Two more drivers locked themselves into the title-decider at LVMS Wednesday ahead of next week’s last-chance wildcard event at Daytona International Speedway.
PS4
Corey Rothgeb led the way with Joey Stone in tow for the first 60-lap race, but Stone quickly made his way into the race lead.
Cody Giles slipped up into second as the field prepared to make green-flag pit stops with 41 laps to go.
Nick Jobes spun at pit entry in what was otherwise a fairly clean set of stops. Giles cycled into the race lead with Stone, Josh Harbin, Josh Parker and Kyle Arnold following.
The race went yellow after contact inside the top-five sent both Stone and Harbin spinning. Arnold was also involved.
Giles continued to control the race until Parker made a move for the lead with 22 laps to go. Gritton snatched it soon after before yet another yellow as Stone spun again.
Jason Mitchell rolled the dice and tried to hold back the pack with older tires, and it appeared to work for some time. With three laps to go however, Parker was able to take over the lead. Mitchell tried to hold the outside but ended up out of the groove and into the wall, setting up a G-W-C finish.
On the hectic restart that followed, Parker was shoved wide and out of contention, allowing Giles to cruise to the win. Mike Braas was second, Jobes third, Stone fourth and Maxwell Castro fifth.
Although the race did not go the way he had hoped, Parker still had plenty to celebrate as he locked himself into the championship race. He won Segment 3 with 114 points over Braas and Giles. He joins Castro and Brandyn Gritton in the finale.
Xbox One
The Xbox One race was much calmer as Justin Brooks and Daniel Buttafuoco dominated the event. The two drivers are already locked into the title-decider and made sure to remind the field why they earned their place there tonight.
There was an early caution for a crash in the back but other than that, the race was clean and green.
Through the cycle of green-flag pit stops and working together on track, Brooks and Buttafuoco were able to break away from the pack. In the closing laps, the two swapped the lead back-and-forth with Brooks emerging victorious by just 0.085s over Buttafuoco.
Slade Gravitt finished third, which was enough to secure himself a place in the championship race as he led the way in the full season standings among drivers not yet locked in. Brooks claimed the Segment 3 win.
Diego Alvarado and Luis Zaiter rounded out the top-five in the running order at Las Vegas.
In the team standings, Germain Racing remains on top with 588 points. The JTG Daugherty Throttlers are their closest competition with 513 points, followed by Wood Brothers Gaming with 496.
