Hazard wins at Charlotte, bolsters points lead

Thomas Hazard (Rochester, Minn.) held off Brian Schoenburg (Moorpark, Calif.) throughout a late, long green flag run to score his second career victory during Tuesday's NASCAR iRacing Series World Championship race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Hazard took the lead at the three-quarter mark of the race and, while Schoenburg kept him honest, drove to a convincing win to bolster his lead in the points race.

It was a race full of twists and turns, one that began with defending series champion Richard Towler (Newcastle, UK) winning the pole for the second consecutive race. Towler would have to take the green from pit road, however, after he was delayed by technical issues immediately prior to the start.

The chief beneficiary of Towler's issues would be John Gorlinsky (Manasquan, N.J.), who led the opening laps of the race in his Wrangler Impala. Jesse Atchison and Towler then moved to the front when they were the only two drivers to stay on track during a caution on Lap 10. Although Gorlinsky quickly reasserted himself at the green as Atchison pulled to the apron in Turn 1, Towler hung tough on older tires and slipped back only as far as 12th position throughout the subsequent 20 lap run.

Josh Parker's Suave for Men Chevy showed some early strength and passed Gorlinsky for the lead on Lap 19. Although the crew of Darlington winner Brad Wright (High Point, N.C.) got him the lead during the next yellow flag pit stop sequence, Parker (Cranston, R.I.) regained the top spot on Lap 46 during another round of stops and went on to dominate the action for the best part of the next 100 laps with Ray Alfalla (Cape Coral, Fla.), Parker, Derek Wood (Linclon, Neb.) and Wright leading the chase.

The complexion of the race completely changed on Lap 142 when Parker got caught speeding on his entry to pit road during a scheduled green flag pit stop. Further complicating matters, Alfalla and Pedro Mojica (Killeen, Texas) got together a lap later between Turns 1 and 2. The resulting yellow trapped Parker and many of the other front runners either on the tail end of the lead lap, or a full lap down, and vaulted Hazard -- on pit road when the caution lights appeared -- into the lead. Brad Davies (Wauchula, Fla.) was second, despite having made contact with the wall on a few occasions, with Schoenburg third followed by Greg Spears (Keller, Texas) and Atchison.

What would be the final restart on Lap 150 saw Hazard show a clean pair of heels to the field to come home 1.5 seconds clear of Schoenburg to take his second career NASCAR iRacing Series World Championship victory and bolster, albeit marginally, his series-leading points total.

"As the laps went on I kept hoping to stay green, and to my surprise we did," said Hazard. "Everyone did a great job to make that happen and I am extremely surprised to have won as I had a fourth place car at best. Thanks to Main Performance PC and Obutto Gaming Cockpit for supporting us and also a big thanks to Josh Berry and Daniel Pope II for the work on the setup."

Speaking of careers, it was a career day for Schoenburg as his runner-up finish was not only his best result yet in the series, it moved him into sixth place overall in the NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship standings.

Alfalla rebounded from his various adventures to salvage a third place finish, rallying from the 11th position on the final restart to minimize his points loss to Hazard by the recovery and now sits nine points back of the series leader.

After gaining track position early in the race, Towler slipped down the order and faced a task similar to that of Alfalla in the closing stages of the race. Like Alfalla, he also delivered a late-race surge to come from ninth on the final restart to a season-best fourth place finish. Patrick Fogel was another to score a season best at Charlotte, bringing the TCSCustomDiecast.com Chevy home fifth ahead of Atchison.

On the other hand, Parker and Wright were left to wonder what could have been... as they saw potential top-five finishes morph into 15th and 16th place after they were trapped a lap down when the Lap 143 caution derailed their green flag pit stops.

This race had it all, green flag pit stops, interesting strategy, and many drivers scoring much needed good finishes. The caution flag in this event flew just six times, and the series is carrying positive momentum into the rest of the season.

Next on the calendar is Pocono Raceway on June 8th. This will be the first time the series heads to the Pennsylvania track. Look for drivers who ran well at Indianapolis last year to have a really strong package at The Tricky Triangle!