(CHASE RACE #1) Dover Challenge

by **BJA95** Wed Oct 25, 2017 1:53 am

Carlisle locks self in after controversial finish

It was a clean beginning at Dover International Speedway, but as the laps winded down, cautions began to run rampant; as did controversy. Bradley Carlisle managed to sneak his way to victory but he had not been the dominant driver at any point in the day; instead that honor went to Ben Atkins, who led over half of the 100 laps at Dover, but was eliminated after a careless move by Ryan Matthews on pit road.

Matthews had been warned about pit collisions after he had been involved in multiple over the course of the race at Daytona, however the message had not gotten through to him as he slammed into the door of the dominant #2 car while the crew were getting ready to service the vehicle. This has caused problems which eventually led to Atkins' retirement from the race late in the going.

Emphasis was taken away from Carlisle's victory, as a furious Atkins was determined to confront Matthews. Atkins was however held back at the conclusion of the race by members of his crew, and he was eventually calmed down by girlfriend Riko Vance.

"We had to win, and we had the race winning car." said Atkins, "Matthews' just took us out. Plain and simple. He drilled us in the door on pit lane for no reason. Absolutely braindead. Mark my words, he is not winning this title."

Carlisle, while excited about victory at Dover, also realised that a stroke of luck had aided him.

"Yeah... the #2 car was untouchable today. He took the lead and went well away with it." said Carlisle, "Sometimes all we need is a little bit of luck, and while I would never want anything like that to happen... I'll take it I guess. Sucks that Ben got taken out by a dumb move though."

Matthews was assessed a 50 point penalty after the pit road manoeuvre, but still sits comfortably about the chase cutoff line after a P4 finish with laps led and the pole bonus. Atkins is in need of a win at either Chicago or LORP after his Atlanta penalty, as he sits well below the cutoff after his Atlanta penalty, ahead of only Evie Vance, who had a mechanical woe, and also received a controversial penalty at Atlanta.

Results:

Chase Standings:

Points: