Members of the Red Sox Racing League paid
tribute to their friend and fellow driver, “Gentleman Jim” Albertson
when they traveled to Florida for the “Gentleman Jim’s 24 Laps of
Daytona” at the Daytona International Speedway road course. One of the
founding members of iRacing and an original RSR league member, Albertson
has been unable to race since early 2012. Always a calming presence on
the track, his absence from online racing has been felt by the entire
online racing community.
As one RSR driver put it before the race
“All of us have a favorite memory about Jim. He is the consummate
gentleman; always willing to lend advice to new drivers, always quick to
share setup tips, and eager to help others learn the fastest way around
the tracks. Jim gave everything he had to helping others improve their
skills. It’s not just his helpfulness. It’s also his approach to
helping his fellow drivers; he did so with genuine thought and care
about how his words and actions would be received by others. Jim’s
approach to life reinforced to everyone, the idea that we should always
be civil. Whether it was in the heat of an on track battle, or just in
everyday conversation, Jim was the same… a gentleman. I wish we had more
like him.”
In further tribute to Jim, Corvette
driver Corey Wolf arrived in Florida with a newly painted # 13 car
designed to resemble the POW/MIA car Albertson last drove in
competition. “I want the fans to know how much Jim has meant to us
all”, said Wolf before the race. “I hope he gets a big smile on his
face when he sees the car in action tonight.”
As usual, Brad Vincent arrived to the
track as the heavy favorite to win the Class A HPD event. He didn’t
disappoint in qualifying, earning his sixth pole of the season with a
lap time of 1:33.586. Les Turner started in the second position with a
lap time of 1:34.173. Rows two through five were occupied by; John
Koscielniak, Terry Daul, Ed Sutcliff, Andrew Feldman, David Weiss,
Divina Galica, William Kabela, and Bill Pawluckie.
Paul Hesla earned his third pole of the
season in the Class B Corvette event, barely edging out Jason Brown for
the top spot. Both drivers were almost a full second ahead of the
remaining Corvette drivers when they posted 1:38.9+ lap times. Scott
Husted, Corey A. Wolf, Jeff Thomas, Dennis Griffen, and James Prostell,
Jr. completed the Corvette grid. Brown’s car experienced electrical
problems after qualifying, so he was forced to begin the race from pit
road.
Daytona’s 12 corner, 3.56 mile road
course offers drivers a combination of tightly angled infield corners
and wide open racing on the steeply banked superspeedway. The
relatively flat design of the infield section means drivers have to pay
special attention to the corner exits that lead onto the long straights,
something that would come into play throughout the race as drivers
pushed to gain speed.
Perhaps in tribute to the calm, cool
driving style of their good friend Albertson, the RSR field got off to
an incredibly clean race when the green flag dropped. Weiss, Wolf, and
Griffen all gained positions early on, and Wolf and Husted traded spots
several times in the opening laps.
On lap 5 Thomas was the first of three drivers to succumb to the
hazards exiting turn five when he lost traction and spun harmlessly into
the infield grass. Hesla and Prostell would lose valuable time in the
same corner later in the race.
Vincent had gained such a huge lead on
the HPD field that despite a spin exiting T3 on lap thirteen he didn’t
lose the lead. Turner’s spotter barely had enough time to mention the
incident before Vincent had corrected his vehicle and accelerated back
to race pace.
Sutcliff did a good job of keeping pace
with Daul in the first half of the race, but gave up 5th place when he
flubbed his exit from pit road on lap fifteen. “I’m not sure what
happened”, said Sutcliff after the race. “I was exiting pit road with
plenty of time to maintain my position, when I suddenly realized my car
was skidding into the infield grass!” Husted’s hopes for a podium finish
were dashed on lap eighteen when his car spun sideways in T9 and
skidded hard into the outside wall.
Overall, the race was run in the way
“Gentleman Jim” Albertson would have liked it, with 7 of 17 drivers
completing the event without incident, and no major dustups affecting
the outcome.
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