The first week of the Ultimate Classic Online Racing Association’s Throwback Cup Series is in the books with racing emanating from the 2008 Legacy Version of the Daytona International Speedway. The series utilizes the ARCA Menards Chevrolet to best recreate the Gen-4 Era of NASCAR racing. A total of 37 cars took the green flag for the 80 lap race, led to the green by the front row of Brian Peele and Andrew Peele. With a just under two tenths of a second separating the pole from tenth, and a less than a half of a second separating the top 28, it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top at the end of 200 miles. Such is the nature of super speedway racing. Polesitter Brian Peele would be able to stay out front for just one lap before being shuffled from the top spot. The lead swapped between drivers a total of 18 times between nine drivers, with third place qualifier and sixth place finisher Robert Blouin leading the most at 46. The yellow flag flew a total of 8 times throughout the event for a total of 22 laps run behind the pace car. With the rash of yellow flags, drivers had plenty of chances to stop for fuel and tires to reach the end of the race, eliminating the need for fuel saving strategies. Remember what we said about the race winner being anyone’s guess after qualifying, well that statement certainly lived up to itself with the finish of the race. As the checkered flag flew, and the top six crossed the line even the iRacing scoring system couldn’t give a definitive answer to the margin of victory, leaving the space blank. Officially, it was Todd Laribee taking the win over second place Brandon Shown and third place Creighton Carter in a three wide battle (see the cover photo of this article) by a grand total of two one hundredths of a second from the win to the bottom step of the podium. The rest of the top six, Erik Jeffers, Matt Opbroek, and Robert Blouin followed suit, all packed within just over a tenth of a second. With his win, Laribee assumed the points lead, with second back all falling in place in relation to their finish in round one. As it is the Throwback Cup, the points system utilized for the championship is the old system created by Bob Latford for the NASCAR Cup Series that was used 1975-2010. The winner of each race takes home 175 points, second 170, and so on in varying increments further down the scoring sheet. The next race of the UCORA Throwback Cup Series brings the action to Rockingham Speedway where tire conservation will be key to a good finish. That race will take place in two weeks on May 28, with practice beginning at 7:50 pm EST, qualifying at 8:50 pm EST, and racing at 9:00 pm EST. The last time the NASCAR Cup series visited Rockingham in real life was 2004 when Matt Kenseth beat Kasey Kahne to the line in a photo finish, a race which also saw Carl Long barrel roll down the backstretch. The full UCORA Throwback Cup Schedule is pictured below as well as full results from week one. Below that are links to the UCORA Facebook Page and the iRacing Homepage for more information regarding each.
By Todd Rose