Redemption! Checkers Takes His Maiden Victory as Championship Leaders Struggle: ARCA at Chicagoland

Chicagoland hosted the first oval race of the second season of the Matt Malone Patreon League. Following an incident-filled oval race in season two, worries were high heading into this one. The lap count limited to just 25 laps, to accomodate for the potential flurry of yellow flags. However, that concern would be proved unwarranted, as drivers managed to go almost the whole distance before we saw a caution flag fly for the first time.

Qualifying

For the first time in his Matt Malone Patreon League career, Bobsjelly managed to find his way to the front of the field during qualifying, placing his ARCA machine on pole position for the oval. Championship rivals, Richard Dempsey and Matty Gwill found themselves towards the back of the top 10, with defending champion, Slugger, sat in 11th place on the grid. With oval, however, anything could happen once the green flag was waved.

Race Highlights

The grid was set, and the 28 drivers prepared for 25 laps of racing action in the ARCA cars. To catch up with some of the overtakes, battles and incidents caught on camera; make sure to watch the Extended Highlights video for Round 5.

Lap One

In a "I've been here before" moment at the start of the race, pole sitter, Bobsjelly caught a black flag off the launch - in a repeat of what happened to Checkers in season one at Charlotte. With the race leader ducking off the circuit and out of the way of the following pack, Checkers, eager to prove his pace on ovals stormed into the race lead.

Lap Two

The end of lap two saw our first incident, as Casketman was spun onto the infield at the end of the lap - somehoe avoiding any other drivers and staying so far off the circuit that the yellow flag was not thrown. The rest of the field continued on their races unaffected.

Lap Five

With the black flag sending Bobsjelly down the pitlane, it didn't take long for him to be caught by the chasing pack as they lapped him on just the fifth lap of the race. Dempsey, eager for a good result after finishing outside the top 5 for the first time in his Matt Malone Patreon League career at Spa, took to the inside of ImmortalHitman at the end of the lap, trying to take the last podium spot.

Lap Six

Stuck on the inside line - which proved to be the slower line around Chicagoland - not only put Dempsey back behind ImmortalHitman, but gave Mech_Arm an opportunity to pass on the outside, knocking Dempsey back down to 5th.

Lap Nine

Championship hopeful, AuburnKyle used the outside line to his own benefit, moving past POWski for 7th position on the ninth lap of the race. The Hearnster - unafraid of the inside line, tucked beneath POWski into turn 3, and kept his car alongside in a battle for 8th place, but it just wouldn't be enough.

Lap Eleven

A battle ahead of The Hearnster reinvited him in for 8th place, as Sean Simms got stuck to the inside line, allowing the British driver to pass on the faster outer line of turn 1 and 2. Out of the last turn, a tiny touch caused both cars to become unsettled, but neither losing too much time.

Lap Twelve

Richard Dempsey and Mech_Arm continued to fight as they entered lap 12, looking for fourth position in the race. Checkers, checking out in the lead, was avoiding all of the battles going on behind.

Lap Thirteen

After a slow start to the race and falling to 12th, Slugger attempted to move back up the order past championship leader Matty Gwill as he took the outside line on the exit of turn 2 as they stormed up towards turn 3 and 4. The outer line once more proving to be faster, allowing the defending champion to move up to 11th.

Lap Fourteen

By lap fourteen and Dempsey had managed to move into 3rd in the race. TonyJabroni3824 was not going to let him keep it easily, however, as he jumped to inside of turn 3, running as close to the apron as he could. The tighter line threw him up the circuit and in front of Dempsey. Almost a perfect move. However, Dempsey moved across to the inside with better grip.

Lap Fifteen

Turn one would prove once again to be the downfall of the inside line as TonyJabroni was able to carry much more speed through the turn and retake third. POWski reinvited himself into the conversation on the wider line and managed to follow TonyJabroni past the championship contender.

Lap Sixteen

Eager to move up some positions, P20 driver Neil Trotter dove his car up the inside of Lap_Traffic into turn 3, causing a small bit of contact, sending Lap_Traffic on a wider line and out of the points as Dubbs1258 moved through.

Lap Seventeen

A major accident on the 17th lap of the race brought out the first caution flag of the day. TonyJabroni and Richard Dempsey running two separate lines into turn 1, saw Dempsey drift wide into the rear left of TonyJabroni saw him spin into the wall. Unable to avoid the collision that was rolling down the track, previous race winner, Sean Simms, was collected in the crash, forcing his car onto his side and sliding into the outside barrier.

Lap Twenty-One

The green flag waved once more on the first restart of the day as all the drivers headed across the line to count down to just 5 laps to go. As the leaders made their way into turn 1, disaster behind. Two separate incidents after the start-finish line occured at the same time, in the low part and high part of the circuit. On the outside, Mech_Arm forced the Skiddmark into the wall, spinning himself infront of the cars behind. In the inside the recovering TonyJabroni bumped the back of Greg Fronek. With a bit more speed, Fronek moved past DdoDeadman, but then tried to get to the higher line before he was clear. This unsettled Deadman, who was then rear ended by Casketman. With two drivers facing the wrong way, the caution flag once again flew.

Lap Twenty-Five

The green flag waved once more as the white flag came out to signal the last lap of the race. A great launch from the race leader, Checekrs who cleared out in front with the single-file restart. Dempsey, slow on the restart invited Nick Heslink into the battle for the lead as AuburnKyle also moved past on the outside line. Fighting to get back towards the championship lead, AuburnKyle managed to stick to the inside of Heslink and take the position for 4th before the line. Dempsey, still unable to carry speed lost out to The Hearnster through turn 4, with Slugger slotting in just behind, ahead of Matty Gwill.

Championship

Matty Gwill holds the lead in the championship, now 7 points clear of Richard Dempsey. Checkers flies up the order with his victory to place him in 3rd overall. Moving into the top 10 of the championship is Big Al with 43 points - just 4 points off of a top 5.

Up Next

We will return for the next round of the championship at Brands Hatch in the Formula Vee's on Saturday 25th October 2025.

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