerves were on edge for qualifying, as each driver only had 3 chances at landing a Pole lap. At the end of the sprint, Charles Sumner (Hootius) captured his 2nd Pole of the Season by over .250 secs. Sean Ryan (Sean420Cali), Nick Michaud (NickMichaud), Kyle Spencer (KDawgHonda777), and Adam Zemke (Zeke_H30) rounded out the Top 5.

The race started off with a crazy sprint for Stage 1 bonus points. After a pace lap to get the field in a proper order, there was a 4 lap showdown. There were multiple lead changes between Charles, Sean, and Kyle in those few laps, but in the end Charles was able to make the final pass and claim his first career Stage win. Kyle, Sean, Michael Caterino (vWardude), and Nick received the rest of the bonus points. After the whole field pitted, we had 16 green flag laps to determine a winner. Like in the Stage 1 sprint, the rest of the race came down to a race long battle between Charles, Kyle and Sean. Going into the green flag pit stops, Charles had a 3 second lead wiped away after his pit crew let him down with an almost 17 second stop. Kyle was able to take over the lead exiting pit lane. The race came down to a final pass that took place with 3 to go. Kyle spun his wheels on the curbing on the outside of Turn 1, in which Charles checked up to make sure not to hit him. Sean took advantage of that situation and took the lead for the final time. Sean was able to hold off Kyle and Charles for his 3rd Career win, in which all 3 drivers finished within a second of each other. Nick and Michael rounded out the Top 5 for the race. Kyle captured his 5th career Fastest Lap award, and set a new track record for Watkins Glen. Zack Jackson (Action12Jackson) was the Hard Charger of the race, jumping up into a Top 10 finish after missing qualifying and starting from the back of the field.

**Top 10 Finishing order for Watkins Glen**
1. Sean Ryan (Sean420Cali) – 2nd Win this Season, 3rd of his career
2. Kyle Spencer (KDawgHonda777) – 4th Top 5 of the Season
3. Charles Sumner (Hootius) – 3rd Top 5 of the Season
4. Nick Michaud (NickMichaud) – 2nd Top 5 of the Season
5. Michael Caterino (vWardude) – 3rd Top 5 of the Season
6. Adam Zemke (Zeke_H30) – 4th Top 10 of the Season; 25th of his career
7. Owen Bridges (Habob69) – 3rd Top 10 of the Season
8. Christopher Johnson (MeattyLoaf) – 2nd Top 10 of the Season
9. Christopher Herring (CJHerring) – 3rd Top 10 of the Season; 25th of his career
10. Zack Jackson (Action12Jackson) – 2nd Top 10 of the Season

In a unique event in Round 5, there was no change at all for the Top 3 drivers since they all scored the same amount of points (due to Stage/Pole/Fast Lap bonus points) at Watkins Glen. Sean Ryan (Sean420Cali) still sits 10 points up on Kyle Spencer (KDawgHonda777), with Charles Sumner (Hootius) 3 points behind Kyle. Michael Caterino (vWardude) is 20 points back of Sean in 4th place, with Nick Michaud (NickMichaud) rounding out the Top 5, 33 points back.

For our Team championship, One-Two Racing (Michael and Nick) holds a 10 points lead over Bumper Killers (Sean and Noah), with Car Ramrod (Charles and Christopher J.) sitting just another 2 points back.

The Glen was Race 2/3 for the 2nd Round of the Playoffs. Here's how the driver sit after Indy: Adam and Sean are automatically in Round 3 due to their wins. Kyle, Charles and Michael are not guaranteed in Round 3, but do sit pretty comfortable with their points lead over the cutoff. Zack, Brian, and Nick are all tied in points and sitting on the cutoff spots, but Rob, Owen, and Christopher J. are all within 3 points of them. That makes 6 drivers, separated by only 3 points, fighting for the final 3 spots at the final race before the next set of 4 drivers get knocked out of the Playoffs.

Next week, the Nascar Heat crew heads to the fastest track on the schedule, Michigan. Please join us, and one of our handful of driver who stream their POVs of the race, on Wednesday nights at 9pm Eastern.

 

[Hootius]

Q: 1st
Happy

R: 3rd
yup...

 

[jeromef1]

Q: 1st
Happy

R: 3rd
yup...

Straight to the point!

 

[Hootius]

Q: 1st
Happy

R: 3rd
yup...

Straight to the point!

Lots of passive aggressiveness in that Yup lol

 

[XSYSE]

I like my place to be determined by my efforts and My faults with a slight bearing of racing deals....I do not want my faults or actions to negate the efforts of another...races are a sum of these elements. Takes, patience, sportsmanship and most of all integrity....Too many decisions made without patience without integrity.