After The Flag Vol. 4 (Apr 8-14)

OMSRL
The first chase race would see the OMSRL Truck Series return to North Wilkesboro Speedway for a race that was nothing short of non-stop entertainment. Chase contenders Gage Tefft and Spenser Ray would duke it out for over half the race, with the pair never more than half a second apart until green flag pit stops just past halfway. Austyn McColgin stayed out on a gamble that a caution would come out. This would indeed happen, keeping McColgin on the lead lap and still in the top 5, instead of over a lap down.

The next dash over 50 laps would see Spenser Ray walk out a gap of over 8 seconds. This was courtesy of Stefan Pursell, who proved to be a major nuisance for the rest of the pack, holding up everybody back to 9th. The racing was tight throughout, and it was appearing as if it would be another walk-off win for Spenser Ray.

A late-race caution though would kick things up a notch, resulting in a 2 lap shootout to the end. Ray would end up hanging on, and pick up his 5th win of the season, while Pursell would continue to fend off the pack for 2nd to score his first podium of the season.

BEER
The final race of the BEER League's 6th season would see a swing out to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, although a shortened layout that cut out the keyhole. Alex Koffard would have to finish within the top 30, however if he failed to do this, Alexander Hammonds would still need to win the race, and score 3 bonus points with how the drop weeks had shaken out throughout the season.

After the 4 heat races, particularly a very...eventful final 3 lap dash, the lights would go out for the last 55 minutes of the season. Koffard had been under the weather throughout the evening, and was struggling to make his signature back-to-front charge. Just 10 laps in, Koffard would pull off the race track on the frontstretch, where he would remain for the duration of the night.

It looked then that Alexander Hammonds had the championship locked up, the rookie that had taken 4 wins on the season slowly ticking off laps. Hammonds would first lose the lead after starting from pole when he committed to a 2 stop strategy. We would never see though if this strategy would be a winner, as just minutes later Hammonds would drop out due to packet loss, and go down 2 laps. This would inadvertently swing the points lead back in favor of Koffard, who remained stopped on the pit straight.

The race was as chaotic as ever, with numerous side-by-side battles for half a lap or more. A late race caution would see the race restart with under 10 minutes to go, prompting a titanic battle between Giovanni Romano and Austin Tucker. Romano would prove to be the superior driver, and would put his 99 car back into victory lane, after a 10 race winless draught. Koffard would take the championship, having only run 10 laps, and having been stopped in the sand trap for around 40 minutes of the race, making this one of the weirdest championship finale ever seen on GreenFlagTV.

SPEED
Race 9 would see the SPEED Tires Plus Cup Series move to Fort Worth to the Texas Motor Speedway. The new version of TMS has received lots of criticism for being difficult to pass on, making races more dull, but this didn't seem to be the case this week, with battles up and down throughout the field.

One of the more notable incidents occurred when Tim Ahlman ran into the back of Ryan Shelton who had been trying to come to pit road, sending him spearing up into Doug Milliner, with both drivers finding the outside wall. Mark McFadyen would be collected shortly after when Ahlman slid back across the race track.

Much of the battle for the lead in the second half boiled down to two drivers: Defending champion Christopher Darling, and hometown hero Kevin Cantonio. Despite a mammoth battle, it would go the way of Darling, who would take his first race win in 10 cup series starts, and the first of 2024.

VSCA
Course De Monterey was touted as one of the most anticipated races to throw up entertainment at the WeatherTech Raceway, but nobody realized just how chaotic the race would be going in. While the race would get off to a smooth start, an extended Safety Car period would lead to complete pandemonium on the race track.

Much of the problems occurred during prototypes trying to lap GT cars, or even each other, though the GT field was not free from problems of their own. Both Digital Chicane cars ended up having torrid days, with Ryan Kaprowski stating that he believed the problems stemmed from a sorting issue that lead to the GT Am field being positioned primarily in front of the GT Pro field, not just in the pacing line, but also in terms of overall position on-track.

Composite Performance would finally see luck in getting back to victory lane in the overall race, while Gowin Racing saw a return to form in LMP2. GT Pro saw North Sim Racing take their first win of their 2024 campaign in impressive form, while Screeching Moose Motorsports claimed a whopping 5th win in a row, 4 of them being points races.

Also seeing an impressive finish was Bravo Snow Schatten, with the lone Acura in the field making their first drive to 2nd place overall. The result is major for the team, after crashing out of every race they've entered so far. This has proven that the Brazillian outfit has got some serious pace under it, and is capable of scoring big. It will be interesting to see if their momentum will continue to build throughout the season.

TNGG
New Hampshire Motor Speedway would be the next track to host the TNGG IEL Truck Series, and boy was it ever a race. Last season's race saw minimal cautions, only around the halfway point. The first half of the race would also run smoothly this season, with only 2 cautions to speak of. But everything would kick off in the second half.

Drivers got the elbows out, resulting in thrilling door-to-door action. At the forefront were a multitude of strategies, with drivers experimenting with different tire strategies to meet with the ever-present fuel restrictions. Much of the fight came down to two strategy leaders: Aaron Raymond, and Scott Rankin.

The two would be engaged in fierce combat throughout the race, though the battle would come to an unfortunate close after Raymond made contact with rookie Michael Gudger, sending them both spinning into the turn 2 wall. In the subsequent overtime restarts, it was up to Julian Belue to put on an offensive against Raymond, though this would never manifest, and Raymond would cruise to tick off another notch in the win column.

ASRL
ASRL's next Sunday night race saw a flash to the past with the old 2008 scan of Phoenix Raceway. The Gen 7's stiff suspension proved to be at odds with the old bumpy surface, with many cars appearing uncharacteristically loose. After a few cautions early on, the race would go green for much of the first half of the race, with all the action kicking off in the latter half.

Hunter Engrav's massive lead was taken away as a result of a caution at lap 70 just over the halfway mark, and it was elbows-out from there. One of the biggest highlights was Rene Garcia losing it off of turn 2, and his car launching into the air in spectacular fashion in the dogleg, courtesy of the infield road course's curbing. Drivers like Matt Schlosser would continue to apply the pressure, but Engrav would manage to come out on top, taking his 4th win of the season.

GREENFLAGTV'S RACE OF THE WEEK
The High Tide Racing League's 5th race would see a swing out to the Lone Star State to the infamous quad-oval in Fort Worth. Texas Motor Speedway's legacy configuration was nothing short of spectacular. Michael Thorpe Jr. and Nick Nickerson had an incredible dogfight in the first half of the race, which saw both drivers exchanging blows several times, picking up the fight from where it left off in Phoenix the week prior.

Aaron Smith II though, making his first start of 2024, would be the driver to beat on pace, making several daring moves, including making up 2 spots by going 3-wide around the outside of turns 3 and 4. The big story of the afternoon would be the fuel numbers, especially with three very mis-timed cautions that shook up the strategy.

A third caution late in the race would see a 36 lap dash to the finish. One by one, drivers would drive up to the point, only to realize they couldn't make it on fuel, and be forced to make a pit stop. Aaron Smith was one such driver that suffered from this. In the end, it would be Jason Greenwell making a miraculous drive, having been clutching almost the entire fuel run. Bryan Dees and Smith were both running Greenwell down in the closing laps, but not fast enough.

Jason Greenwell would take his long-awaited first win of his HTRL career, and did so with less than half a lap of fuel in a stunning fuel drive rarely seen.

WEEKLY WINNERS
Jason Greenwell: HTRL MFRD Cup Series -- Race 5, Texas Motor Speedway
Spenser Ray: OMSRL Truck Series -- Race 12, North Wilkesboro Speedway
Giovanni Romano: BEER League -- Race 12, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Alex Koffard: BEER League Season 6 Champion
Christopher Darling: SPEED Tires Plus Cup Series -- Race 9, Texas Motor Speedway
Composite Performance: VSCA SportsCar Championship -- Course De Monterey, GTP
Gowin Racing: VSCA SportsCar Championship -- Course De Monterey, LMP2
North Sim Racing: VSCA SportsCar Championship -- Course De Monterey, GT Pro
Screeching Moose Motorsports: VSCA SportsCar Championship -- Course De Monterey, GT Am
Aaron Raymond: TNGG IEL Truck Series -- Race 6, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Hunter Engrav: ASRL NextGen Cup Series -- Race 10, Phoenix Raceway

NEXT WEEK
April 15: HTRL MFRD Cup Series Race 6 -- Richmond Raceway
April 16: OMSRL Truck Series Race 13 -- Homestead-Miami Speedway
April 18: SPEED Tires Plus Cup Series Race 9 -- Talladega Superspeedway
April 20: TNGG IEL Truck Series Race 7 -- Charlotte Motor Speedway
April 21: Classic Indycar Series Race 3 -- Long Beach Street Circuit
April 21: ASRL NExtGen Cup Series Race 11 - USA International Speedway