Joe Branch Wins at New Hampshire—Race 7 of 12

Joe Branch Wins at New Hampshire—4^th Driver to Win This Season So Far

by Donald Wayne Strout (05/09/2016)

Joe Branch Wins at New Hampshire

The 7^th event of the new 2016 iAdvance Motorsports Indy Elite Series (12 races—11 ovals and one street course in Long Beach) ran at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval on Sunday, May 8, at 7PM EDT.  This race was sponsored by Chicago’s Pizza.

As usual the race was broadcasted live on RacespotTV  http://racespot.tv/  as well as iRacing Live.  http://www.iracing.com/live/  and can be seen at YouTube of Race

Here is a link to the Official Race Results:

Race Results at iRacing

http://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/EventResult.do?&subsessionid=16698880&custid=48488

18 iRacing drivers took the green flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.. Christopher Demeritt, Champion of the 2015-16 IndyCar Winter Series did not participate in this race.  Tim Holgate continued his dominance of the Series by taking the Pole with an impressive 21.407 second lap.

Tim Holgate found his normal (superior) race speed and led the first 30 laps. From there to lap 56, third place qualifier, Marco Brasil assumed the lead.

This race was marked by numerous spins in Turn 2. There would be a total of 7 Yellow Flag cautions.

Spin in T2 by Randy Crossno forces Michael Peters to go high and take out Dan Lee Ensch early in the race.

Toni Helminen from Finland qualified in 6^th position and, based on his speed on the “shorter” one mile tracks, was favored to be among the leaders. Unfortunately, he experienced some computer or internet problems and fell two laps down. One thread of the story of this race is Toni’s race long efforts to get back into the lead lap---which he did late in the race with less than 15 laps to go. His 22.176 lap was the third fastest of the race, bested only by Holgate and Branch.

Helminen helps Bookbinder go around in T2, loses a front wing, but get repaired in the pits to return

Returning to the fray and continuing his quest to get his lap back, Helminen begins his overtake of Strout in T1 and exiting T2 is confronted with Paul Jennings stopped on the racing line after Jennings hit the wall and spun coming out of T2. (see photo below) Helminen was able to get by but Strout in car #8 was trapped with no place to go. His collision with Jennings ended Strout’s race for the day.

A driver’s worst nightmare—a car on your left and a car stopped on the racing line—really no place for #8 to go.

There were 7 lead changes in the race. On lap 70 Holgate regained the lead, taking over from Joe Branch who had taken the lead earlier away from Marco Brasil. Team RFC’s Tim Miller, a 16^th Street Series veteran from Texas, assumed the lead on lap 80 as Holgate experienced some issues in the pits.  Miller was delighted as his main sponsor is Chicago’s Pizza, the sponsor of this race.

Tim Miller takes the lead as Holgate sits in pits on lap 80. 

With Team RFC drivers Dan Lee Ench and Donald Strout out of the race. Miller and his team-mate T.J. Massick were getting Spotter and Crew Chief services over Team Speak from Dan Lee and Donald. (Dan Lee and Donald are the “older” set builders/engineers for the Team.) Miller was able to hold the lead until lap 102, then falling back to P3, and regaining the lead for a few laps at lap 118. Miller would lead a total of 28 laps. (Miller is now Fourth in Series Points.)

Another spin in T2 late in the race with Bookbinder meeting Kinsella.

Recovering from his earlier difficulty, Holgate had raced back through the field to P4 by lap 124 and clearly was in contention, turning a 21.937 lap on lap 108—the second fastest lap of the race just after his pit stop. But, it just was not Holgate’s day as Andrew Kinsella executes a 360 degree spin in front of him in T2 and ends his race. (Holgate would still finish P9)

Holgate cannot avoid a spinning Kinsella in T2. The collision end’s Holgate’s race.

On lap 132, Team RFC’s T.J. Massick passed his team-mate Tim Miller and assumed P4. The race would end with Joe Branch in the lead, followed by James McClure and Joe Flanagan, with Massick and Miller completing the Top 5. Marco Brasil would finish in P6, and the only other car on the lead lap was Toni Helminen in P7. Helminen had doggedly regained that lead lap status after more than 100 laps of being a lap down. (Now there is an example of “persistence” and quite an accomplishment on a track where passing is difficult—of course his aggressive quest may have been a bit annoying to all the cars he passed.) 

Ohio’s Ryan Heeter, finished in P8. Starting in P16, Heeter was the last car still running at the end as he continues to demonstrate an ability to consistently survive till the end and outlast many others. Heeter is now Seventh in Series points.

Other than Joe Branch’s impressive run to the Win, special merit goes to second place finisher, Indiana’s James McClure. He started in P4, with an impressive 21.716 qualifying lap. He fell back to P9 early, but from there on, like P3’s Joe Flanagan as well, was always in contention. McClure seems to be improving every race.  

Holgate leads with 368 Series Points. Rounding out the Top Ten for the first seven races are: (Name/Points)  Joe Branch/277, Joe Flanagan/222, Tim Miller/172, Tim Doyle/169 (with only 6 races), Dan Lee Ensch/169, Ryan Heeter/162, Michael Peters/150, Christopher Demeritt/142 (with only 3 races), and Paul Jennings/140.  Still in contention for Top Ten since they have only run five races and everyone will have to drop two races: James McClure/133, and Donald Strout/121. (We are essentially half way thru the Series with five races to go—Pocono is double points.)

The series moves next to Texas, at 7PM EST on June 12. (Sponsored by Team RFC) The Question is: Will we see a fifth winner in the Series there?

Watch live on RacespotTV  http://racespot.tv/ 

Or, watch later at https://www.youtube.com/user/iRacingTV/videos

Series sponsors: http://www.iadvancemotorsports.com/  and http://www.ricmotech.com/

Holgate Makes History at Indy

Holgate becomes a Three Time Winner of the Indy 500

Tim Holgate--Three Time Indy500 Winner

The first Indy 500 of the new 2016 iAdvance Motorsports Indy Elite Series (12 races—11 ovals and one street course in Long Beach) ran on Sunday, May 1, at 7PM EST.  The Indy 500 presented by Real Gear is the second leg of the Ricmotech Triple Crown which includes the Ricmotech 225 at Homestead on February 28, and the end of season Ricmotech 400 at Pocono on August 14. The race was broadcasted live on RacespotTV ( http://racespot.tv/ ) and can be see at http://iracing.com. (See link below.)

32 drivers took the green flag on a cool 73 degree F, overcast day.  Celebrity drivers included Darren Manning (former IndyCar driver in "real life") and Shelby Blackstock (Indy Lites driver for Andretti Autosport). 

Young Christopher Demeritt applied his "wizardry" and earned the Pole Position time of 38.530 seconds. Marco Brasil was close behind with a time of 38.557. Tim Holgate earned P3 with a 38.610, and Brasil's team-mate Diederik Kinds was in P4 with a 38.611.


With a cool track and good grip, the field stayed tight thru the first lap. As the second third of the field entered T2 on the second lap, one driver missed the apex a bit, causing the car next to him to take evasive action, going high and just kissing the wall. Cars immediately behind moved low to avoid contact.  As the then bunched up field approached T3, Donald Strout on the inside lifted slightly as Niles Anders moved down to the apex in front of him. Shelby Blackstock's car then tapped Strout in the right rear with Blackstock's resulting spin generating mayhem behind and the first yellow flag. Six cars, including Blackstock were damaged beyond repair. 

Turn 2 incident sets up a Turn 3 mayhem--Note car high and against wall

Second third of field, now bunched up races toward T3

Darren Manning survived the T3 incident, having moved up through the field several spots. But, as can be the case when racing on the internet sometimes, Manning had internet connection issues on the restart and had to retire from the event.

The race was dominated by three drivers: Tim Holgate, Christopher Demeritt, and New England's Austin Espitee. Holgate led 109 laps, Demeritt led 61, and Espitee led 30 laps of the 200 lap event. Always close behind and in contention were California's Christian Steele and former Indy 500 Winner, Joe Branch. But only Holgate, Demeritt and Espitee appeared to have the speed to lead---others able to keep up only by using the draft.


The choice of downforce (with resulting drag) to gain more of a "margin of safety and control" versus speed is always an important part of racing strategy. One could see cars "teaming up" to draft and gain additional speed, running nose to tail in order to reduce drag and turn laps in the 39.xx range. But, Holgate, Demeritt and Espitee had optimized their downforce/drag and with a few others in the "lead pack" were able to simply pull away. 

Using draft for more speed. McClure, Heeter, Strout and Kinds (P7-10) trying to catch the lead pack

The consequences of going too far, removing too much downforce were serious and evident with some "surprise" spins.

Michael Peters does a "Danny Sullivan" 360 degree spin in T1 on lap 188. Diederik Kinds takes evasive action.

Niles Anders spins in T4 on lap 199--hits inside wall--slides across track narrowly missing Peters and Jennings. Anders would slide out to outside wall and continue to the finish line scraping the wall to finish P9.

Without a doubt, one of the most impressive drives was by Ohio driver, Ryan Heeter. Heeter started way back from P25 and by lap 50 had moved up to P9, and by lap 100 to P8. He finished in P7, behind verteran Joe Flanagan (P5) and Holgate's team-mate James McClure (P6). Heeter's fastest lap was a 39.300, third fastest in the race, bested only by Holgate's 39.266 and Demeritt's impressive 39.152. (Heeter's performance moves him up 5 positions to 8th in the Series so far.)

The finish was exiting--almost a photo finish. Holgate wins by only inches over a 500 mile race!

Holgate noses out Demeritt at Checkered Flag

Holgate leads the series in points after six races. He is followed by Joe Branch, Joe Flanagan, Tim Doyle and Dan Lee Ensch. Completing the Top Ten in Series Standings to date, from 6th to 10th so far is: Christopher Demeritt (only 3 races), Tim Miller, Ryan Heeter, Michael Peters and Paul Jennings.

The series moves next to New Hampshire for the Chicago's Pizza 150, at 7PM EST on Sunday May 8. Watch live on RacespotTV  http://racespot.tv/ Or, watch later at https://www.youtube.com/user/iRacingTV/videos

Race Results--Click Here

YouTube Video

The Greatest Spectacle in Racing—The INDY 500!!! Coming early on May 1 !

The Greatest Spectacle in Racing—The INDY 500!!!

Get Ready—Coming on May 1

by Donald Wayne Strout (04/22/2016)

Entering T1 at the Indy 500

The 6th event of the new 2016 iAdvance Motorsports Indy Elite Series (12 races—11 ovals and one street course in Long Beach) will be the Indy 500 on Sunday, May 1 at 7PM EDT.  This race is presented by Real Gear. 

As usual the race will be broadcasted live on RacespotTV  http://racespot.tv/  as well as iRacing Live.  http://www.iracing.com/live/  and can be seen later on youtube.  33 iRacing drivers will take the green flag. In addition, the series invites celebrity drivers to participate using the iAdvance Motorsports simulator. Stephan Wilson competed at Homestead. Almost certainly, the Indy 500 will attract a real life IndyCar “celebrity” driver.

The first of many Indy events on iRacing in May. This one promises to unleash a crescendo of drama as some of the most competitive iRacing DW12 drivers to ever compete for the honor of winning this challenging event take the green flag. Whether one favors oval or road racing venues, almost everyone acknowledges the Indy500 is the pinnacle.

The IRL (in real life) Indy500 takes place on May 29. Helio Castroneves will be the sole competitor in 2016 who has won three victories. Juan Pablo Montoya with two. Will other previous winners, like Ryan Hunter-Reay join this “multi-win club” in 2016?  Or, will we see a new champion!

Sure to be one of the favorites in this year’s iAdvance Motorsports Indy Elite Series Indy 500 is Tim Holgate, the only competitor currently in this series with two previous Indy 500 iRacing Open (or 16^th Street) wins. Will he make history and win for the third time? Experience counts here, so several other past winners may “repeat”. These include this year’s 16^th Street Winner, Joe Branch, as well as Niles Anders and Tim Doyle. Perhaps less well known, but also holding previous wins include Team RFC’s Dan Lee Ensch and T. J. Massick.

But, certainly you cannot count out anyone. Keep an eye on Christopher Demeritt, Champion of the 2015-16 IndyCar Winter Series. Hardworking Brazilian, Marco Brazil is also likely to be fast—watch for him to seek out the coveted Pole. Bradley Walters,  Jonathan Goke and Joe Flanagan will surely be competitive. And, Walter’s teammate, Michael Peters is likely to have had a bit of Darren Manning advice and time on the iAdvance simulator—and maybe some good luck for a change. Joining the series recently from the left coast is setup guru, and recent IndyCar Fixed Champion, Christian Steele and verteran Randy Crossno, both likely to be formidable challengers. And, maybe, Wyatt Gooden may show up? 

In fact, there will be at least 20 cars with a real chance of winning this long race where BOTH strategy, cunning, and speed matter. The magic of Indy is you really never know who will win until the last lap! And certainly any one of the 33 starters could end up in the Top 5.

In this series Indy gives DOUBLE Series Championship Points. There are still a couple of open spots available. PM Joe Branch or visit the DW12 iRacing Forum.  And, if you are not competing, be sure to watch as 33 cars seek to make history with perhaps the best Indy 500 run on iRacing..ever!

Watch live on RacespotTV  http://racespot.tv/ 

Or, watch later at https://www.youtube.com/user/iRacingTV/videos

Series sponsors: http://www.iadvancemotorsports.com/  and http://www.ricmotech.com/

Wyatt Gooden Dominates at Long Beach

Wyatt Gooden Drives Team RFC car to Victory at Long Beach on 4/10/2016

By Donald Wayne Strout (4/11/2016)

"Tech" Street Circuit--Long Beach Grand Prix Layout

17 drivers took the Green Flag in the only road course scheduled as part ot the 2016 iAdvance Motorsports Indy Elite Series (12 races—11 ovals and one street course in Long Beach) 

The race unfortunately was NOT broadcasted live on RacespotTV  http://racespot.tv/  nor on iRacing Live.  http://www.iracing.com/live/  as usual. However, here is a link to a youtube compilation of the highlights. 

Wyatt Gooden took the pole with an impressive time of 1:07.925, almost 0.5 seconds a lap quicker than Tim Holgate in P2. Bradley Walters and T. J. Massick earned positions in the second row. (Massick had received the benefit of a bit of Wyatt Gooden coaching earlier in the week and was running the same Team RFC setup.) Repeating his legendary green flag launching skills, Holgate pulled ahead of Gooden at the start and led into T1 on the first lap.

Holgate leads the field into T1

Gooden followed close behind and on lap 2, rocketed out of T8 to overtake Holgate on the back straight. Gooden would never again be challenged and would dominate the rest of race.

Gooden passes Holgate on back straight, lap 2.

Back in the field there was a lot of action, as expected.

Massick spins in T8, blocking Joe Flanagan--both would continue.

Paul Jennings spins in front of Toni Helminen at T10 entry.

Canada's Andrew Kinsella definately wins the "Eager Beaver" Award for his duel with Dan Lee Ensch from lap 130 to the end. Kinsella made several mistakes but made impressive recoveries from each and continued to challenge the more conservative Dan Lee. Below one could say "One Man's Divebomb is anothers' Skillfully Executed Late Braking Overtake".

Andrew Kinsella and Dan Lee Ensch in T11, last lap.

Obviously there was room for only one car, but Dan Lee Ensch showed True Grit and masterful car control, holding off the more "eager" and considerably younger Kinsella. (Andrew---Ensch is sponsored by a Hockey Team!)

Classic Body Check

Andrew Kinsella and Dan Lee Ensch exit T11 in a drag race to the Checkered Flag---Ensch won the battle with a P7 finish. 

Chopper view as Wyatt Gooden entering T11 on last lap, having lapped entire field (see P3 Walters just behind) except for Holgate who is only just ahead exiting T11 on his lap 39. 

Bradley Walters, P3; Tim Miller, P4; Joe Branch, P5, Tim Doyle, P6, and Dan Lee Ensch, P7 all performed with distinction. Walters maintained his P3 position thru the entire race. The others moved up, finishing better than their qualifying position. This is a tough track that is not forgiving of mistakes. Congrats. 

Background info:  IAdvance Motorsports IndyCar Elite driver, and article Author, Donald Strout was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in March. Surgery scheduled for 3/30 would keep him from running Phoenix, but he had hoped to run Long Beach. So the week before surgery, Strout worked many hours on the Team RFC set for the Long Beach race. The goal was maximum forward rear tire grip coming out of T8 and T11 onto the straights without having too much understeer at speed exiting T9.  (Strout is the Team Engineer "Crew Chief" for Team RFC: T J Massick, Henrique Ebbo, Tim Miller and Dan Less Ensch. Often Miller and Ensch build their own sets, but use the Strout developed Team RFC set as a base for comparison.) Strout was informed that Long Beach was too soon after such major surgery, but he was anxious to see "his car" compete.  Strout contacted his friend and long term racing coach Wyatt Gooden and asked him to "run his setup" with only minor changes in the Long Beach race. Gooden took the Team RFC set, reduced tire pressures to 19 psi all around, stiffened the rear shocks a bit, and increased the differential clutch preload---and then took the car, and performed as reported above. His performance validated a competitive setup (with very little if any tire "falloff"--Wyatt was turning 1:09.xx the entire fuel stint.) but given that Gooden was able to go 2 seconds a lap faster than Strout with the same setup tells how important "talent" is to performance on the iRacing track. Gooden, with an iRating above 7000 has dominated in SM (2015 Champion) and FR 2.0 but has not had much seat time in the DW12. 

Strout reports very optimistic results from surgery as it appears all of the cancer was removed and he is recovering "on schedule", He hopes to return to competition for the race at Indianapolis.