VRW S2: Cup & GN See Green at California, Sportsman See Yellow In More Ways Than One
- NR2k2
- Published ()
- Virtual Racing World
The VRW came to California for round 4 of the VRW Season 2 and at least one driver left having learned a valuable lesson about visiting the Port-O-Pottie before the event starts. More on that later...
Roger Voss took the pole position for the Cup event with a lap of 41.123 seconds around the 2 mile California Speedway. Weather Conditions were a surprisingly cold 62 degrees for the qualifying session. By the time the race rolled around however the temperature had risen to a warm 82 degrees.
The race turned out to be one of the most competitive of the year, with over 26 lead changes among 10 drivers. Ostrow Racing's Shawn Wise started in the 7th position and led 44 laps of the event. Wise, who has had good fortune over the first four events, was victim of an unfortunately timed green flag pit stop. Only a few laps later the yellow flag flew and Wise was relegated to the rear of the field. Wise was moving up when contact with the #73 Digital Type and Image of Thomas Knoll put them both out of the event. Knoll hit the outside wall at a tough 150 mph head on.
Josh Smathers came home in the 5th position after starting in 10th. The ProSeat #2 driver ran in the top ten the entire race and was followed home by teammate Jeff Fritscher in the #1 DeadWrinkle Racing entry in 6th place.
Slowpoke Racing's CW Wesbster had a great event, moving from a 24th starting position to bring his AMD/Extreme Servers #96 home in the 4th position of the 32 car field.
Nim Cross had his best run of the young season, coming home in the 3rd position with a consistent drive from the 12 position on the grid. Cross rarely was passed and was right behind the leaders when the final caution came out to end the race under yellow. Cross, driver of the Ellison Motorsports #8 entry, won the VRW Cup race at Atlanta during season 1.
The VRW Champion returned the top five, quietly moving the #3 up the field to finish a close 2nd after early trouble almost ended his day. Mike Ramsden was involved in a lap 5 incident with Weidner Racing's Mike Blackstock. The #3 suffered a damaged hood and right side damage after contact with the outside wall of turn 3.
Derek Ablamsky put Southern Motorsports in victory lane while leading a mere 3 laps of the event. Ablamsky passed Ramsden with two to go just as the yellow flag flew and held Ramsden off to beat him to the yellow. The win was a big moment for team owner Tracy Fritzsching also, as it substantially helped the team and put them on strong financial ground for the remainder of season 2.
After a slow start Patricio Rey Racing has scored well in two events in a row. Jason E. Davis brought the #66 JustRacin.net entry home in the top spot in the VRW Grand National California 250. The race was a excellent showing for the GN division, with the first 70 laps of racing being without caution. Tom Robbio brought his Fuson Racing #39 home in the second position.
The event had 14 lead changes among 6 drivers.
Team Green's #21 of Joao Vaz dominated much of the event early on by leading 43 laps. Unfortunately he was the first entry out of the race when he tangled with the lap down #13 SimAutoRacer.net entry of Troy Bouffard on lap 71.
Low Budget Racing's Jason Manes put a great last lap pass on the #00 T.G.I. Friday's entry of Dave Pressley the win the the VRW Sportsman California 250. The race was decided in a last lap sprint that saw Manes and Pressley race hard into turn 3. Manes emerged the victor on the event.
The event was again broadcast live to a live internet audience via streaming video by David McCall and Tom Robbio.
In other Sportsman news, #17 Tom Wigent admitted to the reason why he spun out under caution with only 20 laps remaining in the event. [ed: This is not a fabricated story to our knowledge.] Wigent apparently could not 'hold it' and called for his wife to get him a bottle. He then attempted to urinate in a bottle during the caution period.
Replays of the incident show the #17 careening out of control as its driver failed to successfully complete this remarkable task. Wigent did manage to keep the car off the wall and came home in 12th place, dripping wet no doubt.
The VRW tackles its first short track of the season. Richmond will be a true test of both driver and owner patience.