No last night was not a replay of the Belly Up Sports Invitational. Chris Wright repeated his performance from that event to get past Tate Lightle again and punch his ticket to the playoffs. Two early cautions were the only real tomfoolery to speak of. Otherwise, and I know I say this a lot about ERSCA, last night was the best race of the year. Which is a good sign this league is really on the rise. Most leagues die down in the second half, but ERSCA came out of the All-Star break with even more momentum than before. Last night also offered a glimpse into the potential championship contenders. In fact, those contenders were up front beating and banging the whole way while maintaining clean and exciting racing. If you missed the race, you can catch the replay on SYM TV or stay here with me and I’ll give you the rundown!
The Wright Strategy
It’s not how you start, its how you finish. The yellow flag flew twice in the opening laps before the drivers finally settled in for the night. That led to a long green flag run, 120 laps in fact, and some of the best racing you’ll see in real life or on the sim. Scott Crump, Tate Lightle, and Chris Wright seemed to be the cars to beat throughout the night. However, Damien Leininger and Nick Masse also joined the front runners. At one point, you could throw a snuggie over the top 5. That’s how close this race was. Ultimately, Chris Wright pitted at the right time and was able to come from six seconds back with 30 laps left to pass Lightle and take the lead inside of 10 to go. You may remember Wright from the Belly Up Invitational where he pulled off almost the exact same strategy to pass Lightle to win $500. To further add to Wright’s good night, he also was the $100 winner of the ERSCA PropMe challenge.
Do they Really Need a Break?
I know I’ve been talking this league up a lot, but I’m a man of balance so here’s a negative. Next week is the worst week of the season. An Off-week. Yes, I’m aware next Monday is a holiday, but damn I need some more ERSCA racing like now. All jokes aside, the drivers have put in an incredible amount of effort into putting on a show every week. Not to mention the admins and sponsors who are out promoting and maintaining this great league. Not much in America to get excited about these last few months, but ERSCA has been there. Although, NASCAR has officially returned now. So with that being said, these guys more than deserve a week off. However, you better be back in front of your TV when ERSCA returns to support these guys and indulge in some wholesome family friendly entertainment. Thank you to all the people I mentioned above who put this together. In a time I didn’t have much to look forward to, you provided me with an escape and gave me a reason to look forward to every new week through quarantine. That means more than you’ll ever know!
Top Ten Power Rankings
Okay now that I’m done being sentimental, lets see if we can rile up any drivers with the first rankings since the All-Star event.
- Tate Lightle
- Scott Crump
- Nick Masse
- Damien Leininger
- Dylan Thomas
- Josh Adams
- Chris Wright
- Vincent Isabella
- Johnny Thomas
- Brandon Key
Victory Lane: Chris Wright
“Yea, it was a lot like the Belly up invitational. Car was super tight and tires went away fast. The prop me was icing on the cake. As for my race, I burned up the right front the first few runs. I worked on saving it and the last couple of runs I was the best car on the long run. I felt the 2nd to last run when I passed Tate before pit stops I took control of the race. At that point I decided that I was pitting at 30 to go. I stuck to it and it paid off the last run big time. The race was huge for the season, that puts me in the playoffs.”
Again, next week is an off week, but if you just want to see more ERSCA, you can find all my race recaps on our Racing page. If you’re more of a visual learner, you can also check out SYM TV on youtube and watch all the race replays!
