By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
Even in the virtual world of iRacing, Talladega Superspeedway produces unpredictable winners as Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook held off the pros to win.
Cook, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chief Digital Officer, was in the right place at the right time. Running second to Team Penske’s Jordan Erickson it appeared the duo would battle it out. Erickson had the preferred inside line, until he ran out of fuel entering LeafFilter Overtime.
Advanced to the lead of the LeafFilter Replacements race, Cook found himself ahead of fellow Toyota Racing Driver Parker Kligerman. The potent duo of TJ Majors and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were to their outside. On the restart, Majors briefly pulled ahead of the virtual No. 63 Bitcoin Toyota Camry. However, Majors and Earnhardt had no help behind and faded.
Left to their own devices, Kligerman pushed Cook until the checkered flag was in sight. At that point, it was every man for himself as the driver of the virtual No. 77 Food Country USA / Valvoline Toyota Camry pulled alongside. Front end damage hampered Kligerman’s attempt. In a photo finish, Cook edged out his fellow TRD driver by 0.050 seconds to win.
“Oh my gosh I’m just so excited,” admitted Cook. “These guys are like my heroes, Dale Jr., Kyle Busch and people that I’ve raced with at JGR, Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes. Tyler Overstreet helped me, Kyle came over the radio and congratulates me. That’s just big. I’m thrilled. That was so much fun, I’m appreciative of all of these real-world drivers doing this.
“I could not believe when the leader (Erickson) ran out of fuel and gave me the low line because that was the key. That was the strategy. Having Parker Kligerman behind me, he didn’t have much of a choice and pushed me to the win. I appreciate that, it was great. That was a fast Camry, and I had a lot of Camrys lined up on the bottom too. Ole’ Parker Kligerman shot that Bitcoin Camry to the moon.”
With only one reset, the Replacements experienced only two ‘big ones.’ One happened early as an ill-timed push in the tri-oval send Chase Briscoe spinning. Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Anthony Alfredo, Ben Rhodes and Kyle Long were all swept up in the incident on lap 11.
The second ‘big one’ was much more dramatic. While running third, NASCAR Cup Series crew chief Rodney Childers blew his engine. With no warning, he got turned by Kyle Busch setting off a melee that involved almost half the field in turn three.
Between the two incidents, the lead was traded back and forth between race leader Kevin Hamlin, Coleman Pressley, and Landon Cassill. However, Hamlin always got the right push in the tri-oval to remain the leader at the start-finish line.
Polesitter Garrett Smithley finished third with Majors and Earnhardt rounding out the top-five. The rest of the top-10 were Pressley, Joshua Williams, A.J. McCarron, Kevin Iannarelli, and Hamlin.
Of note, David Hudson, a long-time iRacer joined the field after being randomly picked in a contest. The former iRacing beta-tester ran upfront throughout much of the race. Hudson blew his engine coming to the checkered flag as he attempted to push another competitor.
The next LeafFilter Replacements race will see the field return to the Street Stock at the 2008 “Legacy” layout of Phoenix Raceway.
The Finish
1. Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook [13], 2. Parker Kligerman [3], 3. Garrett Smithley [1], 4. TJ Majors [37], 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. [33], 6. Coleman Pressley [40], 7. Joshua Williams [16], 8. A.J. McCarron [6], 9. Kevin Iannarelli [8], 10. Kevin Hamlin [4], 11. Justin Haley [30], 12. Landon Cassill [2], 13. Kevin Harvick [7], 14. David Hudson [21], 15. Ron Capps [25], 16. Ben Rhodes [20], 17. Bobby Labonte [9], 18. Tim Dugger [24], 19. Jordan Erickson [28], 20. Tyler Overstreet [11], 21. Todd Gilliland [22], 22. Chris Rice [14], 23. Josh Berry [32], 24. Kyle Busch [15], 25. Kyle Long [39], 26. Ryan Truex [34], 27. Christian Eckes [10], 28. Anthony Alfredo [17], 29. Drew Herring [38], 30. Justin Allgaier [23], 31. Taylor Gray [5], 32. Tim Clauson [19], 33. Rodney Childers [12], 34. Chad Knaus [29], 35. Ryan Flores [27], 36. Brent Wentz [26], 37. Harrison Burton [18], 38. Chase Briscoe [35], 39. Ty Majeski [31], 40. Ross Chastain [36], 41. Jonathan Davis [41], 42. Regan Smith [42].
Lead Changes: 27 among 13 drivers.
Lap Leader(s): Taylor Gray 1-5, Landon Cassill 6-7, Taylor Gray 8, Landon Cassill 9, A.J. McCarron 10, Landon Cassill 11-12, Kevin Hamlin 13-26, Coleman Pressley 27-28, Ryan Truex 29, Coleman Pressley 30, Ryan Truex 31-38, Landon Cassill 39, Ryan Truex 40-41, Landon Cassill 42-43, Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook 44, Tim Clauson 45, Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook 46-47, Christian Eckes 48, Kyle Busch 49, Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook 50-51, Kyle Busch 52, Landon Cassill 53, Josh Berry 54, Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook 55-57, Jordan Erickson 58-60, Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook 61-62, TJ Majors 63, Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook 64-65.
Laps Led: Kevin Hamlin 14, Bryan ‘Boris’ Cook 12, Ryan Truex 11, Landon Cassill 9, Taylor Gray 6, Jordan Erickson 3, Coleman Pressley 3, Kyle Busch 2, Josh Berry 1, Tim Clauson 1, Christian Eckes 1, TJ Majors 1, A.J. McCarron 1.
Hard Charger: Coleman Pressley (+34)
Cautions: Five for 20 laps.
Margin of Victory: 0.050 seconds.
Time of Race: One hour, 22 minutes, 36.792 seconds.
Average Speed: 125.573 mph.
Pole Winner: Garrett Smithley (185.108 mph, 51.732 seconds).