The Deputy wants The Sheriff's job!

Round 3 of the IndyCar Open LITE League challenged the intense, 2.38 mile, 15-turn, Barber Motorsport Park and from the start there was plenty of passing… even if some of the passing was an off-course car! Our vApex Racing Group guys did well, but it looks like The Deputy wants The Sherriff’s job!

In qualifying, Mikey “The Sherriff” Grems laid down an outstanding 1:06.7, only 0.01 sec off Sebastien Bourdais’ RL track record, and took pole position… but, nipping at his heals, and locking out the front row of a 21-car field, was Dave “The Deputy” Jaques with a 1:07.1. Rick turned a 107:6 for P5 and his 1st time in the Fast Six. Andy and Kevin Linden qualified 10th and 11th with a pair of 1:08.5s. Ted battled LA traffic while JC hunkered down in Jacksonville keenly aware of hurricane Mathew; both missed the race and we hope all is well with JC and his family.

At the green flag, Mikey again had a rough (slow) start and Dave pounced, grabbing the lead coming out of T2 while Richard Tam hung close. Behind them though, was a mess… At T1, the car behind Mikey seemed to check-up, Rick veered right just missing him, but Joe Flanagan (P7) went left into the grass and T-boned the P3 car getting him up on 2-wheels. The rest of the field scrabbled to make it through T1 without damage.

At the end of L1, Dave led Richard Tam and Mikey; Andy stayed clean and worked himself up to P7. Rick had minor contact in Charlotte’s web and slipped back to P11 and Kevin slipped back to P17. Things seemed to settle down and our positions were pretty stable through the first pit stop (L10) when Richard Tam took over the lead, Dave P2, Andy P3, and Mikey P4. By L13 though, Dave took advantage of Richard Tam’s slight off-course and grabbed P1, Mikey was P3, Andy P8, Rick P11, and Kevin P14.

At the second pit stop (L20), Richard Tam briefly slipped by Dave, but not for long because on L25 Dave out-braked Richard going into Charlotte’s web and took over the lead on exit. Mikey was a close 3rd; Andy, still driving a clean race, was in P7; Rick P9 and Kevin P15 continued working traffic, but time was running out.

When the checked flew, Dave had driven a near perfect race, had a commanding lead, led the most laps, and earned an outstanding win. Richard Tam got P2, Mikey P3, and Andy finished on the lead-lap in P7. Rick and Kevin held on to positions 9 and 15.

While vApex did well at Barber, the rest of the field… not so much, as there were over 75 minor incidents with cars driving off-track! Luckily, mixed in with the blind apexes and terrain change, Barber also offers plenty of run-off room, so the guys were able to rejoin without significant damage.

With 3 road courses behind us, and 3 different winners, Pete’s fantastic league heads to 3-straight oval tracks; a night race at Phoenix, then Indy (oval) and Texas. \

Season standing so far: Mikey (P1), Dave (P2), Rick (P3), Andy (P6), and Kevin (P7) - that 5 vApex Racing Group drivers in the top seven! Nice job guys…