Author: Garth Griswold

ROCKINGHAM: PORTER OVERCOMES PIT ROAD WOES AND STEALS THE SPOTLIGHT

VRS Truck Series took to the high banks of the Rockingham “The Rock” Speedway for 200 laps of high-speed racing for Round 4 of 8 on Monday night. The weather and track temps were hot, and the chase for the playoffs is getting even hotter with just 4 races to go for drivers to make their move and to secure their spot. Click here to watch the race recording.

Johnny Avila and Cody Porter are feeling comfortable leading the 3rd split standings, Avila has a 26-point lead over Porter, and Porter has a 79-point lead over Tyler Krawczyk. Even though they might feel comfortable in the standings Avila and Porter have still been battling week in and week out on race day.

Qualifying

Avila and Porter would keep duking it out in qualifying, but Avila would come away with the pole with a time of 24.152, Porter would take second with a time of 24.170, and Pete Morales would start 3rd with a time of 24.361. Zack Saunders would start 4th with a qualifying time 24.412 and Nishil Condoor would round out the top 5 starting 5th with a time of 24.539. Avila and Porter’s speed was evident from the beginning as everyone else was still trying to get their trucks dialed in with the hot track temps.

STAGE 1

Avila would lead the field to the green flag and would lead the first 5 Laps before Pete Morales would capture the lead on Lap 6 and would lead the race for 11 laps before Avila would take back the lead. The first caution of the evening would come out on Lap 30 when William Ransone would make contact with Corey Schramm sending Schramm up hard into the wall in Turns 1-2. Schramm was seen at the infield care center and promptly left the track when cleared.

Corey Schramm takes a hard hit into the wall after getting clipped by William Ransone

On the restart Jim “Papa” Mott would give it a bit too much throttle when the green flag dropped and got loose turning into the outside wall. Garth Griswold would move to avoid the wreck making contact Tyler Krawczyk who would get turned and come to stop in the middle of the track bringing out the second yellow of the night.

Stage 1 would come to an end two laps early on Lap 43 when Daniel Jurza and Tyler Krawczyk would get mixed up in an incident and bring out the third caution of the night. Avila would take the stage win, and the odds were increasing for Avila to win his 4th straight race in the VRS Truck Series. Porter would take 2nd, Morales 3rd, Condoor 4th, and Tyler Belanger would round out the Top 5 with 5th in Stage 1. 

STAGE 2

Porter who has been looking for any edge to knock Avila out of victory lane, got a little to ambitious and was caught speeding off pit road. Porter would have to fall to the rear of the field to begin Stage 2 while his frenemy Avila would leave the field to the green flag to begin Stage 2.  Porter would fight his way back to the front but was unable to catch Avila before the end of the stage allowing Avila to win back-to-back stages. Belanger would take 3rd, while Condoor and Matthew Owens would take 4th and 5th at the end of Lap 95.

STAGE 3

Matthew Owens would stay out at the end of the Stage to take the lead and would quickly fall back on the older set of tires. Avila would take the lead coming out of Turn 2, with Porter sniffing his bumper. Porter who was under pressure from Belanger for 2nd would recapture the lead on Lap 106 from Avila, and Avila would fall back to third by Lap 108. Avila would take back the 2nd place spot on Lap 121.

The first caution of the stage would come out on Lap 143 when Austin Runkel would get tight going into Turn 1-2 and made contact with Mack Fabiny sending Runkel into the wall. Runkel who has had a rough year in the VRS Truck Series currently sits 17th in the season standings and would take the truck back to the garage.

Austin Runkel would sustain heavy damage after making contact with Mack Fabiny

Porter and Avila would really battle for that lead through Laps 150-162. Porter would finally pull away and start to run away from the field until the caution flag would fly with 18 laps to go. I’d imagine that every driver on the track besides Porter was hoping for the caution and their wish was granted.  Everyone would pit with 16 to go and Porter’s pit road troubles would continue again when he would slide through his pit box. Giving Avila back the lead with the green flag set to wave with 13 laps to go. They would go door to door for 2 laps before Porter would get the better run on the high side and take the lead.

A LATE CAUTION

With 5 laps to go it seemed as if Porter & Avila were going to run away into the sunset and fight it out all alone. But Tyler Belanger who seemed to be the only challenger left was trying to stay with the leaders when he made contact with John Connor. Connor who wasn’t quite up to speed stayed low hugging the yellow line when Belanger tried to get back to his line a little to early and made contact with Connor causing them both to slide up into the wall.

Tyler Belanger would make contact with John Connor sending them both to the wall

Belanger wouldn’t take his truck to the pits and the field would line up for the first attempt at the first G/W/C of the night. Porter and Avila would go door to door to take the green flag, but Porter would get the jump when the green flag waved. Porter would be be playing defense as Avila would ride his bumper like a road rage lunatic on the freeway all the way down the back stretch. Porter would be able to hold off Avila in the end and take the checkered flag for the win which would be Porter’s second win of the season.

Porter and Avila go door to door on the G/W/C Restart

Nishil Condoor would capture the 3rd place finish to join Porter and Avila on the podium. Pete Morales would secure a 4th place finish and Thomas Villano who started at the very back of the field would capture the biggest mover of the night title has he would move all the way up to take 5th. Belanger who was fighting to keep up with the leaders would fall back to finish in 9th after taking damage in that final caution wreck.

Cody Porter takes the checkered flag for his 2nd win of the VRS Truck Series Season

PLAYOFF PICTURE

With 4 races left in the chase for those final playoff spots in the VRS Truck Series it would seem that Avila and Porter have the top 2 spots locked down for the split with the 3rd playoff spot going to Tyler Krawczyk currently. But Thomas Villano is right behind him trailing by just 15 points in Split 3 Standings. For the wildcard playoff spots, Garth Griswold currently holding onto the the 1st place spot, with Matthew Owens trailing 9 points behind. The third place spot is really up for grabs as it is currently held onto by Stephen Menke who hasn’t shown up for a truck race in the last few weeks. Villano also has this path that could lead to playoff birth trailing Menke by 11 points currently. Jim Mott and Pete Morales are right behind trailing by 9 points and 16 points. Check out the playoff picture here.

INDIANAPOLIS: WOLFE’S ON FIRE, WINS BRICKYARD AND MID-SEASON TOURNAMENT

Thomas Wolfe emerged victorious in a thrilling showdown at the iconic Indianapolis Speedway on Wednesday, July 24th, as he clinched the prestigious Brickyard 400 title and secured the Mid-Season Tournament crown. Wolfe has been red hot through the summer and has emerged as the new alpha male in the CJR Circuit Cup Series.

The high track temperatures on race day presented a challenging environment for the drivers, leading to low grip levels and creating an electrifying atmosphere for fans. Despite the difficult conditions, the drivers showcased their skills and determination, resulting in a total of 14 lead changes. As track temperatures dropped speed and aggressive driving increased causing a lot of turmoil in the field with 17 Cautions throughout the race and completing 45 laps under the yellow flag.

PORTER DOMINATES STAGE 1-2

Cody Porter delivered a standout performance by clinching first place in Stage 1, with Oskar Jensen and Wyatt Sadler taking the second and third spots, respectively. Porter continued his strong showing by winning Stage 2, with Thomas Wolfe and Oskar Jensen finishing in second and third place, respectively.

Cody Porter, who led an impressive 72 laps, had a strong start as it seems to be the weekly norm, but would get caught up in some trouble at the end causing Porter to finish outside the Top 10 for the first time this year. Oskar Jensen also demonstrated his prowess behind the wheel by leading 67 laps, putting up a tough fight until the very end.

CAUTIONS LEAD TO THRILLING FINISH

The race was not without its fair share of drama with multiple wrecks occurring down the stretch, as a wreck on lap 139 ignited tensions between drivers Stewart Harding Walker and Michael Deitch, culminating in a heated exchange and post-race confrontations. Security was tight to avoid any brawls from breaking out in the pits, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this new fierce rivalry remerges later in the season.

With 7 to go the racing got wild in the front. Porter and Wolfe were battling hard for the second-place spot behind Jensen. Porter and Wolfe would make contact in the short shoot of turns 1-2 sending Porter sliding across the nose of Wolfe and the yellow flag would come out which was the one thing Jensen did not want as he was in control out front. CJR Officials would rack’em and stack’em for a G/W/C Finished but another caution would fly on the restart as the field would get stacked up in the back.

Jensen and Wolfe would bring it to the green flag for the 2nd overtime and both would get a great jump off the line. By the time the leaders hit the backstretch they had a half second lead on the field and would go door to door down the back stretch and Wolfe would get put into the wall entering Turn 3, but Jensen overdrove the entry giving Wolfe room to crossover and take back the lead going into Turn 4 where both drivers would send it in both slightly overdriving the exit sending Wolfe into the wall and Jensen on his rear quarter panel catches all of that momentum off the wall and shoots him sliding into the inside wall, but Barney doesn’t take out the yellow flag and the race would stay green.

RACE TO THE LINE

Wolfe would take the white flag, after being involved in incidents with the Top 2 leaders of the race, its now his turn to fight off a charging Steven Carlile not only for the race win, but for the Mid-Season Tournament win. Carlile who has been drooling over a win has finished 6th, 2nd, and 3rd in the last three races and would try to catch Wolfe going into Turn 1. Carlile would be side by side coming out of Turn 2, but then Allen Phillips would catch Carlile out of Turn 4 and would take the momentum off Carlile allowing Wolfe to run away with the win. Phillips and Carlile would go door to door for 2nd place with Phillips edging out Carlile by 0.018.

“It was a great point day for me, especially with being on the bubble for the playoffs, I will take a 2nd place finish at this point in the season. Big shoutout to my spotter Jay, and my team owner Nathan for giving me the opportunity to have a great finish this week.”

Allen Phillips #5 Hollywood Motorsports Chevrolet

Carlile who is probably disappointed with not being able to secure that win once again can’t hang his head on the valiant effort. Carlile has now finished Top 5 in the last 3 races and has 6 Top 10 finishes in the last 9 races since winning the All-Star Open Race at North Wilkesboro.

Wolfe who has been holding down the Backroad Bandit Racing team it seems for the last month continues his hot streak through the summer with his 3rd win of the regular season winning 2 out of the last 3 races. It would seem that Wolfe is challenging for his alpha male role at the front of the pack. Wolfe was last seen leaving the track at Indianapolis with a big $50 Check tucked under his arm and a big smile on his face.

“Normally the luck does not swing my way, so this was a welcomed change. I think after Chicago happened everything else is just a bonus, winning the Brickyard 400 is certainly a nice one.”

Thomas Wolfe #94 Backroad Bandit Racing Chevrolet

The Circuit Cup Series will take a 2-week break before resuming the racing action for the Cookout 250 at America’s Premier Short Track Richmond Raceway. With 4 races to go in the chase for a playoff spot, drivers are feeling the pressure to perform at a high level which leads to tensions in the garage. Relax for two weeks and be ready to come back for a thrilling end to the regular season folks!

OFFICIAL: CROWN JEWEL RACING POSTPONES SRX INVITATIONAL

CJR Officials announced today that the Thursday Night Thunder SRX Invitational has been postponed until further notice due to “Market Factors.” The Mini Series was set to kick off tonight at Stafford Speedway and run a 4 week long season in the midst of the Summer Olympic break. CJR CEO Cory Mott made the executive decision to postpone the series and hopefully reschedule it for the off-season.

“It is with deep disappointment that we announce the postponement of the Thursday Night Thunder SRX Invitational Series. We had high anticipation and great excitement for this series and the drivers that we invited to race in it. Our expectations, however, have been tempered by market factors that have proven to be to much to overcome.”

Cory Mott, CJR CEO

The CJR ARCA Series will be back in action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night with racing beginning at 8 P.M. EST.

INDIANAPOLIS: Avila Dominates Opening Night of the VRS Truck Series, Wins Three in a Row

VRS Truck Series at Indianapolis Recap
The Crown Jewel Racing League kicked off its inaugural season with the Virtual Racing School (VRS) at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The 200-lap race was action-packed and featured more cautions than there are potholes on an interstate. But in a night filled with fresh faces, one driver looked familiar in victory lane. Johnny Avila captured his third consecutive VRS Truck Series win, reminding everyone that he’s still the man to beat.

During the qualifying session, as the sun set in the West, the new Sheriff in town Johnny Avila and his Deputy Cody Porter took control of the front row. They led for most of the race, covering 179 out of 205 laps. Porter took the lead early on and led 57 of the 58 laps to win Stage 1, with Avila coming in 2nd, and Nishil Condoor taking 3rd in the caution-filled stage. The fans were enjoying the race, but were eager for some green flag racing as 28 of the 58 stage laps were completed under the yellow flag.

On Lap 22, #25 Jim Mott loses control as #88 Connor Wold tries to squeeze by making contact with the #4 of Tyler Krawczyk.

“I tried to dodge Jim Mott and got spun around and luckily I got spun straight and didn’t get any head damage from the incident.”

Connor Wold #88 Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet

During the stage caution, William Ransone chose not to pit and instead took the lead to lead the field at the start of Stage 2. As the stage commenced, Ransone engaged in a heated battle for the lead with Porter. Unfortunately, their intense competition led to contact in Turn 3, causing Porter’s car to spin out.

Ransone and Porter made contact here on Lap 64 causing Porter to get loose and spin around.
Porter would make his way back into the Top 10 by lap 100.

Stage 2 would get the early cautions out of the way and go green for the 2nd half to finally appease the fans for some green flag racing. Avila would take the Stage 2 win on Lap 120, with #82 Nathan Campbell in 2nd, and Condoor bringing home another 3rd place stage finish.

“Cory must have got the track workers to spray some caution be gone on the track cause this is some GREEN FLAG RACING.”

Cody Leach Season Ticket Holder

The green flag runs would continue into Stage 3 and would have some great green flag racing until Lap 167. Corey Schramm making his first start in the VRS Truck Series, was making his way to the front a little to fast and punted myself into the outside wall. Campbell was also involved in the incident sending all three to pit road to get repairs.

#00 Garth Griswold gets sent around after a bump from #84 Corey Schramm into Turn 1.

“It was an accident and those happen on short tracks. The same thing happened to me with 3 to go when I just clipped the outside corner of Kallhoff and sent him around. Hopefully we all understand these accidents happen on the short tracks.”

Garth Griswold #00 Lane Frost Chevrolet

It would be a caution filled final 20 laps with 3 different cautions. The final caution would come on lap 198 when Henry Kallhoff would get a push from Griswold and send Kallhoff around. The caution would send the race into overtime for a Green-White-Checkered Finish.

Avila would take green flag and run away with the lead on the green flag fighting off Porter, he would come around and take the white flag just before wrecks would start behind him. The race would stay green and Avila would come around to take the checkered flag and secure his third straight win.

The VRS Truck Series will be taking a break next week and will resume on August 5th at Rockingham Speedway. There are five races left in the regular season, and it looks like both Porter and Avila will have secured playoff spots, which will make the lead-up to the playoffs quite interesting. It will also be intriguing to see if Mike Burnett, who has been absent for the last few weeks, will make a comeback for the playoffs and attempt to regain his early season dominance.

For all of your sim-racing needs be sure to go checkout our sponsor Virtual Racing School for your sim-racing setups, coaching, and sim racing equipment. Don’t miss out on the Circuit Cup Series Crown Jewel race at the Brickyard 400. Racing action will begin at 8 P.M. EST and will be streamed by Mr. Christian Delgado and recasted to the Crown Jewel Racing Network.

The VRS® platform is a comprehensive online learning platform specifically built for sim racers. It includes a modern cloud-based app service which automatically uploads your telemetry into cloud storage and performs additional processing of your telemetry to make analysis easier and more powerful. Our tools track useful statistics and trends and have a number of collaboration features such as teams, data packs, and 1:1 coaching. We partner with some of the world’s best sim racers to give you weekly driving and setup tutorials, setups, ghost files, and driving comparisons.

PENALTY REPORT UPDATE: VILLANO APPEAL GRANTED-PENALTY DISMISSED

BREAKING NEWS: Crown Jewel Officials announced that penalties issued to the #34 Thomas Villano have been rescinded after a lengthy appeal hearing this afternoon. Villano will be allowed to race next week at the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis.

The jury made up of Ray Gill, Kristopher Burnham, and Cody Porter voted in a 2-1 favor that the incident involving Villano and Nathaniel Campbell under caution wasn’t intentional or reckless. CJR Official Gordon Fraley was stunned by the decision.

“I’m highly disappointed in the appeals panel ruling, the integrity of the sport is at an all time low.”

Gordon Fraley, Race Control Director

Villano who was a visibly different person in the courtroom had this to say.

“For the sake of everyone, I will try and clean it up in all honesty. I’ll be more rational, and will try not to yell at the members of the league anymore.”

Thomas Villano #34 Independant Driver

Villano was issued the black flag during the Pocono race for a stop and hold penalty and finished the race in 23rd. The Circuit Cup Series will resume next Wednesday night in Indianapolis for the Crown Jewel Race Brickyard 400. Let’s hope the drivers accept the jury’s decision and don’t attempt to take justice into their own hands.

OFFICIAL: FMS GRANTS PARDON-VASQUEZ STAYS PUT FOR NOW

During a brief press conference held this morning in the Pocono Raceway Media room, Factory Motorsport Team Owner Stephen Menke delivered a concise statement regarding his driver Nic Vasquez, who is presently serving a suspension. Vasquez will not participate in this week’s Tickle Me Triangle 225 due to his involvement in an incident with race victor Thomas Wolfe during the Chicago Street Course Race.

Speculation within the garage last week suggested that Vasquez’s career might be over, with Menke growing weary of the negative attention drawn by Vasquez and the underwhelming involvement of #38 Zander Short. Known for his concise communication, Menke had the following to say.

“Nic Vasquez’s actions during the Grant Park 150 in Chicago do not represent the values and integrity of our team. We are hopeful Nic will learn and grow from this and become a better driver, teammate, and ambassador moving forward. The driver of the #22 FMS ford will be back next week at the Brickyard. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go find Zander and drag him back here to the track, and hopefully we make it back in time for the race.”

Stephen Menke, Owner Factory Motorsports

The Tickle Me Triangle 225 kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted live on the Crown Jewel Racing Network.

OFFICIAL: RAINOUT AT CHARLOTTE

Unfortunately, the Crown Jewel race has been rained out. The race officials tried to get it in, but it started to pour during the practice session. Race officials had to make a difficult decision, as they were up against a network scheduling deadline. Crown Jewel CEO Cory Mott ultimately decided to postpone the race until next Tuesday, July 23rd. Anyone who brings their ticket stub from tonight will get free admission.

POCONO: AVILA CONQUERS TRICKY TRIANGLE

The Sportsman Truck Series traveled to Long Pond, Pennsylvania, to tackle 175 miles at the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway. In the end, 175 miles wasn’t enough as some late cautions brought an exciting green-white-checkered finish. Johnny Avila emerged victorious and secured his second win in a row.

Pete Morales had the fastest time during the practice session but couldn’t manage a clean lap in qualifying, forcing him to start from the back in 25th place. Cody Porter secured the pole position with a time of 54.339, while Johnny Avila joined him on the front row with a time of 54.357. Both Porter and Avila, racing out of the Outlier Speed Company Shop, had their trucks perfectly tuned for the start of the race.

Porter took the green flag, but Avila captured the first of five lead changes on lap one and maintained the lead throughout the first stage. The first stage ended on lap 13 due to a caution issued for a collision between #66 Bill Martin and #28 Jonathan Leger out of Turn 3. Martin slid and made a frightening contact with the pit road entry wall. Fortunately, Martin was cleared from the Infield Care Center with no injuries.

“I feel like I just got hit by Mike Tyson. Leger and I were just fighting over real estate and that set off the fireworks. Looking forward to getting back in the #66 Eddie Van Halen Truck next week at Indianapolis.”

Bill Martin #66 Chevrolet

Porter regained the lead off pit road and maintained it throughout Stage 2, which ended on lap 29 due to a caution caused by the #55 Cameron Romano colliding with the Turn 3 wall. This corner proved treacherous for many drivers, as several crashed into the wall while trying to accelerate too early. Romano’s truck was taken to the garage, and he finished in 25th place.

Stage 3 went green for just one lap before a major wreck on lap 34 brought out the caution. The crash involved Matthew Owens, Thomas Villano, Henry Kallhoff, Ray Gill, and Michael Deitch, all of whom had to head to pit road for repairs. This incident triggered a wave of pit stops, with several drivers pitting for fuel in hopes of making it to the end if the race continued under green.

Oskar Jensen took the lead from Porter following a green flag restart after a caution on lap 40 caused by Nishil Condoor spinning into the inside wall out of Turn 1. Porter regained control on lap 64, just before Nishil spun again out of Turn 2, leading to the fifth caution of the night and setting the stage for an exciting finish.

CAUTIONS BREED CAUTIONS

Most of the field pitted for tires and fuel, aiming for a natural green-white-checkered finish. However, some drivers who had pitted earlier around the Lap 34 caution stayed out. Tyler Krawczyk led the field on 36-lap-old tires, with Haden Higginbotham, Ryan Taft, and Jonathan Leger behind him on 25-30 lap-old tires. Garth Griswold restarted 5th on 9-lap-old tires, trying to fend off the pack of fresh tires behind him.

Krawczyk got a big jump on the green flag with Higginbotham trailing. They led the pack around the track out of Turn 3 when chaos broke out behind them before they could cross the line for the white flag. Leger took a push from Connor Wold coming out of the turn, causing Leger to go headfirst into the outside wall before going airborne. As everyone took evasive maneuvers, Pete Morales’s Space X Ford commenced takeoff after hitting the pit road wall entrance, ruining what he had hoped to be a successful day after having the fastest car in practice.

Krawczyk once again led the field to green on the first restart of overtime. Higginbotham took the outside, while Avila and Jensen stacked up behind them after navigating through the field and avoiding the chaos out of Turn 3. Avila and Krawczyk went side by side until Avila took the lead coming out of Turn 3 and grabbed the white flag. Krawczyk fell back to 6th before making contact with Zack Saunders, causing him to lose control and spin out coming out of Turn 2. Avila took the checkered flag to remain unbeaten in the Sportsman Series, with his teammate Oskar Jensen finishing second and Nishil Condoor securing third.

Rumors around the garage were that a big change is coming soon to the Sportsman Truck Series and should be announced before next week’s green flag drop at Indianapolis Raceway Park!

Click here to check out the Sportsman Truck Series playoff battles and standings here.

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DRIVER NEWS: VASQUEZ BREAKS SILENCE ON SUSPENSION

Suspended driver Nic Vasquez driver of the Factory Motorsport #22 Ford issued the following statement today regarding his actions during the Chicago Street race that led to him being suspended for this week’s race at Pocono.

“I am extremely disappointed in my actions, and I have let down not only my team but my sponsors and crew guys of the #22 FMS Ford. Moving forward I am trying to change my on-track actions and I will NOT give up on this team that I and so many others have worked so hard for. I have an obligation and a duty to go out there and put the #22 FMS Ford in contention to win races and I have that deep fire and drive to win. The road ahead will not be easy but it’s certainly do-able and something I will work very hard at. I am super grateful to have amazing guys at Factory Motorsports who believe in me and push me to be better. With that being said I am here to win and show that I belong.”

Nic Vasquez

Stephen Menke the owner of Factory Motorsports did not respond to questions directly related to Vasquez’s status as a member of the team. Menke stated that FMS will be holding a press conference tomorrow at 11am EST but did not disclose what the press conference is for.

OFFICIAL: MAKING ARCA GREAT AGAIN

Crown Jewel Officials have announced changes to the Crown Jewel ARCA Series. After being sighted at multiple tracks across the country this weekend testing the Generation 6 (GEN 6) Cup Car. Crown Jewel Officials have announced that the ARCA series will move forward with the mid-season change over to the GEN 6 with a 90 KG weight addition and a 5% power reduction. Officials announced this change will take effect immediately causing car owners to scramble with paint scheme changes for next week’s race at Phoenix Raceway on July 21st.

“I have really been communicating with Crown Jewel Officials and pushing for them to make this change happen. I hope these changes will make a positive impact and keep the ARCA Series around for the foreseeable future.”

Thomas Villano #1 Chevrolet ARCA Series Driver