Dominik Lukomski and Garrett Lowe join the seven other (so far) Racing Prodigy Pass holders and head to the Atlanta-based motorsport boot camp later this year.
The winner of the Prodigy Racing League’s sixth and seventh rounds are Dominik Lukomski and Garrett Lowe, following two regional finals at a virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway within iRacing. They will now head to Atlanta Motorsports Park at the end of this month to be part of a real-world motorsport selection process.
Heading into Tournament 6 and 7, each driver would be racing in NASCAR Truck Series Chevrolet Silverados around the oval venue and had qualified for the competition via a time attack process.
From there, semi-final 20-minute races would determine the grid for a 30-minute final with a 24-driver line-up all vying for a spot in a 2024 Radical race seat. This was split into two – Eastern and Western – regions, with two sets of finals and thus two pass winners.
Eastern Final
Lukomski scored pole position and duly led the field after the opening lap ahead of Joel Blewit, who moved ahead of David Sobreiro in the early running. eRace of Champions 2023 finalist Michael Romanidis sat in fourth.
The top three would initially pull away in their own pack, with Romanidis leading the chasing field. That was until just under a third completed when Sobreiro scraped the wall, dropping to fourth and then soon after to sixth behind Matthew Pluck and Luca Becker.
The first caution would fly after 18 minutes of racing, as Seungin Park made contact with Simon de Mori, sending the Austrian into the wall and upside down. The entire field visited pitroad for new tyres, although Sobreiro jumped the field to lead by only taking two.
The lead was ephemeral, as Lukomski charged back to the head on the restart. Soon after, another caution as those at the back of the train collided.
The green flag flew with just over five minutes remaining, but the race would end under caution after Ryan Leech impacted the barrier. Lukomski won, having led the majority of the race ahead of iRacing Off-Road Championship race winner Blewitt and former F1 Esports competitor Romanidis.
Of note, road course specialist Jan von der Heyde finished 10th, after also finishing fifth during the RaceRoom event and second on rFactor 2.
Racing Prodigy League Tournament 7, Eastern Final results
- Dominik Lukomski – 41 laps
- Joel Blewit +0.539
- Michael Romanidis +0.946
- Luca Becker +1.444
- Matthew Pluck +2.110
- Sander Nijhof +3.038
- Oscar Pujadas +3.799
- Domenico Labarba +4.310
- David Sobreiro +4.641
- Jan von der Heyde +5.385
Western Final
Much like von der Heyde, Brandon Hawkin had also competed in prior Prodigy Racing League rounds, notably finishing sixth in the RaceRoom-held Tournament 5.
This time, he placed his Silverado on pole position for the Western Final and led the field after the opening lap ahead of Matt Bussa, Garrett Lowe and John Hall.
Sadly, the multifaceted sim racer who recently made it to the final of the Ferrari Esports Series picked up a penalty for a start infringement and was ruled out of contention.
That left Bussa fighting Lowe for the lead. However, the first caution would fly within five minutes of racing.
Octavio Rondoletto tapped the rear of Nathan Fuller who was spat into the wall, with several drivers further back caught in an imbroglio. The field visited the pitlane, with Lowe emerging ahead of Bussa.
At the restart, he lead two got the jump on the field, while Hall dropped back to seventh. Korey Ensing was now up to third from eight on the grid, albeit briefly as he was usurped by Jaiden Reyna. Reyna would soon get by Bussa for second, too.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, Bussa would reclaim that spot around the outside, but by now Lowe had a 0.5s lead. Meanwhile, after promising so much, Reyna started to sip down the field, Lucas Cram now up onto the final podium spot.
Despite getting close, Bussa was not able to force a mistake from Lowe, who won the race and took home the venerated Prodigy Pass.
Next up for Racing Prodigy is another Prodigy Search Committee with Bobby Labonte and Cameron Das selecting drivers from previous races to also receive passes. The first in-person boot camp happens between 30th October and 1st November, with a second planned for 2024.
From there, the best drivers will be drafted for a seat in a full season of real-world racing.
Racing Prodigy League Tournament 7, Western Final results
- Garrett Lowe – 51 laps
- Matt Bussa +1.276
- Lucas Cram +1.427
- John Hall +2.542
- Aaron Smith +2.566
- Bryan Campbell +6.505
- Noah C Carter +6.610
- Bryden Lindauer +6.837
- Jaiden Reyna +7.415
- Ryan Avila +7.591
