By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
At the end of the Firecracker 400 presented by INFRA Resolutions, Brandon Kettelle took his beat-up car to victory lane.
Kettelle, like much of the 43-car field, had a wild night at the virtual ‘Legacy’ edition of the Daytona International Speedway. His No. 14 Barstool Sports Ford Thunderbird showed speed throughout the race. Kettelle battled with NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron, as well as eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series drivers Jake Nichols, Eric J. Smith, Casey Kirwan, and Michael Conti for the $2,000 prize.
Despite being swept up in several incidents, none of which were his own making, the Clint Bowyer Racing driver found himself third on the final restart. In the one lap shootout, Colton Salek threw a block on Joshua Chin that saw him ‘blowover’ into the infield. With the leaders out of the way, Kettelle surged forward.
More chaos broke out in turn four, as Kettelle doored Bob Bryant. That move gave him some breathing room. As John Gorlinsky and Bryant crashed entering the tri-oval, the No. 14 took the checkered flag with 0.215 seconds to spare. Gorlinsky spun across the line for second with Bryant third.
“I’ve got to tell you that my voice is lost because I’ve been doing a lot of screaming the last 20 seconds,” an excited Kettelle explained. “Oh my god, when I doored Bob Bryant I thought for sure that I was done for. Then they wrecked underneath me, and I got lucky.
“I worked so hard on this setup the last couple days, told my guys that I was sorry if I ran bad last night in the Coke race because we wanted to win Daytona. I dreamt about this last night and I can’t believe that I’m in victory lane. It’s crazy.”
Kettelle admitted he had another reason why he wanted to win so badly:
“I’ve got to be honest with you, my little girl’s birthday is next month, and I wanted to make it special. It’s her third birthday and this is awesome man. And it’s Daytona, it’s a home race.”
AJ Henderson and Kyle Putz completed the top-five. Will Cooley, Justin Lisonbee, Dylan Goodin, Adam Gordon, and Eric J. Smith rounded out the top-10. After their wreck, Chin finished 12th with Salek 16th.
The lead pack was wiped out three separate times in incidents. The final time saw Byron bounce off the wall into traffic. The field had been on the edge on fuel mileage prior to the incident. Byron ultimately finished the race in 26th.
The first two incidents of the race were both caused by eNASCAR drivers. Kollin Keister broke loose and swept up several of his competitors. A few laps after the restart, Malik Ray broke loose and clobbered the wall.
With the 1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Ford Thunderbird unrestricted, drivers were able to build runs with ease. The race leader changed hands 68 times. Longtime iRacing member and current Hendrick Motorsports driver Byron led the most laps throughout the event.
The Firecracker 400, organized by Landon Cassill and Parker Kligerman, drew in interest from across the Sim Racing community. Over 300 drivers attempted to qualify for the event with several stuck on the outside looking in. Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin both failed to advance past the prelims.
Garrett Smithley failed to qualify for the 400 and competed in the consolation race, the Firecracker 200. 2021 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Dale Earnhardt Jr. just barely made the field for the 400 mile-race. However, his race was cut short after he was swept up in an incident on lap 28.
The Finish
1. Brandon Kettelle [6] ($2,000), 2. John Gorlinsky [36], 3. Bob Bryant [21], 4. AJ Henderson [8], 5. Kyle Putz [5], 6. Will Cooley [33], 7. Justin Lisonbee [42], 8. Dylan Goodin [38], 9. Adam Gordon [25], 10. Eric J. Smith [34], 11. Casey Kirwan [11], 12. Joshua Chin [41], 13. Alek Martinez [31], 14. Brad Slaughter Jr. [40], 15. Collin Bowden [12], 16. Colton Salek [17], 17. Matt Bussa [16], 18. Alonzo Morales [37], 19. David L Brown [22], 20. Christian Pedersen [18], 21. Garrett Konrath [23], 22. Briar LaPradd [24], 23. Jake Nichols [2], 24. Bryan Blackford [7], 25. Michael Guest [19], 26. William Byron [13], 27. Tucker Minter [15], 28. Tony Ball [29], 29. Eddie Kerner [27], 30. Jordan Herrley [26], 31. Seth DeMerchant [14], 32. Caine Cook [4], 33. Mitch Rollo [39], 34. Michael Conti [10], 35. Joseph Gulotta [1], 36. Kevin McAdams [9], 37. Jimmy Mullis [20], 38. Jared Ickes [32], 39. Zane Scott [35], 40. Nathan Lyon [3], 41. Dale Earnhardt Jr. [43], 42. Malik Ray [28], 43. Kollin Keister [30].
Lead Changes: 68 among 16 drivers.
Lap Leader(s): Jake Nichols 1-5, Brandon Kettelle 6-7, Jake Nichols 8-9, Nathan Lyon 10-11, Brandon Kettelle 12, Nathan Lyon 13-18, Brandon Kettelle 19-20, Jake Nichols 21-22, Michael Conti 23-24, Jake Nichols 25-29, Brandon Kettelle 30-32, Jake Nichols 33-35, Caine Cook 36, Jake Nichols 37-38, Collin Bowden 39-40, Jared Ickes 41-42, Casey Kirwan 43, Jake Nichols 44, Casey Kirwan 45, Joseph Gulotta 46, Casey Kirwan 47, Michael Conti 48-50, Jake Nichols 51-52, Michael Conti 53-56, Jared Ickes 57-58, Michael Conti 59-61, Collin Bowden 62, Brandon Kettelle 63-67, Jared Ickes 68, Jake Nichols 69, Seth DeMerchant 70-71, Michael Conti 72-73, Michael Guest 74, Seth DeMerchant 75-76, Michael Guest 77, Seth DeMerchant 78, William Byron 79-81, Michael Conti 82, William Byron 83-85, Michael Conti 86, Brandon Kettelle 87, Michael Conti 88-91, Brandon Kettelle 92, Casey Kirwan 93-98, Jake Nichols 99, Casey Kirwan 100, William Byron 101-108, Seth DeMerchant 109-110, William Byron 111, Tucker Minter 112, William Byron 113-115, Seth DeMerchant 116, William Byron 117-120, Seth DeMerchant 121-123, Eric J. Smith 124-125, William Byron 126-129, Casey Kirwan 130, William Byron 131-136, Brandon Kettelle 137, Eric J. Smith 138, William Byron 139, Eric J. Smith 140-147, Brandon Kettelle 148, William Byron 149-150, Brandon Kettelle 151, Michael Guest 152-154, Matt Bussa 155, Colton Salek 156-159, Brandon Kettelle 160.
Laps Led: William Byron 35, Jake Nichols 22, Brandon Kettelle 21, Michael Conti 20, Eric J. Smith 11, Casey Kirwan 11, Seth DeMerchant 11, Nathan Lyon 8, Michael Guest 5, Jared Ickes 5, Colton Salek 4, Collin Bowden 3, Matt Bussa 1, Caine Cook 1, Joseph Gulotta 1, Tucker Minter 1.
Hard Charger: Justin Lisonbee (+35).
Cautions: 11 for 33 laps.
Margin of Victory: 0.215 seconds.
Time of Race: Two hours, 30 minutes, 19.685 seconds.
Average Speed: 159.651 mph.
Pole Winner: Joseph Gulotta, 42.725 seconds (210.650 mph).
Fastest Lap: Brandon Kettelle, Lap 37, 42.130 seconds (213.625 mph).