VRW: Teamwork Pays In Talladega 300, Earnhardt Causes 'The Big One'
- NR4
- Published ()
- Virtual Racing World
As the Virtual Racing World series rolled into Talladega on Monday team owner stress levels were running high. Martinsville had turned into a short track nightmare and most of the field was torn up. One team went (virtually) bankrupt!
Driver tensions were also high for different reasons all together. First off everyone had to be on their best driving behavior despite some growing feuds within the field. Next they knew that at Talladega, 'the Big One' could be just around the next turn. Third for some of them they knew that this could be their last chance if they got in 'the Big One'.
In a surprise technical move, the VRW made a gear change to the intermediate fixed setup that all competitors would run. League Admin Nim Cross stated that it was found that the cars were hitting the rev limiter in the draft so the gear was taken out another click.
Following Southpaw Motorsports bankruptcy last week another well respected team within the sim racing community was on it's last leg: Team Lightspeed. Despite being owned by the legendary Bob Stanley and Brian Simpson, Team Lightspeed's (virtual) financial ruin lay just around the corner. To make matters worse TLS driver Nim Cross failed to qualify his #7 entry and ended up driving the #29 car of Shiller Racing.
Maybe at the top of the stress list was a very special guest driver for the week... Dale Earnhardt Jr. of the real life NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Dale was given the opportunity to drive the #07 of Nim Cross with a provisional entry (Nim had failed to qualify the TLS entry). For the most part he made the most of the opportunity. Unfortunately his patience would seem to run out on lap 94, but we'll get back to that soon.
The competitive drivers of the VRW quickly found the the VRW's mandated setup would not allow sustained side-by-side racing in the turns. The pole setting entry of the #27 Team Gulf Holmes took advantage and dominated the early going of the race and driver Chris Shearburn led the 190mph freight train.
The single file racing resulted in 12 caution flags over the course of the race as drivers got impatient and started dropping below the white line of the back stretch. The real theme of the race was a 'if you go down there behind me, I'll go down and block you to the grass' mentality.
2001 SSCA Champion and VRW series point leader Shawn Wise had a tough day but managed to hook up with several drivers, including Earnhardt and TJ Majors, to keep in front of most of the wrecks. Wise pushed hard and showed himself to be one of the few drivers that was daring enough to pass on the outside. On lap 28 Wise avoided a major wreck when his #98 Ostrow Racing Chevy was spun backwards on the back straight. Amazingly he recovered control of the car without hitting anything.
Chris Horst's Long Pedal Racing made it's VRW debut with drivers Dustin McGrew and Mark Lewis. McGrew looked strong all race, leading many laps and passing Shearburn on a restart for the race lead. His smart approach brought Long Pedal Racing a top ten finish in it's first start. We'll be keeping an eye on McGrew as the season finishes. The LPR #60 of Lewis was wrecked on lap 50, putting him out of the race.
TJ Majors and Dale Earnhardt Jr. worked together for most of the afternoon and were running hard in mid pack with Shawn Wise. Majors ran three wide a few times and made it stick as he drafted behind Earnhardt and the trio moved up the rankings. Despite spinning a driver early on in the race Earnhardt was racing very well and staying in mid pack.
Majors and Earnhardt were separated when Majors dove into the pit lane with Team Cyclone's Mike Ramsden and Tom Oliver under the green flag. Majors overshot the pit road but got his #13 Cybertech Racing Ford under control in the grass. He would exit pit road and go a lap down, ending up with Earnhardt again in the draft.
The caution would come out on lap 78 and several drivers got their laps back when leader Shannon Whitmore slowed considerably ahead of second place Shearburn before crossing the line to take the yellow flag. Many drivers were unhappy about the move. TJ Majors was one of the drivers to get his lap back.
Southern Motorsports driver Bob Rowden also managed to get his lap back after restarting in the left line all race. Rowden pulled down a top 15 finish despite having no team car in the race. Rowden's son Justin is rumored to have needed to been restrained while Bob was a lap down.
When the field pitted on lap 79, Nim Cross, both Team Cyclone cars, and Farmer Racing's Jay Taylor went to the front of the field by staying out. On the restart the three hooked up and began to pull away.
'The Big One' finally occurred on lap 94 and everyone's worst fears had come true. The guest driver had caused it. Earnhardt had dropped back within the top 15 as team cars began to work together against him. On lap 94 he decided to fight back after both Ellison Motorsports and Slowpoke Racing boxed him to the high line.
He had a open outside lane and was gaining ground when he tried to go inside the #69 of Don Colliau in the middle of the back straight. In a unfortunately moment Earnhardt realized that one of the SlowPoke Cars had left no room for him on his left, tapped the #69, and set off 'The Big One'.
Earnhardt was spun down the back straight as all heck broke loose behind him. Eventually he was flipped upside down, ending his race according to VRW rules because he would have to get a tow. He would finish in 26th.
TJ Majors boldly backed up his first VRW win at Martinsville with a strong top ten finish. Nim Cross lost the lead to Ramsden just as the wreck occurred and Oliver moved by also.
On lap 99 Jay Taylor crashed, dropping him back to a 13th place finish. After that the race was effectively over as Team Cyclone pulled away over the last 15 laps for a one-two finish.
After the race Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave a post race audio interview to VRW broadcaster Blake Kilcrease.
When asked about the wreck Earnhardt Jr. said, "I think I was a major part of the instigation of that wreck. I thought I had a hole but it wasn't there when I got there. It was getting late in the race and the closer you got to the front the harder it was to pass."
Dale apparently saw the advantage that running team cars provides in the VRW. "I was real surprised to see how the teammates worked together," he said. "It seemed to pay off to have a teammate there at the end of the race."
Dale also showed interest in coming back and racing soon, "It was fun," he said. "I had a blast! It's good thing that you guys have going here and hopefully I can be a part of it."
Coincidentally it was the #3 GoodWrench Chevy that came home first. Earnhardt hit the nail on the head. Ramsden was able to win the race because of team strategy. When he came in to pit the #4 of Tom Oliver was right there with him as a sure thing drafting partner. In the final laps, Oliver was selflessly protecting Ramsden from the pack of cars trying to break them up and beat them.