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.