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On September 10th the Michigan Circle Track Sim-Racing League made their first visit to Laird International Raceway in Ontario. The fixed chassis set up which all drivers were required to run, was a bit loose off the corners. It required a lot of finesse on the throttle to keep from spinning the car into the infield grass, especially coming out of turn four. MCT-SRL season one champion John Hernly, who missed the first two races of the Fall Season, was on hand for the 105 lap event. Josh Walker made an early bid for three wins in a row, qualifying on the pole. Sporting a new sponsor, Tennessee Speed Sport, on his No.83 Chevy, Walker turned a 15.386 second (77.915 mph) lap. I started next to him in my No.73 Ultra Tuff Safety Coatings Dodge, with a lap time of 15.394 seconds (77.875 mph) at the one-third mile track.

Doug TerMeer, who finished third last weekend at Toledo, got into trouble on lap 1. In an effort to keep from running into the back of my car, TerMeer went up the track and into the tire barrier in front of the turn three bleachers. The incident did considerable damage to his No.91 and he loaded his car onto the trailer as a result. The restart came on lap 7 with Walker’s No.83 in the lead and KC Foote in the second spot. Foote’s No.51 received a bump from a hard charging John Hernly in the No.64 on lap 11. The contact from Hernly’s car sent Foote’s car around, bringing out the caution for the second time that evening.

The race restarted on lap 14. By lap 21, Hernly was beside Walker for the lead. The two drivers traded the first place position several times until lap 26 when Hernly finally made the pass stick. A few laps later, Walker exited turn two out of shape and proceeded sideways, dirt-track style, down the back stretch and through turns three and four, before he could gather it back up. Walker was passed by the field while he struggled for control of his car. One of the last cars to pass Walker was the No.3 of Craig Bristol. Bristol was one lap down and battling fellow New York driver, Ken Dwyer for position. Bristol had problems of his own on the entry to turn one, with his car starting to go sideways. Contact from Walker’s car sealed the deal for caution number three on lap 31. Taking advantage of the caution, Hernly and several other drivers pitted, handing the lead over to MT Johnson in the No.06.

The restart came and Walker, who had gone a lap down because of the incident, was able to race his way back onto the lead lap. Foote made the pass on Johnson to get his lap back as well, on lap 43. Hernly recaptured the lead on lap 46. On lap 64, contact from Foote’s No.51 sent the No.61 of Tom TerMeer on an off-track excursion, bringing out the caution flag once again. Hernly went on to win the race which ended under yellow after a single car spin on lap 102.

MCT-SRL Laird Results

MCT-SRL Standings after 3 of 14 events