Track Specs: 1.5-mile quad-oval / 160 laps
Honeycutt's finish: 6th
LaPradd's finish: 31st
Team Standings: 7th (-62)
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 22, 2024) – A wild sequence in the waning laps of Tuesday night's eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series event at the virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway led to very different outcomes for JR Motorsports drivers Kaden Honeycutt and Briar LaPradd. (Watch the full race.)
Late-race action caught both cars—including being involved in the same crash near the end of the race—but differing pit strategies led Honeycutt to a solid sixth-place effort at the checkered flag, while LaPradd’s gamble saw cars with fresher tires pass in the final run to the flag to put him 31st.
Honeycutt, driving the familiar No. 8 FilterTime Chevrolet, qualified fourth for the 160-lap event and spent the first 48 laps riding near the front of the pack before pitting from 13th at lap 55. An ill-timed caution flag came out three laps later, trapping the Texas driver a lap down. That forced him to take the wave-around to get back on the lead lap.
LaPradd, starting 21st in his No. 88 Ledford Billiard Supply/Race Face Digital Chevrolet, marched up to 16th on the opening green-flag run to start the race and pitted with the rest of the field at lap 57 for four tires and fuel. That put him eighth for the restart, confident in the speed he showed during the opening run.
Deep in the order in 30th, Honeycutt’s FilterTime Camaro picked up a loose condition, which made it difficult to keep pace and dropped him back a few spots. Staying out in hopes of a caution flag, Honeycutt's hope came to fruition at lap 125, with the downside being that a pair of cars on new tires swept him up in their crash.
One of those cars was his teammate. LaPradd was battling with Michael Guest and Honeycutt when the incident occurred, and it caused some right-side damage to LaPradd's Chevrolet.
Pitting for four tires and to fix the damage from the slide through the infield, Honeycutt rejoined the field in 27th and gained 10 spots in 14 laps before another caution flag waved at lap 130. Hitting pit road for two tires, Honeycutt returned to the track in 18th while LaPradd stayed out for track position and lined up 14th.
After dodging yet another caution flag, the race to the checkered played out very differently for the JRM teammates. Honeycutt raced from 15th at the lap-155 restart to finish sixth, while LaPradd fell victim to lingering damage and new tires behind him and wound up 31st despite the top-five pace he’d enjoyed earlier.
Garrett Lowe won the race by an eyelash over Jimmy Mulis, with Parker White, Malik Ray and Zack Novak the rest of the top five ahead of Honeycutt in sixth.
In the team standings, the two-car JRM squad sits seventh at the halfway point of the season, 62 points behind the leader. Honeycutt is sixth in driver points, 43 points off the lead, while LaPradd dropped to 16th, 62 points behind the top spot.
The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will race again on May 28 at the virtual Darlington Raceway.
Kaden Honeycutt, driver No. 8 FilterTime JR Motorsports Chevrolet team
"I'm glad we made the decision to come and get two tires on that last stop. That helped me put the FilterTime Chevrolet into the mix at the end. It was a long race, the longest we run all year, and that both helped and hurt us. We worked it so I got back on the lead lap after pitting under green, and then got through the crash with Briar and Guest to have a chance at a good finish. All in all, it worked out and we gained in the points. We'll get back after it at Darlington next week."
Briar LaPradd, driver No. 88 Ledford Billiard Supply/Race Face Digital JR Motorsports Chevrolet team
"We played the cards right with the longer race and stayed out longer, catching a yellow during pit stops that set us up great for the rest of the race. We ran top-five during the entire second run of the night and made great adjustments. Unfortunately, our pit stop was slow and that set us back quite a bit leading to some damage and an incident involving our teammate. We tried to salvage what we could but with old tires and damage at the end we ended up 31st. Really tough result when we had top-five pace at one point. Hope we can rebound in one week at Darlington!”
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