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The 12 regular Sim Racing Drivers were at Appalachian Region sponsor, The Track at Asheville for the final race of the season.

Drivers left to right:  David Wells, Don Therien, John Long, Scott Rowbotham, David Butler, Scott Walker,
Sean McDonald, Tim Gallagher, Ian Zepp, Diana Bradley, Steve Eudy, Dan Dazzo and Michael Delaguardia

The top six in the championship coming into the final race were:

1. Michael Delaguardia
2. Sean McDonald
3. Dan Dazzo
4. David Wells
5. Tad Dixon/Tim Gallagher
6. Scott Rowbotham

The track for the final race was Virginia International Raceway (VIR). VIR is a track many of the HPDE drivers are familiar with and their times reflected their knowledge of the track.  In qualifying we saw HPDE VIR-experienced drivers David Wells and Dan Dazzo near the top of the time sheets, however, last year’s championship winners and this year’s leaders, Michael Delaguardia and Sean McDonald led the times.

Here was the qualifying order for the first race:

1. Sean McDonald
2. Michael Delaguardia
3. David Wells
4. Dan Dazzo
5. Ian Zepp
6. David Butler
7. Don Therien
8. Scott Rowbotham
9. Scott Walker
10. John Long
11. Diana Bradley
12. Tim Gallagher (car trouble)

The 20-minute Race One started cleanly with everyone getting through the first corner a scene of multiple car wrecks on previous tracks. Sean, Michael and David Butler jumped to the first three spots. Scott Robotham driving a fast and steady race climbed the charts and captured third by the mid-race. David Butler held tight to fourth place while David Wells held down fifth until they came across slower traffic between 10 and 11. The cars jostled and David Wells came out ahead in fourth with David Butler in fifth.

Driver Diana Bradley on one of the Advanced Sim Rigs

The finishing order for the top of the field held tight from the halfway point with this order:

1. Sean McDonald
2. Michael Delaguardia
3. Scott Rowbotham
4. David Wells
5. David Butler
6. Dan Dazzo
7. Scott Walker
8. Ian Zepp
9. Diana Bradley
10. Don Therien
11. John Long
12. Tim Gallagher

The second race starts with the grid being in reverse order of the finishing positions of the first race.  There were the usual cars spinning out as you can see with this video of lap one from the cockpit of Scott Rowbotham’s car that started in tenth and climbed to third place before having a mishap in the roller coaster and falling to fifth place.

Sim Driver Scott Walker entering turn 10 of VIR

After the first lap here were the top six places:

1. Sean McDonald
2. Michael Delaguardia
3. David Wells
4. Dan Dazzo
5. Scott Rowbotham
6. David Butler

At the halfway point Dan Dazzo had passed David Wells to claim third while the other positions remained the same.  A lap or two later David Wells re-claimed the third position.  With six minutes to go Dan again passed David for third but then gave back the position the next lap with an off in the Roller Coaster. This became the real battle of the day. 

Dan Dazzo (left) and David Wells (right) battling for third.

Sean McDonald was totally dialed in at VIR setting fast lap after fast lap to dominate in the lead.  Here is a video of one of his laps.

Race Two ended similar to race one with these results:

1. Sean McDonald
2. Michael Delaguardia
3. David Wells
4. Dan Dazzo
5. Scott Rowbotham
6. David Butler
7. Don Therien
8. Diana Bradley
9. John Long
10. Tim Gallagher
11. Scott Walker
12. Ian Zepp

Sean McDonald made this year’s championship tighter with two first place points finishes this week but he couldn’t close the gap from an off day at Road Atlanta.  

The championship ended with a duplication of last year’s championship.

1. Michael Delaguardia
2. Sean McDonald
3. David Wells

Appalachian Region PCA Winter Sim League Trophies - Podium Finishers:  Sean McDonald, Michael Delaguardia and David Wells

Here is the scoring for all drivers.

Drivers gave a "thumbs-up" to the Region having more Sim Racing so we are going to try to add a periodic Sim Social so more people can try Sim racing in a non-competitive environment.  Watch the monthly newsletters for dates to be announced.  If you want to try Sim Racing use the promo code AR-PCA22 for an Appalachian Region discount.

First Year Sim Driver Gives "Thumbs-up" to the Sim Racing Experience

Videos of Sim Racing

First Lap of VIR with Scott Rowbotham driving from the back to the front before an “off”.   https://youtu.be/OA4jN3SEoHA

Fast lap with Sean McDonald the fastest Sim driver at VIR:  https://youtu.be/ATyfPGs1Kzo

Championship Lap at VIR by Michael Delaguardia:  https://youtu.be/FhqN3XRwl6Y

Here is a slide show of the activity. Place the cursor on or below an image to pause it.

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Thanks to Appalachian Region Sponsor, The Track at Asheville for sponsoring this event.

Jim Moore – Appalachian Region President