MichiganCircleTrack.com is the online home of the MARC Times Racing News & Michigan Racing Scene and MARCTimesTV.

I’m a couple of weeks behind on reporting, so let me bring you up to date on the happenings within the Michigan Circle Track Sim-Racing League.  On July 23rd, the league visited the fictional “Gorilla Snot Raceway”. The ¾ mile track has two versions, one dirt and the other concrete, the latter version being used for the MCT-SRL race.  Banking is 22 degrees in the corners and 10 degrees on the straights and it has a nasty bump just past the start/finish line as you enter turn one.  Other than the bump, it reminds me a lot of driving at Bristol.   I was unable to make the show this particular evening due to my network being down, so League Administrator and driver, Craig Bristol sent me the replay of the race to watch.

MCT-SRL points leader John Hernly took the pole and Ron Hart of Chesaning, MI, started second. Hart, who was making his first start in the series since the pre-season race at Berlin, was able to get past Hernly on lap 10 and held onto the first place  position through the end of the race.

The following week the league paid a visit to the birthplace of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield, CA.  The 1/2 mile oval with 17 degrees of banking was razed in 2005 to make way for new homes, however since we are racing in the virtual world, we are still able to run at the fun little track.   Twelve drivers turned out for this event, with a number of folks making their first appearance since the pre-season.

Hernly once again took the pole, with a 17.044 second lap. Starting next to him was Kinross Speedpark veteran Mark Howland, with a 17.055 second qualifying effort.  The caution flew seven times during the 150 lap event, about one every thirty laps or so.  The racing was first-rate with lots of side-by-side action all through the field.   Mobile, AL driver David Herrin was able to make a pass on Hernly for the lead on lap 66, with Howland also getting past Hernly’s No.64 on lap 69.  The caution came out on lap 74, when Herrin, leading the pack, got into the lapped car of Cameron McNamara.  The leaders all pitted and Hernly made it out of the pits just a fraction of a second in front of Herrin’s No.22. The yellow flag waved for the final time on lap 103 when Kalamazoo’s Phil Loedeman had a self-spin in turn three.  Just as the starter dropped the green flag for the restart, Herrin’s network connection dropped, taking the second place driver out of the race and allowing Hernly to take his TV Land Chevy to the winners circle for the seventh time this season.

This week the league made the virtual trek down to Florida to run at the half mile asphalt track in New Smyrna.  After the Sim-Racing equivalent of a rain delay, the race got underway thanks to the help of Whittemore Speedway veteran Don Colbath, III, who provided an emergency server for the league to run on.  It was another decent turnout with fourteen drivers taking the green flag, including current Kinross 4-cylinder points leader, Don Dangler, who was making his first start in the series.

Hernly took the poll with a time of 17.403 seconds. On the outside it was Doug TerMeer in the No.91 who posted a 17.562 second lap.  There were five caution periods during the 70 lap race. In the final incident on lap 44, Foote got loose and made contact with the No.61 of Tom TerMeer. TerMeer was able to get his car pointed straight again, but he was hit by Foote’s car a second time, sending both hard into the outside wall as they came down the back stretch. Foote was forced to retire as TerMeer limped his car into the pits for repairs.   David Herrin had a much better night than the previous week when he lost his connection. Herrin executed a clean pass of Hernly on lap 27 and maintained the lead through the checkered flag.  Herrin is the 6th different driver to take home a victory in the series this season.

MCT-SRL New Smyrna Race Results, Aug.6th, 2009

MCT-SRL Standings after 13 of 15 races