The race featured all the great drama and unpredictability that has made Indy car racing famous.
A tight season championship battle was headed into the finale. A hard charger came from the back to challenge for the race win. Another contender opted for a fuel-saving strategy to hopefully make it to the finish. And there was even a critical pit-speed violation penalty issued by race control that played a role in the outcome.
That could be generally any race in the Verizon IndyCar Series, but in this case was the climactic event of the 16th Street Racing League, the online simulated racing collaboration among INDYCAR, iRacing and RACER magazine pitting some of the best amateur virtual racers around. The 10th and deciding race of the 2015-16 campaign was conducted Jan. 5, fittingly a 500-mile marathon around the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
Three competitors – Tim Holgate, Matt Pawelski and Tim Doyle – were in contention for the championship heading into the race. Points leader Holgate started third and was up front all night, leading 46 laps. Doyle ran among the leaders until issued a stop-and-go penalty for a pit-speed violation on Lap 132. Pawelski ran strong throughout, leading 97 laps.
Holgate was in front late but on a nail-biting fuel strategy that left him less than a gallon of ethanol short, forcing a pit stop for a splash of fuel with two laps to go. It dropped him to a 12th-place race finish, a lap back.
Holgate’s pain was Pawelski’s gain. The 17-year-old high school senior from Pennsylvania sat comfortably in third after Holgate’s splash-and-go, carefully negotiating the final corners to secure the same race finish position and enough points to collect the season title.
“After Brandon Traino (Pawelski’s chief mechanic – yes, there are chief mechanics in iRacing) started working the fuel numbers, we kind of figured Tim would try (the fuel strategy),” Pawelski said. “When Tim came in with 35 (laps) to go, we knew it was a bit of a longshot, but with the correct draft it was possible that he would save enough.
“I was being relayed his lap times and did know that at times he was over a second slower on some laps in order to save fuel. … When he pitted (on Lap 198), it just was a huge relief because it pretty much sealed the deal. Our team Teamspeak (a voice communication program) was in disbelief and then we all promptly started to freak out.
“Coming into the season, I figured I might have a shot, but I really didn't expect to be the champion,” added Pawelski, who used to race quarter midgets but is focused on heading to college in the fall. “I mainly didn't expect it due to the lack of time I had to prepare for races between school and work. Luckily, I have a great team with me (Broken Aero) and we managed to bring a pretty good setup every week.”
Holgate’s late stop handed the lead to Joe Branch, who started seventh, dropped to 12th early and battled his way back to the point. Branch led only seven of the 200 laps, including the most important one.
“Tim Holgate and I are teammates so I knew he was going to try and stretch it,” said Branch, a Verizon Wireless sales rep in Muncie, Ind. “I told the team I wanted to do the opposite so we would each have a chance to win. Tim was making better fuel, so I figured if anyone had a chance on the fuel strategy, it was him.
“I split the fuel up for the last three stops and trimmed out some more. At that point, I found my car to be a rocket ship and felt like I could run anyone down. Once I got up to P3 with about 60 (laps) to go, I knew I had a legit chance of winning. I knew of Tim's strategy but I also wanted him to win the championship, so I wanted to race Matt as hard as I could but I also wanted to do it cleanly.”