Anzaldo Outlasts the Competition!

No Chance Racing’s Jorge Anzaldo leads 40 laps to capture the victory in a rough Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by Overdrive Graphics, Birky Trucking 125! Dragonfly Racing’s Chris Lanini finishes second, with Dan Geren rounding out the podium. Unacceptable Racing’s James “Where Did He Come From” Krahula finished fourth, and Jack Bogan in the I Race for Gage entry, finished fifth.                                         

Last Chance Qualifying Round

For the third week in a row, No Name Racing’s Jake Wright was fastest, with Unacceptable Racing’s Ricky Hardin and James Krahula following. Other drivers who qualified for the race include: Terry Matthiensen, Michel de Jonge, Chris Stofer, iRacing Peak Series driver Allen Boes, Zach Trull, Tony Showen, Joe Branch, Chuck Eisenbarth, Jason Galvin, Tommy Rhyne and Ryan Lowe. Just three drives missed the race: Mark Norbert, Mark Goodwin, and Peter Edwins.

Qualifying

In two lap qualifying immediately prior to the start of the race saw No Name Racing’s Tony Lurcock sat on the pole with a lap of 16.642 seconds. James Krahula qualified second, and Goin’ Broke Racing’s Justin Laxton qualified third. Pre-race favorites Ian Adams qualified 6th, Dan Geren qualified 11th, Pierre Daigle qualified 13th.

Birky Trucking 125

Pole sitter Tony Lurcock led the field to the green. The drivers wasted little time making it three wide as the field crossed the start finish line, Jake Wright pulled to the outside of James Krahula, who was outside of Justin Laxton. In the middle of turns 1 and 2, Laxton’s car hit a bump and shot loose. He would end up falling to sixth as the cars of Ricky Hardin and Ian Adams passed him down the backstretch.

The first incident of the race happened on lap three for an incident between Ryan Lowe, Korey Connor, and Jason Robarge. Also involved in the incident were: Krysta Nelson, Tony Showen and Michel de Jonge were also collected.

The field went back to green on lap eight, and a second caution would come out on lap 13 for an incident involving Alfred Shepperd’s entry pushed wide, then broke loose, spun and collected Jason Robarge. Also involved was Robert Blouin from Dragonfly Racing.

On the second restart, Lurcock led Krahula and Jake Wright. Rick Music was able to time the restart a little better than Justin Laxton, and was able to pass Laxton. The first lead change of the race occurred just one lap later when James Krahula was able to use lap traffic as a “pick” to pass Lurcock. A third caution waved on lap 25 for an incident when Dan Geren’s car turned loose off of turn four and collected Tommy Rhyne, Zach Trull, and Joe Branch.

James Krahula controlled the restart on lap 27, and pulled out to a half second lead by the end of the first lap. On lap 31, the fourth caution of the day flew when Ricky Hardin and Joe Hassert experienced some “net code” resulting in Hardin spinning coming out of turn four. Justin Laxton turned hard to the left and spun to avoid contact, however Terry Matthiensen was not as lucky, and hit Hardin.

The green flag flew for seven laps before a fifth caution came out on lap 42 when Ian Adams drifted up and collected Rick Music. Adams would be able to continue racing, however Music’s night was done. Under that caution, all but three cars pitted, setting up the night’s pit strategy.

On the restart, James Krahula led Dan Geren, Allen Boes, Tony Lurcock, and Jake Wright, to the green. A sixth caution would come out on lap 54 for an incident involving Jason Galvin, Vincent Bluthenthal, and Carl Burk. A secondary incident would occur when Chris Stofer spun Austin Espitee exting turn four. Then, as Stofer was making his way around the track he spun exiting turn two, and clipped Pierre Daigle and Jason Galvin. Chuck Eisenbarth was also collected in the incident.

The restart would occur on lap 61 with just 13 cars on the lead lap, and 16 cars left in the race. The seventh caution of the race would fly when Ian Adams attempted a cross-over move on Justin Laxton. Adams however wasn’t quite clear of Laxton, made contact, and collected Allen Boes and Jack Bogan.

At the midway point of the race, Dan Geren’s Team #nailedit entry paced the field with No Name Racing’s Jake Wright in second, followed by teammates Tony Lurcock and Joe Hassert. Jorge Anzaldo ran sixth in his No Chance Racing entry, followed by James Krahula, Michael Gray, Chris Lanini, Jack Bogan, and Vincent Bluthenthal in tenth.

When the green flag flew, it would stay out for 31 laps before the eighth caution of the race would wave when Joe Hassert would spin entering pit road. It appeared to be a single car incident, and as he backed up to get back going, was hit by Chris Stofer, ending the night for both drivers.  

8 Drivers Remained

With a little over 40 laps remaining in the race, there were just eight drivers out of 33 remaining on track. For the first time of the night, Jorge Anzaldo paced the field with Jack Bogan in second, Chris Lanini in third, and teammates Tony Lurcock and Jake Wright running fourth and fifth. The ninth and final caution of the night would fly with just 23 laps remaining for an incident involving Jack Bogan and Tony Lurcock as they battled for second position. Jake Wright was also collected, ending the night for all three drivers.

And Then There Were Two

With just two drivers, Jorge Anzaldo, and Chris Lanini left on the lead lap, the final 20 laps would be an old-fashioned shootout. When the green flag flew, Lanini would follow in Anzaldo’s tire tracks, attempting to pass. Unfortunately for Lanini, he was unable to pass Anzaldo before his tire’s wore. Anzaldo would put the pedal down, and power to a .804 second victory over Lanini. The only other cars on the track at the finish were Dan Geren and James Krahula who would finish third and fourth. Jack Bogan, who was involved in the final caution would finish fifth in the unofficial standings.

Pre-race favorites Ian Adams, and Pierre Daigle would finish 14th, 15th with sleeper pick Chris Stofer finishing 10.

The Birky Trucking 125 victory was the first time that Jorge Anzaldo has tasted the champagne in Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by Overdrive Graphics victory lane.

Following the race, league admins announced that the due to the number of incidents and issues on track, they would hold a special session on Thursday night to discuss the race, and issue any penalties and/or suspensions.  

Points Standings

With the win, Jorge Anzaldo unofficially moved up 18 positions in the points to fourth, just 11 points behind Jake Wright, who unofficially took over the top spot from Rick Music. Music now sits second in the points, just five points behind Wright, and five points ahead of Krahula. HMB’s Austin Espitee sits fifth in the points with Joe Hassert, Allen Boes, Terry Matthiensen, Justin Laxton, and Ian Adams rounding out the top ten.

In the battle to be locked in to the field after Sonoma, Jack Bogan is six points behind 20th place Michel de Jonge, and one point ahead of teammate Jason Robarge.

Next Race

The series will take next week off to prepare for the Global SimRacing Channel 75 at Sonoma Raceway on Wednesday, August 19th at 10:40pm eastern time, broadcast flag-to-flag on the Global SimRacing Channel.

For more information on the Lionheart IndyCar Series presented by Overdrive Graphics, you can visit their website at lionheartracingseries.com.