Category: Crown Jewel

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.

FURTHER PENALTIES AT DARLINGTON

CJR Officials announced further penalties for Pete Morales following further review of the final race restart at Darlington.

After reviewing race replay and in-game voice chat it became clear Pete Morales of the #34 Ford Mustang made an intentional decision to ignore the black box at one to go on the final restart. Deciding to pass 2 lead lap cars in front of him to gain a lap back and get back to lead lap. Per CJR Official Sporting code sections 4.5.3.6 and NASCAR STYLE RACE PROCEDURES 1.6.2 this is not allowed.

For violating these sections so clearly Pete Morales’ Cup License has been revoked for the remainder of the season. He will be eligible to participate in off-season and 2025 Cup Series events.

As a reminder there will be zero tolerance for any intentional breaking of the rules, especially in the playoffs.

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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PENALTY REPORT: WATKINS AND DARLINGTON


Thursday evening brought news of a rare early penalty report from CJR officials.

VRS Truck Series

CJR officials announced no penalties in the VRS Truck Series.

Team Conti Sim Performance Cup Series

The TCSP saw it’s cleanest race since the Olympic Break, but still had a handful of cautions. Under the new penalty system, 10 drivers saw penalties for 11 incidents. See the tables below for the breakdown.

Incidents

LapCars InvolvedFault/Result
369191
447, 307
6466, 3166
7063, 24, 15, 5463
8515, 9615
9191, 0491
1245555
14504, 55
1996, 66Racing Incident
21454, 6354

Rolling Total

Car NumberDriver NamePoints
91Zack Saunders6
66Ray Gill3
5Allen Phillips3
7Steven Carlile3
15Cody Leach3
54Jacob Abreu3
63Johnny Avila3
55Cameron Romano3

CJR officials also announced that Pete Morales, substitute driver of the #34 Ford Mustang, will be penalized post-race for illegally passing the pace car in the final caution sequence. For such infractions the penalty is being scored the last car a lap down. Long time fans will remember when Archie Williams, driver for the now defunct Circuit Motorsport Club, was penalized the same following a similar incident at COTA.

A reminder, any of the penalties can be appealed via the ticket function in the League Discord.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: DARLINGTON

The TCSP will be live from Darlington for the Buccee’s Southern 500. Green Flag flies at 8:00pm EST. WATCH HERE

HOT DRIVERS

  • Justin Bell-Uber MS-FORD- On the outside looking in but not from lack of trying. Justin has been wheeling that Ford the last few weeks, and it seems the rookie has broken out of his shell. No playoffs this year, but with his last 5 races finishing in the top 25, Seems as if next year he could maybe figure things out to find himself in the top 16.
  • Tyler Belanger-WRL-FORD- A late addition to the TCSP Cup Series, but not a bad one. With him qualifying into each race on speed and secured a 2nd place finish in his first ever race in the Cup Series, Tyler seems to be a force to be reckoned with in the 2025 season.
  • William “Ben” Lawson-FMS-FORD- Just a couple of weeks ago we thought this driver had no shot of getting into the playoffs, but now his spot is all but buttoned up. Ben has finished in the top 15 in the last 4 races and a 5th place finish at the Chicago Street Course seem to be what may have brought this driver out of the darkness into the light. This playoff spot may not have only given this driver something to race for in the coming weeks but a potential lifeline for him to secure his Cup seat from Factory MS for the 2025 season.

NOT DRIVERS

  • Ryan Taft-INDY MS-CHEVY- Ryan has had a long season in the TCSP. Refusing to take questions from the media on if he will have a seat next year in the series or if he will drop down the Crown Jewel ladder to figure things out. Taft has struggled only able to land 4 top 20 finishes in all of his 22 Cup Series starts. We are hoping this veteran driver can string something together here at the closing stages of the season to turn the spirits of the 86 team around.
  • Cameron Romano-WRL-FORD- Cameron has had a long season and has repeatedly spoke to the media about this year being over and having a reset. Alot of his troubles have been no fault of his own but when things have been smooth sailing, he has only been able to string together six top 20s in his 23 starts. All of us would love a shock and awe moment of a new winner tonight getting themselves into the playoffs but can Cameron overcome this season’s downfalls and cap off this season on a positive note.

DRIVER NEWS

  • Cory Mott has a chance to secure the regular season title tonight. Currently 79 ahead of Steven Carlile.
  • Mike Burnett playoff spot has officially been revoked due to absence and lack of communication with Crown Jewel racing officials. This has awoken the playoff picture for tonight’s regular season finale at Darlington.
  • The new penalty system and damage policy will be in effect tonight.
  • BBR has been through the ringer this week, but news has broken that Thomas Wolfe will take over all operations for the team to finish the 2024 season and into the future. Learn more here
  • Thomas Villano will return from his suspension after Darlington race. Sources who conduct the Crown Jewel Sensitivity training reported that he was engaged during classes and believe he has changed for the better.
  • Tonight’s playoff will be a head-to-head matchup against Tommy Carroll who is the last man in and Joe Wright who is currently the first man out. Only 26 points separate the two drivers. Tonight is a must win situation for driver: Jim Mott, Justin Bell, Jonathan Leger, Ray Gill, Cameron Romano, and Ryan Taft.

PLAYOFF BUBBLE

  • FIRST THREE IN: Garth Griswold (+77), Ben Lawson (+72), Tommy Carroll Jr (+26)
  • FIRST THREE OUT: Joe T Wight (-26), Justin Bell (-64), Jim Mott (-69)

FAN PICK OF THE WEEK

Cory Mott-Palmetto MS-CHEVY
Cory is looking to knock off the first step in winning a Cup Series championship tonight and that is winning the regular season championship. This win not only guarantees him a better chance on making a deep run into the playoffs with the added bonus points, it gives him and his team the opportunity to taste what it feels like to be not just a race winner but a champion. That dragon is something that any man, woman, or child will chance given they have had the chance to taste it. Darlington is not only the last race of the season but Motts hometown track. Winning the championship in front of his hometown folks is something we don’t think Cory will allow slip through his fingertips. So, let’s make a bet here. Cory currently is +1780 for a win and if you are on a hot streak we think you should take it, but the free lunch program has cooked up a parlay. Cory Mott plus +760 for a top 10, and Cory Mott regular season champion at -7800, will next you a pretty penny on a pick 2 at +900. Some other bets for the gambling man include Joe T Wright to qualify for playoffs at +1920 and Tommy Carroll top 10 finish at +2300.

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!

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: DAYTONA

The TCSP Cup Series is live tonight from Daytona Superspeedway. Green Flag flies at 8:15pm est.
WATCH HERE

HOT DRIVERS

  • Vince Mitchell-Uber MS-FORD- After picking up his first ever win of the season and securing a spot in the playoffs, Vince will come into Daytona tonight with a weight off his shoulders.
  • Steven Carlile-EthiX Racing Team-CHEVY- Alot of focus goes to the winner but Steven has ridden in the shadows all the way up to 2nd in the points standings. With 4 out of the last 5 races finishing with on the podium, it seems like this team has gotten hot at just the right time.
  • Zander Short-FMS-FORD- After a shaky returned at Indy, and his absence still not disclosed to the public by FMS ownership, all it took was a 12th and 5th place finish in the last 2 races to skyrocket him back into the top ten in points.

NOT DRIVERS

  • Allen Philips-Hollywood MS-CHEVY- Out of form and on the playoff bubble is not where you want to be. With his position somewhat secure it seems as if Allen may be cruising his way mentally into the playoffs with only 1 top ten finish in the last 9 races. Will this be enough to keep him secured in the playoffs and be prepared to go past the first round?
  • Garth Griswold-Hollywood MS-CHEVY- We do commend the fight this team has had this season to get to the point of making it into the playoffs, but skating in doesn’t seem like an option for them. Garth is currently in the last spot in and only -13 points to the good on Ben Lawson. Garth has not been able to put together a top 10 finish in his last 6 races, thankfully its Daytona week and with everything riding on a good race tonight we believe he has that dog in him to finally secure his spot in the playoffs and at worst build his points lead on the cut line.

DRIVER NEWS

  • Cody Porters playoff waiver request was denied.
  • Vince Mitchell secured his first win in the cup series at Michigan last week.
  • Cody Leach returns from his suspension last week at Michigan. He stated it was a much-needed reset and self-reflection time going in the playoffs.
  • EOL penalties for Daytona (Mason Hoeffner, Ben Lawson, Russell Bratka, Zander Short, Cory Mott, Cody Leach, Zack Saunders.)
  • Look out for manufacturer alliances playing a part in strategy tonight at Daytona. The Ford camp has stated that driver and team meetings have all gone well to keep everyone on the same page to continue their superspeedway dominance so far this season. No comment has been given from Chevy and Toyota teams on their planned strategies.

PLAYOFF BUBBLE

  • FIRST IN: Allen Phillips (+61), Nathaniel Campbell (+54), Garth Griswold (+13)
  • FIRST OUT: Ben Lawson (-13), Tommy Carrol Jr (-61), Joe T Wright (-76)

FAN PICK OF THE WEEK

Nic Vasquez-FMS-FORD
Nic has showing his dominance at superspeedways have not been a secret. Both spring races at Daytona and Talladega were controlled and won by driver of the 22 Ducks unlimited Ford Mustang. Let’s face it we have lost a lot of money on these fan picks, so I think it’s time we dump the rent on a sure shot and have us a nice bankroll ready going into the playoffs. Vegas has it set at +350 for a win for Nic and a crazy -120 for a top 5 finish. This will be a rebuilding night for the us bettors, but if you haven’t taken our advice and has made a pretty penny it is worth picking one of the many bubble drivers. Joe T Wright is currently sitting at +1780 and Grath Griswold is currently at +2200. We also have a shot in the dark pick of Ryan Taft (+7200) for the win to completely flip this playoff picture on its head. Whoever you pick, good luck and Godspeed.

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!