DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman – Boomtown Sim photo –
The 2016 season-opener for the =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series will go down in the history books as the photo-finish that never actually was.
While Boomtown Sim teammates Corbin Himstreet and Anthony DeBaro crossed the stripe in Monday night’s SimVibe Daytona 250 side-by-side – with Himstreet appearing to have edged out the win on the bottom side by 0.013 of a second – after review of the “Big One” at lap 67 found the Murray, Utah driver at fault for the incident, he was relegated by penalty to the end of the lead lap and the win was turned over to DeBaro as a result.
En route to his third-career FTCS victory and first at Daytona, DeBaro never officially led a lap behind the wheel of his No. 9 Finning Caterpillar Chevrolet, but said in victory lane that “a win is a win.”
“As a race car driver – real or virtual – this isn’t how you ever like to win one,” the New Jersey native added. “Corbin had the car to beat. He was out front most of the race and led the most laps. I know stuff happens; I’m just glad one of us was able to end up in victory lane.”
“This is big for us to start the season off strong. After having a good showing in the Chase last year, even though it didn’t end like we wanted it to, we were confident of being able to repeat that and be strong again this year. Winning at Daytona is a huge boost to those goals and I’m proud to add that to my resume here at =RSR=.”
“It’s Daytona. Real or virtuam, it’s a place you want to have the distinction of winning at. It’s a big deal.”
Rookie polesitter Tim Matthews led the field to the green flag to kick off the season and paced 25 of the first 26 laps, but Himstreet and DeBaro quickly teamed up after the race’s one-quarter mark to establish control at ‘The World Center of Racing’.
The duo would break the single-file freight train up when they moved to the point for the first time at lap 27, and from there Himstreet would stay out front all the way through the finish – leading 68 of the final 74 laps and only giving the point up during pit stops – but it was the first of the race’s three caution flags that changed the game and ultimately set the post-race admin decisions in motion.
On lap 67, entering the tri-oval, Himstreet’s Chevrolet washed up slightly into the Toyotas of Johnathon Caddell and Nick Kohan, getting Caddell out of shape and ultimately seeing Justin Michael’s No. 3 Chevrolet get turned and go flipping wildly in the chaos. In all, six cars were involved and – as would be assessed after the race – Himstreet’s fault in the incident would be the undoing of his chances at victory.
That would allow for a final round of pit stops, but Himstreet would retain command from there to the finish, when the penalty was assessed. However, two versions of the ‘Daytona Big One’ would mar the closing laps.
With 12 laps to go, contact between the machines of Christopher Hurlow and Rett McBride sparked a chaotic crash down the backstretch that sparked a 14-car melee collecting names including Daniel Eberhardt, Dan Murray, Stefan Marinak, Jose Gonzalez, defending race winner Rich Jette and reigning series champion Dwayne Vincent among its victims.
And then, at the five to go mark, Aegis Motorsports rookie Carl Shedd and former series champion Chad Cole got together trying to come back through the field after a late race pit stop for tires – seeing a second major crash break out in turn one. Most of the field sustained some piece of damage in the incident, and polesitter Matthews became the second car to barrel roll as chaos ensued for the second time.
Through the smoke and the carnage, rookie David Washington stayed ahead of the crashing cars to have a shot at victory in the final laps. While he had no drafting help to get to the two Boomtown cars ahead of him at the end, the series newcomer was satisfied with a second-place effort to kick off the 2016 season.
“I knew I was in trouble (with no real help from behind),” Washington admitted of the final restart. “I just tried to time the restart perfectly, and from there stayed with the front two in case someone could sneak up and help us get a run. It didn’t work out, but it’s a great way to start our season and I’m looking forward to contending for race wins as we go through the season.”
Kevin Linden finished an impressive third to back up his win from Talladega last fall, with Sean Casto and Bobby Terrell rounding out the top five.
Anthony Fredericks, Brennan Mercer, outside polesitter Ross Cado, Kyle Taraska and Murray were the balance of the top 10.
Himstreet, by virtue of the penalty, scored 21st in the final rundown – understandably dejected but still upbeat to have one of the cars he owns sitting in victory lane.
“Either way it turned out, a Boomtown Sim car was going to win the race, so we’re super excited about that,” Himstreet said. “We came in here with the goal of a team win, and we accomplished that tonight in a big way – leading a ton of laps, getting the new Finning-CAT colors out in the open and putting a car in the Chase.”
“It’s just a shame that net code was involved in it. We weren’t going to touch, but there ended up being net code – even though it wasn’t a very bad instance of it. By the rulebook, that made it my caution to claim. It’s a fair ruling by the admins, but just a really crappy situation. Yeah, it’s a tough pill to swallow, but we’ll move forward from this and come back stronger next time we hit the track.”
The =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series returns to action on Monday, Feb. 29 with the running of the Peach State 200 powered by SimXperience from Atlanta Motor Speedway, live at 9:30 p.m. ET on LSRTV and iRacing Live.
For more information on the Real Sim Racing family of iRacing leagues, visit www.realsimracing.com.
RESULTS: =RSR= Full Throttle Cup Series; SimVibe Daytona 250; Daytona International Speedway; Feb. 22, 2016
- Anthony DeBaro
- David Washington
- Kevin Linden
- Sean Casto
- Bobby Terrell
- Anthony Fredericks
- Brennan Mercer
- Ross Cado
- Kyle Taraska
- Dan Murray
- Nelson Rivera
- Jimmie North
- Doug Roth
- Joseph Theis
- Rich Jette
- Thomas George
- Scott Simley
- Mike Kelley
- Mark Bratcher
- Daniel Eberhardt
- Corbin Himstreet
- Greg Evans
- Scott Eckrich
- C.J. LaVair
- Matt LaCross
- Adam Blattel
- Bryan Harvey
- David Comstock
- Carl Shedd
- Tim Matthews
- Dwayne Vincent
- Stefan Marinak
- Chad Cole
- Nick Silver
- Jose Gonzalez
- Steve Gottschalk
- Rett McBride
- Mitch Rollo
- Christopher Hurlow
- Nick Kohan
- Johnathon Caddell
- Justin Michael
- John Abbott (DNS)
Lead Changes: 10 among seven drivers
Lap Leaders: Matthews (1-9, 11-26); Himstreet (10, 27-32, 36-64, 69-100); Vincent (33-35); Terrell (65); Gonzalez (66); Silver (67); Casto (68).
Laps Led: Himstreet – 68, Matthews – 25, Vincent – 3, Terrell – 1, Gonzalez – 1, Silver – 1, Casto – 1.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
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