AREA Cup Series Season 5 Preview, Team Power Rankings

AREA Cup Series
Season 5 Pre-Season Power Rankings

October 16, 2023 —

It’s a new season in the AREA iRacing Cup Series! Season 5 kicks off from Daytona International Speedway with the AREA 500 qualifying and duel races tonight. The top 43 drivers from qualifying day and duels tonight will compete in the main event AREA 500 on October 23rd.

There are currently nine (9) chartered teams in the Cup Series, which guarantees each teams’ spot in the AREA 500 and all Season 5 races this season, as well as allows them to compete amongst the other teams for the team points purse.

Season 4 saw Lucky Ducks Motorsports win their first ever team points championship after making a splash in free agency with James Scioly on the way to becoming the first team in AREA Cup history to defeat two-time champion Solar Flare Racing. Although his team came up a bit short on the team championship three-peat, Jake Nichols did earn his third drivers’ championship in three seasons and Solar Flare Racing a second-place team finish. Miller Racing finished in third.

Season 5 looks to have the strongest field in AREA Cup season history, and our pre-season power rankings list below will look at each teams’ Cup Series roster and all off-season movement, and be sure to get you ready for an electric Season 5 in the Cup Series.

The hunt for the title starts tonight at Daytona. Coverage begins at 8:40 p.m. ET courtesy of SYMTV with Kyle Heyer, Finian Dcunha and Hunter Sleppy on the call with Eric Wineland pit reporting at https://www.twitch.tv/areairacing.

1 - Solar Flare Racing
Returning: Jake Nichols (S4 - 1st), Tyler Nichols (15th)
Added: Seth Noell (3rd - formerly Miller Racing), Dwayne Culberson (28th)
Lost: Delonta Ballard (23rd), Nate Tretow (38th)

The main question for the then-returning champion Solar Flare Racing (“SFR”) heading into Season 4 was whether the addition of Nate Tretow, a 3-time race winner all the way back in Season 1 of AREA Cup Series, would make them stronger. The reality: Tretow only raced in 6 races. Solar Flare will swap back to Dwayne Culberson, who ran for SFR in Season 3 and as an open driver in Season 4. While he averages only a 20.31 finish over his Cup Series career, Culberson does one thing much better than Tretow did – and that’s start races (and getting a chance at points). Culberson is tied for 8th in Cup Series starts all-time.

We all know about the brothers Nichols. Jake did not slow down at all in Season 4 despite the 2nd place team finish; he posted a ludicrous 15 Top 5’s and 17 Top 10’s in 17 races. Read that statistic again – it’s insane. The biggest addition for Solar Flare is the signing of Seth Noell from Miller Racing, who finished 3rd in the driver’s championship with 3 wins, including Season 4’s AREA 500. Noell brings real AREA Cup Series success to an already successful roster, making Season 5’s iteration of Solar Flare the strongest its looked on paper, and it looks like they are taking their 2nd place in Season 4 personally. A win would make it their 3rd title in 4 seasons.

2 - Lucky Ducks Motorsports
Returning: James Scioly (2nd), Douglas Newbigging (8th), Cedrick Hunter (11th)
Added: Ed Sherer Jr. (R)
Lost: Michael Sturgill (13th)

Last season was a dream season for Lucky Ducks Motorsports and Team Owner John Peele. Top free agent acquisition James Scioly had 5 wins, nearly all of their drivers made the playoffs, and they took home a 1st place team championship.

They did this behind strong team points and team play. And the roster behind Scioly, who had a monster season – winning AREA’s Truck Series and Florida Estate Pro Series behind a 2nd place finish in the Cup Series – isn’t a slouch either. Douglas Newbigging has improved in each season, and Cedrick Hunter had a very strong rookie year. While the team will miss Michael Sturgill, who finished just outside the playoff cutline, they bring on a rookie in Ed Scherer Jr. who has other solid league experience. If it wasn’t for a top get for Solar Flare Racing with Noell in the off-season, they would be ranked #1 as the returning champ.

3 - David Wiseheart Racing
Added: Garrett Grant (14th - formerly Miller Racing), Bryce Senesac (19th), David Wiseheart (27th), Spencer Burns (R)

David Wiseheart Racing (“DWR”) returns to the Cup Series after taking a hiatus in Season 4. Familiar DWR faces Garrett Grant, Bryce Senesac, and David Wiseheart help form a veteran team with a lot of starts among them (including the Cup Series leader in starts Grant).

While not as strong on paper as when they used to have Scioly, Wiseheart himself is Top 5 in every major Cup Series statistical category (wins, poles, Top 5, Top 10) among all active Cup Series drivers and can anchor this team. He raced a partial season as an open driver in Season 4, so don’t let the 27th place finish fool you. Grant and Senesac both know how to stack points. DWR’s performance might come down to their rookie Spencer Burns, but DWR – Season 4’s AREA Team of the Year across all series – knows how to win and be successful in team points. Count them out at your own risk.

4 - Miller Racing
Returning: Travis Beckner (5th)
Added: Vincent Cortez (R), Jake Matheson (R), Quami Scott (R)
Lost: Seth Noell (3rd), Garrett Grant (14th), Cosmin Ioanesiu (32nd)

Miller Racing loses Seth Noell, who will be very tough to replace, but they made some splashes in the offseason. Quami Scott, currently competing in the eNASCAR Contender Series for Nexxus eSports headlines a Miller Racing free agent class that includes a former Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver (Jake Matheson) and a NASCAR Weekly Series driver (Vincent Cortez).

This team is extremely fast on paper, as their roster has the highest combined iRating in the field, but caution tells us that team owner Dawson Miller has made big silly season splashes before that have not essentially panned out. One of the more exciting teams to watch, as their projected finish among all teams in the garage varies widely. Miller will maybe rely on Travis Beckner more than they ever have, but Beckner has made the playoffs in every single year he’s been a Cup Driver, including 1 win, 4 Top 5’s and 8 Top 10’s last season.

5 - Fazekas Motorsports
Returning: Greg Mitchell (9th), Michael Kurhan (10th), Cameron Hearn (21st), Dom DiLeo (36th)

Fazekas Motorsports (“Team FM”) returns for its 4th straight season in Cup and makes no changes to its roster, despite many things going wrong last season. Cameron Hearn was the only Cup winner Team FM had in Season 4 (Bristol), but did not make the playoffs due to the 20th place points cut-off. Michael Kurhan missed a playoff race and didn’t make it through the first round of the playoffs, despite being Top 5 in Season 4 in both Top 5’s (4) and Top 10’s (10) in Season 4. Dom DiLeo missed 8 races.

Team FM did finish 5th in team points despite having an off-year, and their roster is surprisingly deep. Kurhan is 2nd behind Jake Nichols among active Cup drivers in average finish (10.87). Hearn is tied for the 5th most Cup wins of all time. DiLeo (14.12) and Mitchell (14.59) have both shown speed in their Cup careers. It’s not a surprise Team FM decided to run it back with the same 4 drivers, but they do have some to improve on if they want to make a jump to contender.

6 - Solid Rock Performance
Returning: Ryan Haartz (5th), Rafe Slate (20th), Connor Okrezsik (26th)
Added: Matthew Bell (n/a)
Lost: Ricky Springer (12th)

Solid Rock Performance (“SRP”) returns for their second season in the AREA Cup Series after finishing 4th in Season 4, which seemed like a bit of a disappointment given how strong the team was on paper. Ryan Haartz had 9 Top 5’s in 17 races, and barely missed out on competing for the drivers championship

Having a headliner like Haartz helps SRP every week, but the biggest storyline for this team is the moving on from Ricky Springer, who crashed out of the AREA Playoffs in Season 4 in dramatic and spectacular fashion. Springer’s antics in the playoffs aside, his speed will be a tough ask to replace. Slate and Okrezsik turn to Matthew Bell, who last raced in the Cup Series in Season 3 (earning five Top 10’s), to fill out the roster. SRP’s success will largely depend on how Bell (who finished in the Top 5 in a quarter of his Pro Series races) grows in his return to the Cup Series. But do not be surprised if Haartz, who among active Cup Series drivers has the third highest average finish (11.42) and the third most top 5’s (26), ends up carrying this team to a Top 3 finish.

7 - 609 Motorsports
Returning: Conor Horn (6th), Skyler Shackleford (31st), Jeremy Miller (33rd)
Added: Yousuf Ghaly (R)

609 Motorsports (“609”), Season 4’s rookie AREA Cup team, adds a 4th driver and looks to build on the success of their Rick’s Hot Sauce Rookie of the Year winner and 609 Motorsports team owner Conor Horn. Horn was an immediate force in the Cup Series, winning an early race at Dover before having a drama-filled exit in the playoffs in the Round of 8 and tallied 6 Top 5’s and 9 Top 10’s.

The team will look towards Skyler Shackelford and Jeremy Miller, who was also a part of that drama-filled exit that saw Ricky Springer with a new team and on probation, to build on their rookie seasons. 609 also adds Yousuf Ghaly to the impressive Season 5 class of AREA Cup series rookies.

8 - Jacob Bell Racing
Returning: Ed Robertson (17th), Jacob Bell (24th)
Added: Justin Anasogak (R), Casey Lakatos (R)
Lost: Jordan Martin (16th), Ryan Swann (37th)

Jacob Bell Racing (“JBR”) will likely relish this spot as an underdog, but they lost their best finishing driver from Season 4 in Jordan Martin. And while Ed Robertson and Jacob Bell are Cup Series veterans, they are on paper missing a top-end force on their roster that other teams on this list have.

What JBR did in the off-season was interesting – they looked to other AREA series to fill their spots, instead of getting talent from external sources. And historically, getting other AREA drivers who are successful in other AREA series has proved beneficial. Casey Lakatos will look to build on his Pre-Season AREA Shootout win from last week and carry that into his first Cup series season. Justin Anasogak has been on championship winning teams in other AREA series. Both Lakatos and Anasogak will look to take the step up to try and build this team in Season 5, and it will be interesting to see how the AREA free agents (JBR, SRP) vs. the external free agents (nearly everyone else) battle ends up.

9 - Powerhouse Racing
Added: Ricky Springer (12th - formerly Solid Rock Performance), Ben Pierce (22nd), Justin Bondurant (R), Alex Cummings (R)

Powerhouse Racing enters Season 5 as the Cup Series lone rookie team, but they immediately made a splash in signing Ricky Springer, who has finished in the Top 4 and Top 12 of the Cup playoffs in his two AREA seasons. Owner Ben Pierce ran as an open driver in Season 4, finishing in 22nd, so this team has a mix of both Cup veterans and free agents, which could prove helpful during the first Season in Cup series history that will see a relegation battle between nine four car teams.

Springer’s statistics can carry a roster, but like with all teams with unproven talents, the success of Powerhouse may indeed depend on its two rookies, Justin Bondurant and Alex Cummings.