Author: Garth Griswold

DARLINGTON: Avila’s Long Run Strategy Pays Off, Winning the Southern 500

Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series headed to Darlington, South Carolina, on Wednesday night for the longest and final race of the regular season. Three hundred sixty-seven laps were on the menu for the drivers to try and lay their claim to one of the final playoff spots left for the taking. For the first time since the Olympic Break, the field could lay down some green flag runs with multiple strategies coming into play at the end of the track, which is known to be “Too Tough to Tame.”

Qualifying

The warm track temperatures during the late afternoon sun made qualifying difficult with times slightly. Four different drivers set qualifying laps in the 29-second territory, with Johnny Avila taking the pole with a time of 29.915. Thomas Wolfe would start second outside Avila with a time of 29.933, followed by Cody Porter, who would begin behind his teammate Avila on the second row inside with 29.937. Stephen Menke would start behind Wolfe with 29.939 in fourth place. The field of 34 drivers was ready for the regular season finale showdown.

STAGE 1

As the race kicked off, Avila led the pack into Turn 1, marking the start of Stage 1. The stage, spanning 115 laps, saw six incident cautions. Avila’s teammate, Cody Porter, dominated the stage by leading the most laps, 65. However, Thomas Wolfe of Backroad Bandit Racing proved his mettle and clinched the stage win on Lap 115, signaling fierce competition ahead.

STAGE 1 RESULTS

Despite the challenges, the drivers displayed remarkable resilience, pushing through the incidents and cautions that peppered the first 115 laps. The 500-mile race is a true test of endurance, and the drivers’ commitment to taking care of their cars and avoiding contact was genuinely challenging. Here are some photos and video clips of the incidents that tested their resilience during Stage 1.

STAGE 2

The race returned green on Lap 120, with Thomas Wolfe leading the field. Avila took back the lead on Lap 122 before the first caution came out on Lap 128. There would be four more cautions during the stage before Avila would take the stage win on Lap 230. Avila would lead 57 laps during the stage and was beginning to set the tone for the final stage. Stewart Harding Walker would lead the second most laps, with 50 laps led during Stage 2. The biggest story during Stage 2 was on Lap 185 when playoff bubble driver Joe Wright would head to the pits for new shoes on the car, but he would get disconnected. His disconnect would end his chances of beating out Tommy Carroll Jr. for the final playoff spot.

Here are some incident clips from Stage 2.

STRATEGY COMES INTO PLAY

Avila led the field back to green on Lap 235, but Pete Morales jumped the restart, and CJR Officials gave him the black flag for a drive-through penalty, causing him to go a lap down. The pit stop strategy would come into play here as Avila, Wolfe, Nishill Condoor, Tyler Belanger, and Jacob Abreu would run their first stint much longer than most other cars on the lead lap. The rest of the field took tires somewhere between the 40-55 lap stint length; Avila, Wolfe, Condoor, and Belanger would push their tires to the 65-75 stint length before coming to pit road.

PIT ROAD WOES

Green flag pit stops were where the issues would arise. Wolfe would pit first but get black-flagged for speeding on the pit road. Avila would pit one lap later. He would get squirrely coming down to the apron and touch the pit cone barrier, coming to a stop before any significant damage occurred. Avila would get backed up and through pit road with new shoes and a new tank of fuel. He was hoping this race stayed green through the rest of the race.

Avila understood that most of the field would have to make another pit stop before the end of the race, but he could make it to the end without another stop. A caution before the field made their second stop would be the only wrench that could foil Avila’s plan. The final stage would have the longest green flag runs of the race and probably of the season, going 114 Laps before the only caution would come out on Lap 349 for Jacob Abreu spinning down the front stretch.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Avila and Condoor were the only two drivers on the lead lap and were able to get new tires with 17 laps to go. The rest of the field was at least one lap down, and they had to decide whether to stay out to get their lap back or get new tires, stay a lap down, and get back behind the leaders. Third through 10th place decided to stay out and return to the lead lap.

Steven Carlile would do his best to stay with Avila and Condoor, but their fresh tires would allow them to pull away. With five laps to go, Avila had an almost half-second lead on Condoor and a 1.20-second lead on Carlile. Condoor would do his best to catch Avila but couldn’t get there as Avila would take the checkered flag to win the Southern 500.

REULAR SEASON CHAMPION

Cory Mott, who finished in 7th place, would be crowned the Regular Season Champion on Wednesday night. Mott would finish 1st place with a 78-point lead over Steven Carlile, and Carlile would finish 3rd at Darlington. Mott finished the season with a win at Iowa back in June and had 5 Top 5 finishes, 14 Top 10 finishes, and 3 stage wins on the year.

Carlile would be the runner-up, but there is nothing to let his head droop about on the season he has run. He has finished 2nd place a handful of times but never could grab that win in the regular season. Look for Carlile to make a long run into the playoffs.

IT’S PLAYOFF TIME

The playoff field is set with three races in the Round of 16. The Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series will travel to Atlanta next week, Watkins Glen in week 2, and Bristol Motor Speedway to wrap up the final Round under the lights. The racing will get scrappy in this first Round as six drivers will begin the playoffs with 3 points or less to try and get through to the Round of 12.

Playoff racing will begin next Wednesday at 8:15 EST for 250 miles around Atlanta Motor Speedway. Catch all the action on the Crown Jewel Racing Network.

WATKINS GLEN: AVILA REAPPEARS TO WIN AT THE GLEN

Cody Porter has won the last three races coming into Monday night to take on The Glen at the Watkins Glen International road course. His sidekick, Johnny Avila, has missed the previous two races of the VRS Truck Series, but his hauler showed up and unloaded a fast truck for 45 laps around the road course.

Zack Saunders got off to a quick start in the race and won both Stage 1 and Stage 2 before the iRacing Gods ended his night by ending his connection to the racing Server. It was disappointing as Saunders had the speed and would have made Avila, who was charging from the back, have a good fight at the end.

Avila would take the reins from race leader Nathaniel Campbell on Lap 28 and lead the final 15 Laps to win his 5th race of the season. Porter would take second, and Oskar Jensen would take 3rd to round out the podium. Notable driver of the night went to Joe Wright, who struggled to get through a race with a decent finish. Wright started in the 14th position and reached a Top 10 finish at 9th place.

PLAYOFF MOVEMENT

With Mike Burnett dropping out of playoff contention, his Split 1 seat has now been opened to allow a 4th wildcard spot a seat in the playoffs. Jim Mott now holds onto that 4th spot. With one last race at Nashville Fairgrounds next week, the playoff spots fall into the hands of that last Split 3 Driver, Matthew Owens. If Owens can hold onto that spot next week, then the playoff field won’t change, but if Tyler Krawcyzk, who is -18 points back from Owens, can jump in front, that would shift all the wildcard drivers down one spot with Owens getting in with the first wildcard spot.

It will be an exciting race next Monday night at Nashville Fairgrounds. Tune in on the Crown Jewel Racing Network to catch all the thrilling action to conclude the 2024 VRS Truck Series Regular Season.

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DAYTONA: JENSEN TRIUMPHS AT COKE ZERO SUGAR 250

For the final time this year, the Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series made its way to the iconic Daytona for the Coke Zero Sugar 250. Daytona, with its 200+ MPH racing and the dramatic wrecks that always bring a new level of excitement, was a pivotal moment for the fans of the Crown Jewel Racing Community, marking the beginning of the end of an exhilarating regular season.

QUICK RACE STATS

  • Location: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
  • Weather: 80 Degrees, Partly Cloudy, South Wind @ 1-2 MPH
  • Race Length: 106 Laps, 1 HR 47 MINS
  • 13 Leaders – 23 Lead Changes
    • Oskar Jensen-31 Laps
    • Braedyn Carrol-19 Laps
    • Cody Leach-9 Laps
    • Cory Mott-8 Laps
    • Tommy Carroll Jr.-8Laps
    • Daniel Jursza-8 Laps
    • Nishil Condoor-6 Laps
    • Johnny Avila-5 Laps
    • Ben Lawson-4 Laps
    • Wyatt Sadler- 3 Laps
    • Russell Bratka-2 Laps
    • Zach Johnson- 2 Laps
    • Jonathan Leger-1 Lap
  • 12 Cautions – 37 Laps

Qualifying

Daytona Qualifying, a spectacle of intense competition, is always a thrill. The drivers, separated by a mere one-thousandth of a second, know that one-hundredth of a second could be the difference between the pole and starting in the 15th position. The times were so close this week that it came down to a tie for the pole position, with newcomer Brenden Koehler seizing the pole position and Stewart Harding Walker taking second, with a qualifying time of 49.532. Russell Bratka and Wyatt Sadler would qualify third and fourth with a matching time of 49.539, and Tommy Carroll Jr. would qualify fifth with a time of 49.544.

STAGE 1

The green flag would fly as the #36 Koehler would lead the field to start the race, but the #56 Carroll Jr. would take the lead on the first lap of racing. The inside line formed well at the beginning and took off from the outside line with single file racing back to almost 10th place. Eventually, the outside line figured it out and ran back to the front, with the #45 Oskar Jensen taking the lead as the field went two by two behind him.

The drivers started to get extra spicy on the final lap of the stage on Lap 20, and the ‘BIG ONE’ happened in Turns 3-4. This term refers to a significant multi-car crash often occurring in NASCAR races. Carroll Jr. was trying to push the #68 Alexander Hodge to the front, but he got underneath him and into the quarter panel, sending Hodge around. Ten drivers got black-flagged for damage from this chaos, sending them down the pit road to end the stage.

Jensen would secure the Stage 1 win by leading twelve out of the twenty-stage laps. Koehler would take second place, followed by Braedyn Carroll in third. Steven Carlile and Wyatt Sadler would follow behind with fourth—and fifth-place finishes. It was all the fans could ask for in Stage 1: green flag racing throughout the stage, building excitement for the end, and witnessing utter destruction coming to the line to end the stage.

STAGE 1 RESULTS

STAGE 2

At the end of the stage, #11 Russell Bratka was the only one to stay on the race track and chose not to pit with everyone else. Bratka led the field back to green flag racing to begin Stage 2. The race would stay green until Lap 24 when the #63 Johnny Avila and the #40 Wyatt Sadler made contact coming out of Turn 2. They would collect the #55 Cameron Romano on the backstretch and turn him down to the apron.

On Lap 27, Jensen took back the lead to bring the race back to green, and the drivers tried to settle back in and went two by two with almost 20 cars staying in the lead pack. On Lap 31, Braedyn Carroll would take Jensen’s lead before another caution came out. The #1 Cory Mott and the #29 Stewart Harding Walker would make contact down the backstretch as Mott was attempting to change lanes. They would spin to the inside, but neither would get any damage from the incident.

When Carroll brought the field back to green on Lap 37, we would have a four-lap shootout to end Stage 2. Jensen would get a great push off the line and take the lead but couldn’t hold on to it for long, as the #63 Johnny Avila would take the lead and the green-white-checkered to end Stage 2. Several drivers wouldn’t pit at the stage break, and #8 Zach Johnson would take the lead spot.

STAGE 2 RESULTS

STAGE 3

Johnson would bring the field to the start-finish line to begin the final stage, as his Palmetto Motorsports teammate Cory Mott would line up to his inside. Johnson would rely on his other teammate, the #77 Jim Mott, to give him a push to keep him out front. But Mott would stay with the bottom line and get the better push to leave the top line in the dust. Mott would maintain the lead through the halfway point in the race, but the #15 Cody Leach would transition to the Highline in front of Johnson to try and capture the lead. Mott would also move to the Highline to block Leach’s run before Mott would change back to the low line. Leach would keep the top line moving, taking the lead from Mott on Lap 53 in a series of strategic moves that kept the audience on the edge of their seats.

Leach would keep control until Lap 58 when the #77 Jim Mott would get a little too close on the side draft and make contact with the #61 Nishil Condoor. Jim Mott would get turned to the inside while Cory Mott would move high to miss the incident and collect the #6 Stephen Menke, who would get smacked left and right by other cars as they tried to get around. Menke would be involved in another incident on Lap 63, and he couldn’t get his luck turned around for the evening as all the incidents he was involved in were not his fault. Overall, it was a tough night for all of Factory Motorsports as they all finished outside the Top 10.

The next caution would come out on Lap 74 when the #3 Ben Lawson would push the #89 Daniel Jurza to the front to take the lead from the #40 Wyatt Sadler. Jurza and Lawson would make contact down the backstretch and would move Lawson into the top line, where Condoor would meet him as they both went into the wall. This wreck would send seven cars to the pits for repairs.

Fans could tell the race was ending as the driving would get increasingly aggressive every lap that was turned. There would be four more cautions before we would come down to the first overtime on Lap 98.

OVERTIME AT DAYTONA

Jensen would control the bottom line while Russell Bratka lined up next to him on the outside row. When the green flag dropped, Jensen would get a great push, and the bottom line would pull away, heading into Turn 1. Jensen and Braedyn Carroll would link up bumpers and check out from the field, but they couldn’t get back to the line before another big wreck would happen on the backstretch when the #88 Tyler Belanger would drift down a bit too much and connect with the #63 Avila sending him into the wall.

CJR Officials would get them reracked and restacked for Overtime #2. Jensen would get the jump on the bottom line, which Carroll would push. They would lock bumpers and get around the track to bring out the white flag. They would run away with it, but coming out of Turn 4, here comes the #36 Brenden Koehler getting a big push and run from the #91 Zack Saunders. Saunders would push Koehler to Carroll’s bumper, and Jensen would move high, breaking Koehler’s run as Saunders would go low. Jensen would have enough momentum to get to the checkered flag, and Saunders would speed past Carroll for a second-place finish. Koehler would cross the line for 3rd place, and Carroll, who pushed Jensen around for the final restart, would do enough to get Jensen the win, but Carroll would finish in 4th place. At the after-race press conference, Jensen said this about the race.

“I want to say thank you to Ray. We had an incident early in the race during the choose cone, which gave me some motivation to drive my tail off and win this thing.”

Playoff Implications

The Playoff field of 16 Drivers is set, barring any unexpected race winners, miracles, or sudden departures. The regular season finale will take place next week at Darlington Raceway. Check out the Playoff Standings, and if you want to rewatch that exciting race finish, check out our race recording on the Crown Jewel Racing Network.

We will see you all next week for the Buc-ee’s Southern 500 for 367 laps at Darlington!

OFFICIAL: BACKROAD BANDIT RACING TEAM MIGHT GO UP IN FLAMES

Crown Jewel Racing Officials announced today the long-awaited news of the Backroad Bandit Racing Team after a lengthy discussion with the BBR Legal Team. Despite the sudden disappearance of Team Owner Mike Burnett after the Team Conti Cup Series race at Pocono, the team showed resilience by installing driver of the #93 Kris Burnham as Interim Team Owner. Burnham, who has been serving as the Team Representative for BBR since Burnett’s leave of absence began, assured the BBR Team’s return for the playoffs. This display of resilience should give fans hope for the team’s future.

The Backroad Bandit Racing team started the season by making their presence known to the CJR Community. With the #94 Thomas Wolfe winning the Clash at the Coliseum, Burnham winning the Pennzoil 300 at Las Vegas, #91 Zack Saunders winning at Phoenix, and Mike Burnett winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. It seemed like all was well in paradise. When rumors started to swirl, Saunders was looking to get out and find a new ride because there might be trouble in paradise after all. Uber Motorsports confirmed late last week that Saunders has signed a contract to race for the Uber Motorsports team in 2025.

The Backroad Bandit Racing Team really took a turn for the worse after Burnett’s 29th-place finish at Pocono and the heated argument after the race with multiple drivers about differing opinions and financial obligations surrounding the team’s racing strategy. Burnett slammed the door to his hauler and hasn’t been seen since. A once prominent racer in the league has now drifted into a distant memory.

Burnham, suspended from a race earlier in the year due to an incident on pit road, would take the reins of BBR. Burnham would announce that he planned on making the final two races of the regular season and would join Thomas Wolfe in the playoffs. But the winds would change all too quickly as the trucks left for Daytona Tuesday Night. During a team owner meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Burnham announced that he would not make the race on Wednesday night and would not request a waiver for the playoffs. Burnham would quickly leave the meeting and disconnect himself from the CJR Community.

New Sheriff in Town

Despite the challenges faced by BBR Headquarters, Thomas Wolfe has remained a beacon of commitment and success. With wins at Texas, Chicago Street Course, and Indianapolis this season, Wolfe has shown unwavering dedication to the team. His commitment should reassure the CJR Community of the team’s potential for success.

CJR Officials today announced that Mr. Wolfe has taken over ownership of the Backroad Bandit Racing Team effective immediately. In a short news conference, Mr. Wolfe thanked the fans, prior owners of BBR, and his family for the opportunity to take over this organization and lead it back to greatness.

When discussing the team’s future, Mr. Wolfe said that the team will be downsizing in 2025 to a two-car team. It has been rumored that BBR was having financial hardships with the current lackluster economy and the cost of the racing program this season. Mr. Wolfe did not rule out the possibility of a rebranding for the organization soon and said that his focus at the moment is finishing out 2024 with a Championship Trophy at Phoenix.
As Mr. Wolfe takes the reins of the Backroad Bandit Racing Team, we look forward to a bright future for the organization. We wish Mr. Wolfe success in his bid to bring this organization from the ashes it is currently smoldering in back to a bright flame in 2025.

MILWAUKEE: PORTER WINS 3 IN A ROW, TAMES MILWAUKEE MILE

VRS Truck Series competed at the Milwaukee Mile on Monday night in West Allis, Wisconsin. 37,000 fans filled the grandstands to see these trucks turn 175 laps around this legendary oval, and were able to watch Cody Porter dominate the race from start to finish. Click here to watch the race replay.

Quick Stats

  • Location: Milwaukee Mile Speedway, West Allis, Wisconsin
  • Race Length: 175 Laps, 2 Hours 6 Min
  • Weather: 86 degrees, Partly Cloudy, Wind SW @ 5-6 MPH
  • 3 Leaders
    • Cody Porter – 155 Laps
    • Stewart Harding Walker – 10 Laps
    • Cody Leach – 10 Laps
  • 6 Lead Changes
  • 12 Cautions – 49 Laps

Qualifying

Porter would continue his dominance taking the pole with a time of 30.558 on his second qualifying lap. Zack Saunders (30.785) and Cody Leach (30.822) would take second and third behind him. This is Porter’s third pole of the VRS Truck Series and second week in a row of starting on the pole. In the last five races of qualifying, Porter hasn’t started anywhere but the front row. Porter had this to say about where they find that speed week in and week out.

“It all comes down to testing and having a good setup team. I only made minor changes from practice to loosen the truck up a bit, and without having that data and all those practice laps, it would not be easy.”

STAGE 1

Porter would take the green flag leading the field into Stage 1 and with most short track races this season it didn’t take long for that yellow caution flag to fly. On Lap 2, the #4 of Tyler Krawczyk would lose the back end and go around exiting Turn 4.

A much appreciated caution for the #1 Cory Mott, the #15 Cody Leach, and the #61 of Nishil Condoor who were all serving a drive thru penalty from the last race at Richmond. But a few laps later that helpful caution wouldn’t matter to Mott who was caught up in a wreck on Lap #7 with the #86 Ryan Taft, and the #67 of Joe Katarsky.

The #93 Stewart Harding Walker would take the lead from Porter on Lap 16 and hold onto that lead until a caution would come out for the #56 of Noah Lycan. Porter and Walker would battle for the lead on the restart with Walker leading laps 25-27 before Porter took back the reins. iRacing would throw another caution just after the lead change and this caution drew some gripes and complaints from the drivers as no incident really occurred. The #35 of Henry Kallhoff sent his truck sideways in Turn 3 but was able to keep the Tokyo Drift going to regain control.

There would be two more cautions during the stage before the stage would end on Lap 55 with Porter getting another stage win for his fourth of the season. Walker would take second place in the stage after leading ten laps. The #34 Matthew Owens would take 3rd, the #88 Connor Wold 4th, and the #95 Pete Morales taking 5th.

STAGE 2

Leach would take the lead on Lap 58 and lead the field back to green. A caution would come out on Lap 63 for the #8 Joe Gibbons, and Porter would take the lead back on the Lap 68 restart. Leach would try to keep control of the second place spot, but the #99 Zack Saunders would be all over his bumper for multiple laps trying to get Leach out of the way. That aggressive racing would lead to another caution on Lap 73 when Saunders bumping game would get to rough for Leach to handle. Leach would spin out and Saunders would check up causing Walker to give Saunders a taste of his own medicine with bump to his rear bumper. Saunders would lose control colliding with the outside wall causing extensive damage to his truck. Saunders night was finished and he didn’t have much to say after the race, and Leach only had a three word response regarding the incident.

“It’s just chickenshit.”

We will see if this altercation carries over into the other series, but I don’t think they will be exchanging christmas cards anytime soon.

Racing would resume on Lap 75 with Porter remaining at the helm in the front, and they would stay green flag racing for 35 laps to complete the stage. Porter would once again get the stage win, Walker finishing in 2nd, Wold in 3rd, Condoor in 4th, and the #29 Tyler Belanger would take 5th.

Not Enough Preparation in the End

Porter would lead the field back to green for the final stage of the evening. Only two cautions would come out in the final stage with the first caution being on Lap 122 that would end the night for the #1 Cory Mott who just couldn’t get the race going in the right direction. And the final caution would come out on Lap 146 for the #4 of Tyler Krawczyk who had some difficulty keep the tires underneath him coming out of Turn 4.

Walker would do his best to keep the pressure on Porter on the final restart on Lap 151, but just wasn’t able to find the speed in the end. Porter would would take the checkered flag for his third straight victory in the VRS Truck Series.

Walker would finish second in his VRS Truck Series debut. He was all smiles after the race when he spoke during his media session.

“Definitely above where we expected to finish tonight racing on such short notice. Didn’t have much time to prepare, hell we wrapped the truck when qualifying was going on. Porter had a great truck tonight, and I had more for him at the start, but my knowledge of setups was what became my downfall at the end.”

With two races to go in the regular season the playoff battle is really heating up with multiple scenarios that could play out over the next two races. The VRS Truck Series will be back in action next Monday night when they travel out Dix, New York to take on The Glen for the “Go Truckin at The Glen 150.” Tune into the Crown Jewel Racing Network to catch all the action live!

OFFICIAL: PORTER’S PLAYOFF WAIVER DENIED DESPITE EARLY SUCCESS

Crown Jewel Racing Officials announced today that Cody Porter, driver of the #04 XPress Esports Ford Mustang, submitted a waiver application to compete in the 2024 Team Conti Sim Performance (TCSP) Cup Series Playoffs. Porter has completed six races this season winning two of them, but is short of the required 17 race participation requirement outlined by the CJR Competition Committee.

Porter joined the league in June and announced his presences by winning two of his first four races and finishing in the Top 5 in his first four starts. He won the pole at the famous Brickyard 400, but was caught in some turmoil and finished 13th. He has raced in six of the last nine races of the TCSP Cup Series and would finish with eight races total if his hauler makes it to Daytona this week, and Darlington next week. Porter had this to say to the voting committee which is formed up of the current sitting playoff drivers.

“I have shown since my arrival that I have been a clean, fair, and competitive driver against everyone, and committed to the league. I hope that the voting committee also sees that and takes it into consideration.”

Lots of Playoff Drivers had split views on whether Porter should be approved or denied the waiver. Cody Leach voiced his opinion on why he was in approval for the waiver.

“I voted yes, he has been here pretty regularly racing in multiple series, granted he missed a couple races, but if anyone deserves a waiver, outside of Kristopher Burnham who I would grant as well; Porter would be the one for it.”

Kristopher Burnham also spoke up in opposition of waivers in general.

“I am not in favor of granting waivers. If I do not make the remaining two races I would be needing a waiver. I do not want a waiver, if I do not make the minimum amount of races participated in. I don’t believe that anyone should receive a waiver.”

In the end Porter did not obtain enough support for his waiver to be approved. Porter received two votes in favor of approval from Cody Leach and Zack Saunders. Drivers voting not in favor were Nic Vasquez, Mike Burnett, Nathaniel Campbell, Kristopher Burnham, Caleb Tipton, Cory Mott, Steven Carlile, Zach Johnson, Vince Mitchell, Allen Phillips, and Stephen Menke. Zander Short and Garth Griswold abstained from the vote.

Porter may not be racing for a championship in the TCSP Cup Series this season, but barring any catastrophic meltdown failures he will be making it into the VRS Truck Series Playoffs to continue the Xpress Esports dominance of the Truck Series.

The TCSP Cup Series will be back in action tomorrow night for 100 laps at the Coke Zero Sugar 250 which is sure to have some fireworks explode with playoff chances on the line. As well all saw on Saturday night, anyone can be there at the end to win the checkered flag. Tune into the Crown Jewel Racing Network to catch all the action unfold tomorrow night!

MICHIGAN: Vince Mitchell Secures Playoff Birth with Win at Michigan

Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series took to the high speed Michigan International Speedway on Wednesday night. Vince Mitchell would triumph over a penalty, starting at the back of the field, to come back after 125 laps to take the checkered flag. This is the 15th driver who has won a race this season, and one less spot available in the playoffs for drivers attempting to make the 16 driver playoff field. Click Here to Watch the Race recording.

Race Quick Stats

  • Michigan International Speedway
    • 125 Laps
    • Weather- 70 Degrees, Mostly Cloudy, Wind N at 1-2 MPH
    • Race Length – 1 HR 40 MINS
  • 43 Drivers Entered – 36 Driver Field
  • 11 Different Leaders
    • Zander Short-25 Laps
    • Vince Mitchell-18 Laps
    • Justin Bell-18 Laps
    • Allen Phillips- 17 Laps
    • Jared Bundy-16 Laps
    • Nic Vasquez-16 Laps
    • John Williams-9 Laps
    • Stewart Harding Walker-2 Laps
    • Mark Roettgen- 2 Laps
    • Cory Mott-1 Lap
    • Caleb Tipton-1 Lap
  • 24 Lead Changes
  • 14 Cautions-42 Laps

Qualifying

With the track temps being considerably lower then they were most of the week in officials. We saw some fast lap times being put down during qualifying. The #69 Caleb “The Uberman” Tipton would win his first pole position of the year with a time of 38.339 and the #30 Mason Hoeffner would take the outside position to start 2nd with a time of 38.373. The #96 Vince Mitchell would qualify 3rd with a time 38.376, but Mitchell would join the 8 other drivers who had to serve penalties after last weeks penalty report was released by CJR Officials.

STAGE 1

CJR Officials issued the penalties on the formation lap and once everyone got settled and ready to go CJR officials issued the penalties on the formation lap while drivers got settled and ready to go. Tipton would lead the field to green for exactly one lap before his teammate, Justin Bell, would take the lead on Lap 2. Bell would maintain that lead until Lap 9 when the #92 Cameron King would get the short end of the stick going down the front stretch, taking a nasty hit on the inside wall.

There would be 2 more cautions in the stage on Lap 13 and Lap 23 with the #3 Ben Lawson being assigned an IC Penalty for the incident on Lap 23. Lawson got slightly tight, coming up the track, to make contact with the #10 of Higginbotham and the #29 of Harding Walker.The #30 of Mason Hoeffner was assigned an IC Penalty for the incident on Lap 13 after making contact with the wall and spinning across the nose of the #38.

The #91 of Jared Bundy would take the lead from Justin Bell on Lap 23 after a hard battle up front. Bundy, who was filling in for Zack Saunders this week, was on track to get his first stage win of the season, had it not been for Zander Short making an impressive move to the lead on Lap 29. He would be able to hold off Jared Bundy who would take 2nd and the #1 Cory Mott would take third to conclude Stage 1.

#5 Allen Phillips would take the lead as the leaders went to pit road and Phillips would lead the field back to green to begin Stage 2. The race would stay green until Lap 40 when #1 Cory Mott would catch some contact from #51 Brian Messer sending Mott across the nose collecting the #66 Ray Gill in the process and Mott would slide down the track, making contact with the inside wall. Phillips would bring the field back to green flag racing on Lap 43, but Zander Short would make his way back to the front and take back control on Lap 44.

Two additional cautions would come out before the end of the Stage 2. On Lap 47, the #29 Stewart Harding Walker and the #131 John Williams would make contact down the backstretch as Walker would go sliding to the inside, but would avoid any damage. The #69 Caleb Tipton would get bunched up and spun out on the restart, but the field would go back green on Lap 54. The green flag would only last for a short time before a big wreck on Lap #56 would end Stage 2.

Zander Short was happy to see the big wreck in his rear view mirror as this would give Short the stage win, sweeping the first two stages of the race. Phillips would take second in Stage 2 with the #22 Nic Vasquez taking third. Short would only lead 25 out of the 125 Laps, but seemed to be leading when it mattered the most.

STAGE 3

Short would lead the field back to the green flag on Lap 61 and would lead until Lap 67. The #91 Jared Bundy would take over for a few laps before Vasquez would take the reins until chaos unfolded on Lap 82. Short would attempt to regain the lead on the low line before catching the seam out of Turn 2 which got him loose, with the car snapping back up into the field collecting a handful of other cars. The #6 Stephen Menke would also go for a ride flipping down the back stretch. Fortunately, for Menke, this is a simulator and not real life, allowing him to triumph during his misfortunes and miraculously avoid going a lap down even after going for a wild ride.

Vasquez would lead the field back to green but they wouldn’t stay green for long as both #99 Justin Bell and Mott would catch that same seam Short did coming out of Turn 2 and got loose. Bell was able to save it down on the apron, but Mott went around collecting some bumps down the back stretch.

40 to Go

There would be 9 different lead changes in the final 40 laps of the race. John Williams would take the lead from Vasquez on Lap 92 and Allen Phillips would take the lead from Williams on Lap 95. They would trade back on Lap 100 before the caution would come out from an incident in the mid pack. Drivers would take to pit road to get fresh shoes on the cars and hope for a 23 Lap green flag run to the end.

That green flag run wouldn’t go as planned as Vasquez and Williams would experience some net code and make contact, Williams would take a hard hit from the rear from the #51 Brian Messer. They will definitely both still be feeling that massive hit next week when we all head back to the Sunshine State. The field would go back green with 12 to go, but Mott and Short would bring out the final caution of the night when Mott would once again get spun down the front stretch and into the grass. Wednesday nights penalty report was released on Thursday night with 5 drivers receiving penalties for next week’s race.

Vince Mitchell would lead the field to green with 8 laps to go. Mitchell would get a great start and would keep control of the lead for the remainder of the race. He was able to use that clean air to keep the second place finisher, Steven Carlile from getting to his back bumper granting Mitchell his first win of the season, locking him into playoffs. Carlile would finish 2nd yet again netting him his 4th runner-up this season and Thomas “Mr. Consistent” Wolfe taking the final podium spot in the race results.

“I had zero confidence going into that race. I was surprised I was able to move up on the final run and have a shot. That is my 4th second place finish this year so not quite up to Sheldon Creed standards yet.”

#7 Steven Carlile, ETHiX Racing Team, Chevrolet

“Being stuck in the catbird seat with Carlile behind me had me pretty nervous, but we just had the better drive off than him. I was fairly confident that I had a top 5 car after qualifying 3rd, but the drive through set us back of course. Once I nabbed the lead late, it was just a matter of counting the laps down and locking in on every restart and hitting my marks.”

#96 Vince Mitchell, Uber Motorsports, Ford

Playoffs on the Mind

Mitchell was currently sitting 8th in the playoffs from race points, but is now locked into the round of 16 after his Michigan win. Zack Saunders and Cody Leach both lose one spot in the standing due to missing the entry of the race on Wednesday night. Steven Carlile now moves up to 2nd place in the standings and should feel nice and cozy knowing he is practically guaranteed a playoff spot at the conclusion of the regular season. An exciting and ongoing playoff battle is happening on the bubble over the next 2 weeks at Daytona and Darlington. Your favorite (maybe least favorite) news writer, Garth Griswold, is sitting on the last playoff spot with the remaining two races in the regular season. Griswold finished 22nd at Michigan after getting collected in a wreck on Lap 108, with Ben Lawson closing the gap to 15 points with his 6th place finish.

The Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series will travel to Daytona Beach, Florida next Wednesday, August 28th, for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Daytona has the potential to really shake up the playoffs, as anyone outside the playoffs could lock themselves in if they can put themselves in a spot to potentially win at the end. You can catch the action next week at Daytona International Speedway on the Crown Jewel Racing Network.

Crown Jewel Media Team

Garth Griswold

RICHMOND: ADAM BENEFIEL PREVAILS FOR FIRST WIN AT COOKOUT 250

For the second time this year, the CJR Cup Series travelled to the short track of Richmond Raceway for the Cookout 250 under the new sponsorship deal, the Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series. An exciting night for new growth for the Crown Jewel Racing League, and of the possibilities to come, were hampered with a downpour of cautions throughout the race. The cautions may have slowed down the tempo of the race, but it couldn’t slow down Team Conti Driver Adam Benefiel who would triumph at the end to win the first ever race under the Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series.

The TCSP Cup Series last travelled to Richmond Raceway in April, but a lot of new faces and names would make the trip to Virginia on Wednesday night. The Crown Jewel Racing League had a big turnout of 42 drivers trying to qualify in for the start, but only 36 drivers would create the field. With the Top 32 drivers in the standings being locked in and the last 4 qualifying in on lap time, six drivers were forced to pack up their haulers and head home early.

Quick Stats

  • Richmond Virginia,
    • Start Time: 6:30 P.M,
    • Race Length: 2 hr, 14m/254 Laps
    • 82 Degrees, Mostly Cloudy, Wind SW @ 1-2 mph
  • 10 Lead Changes
  • 7 Different Leaders
    • Johan Seminario – 77 Laps
    • Cory Mott – 73 Laps
    • Adam Benefiel – 54 Laps
    • Nic Vasquez – 42 Laps
    • Thomas Wolfe – 5 Laps
    • Robert Fitzpatrick Jr. – 2 Laps
    • Zach Johnson – 1 Lap
  • 25 Cautions – 76 Laps

Qualifying

#65 Johan Seminario would take the pole position in his appearance in the Crown Jewel Racing league with a time of 22.211. #72 Richard Dusett qualified 2nd and would start on Seminario’s outside with a time of 22.269. #131 John Williams would start 3rd with a time of 22.341, #83 Adam Benefiel would start 4th with a time of 22.366, and #5 Steven Carlile would start 5th with a time of 22.475. It was an impressive feat that four out of the Top 5 in qualifying are proud Team Conti drivers and there was no doubt they had their cars dialed in for the start.

STAGE 1

Seminario would bring the field to the green flag as the evening sun was setting to the West just over the grandstands. The pace of the race started really up-tempo on the start as 24 out of 36 drivers would set their fastest lap of the stage during this first green flag run. It would end up being the longest green flag run of the night.

The first caution would come out on lap 17 as contact was made between #16 Nathan Campbell and #66 Ray Gill. The caution would fly 3 more times in the stage on laps 31, 41, and 54. Seminario would take the green white checkered for the stage win leading all 75 laps for his first stage win of the season. Williams would take 2nd in the stage, and Benefiel would take 3rd.

STAGE 2

The majority of the field would take to the pits to get fresh shoes and #94 Thomas Wolfe would take the lead winning the race off of pit road. Wolfe would lead the field back to green as race fans were hoping to see some good green flag runs, but sadly they would be disappointed as 9 more cautions would come out in Stage 2. Stage 2 would end on Lap 148 as (yours truly) the #00 of Garth Griswold would miss his braking point and lock them up going into Turn 1 and collect the #94 Thomas Wolfe to bring out the 13th caution of the night.

#83 Benefiel would take the yellow and green white checkered to end the stage and win his first stage of the Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series. #95 Robert Fitzpatrick Jr. would take second place while #15 Cody Leach would come in 3rd.

The up-tempo of the beginning of the race had completely disappeared by this point. The repetitiveness of green and yellow flags would cause tire wear to be minimal, and the pit strategy game hadn’t come into play by the beginning of Stage 3.

STAGE 3

#1 Cory Mott, the current points leader in the TCSP Cup Standings would take the lead to begin Stage 3 and would lead the field to the green flag. Mott would continue to hold the lead through nine more cautions until lap 225 when the #83 of Adam Benefiel would take back the lead. Benefiel would hold onto that lead through 3 more cautions as the final caution would come out on lap 246 which would bring us to our first overtime.

Benefiel would take the green flag and give the deuces to the field like Tyreek Hill running down the sideline. The only possible way to catch him would be for another dreaded caution to come out before he made it around the track to take the white flag. For what seemed like the first time of the night, that caution wouldn’t appear as Benefiel would take the checkered flag to win the first Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series.

“Wasn’t sure I was going to make it in time, didn’t get a lot of practice, but Team Conti had the car setup just perfect, and it was just like driving a Cadillac around this track.”

#83 Adam Benefiel, Team Conti, Chevrolet

If you thought qualifying was a fluke with Team Conti drivers being at that the front, take a look at the finishing results. Four out of the Top Five drivers are members of the Team Conti Community with Benefiel taking 1st Place and John Williams finishing in second. #22 Nic Vasquez would take the last spot on the podium.

Playoff Outlook

It was a long drawn out race with the number of cautions, but with the regular season winding down, drivers had to endure until the finish to try and salvage as many points possible to try and retain or move up in the standings. Nobody moved any spots in the Top 16 Playoff Standings, Cory Mott still sits atop of the Iron Throne with a 56 point lead over Zack Saunders. That final playoff spot battle is really heating up with Garth Griswold being locked in for the time being, but Ben Lawson has closed the gap to 29 points. Tommy Carroll Jr. and Joe Wright both moved up one spot to 17th and 18th with Carroll trailing Lawson by 34 points and Joe Wright 2 points behind him.

Brighter Days Ahead

The Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series will head to Brooklyn, Michigan next Wednesday, the 21st of August, for the Firekeepers Casino 250 for 125 Laps of nearly full throttle action. Drivers are looking forward to getting the field spread out and back to some green flag runs and leave the poor memory of Richmond in the dust. With three races left in the regular season, pressure is on the playoff bubble drivers to perform, and that pressure is starting to weigh. Come watch as the action unfolds on the Crown Jewel Racing Network, race starts at 8:15 P.M. EST.

Still looking for that edge on the competition? Head on over to Team Conti Sim Performance to checkout all of their products and services to help you succeed on the track.

Crown Jewel Media Team

Garth Griswold

RICHMOND: PORTER ENDURES CAUTION FEST, WINS 2 IN A ROW

RICHMOND: The VRS Truck Series took to the short track of Richmond Raceway on Monday night. With 4 races to go for drivers to claim one of last 6 spots in the VRS Truck Series Playoff, Short track racing at Richmond was guaranteed to get spicy. Unfortunately, the racing was over seasoned with cautions and carnage with a sprinkle of an exciting finish at the end.

Qualifying

The biggest surprise of the evening was the absence of Xpress Esports driver Johnny Avila who was unable to make it to Virginia in time for qualifying, but his teammate Cody Porter picked up where he left off last week at Rockingham and reclaimed his claim to the front row throne with a time of 22.230. Zack Saunders would start second on his outside with a time of 22.344. Nishil Condoor would start third, Tyler Krawczyk fourth, and Stephen Menke fifth.

Caution Fest

Stage 1 would have a total of nine cautions in the first 70 laps of the race, with five more cautions in Stage 2. It was difficult for drivers to get any long green flag runs which would keep tires fresh and tire temperatures low. All these cautions would also make it difficult for drivers to move up in the field which in turn caused some aggressive driving on restarts to gain spots. The trend would continue into the final stage where the caution would fly ten times over the final 110 laps.

Just like in reality with NASCAR Officials working overtime to issue rulings on their race. Race Control Competition Director Gordon Fraley will have a big paycheck from working overtime this week. Fraley will be reviewing all these incidents and handing out penalties for accidents caused to deter poor driving performance in the future. That penalty report is expected to be released sometime this week.

“Seeing as we had a record breaking caution count and one incident that involved 17 Trucks. Expect to see half the field serving drive through penalties at the beginning of the next race.” Gordon Fraley, RC Competition Director

STAGE WINNERS

With both stages ending early due to the #15 Cody Leach wrecking on Lap 68 and Lap 139, the stage wins were determined by positioning at the line on the completion of the lap. Stage 1 was won by Zack Saunders who led 56 laps in the stage. Cody Porter would take 2nd, and Stephen Menke third. Stage 2 was won by Porter with Noah Hamilton coming in second and Stephen Menke once again clinching third.

ALMOST A CINDERELLA STORY

Oskar Jensen’s race got off to possibly the worst start that he has had in the VRS Truck Series. After the first caution Jensen noticed he was having some mechanical failures in his race car. Jensen would pull into the pits to try and fix the issue, but would go four laps down. He was probably the only driver who was rooting for the cautions as Jensen would finally get back to the lead lap on Lap 180.

Once Jensen was able to get back to the lead lap he fired towards the front faster than Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 Rocket, finding himself in the Top 10 with 50 laps to go. Within 5 laps Jensen broke into the Top 5 and Porter’s fired missile alarm was screaming, and by lap 211 Jensen was sitting in third with 39 laps to go.

In a span of 30 laps Jensen would go from one lap down to sitting in second and would stay on Porters bumper until the end. On the final lap Jensen would try his best Austin Dillon impersonation and full send it into Turn 4 making contact with Porter’s bumper. Porter would get loose and slide up into the wall but unlike Joey Logano he would get the truck under control and maintain the lead to the finish line.

“It felt like it took 10 years to get back on the lead lap, I didn’t have a great restart their at the end and my only hope was for Cody to make a mistake. The finish was really good after all we had to deal with and I am happy to take second after all that.”

Oskar Jensen, #46, Xpress Esports, Ford

In what would have been a fairy tale ending for Jensen to come back from 4 laps down to win, Porter wanted to write a different ending to this story. This is Porter’s second straight win of the split and his third win this season in the VRS Truck Series. Xpress Esports has dominated the VRS Series with Porter and Avila winning the last seven races.

“It was nice to get the win, Noah, Zack, and Oscar put up one heck of a fight, it wasn’t easy, and the cautions didn’t make it any easier either.”

Cody Porter, #04, Xpress Esports Ford

The VRS Truck Series has 3 races to go before the playoffs begin on September 16th. Porter overtook Avila in the Split 3 Standings with Tyler Krawczyk keeping ahold of the 3rd place position. Thomas Villano is trailing Krawczyk by 8 points to crack into the Split 3 playoff spot and is trailing 26 points to Stephen Menke for a wildcard spot. Matthew Owens moved ahead of Garth Griswold in the Wildcard standings with Menke securing the third and final playoff position with 3 races to go.

The Truck series will have an off week next week, before racing action resumes on August 26th at the Milwaukee Mile. For the final two races the VRS Truck Series will travel to Watkins Glen on September 2nd, and to the Nashville Fairgrounds for the final race of the regular season on September 9th.

To watch the race replay in its entirety click here.

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Crown Jewel Racing Media Team

Garth Griswold

SILLY SEASON IN FULL SWING

Recent announcement of next seasons Crown Jewel Franchise System has sent most team owners into a frenzy. Some team owners have delved into the shadows and some wonder if they will be seen from again. New teams have formed faster than a wildfire, and wildfires are unpredictable with what is to come. So here is the latest news from this years Silly Season.

Top Tier Motorsports has rebranded to Palmetto Motorsports and to kick off this big announcement Team Owner Cory Mott announced that they have signed Vince Mitchell from Uber Motorsports. Vince Mitchell, who is currently sitting 8th in the cup standings and has a good shot of securing a playoff spot, was one of the first drivers to venture out to find a new home. Caleb “The Uberman” Tipton wasn’t quick to reveal his true thoughts on the departure, when asked his thoughts…

“I personally think the best meal you can get at Taco Bell is a large Pepsi, with a steak grilled cheese burrito with onions. But for just a few more bucks you can have a large side of their undefeated nacho cheese fries. But no, I’m cool with my boys exploring other options.”

Apparently Vince Mitchell is more interested in the South Carolina barbecue and pimento cheese than Mr. Uberman’s nacho cheese fries. Next season he will be behind of the wheel of a TRD Toyota Camry for Palmetto Motorsports.

Hot off the press news today was that Stewart Harding Walker has agreed to buy a 50% ownership stake in Uber Motorsports and will replace Vince Mitchell’s open seat in 2025.

“I have some good plans and ideas to bring this team to the top. With the right leadership and some better strategy, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with next season.”

Other teams that are looking for drivers include Hoff Motorsports. They’re looking for drivers in the Truck and Xfinity Series next year, as is Factory Motorsports. Surprisingly team owner Stephen Menke isn’t entertaining any offers to replace any of his current drivers despite trouble in recent weeks getting them to race or getting them to race cleanly. Menke did announce today that Ben Lawson has been named Vice President and GM of Factory Motorsports Xfinity team to take the helm in the CJR Inaugural Xfinity Season in 2025.

Henry Kallhoff Racing is also fielding offers for drivers to compete in Xfinity and Trucks next year. A newer team looking to grow, but certainly not the only one that has emerged from dark in the past week. After announcing the Team Conti Partnership new teams emerged such as the Midpack Mafia, Zodiac Dynamics, and Team Conti #1.

Midpack Mafia Team Owner Kevin Martin is planning on bringing on a full team made up of Cameron King, Bradley Brandon, and Julio Villalobos Jr. Opposing drivers might need to be aware of their surroundings in the Midpack if they want to stay off the Mafia’s Hit List.

WRL isn’t very good at keeping a secret, but new driver Tyler Belanger has been seen hanging around their garage and is almost a sure bet to sign with WRL next season. Which could be a big boost for WRL going into the 2025 season as only 1 out of the 3 drivers are currently sitting in a position to make the playoffs.

A team that is really good at keeping secrets is the Backroad Bandit Racing team. BBR Team Rep. Kristopher Burnham danced around the questions of what is going on in the BBR garage. Rumor has it that Austin Runkel is looking for a Cup ride next year as the BBR garage is looking precarious. The BBR Team stole the spotlight and held it for ransom for most of the season, but if it wasn’t for Thomas Wolfe and his two wins in recent weeks, that light would have burnt out weeks ago. Request for comment from team owner Mike Burnett have gone unanswered and it would seem these new wildfires that have ignited in the league have developed some soot and smoke over the future of their team and if they will reappear from the ashes for a playoff run or not.

Drivers Looking for a Home

Drivers like Joe Gibbons and Gordon Fraley are still looking for a place to call home in the Cup Series. Fraley who is looking to retire from his full time Race Control duties and get back behind the wheel has only raced in a handful of races this season. Gibbons who received a waiver to join the Cup Series this season has shown improvement in the two races he has competed in.

Jonathan “Paint King” Leger and Thomas Villano still haven’t announced that they are joining any Cup Series team for next year. Villano hinted he found a home for next season, but that home has yet to claim him. Leger who has shown improvement in recent weeks in other series also comes with the additional side of his world renown painting abilities. Teams would be sure to have some great paint schemes week in and week out with him on their side.

Probably the most biggest surprise and a driver that has been flying under the radar is John Connor. Connor who is currently sitting in 4th place in the VRS Truck Series Standings is looking to move up the ladder next season and run in the Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series. Connor has had 16 top 10 finishes in the 22 truck races this year with 6 of them being Top 5 finishes and an average finishing position of 11th.

I would say there’s plenty of time left to get teams lined out, but with the season winding down, time is quickly deteriorating for team owners and drivers to find their seats for next season. Stayed tuned for the next update of Silly Season!

Garth Griswold