Track Specs: 1-mile oval / 120 laps
Honeycutt’s finish: 7th
LaPradd’s finish: 11th
Team Standings: 6th (-52)
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 24, 2024) – JR Motorsports esports drivers Kaden Honeycutt and Briar LaPradd flexed a bit of muscle on Tuesday night in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, with Honeycutt earning a seventh-place finish and LaPradd was a solid 11th at the virtual Dover Motor Speedway. (Watch the full race.)
Honeycutt restarted third in the green-white-checkered period that ended the race, and was on the outside of leaders Tucker Minter and Steven Wilson entering Turn 3 on the final lap. Gassing up a bit early on exit, Honeycutt was forced to lift a bit after getting tight on the top and dropped to seventh at the finish.
Honeycutt qualified his No. 8 FilterTime Chevrolet fifth in the field and LaPradd started 17th in his No. 88 Ledford Billiard Supply/Race Face Digital Camaro. In the early laps, both drivers settled in, with Honeycutt riding in the top 10 and LaPradd circulating in the top 20. On the initial run, LaPradd struggled in making his Chevrolet turn in the middle of the corners and keeping grip on the exit.
Ten laps later, the caution waved for an incident and both drivers headed to pit road, and Honeycutt opted for two tires but did not add fuel. Despite that, Honeycutt emerged with the lead. LaPradd took four tires and fuel with major adjustments and slotted in 24th for the restart.
Over the next stint, Honeycutt continued to lead while LaPradd moved up a couple of positions to 22nd. Honeycutt lost the lead 10 laps later and settled into second position. At lap 87, the caution flag waved again with Honeycutt in third and LaPradd inside the top 20.
Another yellow waved at lap 94, with Honeycutt still third and LaPradd on the move in 17th. Over the remaining laps and two more cautions, including the green-white-checkered restart, Honeycutt finished seventh and LaPradd was scored 11th at the finish, just a tick off the top 10.
Steven Wilson won the race over Tucker Minter, with Donovan Strauss, Ryan Luza and Bobby Zalenski the rest of the top five. Parker White pipped Honeycutt at the line for sixth.
In the team standings, the two-car JRM squad remained in sixth position, 52 off the top spot after six races.
The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will race again on April 30 at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway.
Kaden Honeycutt, driver No. 8 FilterTime JR Motorsports Chevrolet team
“It hurts, having a shot at the win on the final lap. I was in a good position, but throttled up a little early and got tight and had to lift. I hate it for my Dead Zone Racing guys. We had a glitch on the first stop and didn’t get fuel in the car, but it worked out on the second stop. We grinded it out and came up with a top-10 that could have been much better. We qualified P5, the best starting spot we had had yet, and we had a really good FilterTime Chevrolet. We had a really good car and a great points day. Thank you to JR Motorsports and FilterTime for the support. On to Talladega!
Briar LaPradd, driver No. 88 Ledford Billiard Supply/Race Face Digital JR Motorsports Chevrolet team
“Miles the Monster treated the Ledford Billiard Supply machine pretty nice last night. We did all right in qualifying and put down a lap for 17th. The first run we struggled big time with center cut and grip on exit. The second run we adjusted and got a little bit better and picked up a couple spots. The rest of the race was filled with yellows and we slowly picked up positions one by one and ended up 11th. We are sitting tied with our JR Motorsports teammate in 11th in points. Talladega is coming up in two weeks and we’re going to try and go all out for that one!”