Ah, Dover International Speedway is one of my favorite tracks in NASCAR. I think of it as Bristol for people who get dizzy easily. Which would imply cautions right? Not in ERSCA, baby! The green flag waved proudly at Dover as ERSCA tore up the track. Scott Crump was dominant as always, but Tate Lightle made the most of Crump’s late misfortune to come away with the win. Let’s take a look at how Tate Lightle managed to come from 27th to secure his second victory of the season.
Crump Wants a Dover do Over
Well he probably does at least..Scott Crump had THE car to beat last night, but unfortunately his car got beat instead. Contact between Talladega winner Gerald Campbell and Damien Leininger sent Campbell into Crump. Effectively ending his chance at the win. Enter Tate Lightle. After charging his way from the back, Lightle looked as if he would settle into the top 5. Ultimately, his strategy put him in front of the field and he never looked back. However, he may have had some blood pressure issues after Kenny Lowry spun with 5 laps to go. Luckily, Lowry is experienced with iRacing and maintained control enough to not trigger an automatic caution. This allowed Lightle to cruise home and join his friendly rival Crump as the only drivers with multiple wins this season so far.
Virtual Dover Downs?
Not quite, but if you missed the announcement, ERSCA recently partnered with the company PropMe to come up with a way to further engage fans. Well how about a chance to win some money? Belly Up’s own Mike Brown was this week’s winner of $100. The league itself offered an extra $20 to anyone who proved they downloaded the app and made their picks for Dover. So now we not only have great racing to watch, but even more reasons to tune in and get involved!
Next week ERSCA heads to Chicagoland which if you aren’t aware, doesn’t have a true backstretch. Not that it really affects the racing, i just think its cool. Keep an eye on the usual suspects as well as Richard Lafferty and Adam Pettet. Both of these drivers got a bit of a slow start to the season, but have been hot as of late and made gains in the standings.
Top 10 Power Rankings
- 1. Tate Lightle
- 2. Scott Crump
- 3. Josh Adams
- 4. Nick Masse
- 5. Dylan Thomas
- 6. Joe Francis
- 7. Vincent Isabella
- 8. Damien Leininger
- 9. Zeeshan Deura
- 10. Brandon key
Victory Lane: Welcome Back Tate Lightle
“I think me and Scott will both have a big part of the championship battle, but don’t over look Nick and Josh. They’re both really fast as well, as well as a few others. It’s great that there is so many competitive cars, because each week there are 4-6 guys that have legit shots at winning the race. Like last night I thought I was gonna run about 4th behind Scott, Josh and Nick. After Scott crashed and the other two stayed out about 5 laps too long, we were kind of gifted the win. We’ve lost a lot of races with the best car, so it’s nice to win one when you don’t. Hopefully we can continue the speed throughout the season and make a solid charge in the chase.“
This week I actually interviewed Tate about the Dover race (above), but also how he feels as a driver seeing ERSCA take off so well and see everyone benefit from the effort of league admins, sponsors, and media (below).
A few months before the season started we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to make it work, and to see how we’re doing now is incredible. We’re consistently one of SYM TV’s highest viewed leagues, which is incredible. Between Belly Up Sports, SYM tv, and us at ERSCA, it really is a match made in heaven. I hope we can keep doing it for seasons to come.“
I share Tate’s sentiments in that this league is awesome for everyone involved and everyone who tunes into a race. The support will always be there for ERSCA with us here at Belly Up Sports and our coverage of the greatest league in iRacing! You can find all our ERSCA coverage on the Racing page and our Twitter!
