2006 IROC Season

2-time defending Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. draws pole position for Round 1 of IROC XXX!

Starting Grid:
1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Mark Martin
4. Ryan Newman
5. Sam Hornish Jr.
6. Frank Kimmel
7. Tony Stewart
8. Steve Kinser
9. Ted Musgrave
10. Max Angelelli
11. Max Papis
12. Scott Sharp

While Round one's starting grid was determined by random draw, the grids for rounds two through four will be set based on the points standings coming into the race.  Specifically, the driver who came into the race 12th in points will start on the pole, 11th in points starts second, and so on.

For those who don't already know, I've been having a bit of a problem with my NR2003 screenshot taking.  I explain this in detail in a thread on SRD (viewable here).  I have gotten some help from SRD, but I could use more.  Until I find a solution, I won't be able to upload screenshots of any of my races.

In the meantime however, the season will be pressing on as normal.  At least this is a good opportunity for me to further fine-tune my recap writing skills.  So with that said...


The 30th International Race of Champions came to Fort Worth, Texas for the second round of its season.  Coming off his win in Daytona, Ted Musgrave was looking to continue his momentum, but the rest of the field was looking to get into this championship hunt.

Steve Kinser, fresh off his disappointment at Daytona, led us to the green flag.  Just before the end of the first lap, Mark Martin would inch past Kinser to lead lap 1.  Martin would lead the first eight laps of the event, but on lap 9 gave the lead up to Max Angelelli, who in turn would surrender the lead to Ryan Newman the following lap.

Lap 22 saw the first round of green flag pit stops.  Wave one featured everyone except Max Papis, Frank Kimmel, and Tony Stewart.  Those three would wait an additional lap to be serviced.  After pit stops, Newman would have a 2-second lead on his hands, and would hold onto it for the next several laps as everyone else jockeyed for position behind him.  After the halfway point, Newman's lead would begin to trail off as the field slowly caught up to him.  But before Newman could fall out of the lead, the second round of pit stops kicked off on lap 45.  When that was said and done, Matt Kenseth, who pitted before everyone else, had caught up to Newman and would claim the lead on lap 48.  Newman wouldn't back down however, and reclaimed the lead three laps later.  

Kenseth did all he could to stay close, but Newman proved to be no match for anyone, taking the victory in round 2 of IROC XXX!  Also, a third-place finish is enough for Ted Musgrave to hold on to his points lead.  He now leads by 3 points over Newman.

Results:

F S # DRIVER INTERVAL LAPS LED POINTS STATUS

1 7 12 R Newman 177.882 67 51* 185 Running

2 4 17 M Kenseth -0.33 67 2 175 Running

3 12 1 T Musgrave -2.15 67 1 170 Running

4 10 8 M Truex Jr. -2.44 67 0 160 Running

5 1 11 S Kinser -2.59 67 0 155 Running

6 6 20 T Stewart -4.37 67 2 155 Running

7 11 16 M Papis -5.01 67 2 151 Running

8 3 6 M Martin -5.14 67 8 147 Running

9 8 06 S Hornish Jr. -5.30 67 0 138 Running

10 9 08 S Sharp -5.58 67 0 134 Running

11 5 10 M Angelelli -5.70 67 1 135 Running

12 2 46 F Kimmel -9.29 67 0 127 Running



Standings:

Pos +/- Driver ST W T5 T10 AvFP P AvSP PTS BF/BN

1 -- T Musgrave 2 1 2 2 2.00 0 10.50 38 0/0



2 +4 R Newman 2 1 1 2 3.50 0 5.50 35 3/3



3 -- M Truex Jr. 2 0 2 2 3.50 1 5.50 31 7/4



4 -2 M Papis 2 0 1 2 4.50 0 11.00 29 9/2



5 +4 M Kenseth 2 0 1 2 5.50 0 3.00 23 15/6



6 +1 T Stewart 2 0 0 2 6.50 0 6.50 17 21/6



7 -3 S Sharp 2 0 1 2 7.00 0 10.50 17 21/0



8 -3 S Hornish Jr. 2 0 1 2 7.00 0 6.50 16 22/1



9 +1 M Martin 2 0 0 2 9.00 0 3.00 15 23/1



10 +2 S Kinser 2 0 1 1 8.50 1 4.50 13 25/2



11 -3 M Angelelli 2 0 0 1 9.50 0 7.50 11 27/2



12 -1 F Kimmel 2 0 0 0 11.50 0 4.00 7 31/4

After a season filled with drama and excitement, IROC XXX came to peachy-keen Atlanta, Georgia for the big finale of their season.  Ryan Newman came into the race with the points lead, but Max Papis was only 4 points back, and Ted Musgrave was only 5 points back!  Most of the field was still mathematically in the hunt for the championship, but the top three were the biggest threats.  So who walked away a champion?  Let's now find out.

Max Angelelli took us to the final green flag of the season.  He would lead the first two laps before giving the lead up to Mark Martin.  Meanwhile, Musgrave and Papis became temporary drafting partners to distance themselves from Newman.  Musgrave eventually cracked the top 5, all while Martin lost the lead to Tony Stewart on lap 17.

On lap 21, the field came in for their first round of green-flag pit stops.  But Papis stayed out to lead a lap in hope of keeping his championship hopes alive.  He and Martin Truex Jr. came in for service the following lap.  However, good pit strategy allowed Newman to move up to fourth after spending the first part of the race in the back of the field.  In the meantime, Stewart continued to lead, but had Indy 500 champ Sam Hornish Jr. on his tail.  The two battled viciously for the lead throughout the next several laps, but by lap 35, the big three championship contenders (Musgrave, Papis, Newman) had caught up to them and joined the battle for the lead.

Lap 44 saw the final green-flag pit stops of the season...for everyone except Papis, Martin, and Truex Jr., who all waited an additional lap for service.  The idea to pit one lap later than most of the rest of the field made it clear to everyone that Papis was willing to do anything for the championship.  Sadly for Papis, Musgrave found himself in second with 20 to go, and he and leader Hornish had distanced themselves from the field, leaving Papis to battle for third place with Newman and others.

After multiple laps of playing chase, Musgrave finally pulled ahead on lap 60, then held off an aggressive Hornish to win the finale of IROC XXX.  Papis managed to come home third, and Newman brought it home in sixth, but it was Musgrave's victory that allowed him to leap-frog both his rivals and claim an IROC championship to go alongside his 2005 Truck Series championship.

Congratulations Ted Musgrave, 2006 IROC Champion!!


Results:

F S # DRIVER INTERVAL LAPS LED POINTS STATUS

1 10 1 T Musgrave 177.305 65 6 180 Running

2 7 06 S Hornish Jr. -0.13 65 27* 180 Running

3 11 16 M Papis -2.78 65 4 170 Running

4 2 6 M Martin -3.06 65 14 165 Running

5 6 17 M Kenseth -3.44 65 0 155 Running

6 12 12 R Newman -3.52 65 0 150 Running

7 8 8 M Truex Jr. -3.90 65 0 146 Running

8 5 20 T Stewart -3.92 65 12 147 Running

9 3 46 F Kimmel -4.35 65 0 138 Running

10 4 08 S Sharp -5.83 65 0 134 Running

11 9 11 S Kinser -6.08 65 0 130 Running

12 1 10 M Angelelli -13.40 65 2 132 Running



Final Standings:

Pos +/- Driver ST W T5 T10 AvFP P AvSP PTS BF/BN

1 +2 T Musgrave 4 2 3 3 4.00 0 10.75 63 0/0



2 -- M Papis 4 0 3 4 3.75 0 10.50 57 6/6



3 -2 R Newman 4 1 2 4 4.25 0 8.50 56 7/1



4 +2 S Hornish Jr. 4 0 3 4 4.50 0 6.25 55 8/1



5 -- M Truex Jr. 4 0 2 4 6.00 1 7.25 44 19/11



6 +1 M Kenseth 4 0 2 4 5.75 0 5.00 41 22/3



7 -3 S Kinser 4 1 2 2 7.25 1 5.25 41 22/0



8 -- T Stewart 4 0 0 4 6.75 0 6.25 37 26/4



9 +2 M Martin 4 0 1 3 8.50 0 3.00 33 30/4



10 -1 S Sharp 4 0 2 4 7.25 0 7.75 32 31/1



11 -1 F Kimmel 4 0 0 2 10.00 1 3.00 25 38/7



12 -- M Angelelli 4 0 0 2 10.00 1 4.50 20 43/5



And with that, the curtain drops on my first ever NR2003 Mock Season.  I really enjoyed this project despite not being able to take screenshots, but I think my race recaps made up for it.  As for my next mock season, I'm not sure when I'll start it.  As I've stated before, My third year volunteering at my old high school is coming up (So far, the plan is for me to start in the third week of September), and I won't have as much free time to do stuff with NR2003.  Once I have a good idea of when would be good times for me to run races, I'll start my next mock season project.  But for now, I just need some time to relax, so feel free to post your thoughts on this season if you wish.

Round 2 Screenshots:

The start.


Ryan Newman gets serviced on pit road.  Newman's pit crew played a big role in determining the outcome of this race.


Newman's 2-second lead wouldn't last.


Two Nextel Cup phenoms battle for top spot in the closing laps.


Rocket Man Newman takes Texas!


You may have noticed that these screens are smaller than my previous ones.  I'm experimenting with screenshot size.  Thus, Race 3's screenshots may or may not be a different size.  For the record, I took these screens while the game was running in window mode, but the window size may be different for my next screenshots.