DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Scott Speed hung on through last-lap chaos to notch the victory in the super late model portion of the FS1 IROC Invitational at Daytona Int’l Speedway on Wednesday night.
Speed, who started from the pole and dominated the race with the help of drafting partner Scott McLaughlin, lost his help on a green-white-checkered finish when McLaughlin got knocked sideways and fell out of the lead pack with a half lap of racing to go.
Regrouping as the field raced toward turn three, Speed held off the advances of former NASCAR Cup Series champions Kevin Harvick and Bobby Labonte over the final mile of racing en route to his second Wednesday Night iRacing victory in as many weeks.
Speed’s diverse racing resume includes some experience in NASCAR at Daytona, and he admitted that Wednesday night’s performance was simpler than his past experiences.
“Obviously that was a lot easier than what I’ve done here before,” Speed noted. “It’s actually kind of fun here in the sim. The car had so much grip through the corner that I wasn’t really driving it tonight; I was just trying to stay connected with the guy behind me and not crash.
“I think that was lucky starting position; I was relieved when I got the pole because I didn’t want to end up hooking someone out of the way. I was terrible at pushing all day.”
Harvick, who led at the white flag after he and NTT IndyCar Series ace Santino Ferrucci teamed up on the final restart, finished second by a scant .048 seconds.
Labonte crossed in third, with the top three covered by less than a tenth of a second.
Knoxville Nationals winner David Gravel and NHRA Funny Car champion Ron Capps were fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Tony Kanaan, Kurt Busch, Patrick Long, Will Power and Ferrucci, who recovered to complete the top 10.
Wednesday night’s IROC super late model event was part of a one-hour twinbill on FS1. Ronnie Anderson won the Pro-4 Truck half of the racing card at Wild West Motorsports Park.
The finish:
1. Scott Speed, 2. Kevin Harvick, 3. Bobby Labonte, 4. David Gravel, 5. Ron Capps, 6. Tony Kanaan, 7. Kurt Busch, 8. Patrick Long, 9. Will Power, 10. Santino Ferrucci, 11. Chad Reed, 12. Scott McLaughlin, 13. Juan Pablo Montoya, 14. Chase Briscoe, 15. Cruz Pedregon.