News

Team Penske eSports eNASCAR Heat Pro League Race Report

Track:                  Virtual New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race:                   Round 4 – NASCAR Cup Series
Date:                   May 13, 2020

No. 2 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang – Brian Tedeschi (ShellVPower22)

Console: Xbox One
Start: 9th
Finish: 12th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 55/55
Points: 13th (-67)

Notes:

• Brian Tedeschi (ShellVPower22) was in position to parlay early bad luck into a solid finish in the eNASCAR Heat Pro League race at virtual New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). However, superior fuel mileage by many of Tedeschi’s competitors shuffled him back to a finish outside the top-10 when the race was over.
• Early on the Xbox race was full of full-contact racing as caution flags marred the first 15 laps of the 55-lap event. Tedeschi found himself the victim of contact on several occasions, but the caution flags gave him time to visit pit road for repairs and placed him on a different pit strategy.
• As the race finally settled into a rhythm, Tedeschi carved his way through the field and up to the third position before his final pit stop of the night. Unfortunately, most of his competitors did not visit pit road and Tedeschi was caught at the back of the field at the checkered flag.

Quote:

“After starting further back than I wanted we were able to race up to the third position on speed before fuel strategy began. I didn’t feel like I could make it on fuel, so I pitted late in the race when everyone else stayed out and stretched their fuel longer than I thought was possible. I’m very disappointed with the result because we had a great Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang, but now we reset for the second segment and that one sets up nice for us.”
 

No. 22 Wurth Ford Mustang – Corey Rothgeb (Wurth_2)

Console: PlayStation 4
Start: 11th
Finish: 9th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 55/55
Points: 10th (-34)

Notes:

• Corey Rothgeb (Wurth_2) drove a respectful race in Wednesday night’s PlayStation 4 race for the eNASCAR Heat Pro League at virtual New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but many of his competitors did not return the favor.
• After starting deep in the field for the 55-lap race, Rothgeb and his No. 2 Wurth Ford seemed to be better on the long runs around the one-mile NHMS oval. Lots of contact early in the runs resulted in too much lost track position for Rothgeb before his Ford came to life.
• Rothgeb was running outside the top 10 on the final lap but grabbed two positions to earn his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

Quote:  

"Starting in the back did not do us any favors tonight. There was a lot of beating and banging going on that kept me from really moving forward. Times were so close and that can be the only way to pass anyone on a one-groove track like New Hampshire. We just fought that from the start of the race and really had nowhere to go. We’re going to work on our qualifying efforts on the Wurth Ford Mustang and if we can do that, we’ll be better in the next two segments.”