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UCRL iRacing NASCAR Truck Series: Rhyne Dominates WWT

UCRL iRacing NASCAR Truck Series: Rhyne Dominates WWT

More great racing from the UCRL iRacing NASCAR Truck Series. Recently, Tommy Rhyne took the race victory at WWT. Here is the full race report.

We have another great race report for the UCRL iRacing NASCAR Truck Series, this thunderous series is worth checking out and getting involved in. Scott Bolster gives us the full race report.

The season might be in it’s twilight but interest in racing with the Man Cave After Dark Truck Series is still high and we had two new drivers on the grid last week with one, Tommy Rhyne, dominating the race at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis.

Championship points leader, Christopher Bouchard, started on the pole position and led the opening stanza of the race with eventual race winner, Tommy Rhyne, running in second place. Last year’s series champion, Jeremy Little was also in the top three during the opening stage of the race with hard racing behind all the way back to 12th place.

The first caution came out on lap 23 as Jeremy Little and Trevor Hunt battled hard for third place through turns three and four and jockeying for position down the front stretch and into turn one. Little made the aggressive move to get under Hunt into turn one; lost the nose and came down across the nose of Brent Kirby as he tried to recover and spun into the infield.

23 laps was enough wear on the tires to bring in most of the field except Jordan Wentzel and Jasper Crawford. Bouchard and Rhyne came out of the pits in the order they went into them but they were going to be forced to restart behind two drivers on exceptionally worn tires.

The restart was marred with another incident when Trevor Hunt had his truck step out from under him while fighting for position under Brent Kirby through turns one and two. Several other drivers, including Grady Gerken who had been in the championship fight all season and in second place coming into this race, were involved in a chain reaction incident while trying to check up for Hunt’s spin.

Bouchard and Rhyne were able to make their new tires work around the outside of Wentzel to retake the top two spots in the ensuing laps under green while Wentzel slowly faded from the front of the pack.

Justin Kirby and Jordan Wentzel tangled coming into turn one on lap 34 which also triggered some carnage for Peter Porzuczek as Jeremy Little couldn’t check up as quickly as Porzuczek and sent his truck spinning into the outside wall in turn one.

The other series newcomer, David Shutt, made his way from a mid-pack start to second place by lap 40 and proceeded to run down Christopher Bouchard who held on to the top spot over the rest of the field as the laps started to wind off as green flag racing descended on the field and the drivers settled in to evaluate their trucks and the evolution of the track in preparation for the strategies in the final stage of the race.

A long, green-flag run allowed Tommy Rhyne to extract the extra performance of his several-lap fresher tires and run down Christopher Bouchard. While, on lap 78, Tommy Rhyne was able to make his way around Bouchard and pull away, the anticipation began to build as to who would hit the pits first in an effort to take advantage of a green-flag stop and the fresh tires that come with it.

David Shutt was also able to run down Bouchard on lap 84 and get around to take over second place just before the green flag pit stops began.

Scott Bolster attempted to be the first onto pit road but a botched pit entry forced him to abandon the attempt and try to make it around again but the motor sputtered as it starved for fuel. Luckily, he was able to coast back to pit road for service. David Shutt took the lead after the green flag cycle and Tommy Rhyne had to fight to get back to his bumper and try to work his way around to retake the lead.

On lap 111 the fight for the lead heated up while Shutt fought brilliantly on corner exits to hold Rhyne behind him. Lap after lap, these drivers battled side-by-side through the corners and Rhyne was finally able to claw ahead on lap 114. Minor damage to the nose of his truck marred Christopher Bouchard’s last third of the race and he faded from dominating the opening half of the race to trying to hold onto fourth.

Grady Gerken, second-place in the championship standings, had a mediocre race after early incidents put him back in the pack. He was not able to make his way back to the front and try to narrow the championship gap to Bouchard. On lap 132, Tony Japps spun coming out of turn 2 which would bring the field to pit road for fresh tires and set up a five-lap, shoot-out finish.

The yellow would fall shortly after the green as Jeremy Little lost control through turns one and two clipping two other trucks of Trevor Hunt and Scott Bolster, ending their hopes of good finishes and set up the green-white-checkered overtime process.

Bouchard was able to fight into third place on the restart before the caution froze the field. He would restart on the second row behind the leader and had a chance to force his way to another victory over the new drivers who composed the front row.

The green flag unleashed a fury of trucks battling side-by-side three rows deep for the final laps. Shutt held firm on the outside of Rhyne for the final laps as Bouchard tried to keep pace while simultaneously defending a hungry Justin Kirby for third.

Coming to take the white flag, Bouchard was able to put Shutt under tremendous pressure down the front straight but a late block by Shutt sent him around off the nose of Bouchard and effectively bringing out the final yellow flag under which the race would end.

After the smoke cleared, the podium had Rhyne on the top step; Bouchard with a remarkable recovery on the second and Justin Kirby standing on the third.

Full Race Replay

 

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Darren Buckner

Darren Buckner

Darren became a member of Simrace247 in January 2021 and has been a valuable addition to the platform ever since. He began his journey as an Editor and has progressed to the position of Editor in Chief, owing to his unwavering commitment and hard work. With his profound interest in motorsport and gaming, Darren is passionate about sharing news and exceptional content with like-minded people worldwide.View Author posts