The simFlight liveried virtual Chevy Impala of Robert Graf is still charging hard in his first full season of the DOM-GNL series, which uses the iRacing simulator to run NASCAR style oval races on users’ home PCs.

The latest outing of the series has been to the Northern Midwest state of Michigan, after which there’s a break until August 2nd. To read Robert’s race report, please click “Read more”.

“With the TV cameras  rolling (you can download the stream here) i strapped in for the 135 laps. And despite the media the grid stayed cool, we went green for nearly the first half of the race. I was running in the TOP15 most of the time and was chasing the same cars all day. Especially Laurenz gave me a hard time. Every time i was inching closer either a caution or a faster car would hinder my progress. On the restarts in lap 102 and 107 i felt like a rocket and made some positions there. Then with only 10 laps to go, everything looked good, running at 11th place.

On lap 126, the last caution of the race flew. Unexpectedly, the race leader went down the pits and took most of the field with him. The TOP10 stayed out, so did i. On the restart this meant i was running 8th and was the last one who hadn’t pitted and we had still 5 laps to go. I missed the start a bit, but could hold on to my position for the next two laps. Then my tires were toast and i lost 4 positions with 2 laps to go. Coming up to the white flag i closed the door on an opponent and we touched as we went down the front straight. On the last turn he drove in deep, there was nothing i could do but to cut down behind him to save my 13th place from Laurenz (see picture), the man i had try to beat the whole race.

Now there is a short break in the season, it will continue on August 2nd in Indy.”