Wagner Masters Magic Mile: Late-Race Luck Delivers Lotus 79 Triumph

Loudon, NH — Matt Wagner turned a bizarre stroke of bad luck into his first career Lotus 79 victory, capturing Round 3 of the Sim Gaming Expo ISR Retro Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In a grueling 75-minute battle of strategy and endurance, Wagner overcame early damage and out-sequenced the field at the “Magic Mile” to steal the spotlight from the early-season favorites.

The vintage 17-car grid was led to the green flag by championship front-runner David Sirois, with Wagner lining up right alongside on the front row. The opening laps were instantly intense as Wagner brushed the outside wall, though he escaped without terminal damage. Behind them, the mid-pack exploded into three-wide action as Richie Hearn, Justin Kirby, and Michael Goodman went wheel-to-wheel. Hearn survived the squeeze to claim fifth, while Craig Forsythe stealthily advanced into third.

As the first stint settled, the flat, fast circuit made passing incredibly difficult. Drivers began searching for grip in the second lane to find momentum off the corners. At the tail end, Lionel “Little Train” Calisto qualified dead last and stayed there early, gambling on an aggressive, fuel-saving two-stop strategy. Meanwhile, Matt Taylor was putting on a clinic, methodically slicing his way forward from the 12th starting spot.

The race’s primary turning point arrived when a collision involving Justin Kirby triggered a crucial caution flag. Sirois led a mass migration down pit lane for fuel and fresh rubber. Wagner and Sirois went nose-to-tail in a frantic exit off pit road, while Goodman execution allowed him to leapfrog up into fourth. On the restart, Taylor continued his charge by blowing past Goodman for fifth, while Calisto’s patience paid off as he cracked the top 10.

Strategy went out the window as teams calculated that a full fuel stint would last roughly 55 laps, making the final stop timing critical. Sirois attempted an aggressive undercut by pulling into the pits early. The gamble backfired completely, dropping the dominant leader to fourth behind Wagner, Taylor, and Forsythe.

Then came the bizarre twist that decided the race. Wagner was slapped with a mechanical meatball flag, forcing him down pit road for an unscheduled stop. However, the penalty became a blessing in disguise; his crew applied a quick repair and filled his tank out of sequence. While the rest of the field spent the final minutes desperately saving fuel, Wagner was free to run flat-out.

Cristobal Valenzuela inherited the lead late and tried to stretch his fuel mileage to the end, but the tank ran dry, forcing him to pit with just minutes remaining. Wagner inherited the point and cruise across the line to lock down his breakthrough victory over Forsythe, who admitted to losing ground by missing his target on a short-fill pit stop. Despite leading 97 laps earlier in the event, Sirois salvaged a third-place finish to keep his podium streak alive. Goodman and Alex Guyon completed the top five, while Calisto suffered late-race heartbreak when his simulator froze solid during his final pit stop.