Conti, Davies Make Big Gains in iRacing Bout at Homestead-Miami

JR Motorsports | 3/19/2020

Brad Davies eNASCAR Homestead iRacing Michael Conti News TrueTimber WR1 Sim Chassis

Michael Conti and Brad Davies salvaged top-20 finishes Tuesday night as iRacing took to the virtual version of Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Track Specs: 1.5-mile oval / 134 laps
Conti’s finish: 11th     
Davies’ finish: 18th


MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 19, 2020) – The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series race on Tuesday night at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway was a breath of fresh air for a racing-starved fan base in the midst of the current health emergency, and the two-car JR Motorsports team showed a lot of promise in the third event of the season. Michael Conti led the way for the JRM squad with an 11th-place finish, and Davies checked in 18th at the end of the 134-lap event. (Watch the full race.)

Conti, driving the No. 8 WR1 Sim Chassis Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 out of the JRM stable, started a season-best seventh on the night and wasted little time bounding up to the top five. By the time the first pit stop came around, he was securely in the lead serial. On exit, after adding tires and fuel, he ran through the virtual pace car (which is not solid in iRacing) and was assessed a drive-through penalty. That put him back to 37th in the running order.

Davies, who had a monster qualifying lap going in his No. 88 TrueTimber® Camo Chevrolet Camaro before a tight condition forced him to crack the throttle, started the race in 31st position due to the bobble. He was stuck around 30th place for the first 30 laps or so, but started to move forward as the cars around him began to fall off. The first pit sequence began at around lap 43 and Davies headed for pit road with the rest of the field. An uncharacteristically slow stop cost him several positions, and crew chief Derek Wood made the call not to fill the car with fuel all the way to improve the handling.

Conti, buried in the back after the penalty, was initially thinking of trying to make it to the end on fuel, but the caution flag put paid to that. When the final yellow flag waved with 55 laps remaining, Conti was in 33rd position, and set about making up spots as fast as he could. By the time the checkered waved, Conti had driven all the way back to 11th, showing long-run speed and salvaging what could have been a disastrous result.

Davies stayed out on the second caution in an effort to gain track position, which worked for a while, but it left the No. 88 TrueTimber Camaro ZL1 unable to finish the event with the fuel on board. Despite running inside the top 10 with lap times equal to the leaders, Davies had to pit for fuel from the top 10 with around 25 laps to go. Despite losing a lap in the process, Davies was able to use his fresh tires to un-lap himself and climb all the way back to 18th at the checkered. The veteran driver also showed the long-run speed on intermediate tracks that both he and Conti had been seeking.

Ryan Luza won the event over Logan Clampitt, polesitter Keegan Leahy, Garrett Lowe and Chris Shearburn.

After three rounds of the eNCCiS, Davies is 12th in series points, 32 points off the lead. Conti vaulted from 33rd to 22nd in this race, 54 points off leader Bobby Zelenski’s total.

Next up for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series is a race at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway on Tuesday, March 31, streaming at 9 p.m. ET on eNASCAR.com and twitch.tv/iracing.


Michael Conti, driver No. 8 WR1 Sim Chassis JR Motorsports Chevrolet team

“This is the type of intermediate car we've wanted to bring to the track since the start of last season. We never were able to hit on it, but I really think we've got it figured out. Thanks to a fantastic collaborative effort by everyone on the No. 8 WR1 Sim Chassis team, we had a car that had race-winning pace. I'm mad at myself for getting a silly penalty on pit road, but proud of the job (Brandon) Hastings did calling the race, and honestly proud of myself for driving from 37th back to 11th. We have not had the start to the 2020 season we hoped for, but after tonight, we all know what we're capable of. We gained 11 spots in points, so we're now 22nd, only 25 points behind the Playoff cutoff. With a ton of racing left, and some of my best tracks coming up next, I'm confident that we're going to be making some gains on that Playoff berth. Super, super happy about tonight's result and cannot wait to get to Bristol!”


Brad Davies, driver No. 88 TrueTimber® Camo JR Motorsports Chevrolet team

“This is the first time in a really long time that I felt like we had a speedway car that could contend for a top-five or even a win.  It really was that good.  We just needed track position, but qualifying 31st didn’t help that.  We came up with a strategy to get us in the top 10 and our No. 88 TrueTimber Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was so good that we were able to stay there, even on older tires than everyone else. The problem was, we just didn’t have the fuel to make it to the end and wound up having to pit when others didn’t. A caution would have nearly locked us into a top 10 within the last 55 laps but we just didn’t get it.  That’s racing though. Sometimes your finishes don’t show how good you were. We have Bristol in a few weeks and will be the first short track of the season.  I’m really looking forward to that. There’s a new “low downforce” package this year and I think it’s really going to more into the driver’s hands. We’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks.”

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