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XSLR Season 9 Race 5 Wild West Race Report

Wild West was built into the hillsides near Sparks, Nevada. Sadly it closed in 2020, though it live on in the digital universe!

This is the second time I've raced at this track with this league. I put in some practice, and I like this track, which showed up in the results as I qualified P2 out of 17 trucks. I won my heat race, and started the feature P2. On lap 1 T2 I went a little wide and slowed way down to recover my exit line. With 15 trucks behind this was a bad idea - and one of the guys directly behind hit me pretty good. As fate would have it that pushed me forward and that guy ended up getting sideways and caused a big pileup in that corner. No one was eliminated but it did open up a gap so I only had one truck close behind. Well I slowly pulled away for about 9 laps then I started making some minor mistakes and that guy was getting faster. As he was just about to make a pass he went a bit too far inside in T2 and got his RF up over the wall and got stuck there. We had a 6+ second gap back to P4 so I had decided I was going to let him go and not screw up a podium finish if he could make a move. From there I played just a bit conservative and finished P2. P1 was 8+ seconds ahead so there was no chance I was catching him.

Best two finishes so far have me up to P3 in points.

So far I don't like my chances to repeat that performance at Bark River this Sunday. Coverage starts at 8:10 PM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3T_EdrbnXU

XSLR Season 9 Race 6 Bark River Race Report

Bark River is a fun track but its quite technical. After extensive practice I' still giving up well over a second a lap to the leaders. Still I qualified P5 of 12. I finished 3rd in the heat race which meant I had to go to consolation race to figure out starting position. I did start P1 there but I wrecked my race before turn 2. I was side by side with a guy at a small jump there halfway to T2 and you have to make a little left turn going into the jump. I didn't and ended up scrubbing the fence and the RF wheel went up over the fence which landed me in last place.

Starting from P12 I made quick work in lap one, passing 2 trucks before T2 and three more before the lap was over. From there I capitalized on a couple other incidents to get up to P5. One of those was pretty harrowing as I came over a jump only to find a truck sliding out into my path. I hit it pretty good but luckily these are rugged and I was able to continue. I was racing pretty close to P4 but a couple mistakes set me back just a bit too much. P5 was a decent result and it was a fun race so I'll just take that and move on.

Up next on Wednesday 4/3 is CCiS racing at Oulton Park with the Toyota GR86. The tack is in UK and its definitely an old school club track which is also fairly technical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEF-CWK9pLg

CCiS 2025 Season Race 3 Oulton Park Race Report

https://www.youtube.com/live/AEF-CWK9pL ... U7VQ0e9Pxa

Qualified P18 of 38. Was a little shaky the first couple laps, and I overshot my pit stall, but still managed a P14 finish. Oddly with a P18 qualifying position I was given the first pit stall, which is very hard to get into on this track.

XSLR Season 9 Race 7 Atlanta Rallycross Race Report
https://www.youtube.com/live/1jv4OeiBYz ... L9fcyJYboY

Qualified P2 of 12. Made it through heats with a P4 start for the main. Got into an incident just before the hairpin and unfortunately ended up spun out. This cost me a spot or two and I finished P8.
Holding P4 in points

CCiS 2025 Season Race 4 Road Atlanta Race Report

https://www.youtube.com/live/ir00z4KV5j ... nGUOvngwKw

The car we ran for this race is the BMW M2, and we do not get along well at all. I’ve upgraded the paint scheme to flaming brown to represent how I feel about this car. CCiS league admins created a modified setup which was much better, and we used it during the practice race. Unfortunately due to clerical error they went back to the original setup – meaning I was practicing with the wrong setup!
Qualified P28 of 34, and ended up just over 1 lap down in P20. No major drama, just lacked pace.
Holding P13 in points. Currently no drop weeks in effect.

Spec 5 Season 17 Mid Ohio Race Report

https://www.youtube.com/live/mS5AEWS7vP ... N4hug7uUKk

Qualified P16 out of 26. Open class leader was not present. Open class P2 started in the back and was not a factor. Open class P3 got caught up in someone else’s mess. Was able to hang with a group with decent pace and dodge several incidents and work my way to the lead of open class. Unfortunately the class leader ended up spinning in front of me headed into Thunder Valley and I was not able to avoid that. Had to take a second stop for fast repair and ended up P20. I’m not in the points chase since I’m not running the full season. So disappointing the stars were lining up for a chance to finally win a race in this league which sadly ended with the crash.

Up next
Sunday 4/27 8:10 PM is XSLR racing Pro 4 trucks at Crandon. This will be the last race on dirt for the season, and its completion will be the 1/2 way point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od--j7ngnqo

Spec 5 Season 17 Mosport Race Report

Kinda last minute decision to do this race. Race video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qacit44mmPA

Total of 24 cars took the green flag. I qualified P17 just a couple tenths off my personal best at this track. I like Mosport it has a lot of high speed turns and only one hard braking zone so it reminds me a bit of Nelson Ledges that way.

Race was pretty clean and while I lost just a little at the start, I was fairly quickly back to my starting position and in draft with a large pack of cars for a while. Unfortunately I missed Moss Corner a bit one lap and dropped about 5 positions. A couple tiny mistakes later and I was out of the draft of the cars ahead. After the pit sequence I was the second last car running. A couple mishaps ahead and one legit on track pass and I ended up P19. Had about a 6 lap battle to gain P19 – first I had to get to racing the guy ahead so he would fall out of draft of the cars ahead of him, then I used the draft on the back straight to get alongside and race through the last sequence of corners. In the end I was under 30 seconds behind the leader after 45 minutes. Insane that I finished that close to leaders and that far back in the pack.

Up next

Wed May 14 9:20 PM racing at Watkins Glen in the MX5 with CCiS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2pk3M8dBow

CCiS 2025 Season Race 5 Watkins Glen Race Report

This one produced a really good result.

I've spent a lot of time in this car and on this track so I didn't prep too much. I did the practice race and ended up pitting after about 4 laps as I felt the guys ahead were holding me up. This gave me the chance to run most of the race out of the draft and still ended up with a decent result. Qualifying effort was OK and ended up P17 of 36. I was not happy with a mid-pack start with this car/track combo. WGI is fast and the MX5 leaves a big hole in the air making the draft very strong. This means lots of pack racing and potential for lots of crashing. So I made a last minute decision to come to pit road as the field was coming to the green flag. I took enough fuel to finish 28 laps and was off in clean track. It wasn't long before the wrecks started happening. I finished lap 1 in P31. After about 5 laps I was up to 19th. The racing was pretty low key - just passing some slower cars. As the pit cycle passed I kept moving up in the order. To my surprise at the end of the cycle I was P3! P4 and P5 were right close behind and P6 was about 5 seconds back. All of these drivers typically have more pace than me, so I was quite surprised to be ahead of them. Clearly my strategy was working. Two of them caught me in a few laps. My plan was to hang in their draft but there was a lapped car which let them by but didn't let me by, and I lost the draft. That allowed the next guy to catch up and I ended up P6.

I finished ahead of 83% of the field, which is my best finish by percentage since I've been in this league.

There were several large crashes which I saw in the replay, and 12 cars with a best single lap time better than mine finished behind me.

Up to P9 in points.

Up next:

XSRL Charlotte with the 87 NASCAR - Sunday at 8:10 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm8ekWP ... AM8tbAj1nE

Up next

Talladega with the 87 NASCAR 8:10 PM tonight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCud-ft7MOA

XSLR Season 9 Race 8 Crandon Race Report

Qualified P9 of 11. In my heat race I got knocked off track in the first few turns and ended up last running truck
In the B main I started P5 and was able to finish P2, which netted me a P6 starting position as the top two from each heat race filled spots 1-4 on the starting grid.

The land rush start was not great here and I was almost at the back by the time we got to start/finish. Fortunately through some consistency and decent pace I was able to finish P4.

XSLR Season 9 Race 9 Charlotte Race Report

Qualified P9 of 13. Had a lot more speed but didn’t get the line right in qualifying.
First race in the Legends NASCAR – which are the 1987 NASCAR season cars. These cars have a lot of horsepower, tires heat up quickly, and brakes are not great. Lots of practice to figure out how to minimize tire wear. The other factor is limited allocation of 2 extra sets of tires. Fuel is restricted also so pit stop required.

This race ran green so everyone had to pit under green flag conditions. 4 tires takes 10 seconds longer than the fuel so I went for right side tires only. I had practiced this situation, but not on 40 lap old left tires, and the weather was 10 degrees warmer than the realistic forecasts iRacing provided. Well this was my undoing as I lost it in turn 4 during my outlap, which sent me careening into the safety wall on the outside of pit lane. Unfortunately the engine would not run after that and I had to take a tow. The rest of the race ran with no caution flags so no laps were recovered due to wave arounds or lucky dog.

Finished P11 – worst since I joined this league. Totally my mistake. I was pushing too hard to gain positions. Many competitors sped going into pit road I would have been easy top 5 with four tires or maybe even no tires. I used strategy awesomely in the prior CCiS race to get 5th and this was the exact opposite. Grrr

XSLR Season 9 Race 10 Talladega Race Report

In attempt to rally from last week’s disaster, I put extra effort into prepping for this race. With these cars at this track there is going to be a lot of pack racing, and passing thanks to the draft. After watching multiple races I decided that I would hang out at the back of the lead pack draft and avoid the carnage.

With that in mind I drove conservative in qualifying, starting P13 of 14.

Lap 4 was the first FCY and I took the opportunity to top off the tank. Not enough to make the finish but still gets me further and require less fuel if a green flag stop comes up. That was followed by a long green flag run which required a green flag pit stop. This was a great turn of events for me. Since I was in the draft so long I was able to keep going as everyone else pitted. Pit in is treacherous with the weak brakes and high speeds, which caused several incidents and many cars got penalized for speeding on pit road. I led 5 laps then pitted. Came out of the pits in P2 but a couple guys with fresh tires and the draft got by but P4 after pit sequence with no large draft train was a great spot to be in. That all ended on lap 39 when someone crashed and brought out another FCY. This was bad news as all those guys one lap down or way behind got to close up. I pitted for fresh tires which would be good til the end. During the FCY another guy crashed and extended it, leaving us going green on lap 44.

With the fresh tires I was able to move up quite a bit and get into the top 5. I did get shuffled back but then another FCY came out, and this is where the tides really turned against me. I caught the field and safely got down to pace car speed, and shortly after that a guy plowed into the back of me which sent me and two other cars into the inside wall, and subsequently into pit road for a fast repair and new tires. This set up a green/white/checker scenario in overtime. With fresh tires I had sped but was in the low lane and pretty much boxed in which limited my chances to move up. On the white flag lap coming around T3 there was contact between two cars ahead and I hit one of them. This was a glancing blow but it cut my speed from 200 to 170 mph. I was on the outside line and trying to get to the finish line when a lapped car (the same guy that hit me under FCY) ran wide and pinched me into the outside wall. After that the steering was broken and engine power was way down. I made it to the finish line but missed P8 by .1 second. P9 was a disastrous result considering the potential here. It’s like my pocket aces got cracked.

Nonetheless my closest competitor in points did not show up so I gained a couple points on the guy behind, and am currently setting at P3 in season points.

Up next is XSLR race at Daytona on Sunday 5/31 at 8:10 PM. I’ll post broadcast link when it become available. It’ll be another draft track with a lot of variance due to high speed, low downforce, weak brakes and huge draft.

XSLR Season 9 Round 11 Daytona - Sunday 8:10 PM - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUgG0yXfdoU

XSLR Season 9 Race 11 Daytona Race Report

For this race the plan was to focus on getting some good points. I spent some time practicing racing against AI to get better in traffic. I also specifically practiced pit entrance, as I was having a lot of trouble getting the car slowed up without losing control. In the end I moved the brake bias to put a little more brake in the front, and found some good marks for the approach.

Qualified P6 of 12 cars. I was able to hang in the lead draft for about 15 laps, but I was probably putting too much heat into the tires, and eventually lost the draft. Around lap 23 there was a FCY which allowed me to catch up. I took the opportunity to change all 4 tires and fill the car with fuel. With this being enough fuel to get to the end all my green flag pit entrance practice was wasted lol. This time I did a bit better hanging in the draft, probably due to the first two cars spending way too much time driving side by side, which compromises corner exit speeds just a little. Before too long there was a 6 car pack at the front and a decent gap to the next car. I spent a lot of that time in P5, just trying to figure out how I was going to get a run on the last lap and move up, forgetting that a P5 would be a good points haul, I was going for a podium at least. On the last lap going into T1/T2 the guy ahead ran a bit high in the corner, which allowed me to get a run on him in T2. He had lost some ground on the top three, and I figured the back straight was my chance to draft back up there. When he saw me coming he moved down the track, well I was on the yellow line so I couldn't really go any further down. I lifted at the last second but it was too late. We made contact, and went spinning. Finishing as the last car on the lead lap flashed through my mind as I went into a big slide on the pavement on the inside of the back straight. Well I was able to recover the car though I had scrubbed off about 80mph. The guy in P5 got turned into the outside wall he was not able to finish. P6 had made a little contact with my rear bumper but he recovered faster and scooped up P4. Two guys further back who were not involved were able to pass me on the front straight and I ended up P7. Could have been better, could have been a lot worse.

For the season I am at 152 points which is 29 points ahead of the next active competitor. Races pay up to 37 points but the points drop off from P1 to P5 is pretty significant so I'm still in good shape to hold 3rd. The guys who are first and second in points are so far ahead. I'm not mathematically eliminated yet, but they pretty much need to score 0 points for the rest of the season, while I need to win 4 of the 5 races and probably finish P2 in the fifth. I think P5-P6 type finishes should get the job done the rest of the season, but its way to early to count chickens.

Up next

CCiS at Mosport with the Toyota GR86 on Wednesday coverage starts about 9:20.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl7H7pOG2UQ

CCiS 2025 Season Race 6 Mosport Race Report

Qualified P22 of 33

Lost about 11 seconds on lap 1 after getting punted on exit of Moss Corner and that cost me a few spots. In the practice race I tried to pit as the field came to green but there were no lap 1 incidents, and I was not at all sure I saved any time so for the race I chose not to pit and just drive through it. Well that didn't work for me (I was the only casualty of lap 1). My spotter said we were three wide going to exit of Moss corner so I left some room on the inside and the inside guy came through too fast and hit the right side of my bumper and spun me out.

The last 1/3 of the race was interesting as I was in a group of 4 racing for position. I was trailing the group til about 3 to go, moved up one and was racing with the second guy for a couple laps, but could not get by. Finished P20

Up next:

XSLR finale for the paved oval part of the season - we will be racing at Indy with the Legends NASCAR. Coverage starts Sunday 6/15 8:10 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyDwi4E4L4I

Preview of the car for the last leg of the season:

XSLR Season 9 Race 12 Indy Race Report

Qualified P8 of 15, ended P8. Race went caution free. I really struggled the last 10 laps of the first stint as the tires were quite hot and I had not practiced those conditions enough. The guy behind me pitted one lap earlier and that undercut got him ahead and I was unable to pass him despite being quite close the last 20 laps or so of this race. In the end I decided to take the P8 rather than wreck and lose more spots on a sketchy pass attempt.

And that's the end of the paved oval portion of the season. My average finish on paved ovals is 8.75 which is a solid 3+ spots further back than either dirt portion - definitely not what I was expecting.

Still 3rd in points, though the guys in P4 (24 points back) and P5 (xx points back) have much better iRating than me on paved road courses so I'm not too confident I can finish season in P3. Chad who is P4 in points ran out of gas at Indy and coasting to the line cost him several positions, though he still finished ahead of me. He gained 5 points.
Paved road courses offer some opportunity though. Since there are no full course yellows any mistake is much harder to recover from, so consistency may help me hold my ground. I've never raced a GT3 car before, but they are way better to drive than the 87 NASCAR, and they can tolerate a little less finesse and stay on track.

Up next:

Wednesday 6/18 at 9:20 PM broadcast coverage for ChampCar iRacing at Sebring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG16Psoe6ic

Sunday 6/22 at 8:10 PM broadcast for XSLR at Road Atlanta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6PUML3F7dc