UPCOMING EVENTS
3/30: Auto Club Enduro
4/13: Mid-Ohio Enduro
4/27: Daytona Enduro
4/29: Speedweeks Begin
McGuines Looks for Bounce Back
After a less than stellar VRC season 3, a resurgent McGuines Motorports hopes to finally obtain Xbox racing glory. The organization has still failed to win a championship, the last of the original teams to have that stand true.
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Austin Switzer narrowly snuck into the championship 4 last season, but was no match for the other title contenders. Naomi Atchley started off the season with a top 5 in the Daytona 250, but found little luck after the Great American Virtual Race. A slew of other drivers like Jacob York, Jake Baskinger, and JoJo Simz were cycled through the McGuines vehicles, but to little success.
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Season 1 was no real success story either for the premier OMA Ford team, as they earned just one win (Austin Switzer: Watkins Glen). Ethan Hoffman missed out on the playoffs, Jarrett Tallmadge was suspended and dismissed from the organization, and Josh Williamson could hardly reach the top 5.
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People consider the team a powerhouse, but they actually only have 4 VRC victories. That could definitely change this season.
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Austin Switzer returns yet again to the 99 Ford. He has made the final 4 in both prior full VRC seasons, and finished with five consecutive top 5 finishes last season. He only had one of those in the first six races. The experience is rising for the grizzled veteran, who signed a 2 season deal with the organization. Switzer has alluded to this being his last full time contract, which would take him to Senior year of high school. He told our sources "I'd love to race forever, but with my career, I just can't. Obviously things can change, but for now I'm focused on the next two seasons, and then maybe saying farewell in the season 6 Daytona 250. But, I can't commit to anything just yet. I'm a part of the dream team!"
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Who else joins the squad. Well, longtime McGuines Motorsports driver Naomi Atchley departs, and is replaced by another year-long member of the team, JoJo Simz. Simz finished third in the VRC Next last season, and takes over the #2 Ford full time in the VRC. A former cup winner and playoff driver, he is a great friend of Switzer's, and is still the youngest driver in the league. He turns 10 in early April.
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Aidan Savitski's Euro Racing Project was an unfortunate bust, so the Ford driver moves directly to McGuines Motorsports. It was almost a done deal for the England native to move to Thunderbolt, but the deal fell through when the team refused to give him the 48, giving it to Drew Jewah instead. What a paradox, now that they have gone to Toyota. Savitski should work well with McGuines.
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And then, the biggest free agent signing of the season; defending VRC champion Sebastian Cucalon will pilot the 12 Ford. A 2-time OMA champion, his aggressive and sometimes impatient style fits perfectly with his McGuines counterparts. It is shocking that he chose to give up his own team, which had won this year's VRC and TMG titles, to join the Ford organization.
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All four of these drivers have signed two season deals, meaning the partnership of the 'Dream Team' will continue until the summer of 2020. It will be intriguing to see if the team can finally break the curse.
Rule Changes Aplenty for Next Season
Drew-JT Racing Ready to Rock
With a successful second full OMA season in the books, a slew of rule changes will ensue for the new season, that begins with Speedweeks at the very end of April.
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The biggest is the points system. All three series will now have 8 drivers make the playoffs. But, attendance to races will matter. Wins will not lock you into the playoffs, nor further rounds of the playoffs. Collecting as many points as possible, success at the halfway bonus, and playoff points will be key. An elimination-style postseason will remain.
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The points themselves will also alter a bit, as now the winner will earn 50 points. Additionally, the halfway bonus will see 6, 4, and 2 points dished out to the top 3 finishers respectively.
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As for on-track action, things won't change too much. It is unknown whether or not damage will be used this season, but my belief is that it won't, and if it does appear, it will only be in select races. Caution rules will not change, and neither will lapped car rulings.
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With team-owning and qualifying, a bulk of the changes are found in this category. Teams now have charters, and can purchase either full or select charters for their drivers. If they're feeling lucky, they don't need to buy one at all. With this, there will be a field limit for each race. It looks like 16 for all three series, but that is not confirmed at this time.
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Only as many as 14 teams will have charters, so what about the other spots? DNQ's will return. And so will Buschwackers.
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VRC drivers will be allowed to race up to 3 VRC Next events and 2 TMG events. VRC Next drivers can run up to 3 TMG events. These vehicles, along with hot seat cars for rising drivers, will not be able to be chartered. They will instead have to qualify for races.
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Buschwackers will not necessarily be included in all development series races. In fact, only 3 are permitted per event. Additionally, series administration will determine an hour before if Buschwackers will be allowed to race, depending on the number of cars on the entry list. The logistics for that are also yet to be determined.
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With all of these changes, it's going to be hard to wait six more seemingly endless weeks until we see on track action at Daytona. But there's definitely something to look forward to.
In addition to the driver moves this offseason, this May will see a whopping six new OMA organizations. Of them all, the one that has the greatest chance at success has to be Drew-JT Racing in the VRC Next division.
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The team was obviously founded by now teammates Drew Jewah and JT Sipes, who will be running the team as Chevrolet, even though they'll be driving Toyotas in the VRC for Thunderbolt Racing. As for their drivers, they might have found two of the best rookies out there.
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Jonah Ylhainen has burst onto the scene with two endurance challenge victories at Gateway and then his hometrack of Kansas to open his OMA career. An experienced league racer on Heat 3 and Forza, he will pilot the 93 in the Next division. While he will certainly have some tough competition from drivers like Downey, David, Labonte, Miller, and Greene, the speed he's shown makes him seem like a championship favorite. Also, he shows dedication, blowing the minds of countless drivers with his detailed formatted rundowns of his practice sessions, the setups he ran, and how he fared with them. He's at committed and fast as anyone.
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To counter that, the team hired another rookie, Skye McGuirk, to drive the #39 Lombard Bros Gaming Chevrolet. Like Ylhainen, this rookie also utilized an endurance challenge to show his stuff, outrunning VRC season 3 finalists Cucalon, Jewah, and Switzer in a last lap battle to get the win. He doesn't seem as fast as Ylhainen, but still seems like a heavy championship favorite.
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With just five weeks until cars will be on track at the World Center of Racing, this pair of teammates will be as fun as any to watch.
