Hi guys,
Let me start off by saying that after reviewing the race several times, I
agree that compared to most of the rest of you, I was not leaving as much
room for error when being overtaken. That said, I'd like to point out
several points in my defence (this all came about on lap 84, restarting from
yellow, I was in the lead on older tires, guys behind me had newer tires):
-I have not run any other races this year other than 3 RASCAR races (no
time). I came 4th at both Pocono and Sears Point and ran very
convervatively. I was extremely happy to just finish those races and felt I
drove clean and consistently. Nobody had complained about my conduct at
that time. I felt I could push a bit now that I had those races under my
belt.
-I had never turned a lap at Vegas prior to Friday night, at which time I
practiced for several hours, most of which was running in traffic against
the AI
-I was second in the half-hour warmup with a time of 32.925. I felt that I
was a fairly fast driver in comparison to the field.
-I did not cause a single caution. I got nerfed once by the 7 car (see John
Simmons' race recap) but from my replay, it looked like he warped into me
and it was not his fault.
-taking the green at lap 84 in the lead, I knew I would be passed several
times by the end of the race. I figured I had a 5th-10th placed car.
-I was very surprised how fast the 27 car came up behind me in the first
turn. I got out of the way at the exit of the turn as quick as I could and
ran the outside of the corners for 2 laps, allowing 6 cars to go by without
incident.
-on lap 86, the 98 car was about two carlengths behind me. We went into T1
and he didn't make a move to the inside to show he wanted to pass, so I took
the inside line. I guess I misjudged the closure rate, because in the
middle of T1 he suddenly came up behind me and braked hard to avoid
rear-ending me. It happened too fast for me to do anything about it.
-this incident caused the field behind me to slow down. I ran the racing
line for two laps until they caught me again. I guess the incident had
spooked the field that I wasn't going to give the inside line, and started
to try and pass me on the outside. That caught me totally by surprise and I
ran several laps in the middle of the track in fear, which I imagine would
cause other drivers to think I was blocking or holding them up
intentionally.
In short, it looks like my inexperience of running in multiplayer traffic at
Vegas ruffled some feathers. It surprises me a bit because RAS is basically
open to anyone, and I think there will be drivers making a lot more mistakes
than myself! Suggestions on how to better handle situations like this much
appreciated! It was a really fun race.
Thanks,
-Phasor
