By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
A wild FTF Barr Visuals 500 ended with Michael Frisch taking the checkered flag in overtime.
The bulk of the season opening For The Fans Racing league event was dominated by eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers Michael Guest and Derek Justis. However, both drivers encountered trouble after halfway. Guest was swept up in ‘the big one’ just past the halfway point of the race. An ill-timed block by Justis saw his virtual No. 31 swing across the nose of Corey Carpenter.
The incident forced the race into overtime with Frisch in the lead in the virtual No. 58 Barr Visuals Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. On the restart, he dueled with Aaron Mulrooney Jr. for the advantage out front. Shortly after the field took the white flag, chaos broke out behind the leaders.
As the bulk of the field crashed, Frisch, Kenny Brady, Jacob Fisher, and Ryan Doucette emerged unscathed. Without the momentum and energy to propel them forward, Frisch took the checkered flag with 0.088 seconds back to Brady. Fisher, Doucette, and Jake Poulin completed the top-five. Frisch’s win makes him the first winner in the FTF Cup Series on iRacing.
“It’s tunnel vision at this point, really unbelievable how I pulled that off,” admitted a speechless Frisch. “Major blocks, big moves. Of course, I had to use the yellow line because Kenny (Brady) was going to go down there. The high side had a run and I blocked that.
“I’m speechless right now, can’t believe I pulled that off. I rode dead last all night. Somehow in the last 20 laps we got ourselves into a winning position. Showed that I could run with the big dogs and that I’m meant to be here.”
Mulrooney Jr., Cayden Rush, Kevin McAdams, Brian Mercurio, and Eric Smith rounded out the top-10. Guest swept the first two stages of the FTF Barr Visuals 500 presented by Bottom Split. The eNASCAR driver finished 38th.
Fellow eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers Derek Justis and Blake Reynolds also finished down the running order in 32nd and 36th respectively.
Although the race was slowed eight times for 26 laps, the FTF 500 at Daytona International Speedway was very competitive. Over the 201 laps, there were 81 lead changes among 20 of the 43 drivers on track.
The first major incident of the FTF 500 took place when Dylan Ault’s engine failed in the middle of the pack. The chain reaction saw Eddie Kerner, David Schildhouse, and others get swept up in the accident. Many of the other incidents were the result of a combination of ill-timed blocks and pushes.
Mercurio avoided the carnage to score a top-10 finish. Three separate penalties for driving through a combined 27 pit boxes ultimately put him in position to avoid the late-race mayhem.
The Finish
1. Michael Frisch [38] ($500), 2. Kenny Brady [43], 3. Jacob Fisher [6], 4. Ryan Doucette [1], 5. Jake Poulin [26], 6. Aaron Mulrooney Jr. [20], 7. Cayden Rush [15], 8. Kevin McAdams [40], 9. Brian Mercurio [11], 10. Eric Smith [7], 11. Conor Horn [35], 12. Evan Brinker [14], 13. David Schildhouse [34], 14. Chris Wetz [42], 15. John Poole III [38], 16. Arnold Columbia [24], 17. Justin Knoblock [31], 18. Justin Melillo [33], 19. Colton Salek [4], 20. Ty Bass [27], 21. Spencer Burns [22], 22. Hunter Colodny [16], 23. Cosmin Ioanesiu [37], 24. Seth Noell [18], 25. Jared Torres [21], 26. Andrew Schwartz [32], 27. Corey Carpenter [3], 28. Gary Watterworth [30], 29. Brandon Hawkin [9], 30. Ethan Kurtz [25], 31. Dalton Cowden [2], 32. Derek Justis [5], 33. Matt Danson [32], 34. Garrett Mashburn [12], 35. Brad Wright [10], 36. Blake Reynolds [13], 37. Taylor Morgans [41], 38. Michael Guest [29], 39. Eddie Kerner [36], 40. Garrison Hogan [19], 41. Dylan Ault [23], 42. J.D. Willis [8], 43. Garrett Konrath [17].
Lead Changes: 81 among 20 drivers.
Lap Leader(s): Corey Carpenter 1-6, Colton Salek 7, Spencer Burns 8, Michael Guest 9-10, Eric Smith 11-14, Derek Justis 15-16, Eric Smith 17, Derek Justis 18-20, Eric Smith 21-22, Michael Guest 23-24, Spencer Burns 25-26, Kenny Brady 27, Spencer Burns 28-30, Eric Smith 31-32, Kenny Brady 33-34, Dalton Cowden 35, Garrett Konrath 36, Michael Guest 37, Brandon Hawkin 38-39, Michael Guest 40-42, Derek Justis 43, Michael Guest 44-50, Spencer Burns 51, Michael Guest 52, Eddie Kerner 53-55, Michael Guest 56-59, Eddie Kerner 60, Michael Guest 61-65, Dylan Ault 66-67, Michael Guest 68-69, Eric Smith 70-72, Dylan Ault 73-77, Spencer Burns 78, Dylan Ault 79, Garrison Hogan 80, Dylan Ault 81-82, Spencer Burns 83, Ryan Doucette 84, Derek Justis 85, Eddie Kerner 86, Brandon Hawkin 87-89, Michael Guest 90-98, Brandon Hawkin 99-102, Cayden Rush 103, Michael Guest 104-108, Eric Smith 109-110, Michael Guest 111-119, Spencer Burns 120, Michael Guest 121-122, Spencer Burns 123, Michael Guest 124-126, Spencer Burns 127, Michael Guest 128, Spencer Burns 129-130, Justin Knoblock 131-132, Dalton Cowden 133-134, Derek Justis 135-146, Brad Wright 147-153, Seth Noell 154-156, Derek Justis 157-158, Seth Noell 159, Derek Justis 160, Seth Noell 161, Derek Justis 162, Seth Noell 163-165, Derek Justis 166-167, Seth Noell 168, Brad Wright 169, Derek Justis 170-172, Brad Wright 173, Seth Noell 174-175, Cayden Rush 176-177, Brad Wright 178-179, Ryan Doucette 180-182, Derek Justis 183-188, Aaron Mulrooney Jr. 189, Corey Carpenter 190, Aaron Mulrooney Jr. 191-195, Michael Frisch 196-198, Aaron Mulrooney Jr. 199, Michael Frisch 200-201.
Laps Led: Michael Guest 56, Derek Justis 34, Eric Smith 15, Spencer Burns 14, Seth Noell 11, Brad Wright 11, Brandon Hawkin 9, Dylan Ault 10, Corey Carpenter 7, Aaron Mulrooney Jr. 7, Michael Frisch 5, Ryan Doucette 4, Eddie Kerner 4, Kenny Brady 3, Dalton Cowden 3, Cayden Rush 3, Justin Knoblock 2, Garrison Hogan 1, Garrett Konrath 1, Colton Salek 1.
Hard Charger: Kenny Brady (+41).
Tough Break: J.D. Willis (-34).
Cautions: Eight for 26 Laps.
Margin of Victory: 0.088 seconds.
Time of Race: Two hours, 59 minutes, 23.255 seconds.
Average Speed: 168.072 MPH.
Pole Winner: Ryan Doucette, 47.646 seconds (188.893 MPH).
Fastest Lap: Jared Torres, Lap 180, 43.939 seconds (204.829 MPH).
Stage 1: 1 Michael Guest, 2. Spencer Burns, 3. Derek Justis, 4. Eddie Kerner, 5. Ryan Doucette, 6. Brandon Hawkin, 7. Blake Reynolds, 8. Brad Wright, 9. Colton Salek, 10. David Schildhouse.
Stage 2: 1 Michael Guest, 2. Eric Smith, 3. Brandon Hawkin, 4. Ryan Doucette, 5. Spencer Burns, 6. Conor Horn, 7. Cayden Rush, 8. Blake Reynolds, 9. Evan Brinker, 10. Garrett Mashburn.
Feature Photo Credit: Seth Eggert / Kickin’ the Tires