2011 Decatur Dash

The 2011 Decatur Dash was the 16th race of the 2011 ARLA Elite Series season.

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Pre-race storylines
Rumors of the Elite Series holding races in Japan began to swirl as word of discussions with promoters from Twin Ring Motegi and Saitama. It's believed the motivation behind adding the Japanese tracks is in large part to the sizable fan base the series has there.

Tire wear was another persistent issue, as opening practice for the race showed considerable amounts of wear. Teams hoping to complete the race on one stop would have to employ a conservative race strategy.

Race one
Kevin Monroe started on the pole for race one, with M&J Racing teammate and fellow Zing Energy-sponsored driver Taylor Brillon on his outside. Brillon would beat Monroe into the Snake, and assume the early lead of the race. Rene Recarmier followed Brillon closely in the early going before taking the lead for himself in a drag race with Brillon down the front stretch.

Holden Roberts and Gary DeSouza got together prior to this, with Roberts going off into the grass. Roberts would recover and continue with minimal damage. On Lap 2, Barry Spengler and Raibeart Scott exchange pleasantries, with Spengler going head-first into the wall entering the Garbage Dump. Spengler would drop out. Ricky Flush and Monroe would get together and go off into the kitty litter, but neither driver hit anything and would continue. Both drivers, however, would drop well out of contention.

Brillon would attempt to take the lead back from Recarmier shortly thereafter, but Recarmier held her off coming through the Garbage Dump. Brillon would take the lead back on the subsequent lap as she got a better run on Recarmier coming into the Snake. Edwin Schwarzloski kicked off the first cycle of pit stops, but no other driver went in with him.

DeSouza would cause another incident on Lap 8, as he, Rip Tyler, and Brenda Riggs all got together in the Snake. DeSouza got the worst of it, spinning himself out.

CJ Cameron would pit at the end of Lap 8, but again, there were no other takers.

The rest of the field came in one lap later, with the exception of Eisenman and Kiriki Hetsuno, who each stayed out an extra lap. Behind this, Tyler and Jacob Eichholtz got together entering the pits, which apparently didn't make Eichholtz too happy.

Brillon would regain the lead of the race as the stops cycled out, with Recarmier returning to second spot. Schwarzloski jumped up to third.

The tire wear issues alluded to earlier surfaced in the latter half of the race, with Schwarzloski, Brillon, Recarmier, and Cameron all needing to make additional visits to the pit lane. Many of the other leaders also pitted in this cycle.

David Krikorian, Eisenman, and Hetsuno each did not pit, gambling on their tires holding up. Krikorian's did not, and he was forced to pit with a handful of laps left.

Monroe also had to make a second stop, which did not help his efforts to get back into contention.

Meanwhile, Eisenman built up a big lead and cruised to his first ARLA Elite Series win.

The top 10

 * For the rest of the running order, click here.

Race two
Joseph Howard started the race on pole, with Matas Kazimeras a surprise outside polesitter. Tyson Lautenschlager attemped to make it three-wide with Kazimeras and Shane Lake coming into the Snake. The move allowed Howard to build up a decent lead coming out of the famed corner. Amy Patti was able to move up into third behind Kazimeras and Howard. Jeremy West came out of Turn 4 wide and made contact with Yevgeny Kusnetzov, sending the Patterson Autosport driver around. West would get the car pointed in the right direction and continue on. Also on the first lap, Scott Dalitz and Cletus McGuffie get together, sending Dalitz off-course.

Kazimeras would make a challenge on Howard for the lead entering the Snake, but Lautenschlager has a better run than both of them and dumps Howard out of the lead. Race Control slapped Lautenschlager with a 15-second penalty for the stunt, citing previous incidents between he and Howard (namely, the incident at Mosport). Patti would have a go at Kazimeras a few laps later, allowing Lucas Sweeney to join the fray. Patti appeared to make contact with Kazimeras entering the Garbage Dump, which allowed her to assume the lead of the race. Race Control normally considers such a move a "bump-and-run", which is illegal, but in this instance, officials decided to only hand Patti a warning. Jason Bates and Dalitz both go off entering the Snake, giving Delano some more free ad time.

On the subsequent lap, Sweeney gets a run on Patti entering the Snake, allowing him to gain the lead. Patti got a horrible exit from the corner, allowing Kazimeras to catch back up to her &mdash; and give her a little payback for the earlier bump Patti gave him in the process. Kazimeras would assume second place as a result.

Pit stops kicked off with Patti, Wesley Savage, and Nami Mura among others coming in for service. Sweeney, Kazimeras, and Dale Underwood were among the drivers who came in on the next lap. On that cycle, Nico Petrov takes the pit entrance way too wide and gets into Lake. Lake would spin out, however, Petrov did not.

A similar incident took place between Andy Pearson and Mike Howard, with Howard being the recipient of a spin. Finally, Kyle Gaffigan and Damien Snyder also get together entering the pits, but this time, neither driver spins out.

Sweeney regains the lead once stops cycle out, with Patti well back in second place. Kazimeras and Underwood would follow in third and fourth, respectively. Alex Carson rounded out the top five at this point.

James West and Lyons get together in the esses, sending Lyons off-course and hard into the retaining wall, where he would get stuck. Naturally, he would drop out of the race.

On Lap 16, the two Xenos cars of Jason Teller and Kyle Eckerton get together coming out of the final corner with both cars going hard into the inside wall. Eckerton's car backs into the path of Bob Stephans, who barrels into him. All three cars would retire from the event.

Sweeney led in the closing stages of the race, with Kazimeras and Patti trying to reel him in. Neither was able to do so until the final lap, when Kazimeras and Patti got a great run on Sweeney exiting the Snake and the three cars would be in a superspeedway-style draft through the esses and into the Garbage Dump. There, Sweeney exits wide allowing for Kazimeras and Patti to take advantage.

Kazimeras stayed locked behind Sweeney, but Patti ducked to the inside of Kazimeras (the preferred line, incidentally, through this section of the track) and took over the top spot.

Neither Kazimeras nor Sweeney could find a way around Patti, and she takes her first win in her last start for MRD Motorsports. After the checkered flag, the cars of Ebenezer Quiggles, Jr. and Petrov get together on the straightaway that passes under the museum, and both cars go off the track and hard into the retaining wall. The "division by zero" car was sent for several rolls, with Petrov's Lenard almost doing a front flip. Officials promised a thorough investigation of the incident.

The top ten

 * For the rest of the running order, click here.

Points

 * For the full points standings, click here.

Kevin Monroe held onto the points lead, but his poor showing in Race 1 allowed Jacob Eichholtz and Allie Riggs to close the gap. Both drivers sit 26 points off the pace.

There will be six drivers who are eligible to win the title after the race: Monroe, Eichholtz, Riggs, Brillon, Recarmier, and Cameron. All other drivers have been mathematically eliminated from contention.

Postrace penalties

 * None yet