AREA Cup Series Season 4 Preview, Team Power Rankings
AREA Cup Series
Season 4 Pre-Season Power Rankings
April 3, 2023
It’s a new season in the AREA iRacing Cup Series! Season 4 kicks off from Daytona International Speedway with the AREA 500 qualifying and duel races tonight. The top 43 drivers from qualifying day and duels will compete in the main event AREA 500 on April 10th, where they will have a chance to win a share of the $200 prize pool.
You can read more about the AREA 500 prize pool and special single car qualifying for this special event here.
There are currently eight (8) chartered teams in the Cup Series, which guarantees teams their spot in the AREA 500 and all Season 4 races, as well as allows them to compete amongst the other teams for the team points purse.
Season 3 saw Solar Flare Racing win the team points championship for the second season in a row. Jacob Bell Racing finished second, and Miller Racing finished third.
The main question in Season 4 – can anyone dethrone Jake Nichols and Solar Flare Racing? Our pre-season power rankings list below looks at all the new team and driver movement in the off-season, and will get you ready for an electric Season 4 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 (S3 - 1st), Tyler Nichols (15th), Delonta Ballard (16th)
Added: Nate Tretow (n/a)
Lost: Dwayne Culberson (18th)
The two-time team champions in Season 2 and Season 3 look to make it a three-peat in Season 4, and fellow competitors won’t like that their roster looks even stronger on paper. We obviously know about Jake Nichols, one of the most, if not the most, dominant drivers in AREA history to date, with 9 wins in the Cup Series just last year. Jake’s brother Tyler is no slouch with a playoff appearance in Season 2 on his resume. Delonta Ballard has shown speed over two seasons. But the big news for Solar Flare is that Nate Tretow, a 3-time race winner in Season 1 of AREA’s Cup Series, will take over for Dwayne Culberson, who had 1 Top 5 in 2 Seasons with Solar Flare. On paper, this looks great for the team. But will Tretow still have speed in the NextGen? And maybe more importantly, have other teams closed the gap on Solar Flare as a whole?
2 - Solid Rock Performance
Added: Ryan Haartz (3rd - formerly Jacob Bell Racing), Ricky Springer (4th), Rafe Slate (14th - formerly Fazekas Motorsports), Connor Okrezsik (42nd)
Solid Rock Performance (“SRP”) is a new team in the series, a joint venture between co-owners Rafe Slate, who finished 14th with Fazekas Motorsports in Season 3, and Ricky Springer, an open driver in Season 3 who was able to reach the Final Four on the heels of 3 wins at Atlanta, Talladega, and Indianapolis Road Course. SRP purchased their Cup Series charters from departing David Wiseheart Racing, but on the driver movement front, the headline grab for SRP was signing fellow Final Four competitor Ryan Haartz away from Jacob Bell Racing. Haartz, 5th among returning Cup Series team drivers in average finish at 10.19, gives SRP immediate credibility as a top competitor in the series. One of the biggest questions for SRP is how Connor Okreszik, who has an average starting position of 9.56 and an average finishing position of 22.50, will complete races now that he is racing for team points. But with having 2 of the Final 4 finishers from the previous season on the roster in Haartz and Springer, it’s hard not to put SRP 2nd on this list. Very fast on paper.
3 - Fazekas Motorsports
Returning: Dominic DiLeo (6th)
Added: Michael Kurhan (2nd), Greg Mitchell (13th), Cameron Hearn (n/a)
Lost: Rafe Slate (14th), Alan Ballachino (30th), Mark Patterson (34th)
Fazekas Motorsports (“Team FM”) returns for its 3rd straight season in Cup, but in this iteration, team owner Dom DiLeo has cleaned house. Team FM adds last years Auto Club race winner Michael Kurhan, a former open driver who finished 2nd overall in Season 3, and Greg Mitchell, who finished 13th overall in Season 3. The most intriguing roster move for Team FM, however, was signing still all-time AREA wins leader Cameron Hearn, who returns after a season off in the Cup Series. This team looks to be very well rounded, as Kurhan, Hearn and DiLeo are 2nd, 3rd, and 6th in highest average Cup Series finishes among returning team AREA Cup Series drivers. And don’t overlook Mitchell, who ended Season 2 in the Cup Series on a heater, with an average finish of 6.3 in the final 6 races. A sneaky contender.
4 - Miller Racing
Returning: Travis Beckner (5th), Garrett Grant (17th), Seth Noell (23rd)
Added: Cosmin Ioanesiu (10th - formerly Last Charter Racing)
Lost: Andrew Player (20th)
Team Owner Dawson Miller switches his Cup stable to Toyota due to signing Dean Thompson, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver, in the AREA Truck Series. But at the Cup level, last season’s AREA 500 winner Travis Beckner headlines a solid roster of drivers. Cosmin Ionasieu joins the Miller Racing squad a season after a playoff appearance from now defunct Last Charter Racing, and looks to continue that success alongside stable AREA veteran Garrett Grant and dark horse Seth Noell, who had 3 Top 5’s in Season 3. The success of Miller looks to hinge on Season 3’s Most Improved Driver Award winner Beckner and if he can take that next step in Season 4 only a season removed from just missing out on the Final Four.
5 - Lucky Ducks Motorsports
Returning: Douglas Newbigging (21st), Michael Sturgill (26th)
Added: James Scioly (9th - formerly David Wiseheart Racing), Cedrick Hunter (R)
Lost: Gabriel Ellison (7th), Aaron Smith II (36th)
Lucky Ducks Motorsports and Team Owner John Peele shake things up in their second season in the Cup Series, adding two-time Cup Series race winner James Scioly as a headliner to put its first AREA Cup winner on its roster. Normally, this would bump them up in the pre-season power rankings, but Lucky Ducks also lost Gabriel Ellison, who was an Elite Eight contender last season, and Aaron Smith II, who had two Top 5’s in 9 races last season. Scioly is faster than the 9th place finish in Season 3 indicates, as he has 22 career Cup Series Top 5’s - tied for 3rd place all-time. The key for Lucky Ducks this season is how Douglas Newbigging and Michael Sturgill improve in their second AREA Cup Series season, as well as how rookie Cedrick Hunter (4525 iRating) performs.
6 - Jacob Bell Racing
Returning: Jordan Martin (19th), Ed Robertson (24th), Jacob Bell (28th)
Added: Ryan Swann (39th - formerly Sky Motorsports)
Lost: Ryan Haartz (3rd)
Undoubtedly the team the lost the most on paper in the offseason, Jacob Bell Racing (“JBR”) will head into Season 4 without Ryan Haartz, who signed with SRP. Even though JBR finished second in team points in Season 3, low expectations may help this iteration of the JBR squad, as they do have drivers with wins at the AREA Cup level (Ed Robertson with 2; Jordan Martin with 1), which is a higher total than some of the teams above them on this list. Superspeedways might be key to this team’s spot in the standings, as self-proclaimed plate track guru Ryan Swann is actually pretty keen at getting results on large tracks, with wins at Talladega in other AREA series and a 4th place in the Season 3 AREA 500. It will be an uphill climb for JBR without Haartz, but Season 3 AREA Team of The Year Award winner has surprised before.
7 - Buie Esports
Returning: Chris Rabel (22nd), Brandon Six (44th)
Added: Nick Silver (R), Frankie Barroso (R)
Lost: Brandon Buie (33rd)
Keepin It Real Esports expands and rebrands as Buie Esports in their second AREA Cup Series season, and they bring a driver lineup that is sneaky fast in the limited races that they did run in Season 3. Chris Rabel headlines the team off of 6 Top 10’s in 13 races last season; if Rabel ran a full slate of races, he may have been a playoff driver. Brandon Six won a pole and finished 3rd at Iowa, but that was the only race he did not miss or end in a DNF in Season 3. Nick Silver (4363 iRating) and Frankie Barroso (3079 iRating) are the rookies that fill out Buie’s roster, and a lot will be riding on their shoulders if this team wants to compete.
8 - 609 Motorsports
Added: Connor Horn (R), Jeremy Miller (R), Skyler Shackelford (R)
The second new team and only three car team on this list, 609 Motorsports is the brainchild of Conor Horn, and the 609 is an ode to Horn’s South Jersey roots. They slot in 8th only because they are the only team with all AREA rookies this season. Conor Horn (6185 iRating) enters the series with the highest iRating among rookies, and has race winning experience in Virtual Racing League, RealSimRacing, and Norse Force Racing League. Skyler Schackelford (4935 iRating) and Jeremy Miller join Horn as teammates, and they have all been former teammates at Harambone Racing.
