CONCORD, N.C. – official team release by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman – Boomtown Sim photo –
Monday night’s =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series World 225 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was a mixed bag for the RCO-Boomtown Sim team, leading to an up-and-down race and mixed emotions when the final results came in.
The ups involved a special one-race sponsorship on all four of the team’s entries from Exclaim Graphics, as well as all four team drivers – team principal Corbin Himstreet, Mitch Rollo and rookies Anthony DeBaro and Chris Hurlow – making the race together for the first time.
The downs included Rollo, Hurlow and DeBaro all being collected in melees in the race’s second half that ended their nights after qualifying efforts that saw the entire team start inside the top ten.
Only Himstreet survived the late-race carnage, coming home fifth and extending Boomtown Sim’s streak of four-straight =RSR= events with at least one car inside the top five at the finish.
“It was really important to us as a team, and for myself, to get this top five in Charlotte,” Himstreet said of his run. “We have had a lot of recent success – but it was mostly at short tracks. Monday night shows us that Boomtown can compete on any type of track and I’m hoping it’s only a matter of time before we can break through, win a race and lock the No. 69 RCO-Boomtown Sim Chevrolet SS into the Chase for the Full Throttle Cup!”
“I know tonight was disheartening for my teammates though – everyone had strong runs going and you hate to see it fall apart so late in the going,” Himstreet added. “If anything though, we have hope knowing that for the first time in Full Throttle Cup this season, all four cars got in the show and were consistently fast throughout the race. That’s the most consistent across the board we’ve been as a team all season and I hope it continues.”
Hurlow was the first driver to see his night go sour after he was hooked into the fence while battling for position with C.J. LaVair at lap 102, nearly flipping before coming to rest at the inside of turn one. The 28-year-old retired to the garage area shortly after and finished 35th.
For Rollo, who was credited with a 22nd-place result, the course of his night was heartbreaking. The second-year =RSR= driver was looking to find redemption for narrowly missing out on a Charlotte FTCS victory last fall – qualifying second to kick off the evening.
Instead, he was pinned a lap down after a short-pit strategy gone wrong, then swept up in the same lap 102 crash that destroyed Hurlow’s car – all after running inside the top five most of the night. Though Rollo returned to the track three laps down to finish out the race, he ended up with a disappointing box score for all his valiant efforts in the race’s first half.
“It’s disheartening,” Rollo said. “I really thought we had a car that could contend tonight – we might have had to use some strategy late in the race but I thought we had a chance. Instead we ended up with a junked race car.”
“It all started when we got kicked sideways by Jeff Ward fighting for third – that burned our tires completely off sliding through turns one and two. We saved it, but then pitted too soon and just got back in the hornets’ nest. It’s racing and it happens, but this one is pretty tough to swallow.”
DeBaro attempted to use a two-tire strategy inside of 40 laps to go to steal the lead and sneak out his first-career =RSR= checkered flag, but slid up into the wall in turn three at lap 119 and came down the track into traffic. Ultimately, 13 cars were collected – and DeBaro’s night was over. The rookie was scored 26th in the final rundown.
Boomtown Sim will continue their search for the team’s first-career =RSR= broadcast victory on Wednesday, May 20 in the =RSR= Outlaw Truck Series. The North Carolina Education Lottery 250k will go green at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time on LSRTV.
For more information on Boomtown Sim, visit the team’s Facebook page.
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CREDIT: Boomtown Sim
