Casey Kirwan passes Malik Ray in final moments to win eNASCAR at Talladega

April 19th, 2023 by

With the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series taking on Talladega Superspeedway for the sixth race of the 2023 season, it marked the first time that all 40 drivers would be on the same fixed setup in a points-paying race. Fixed setup or not, the ending to The Biggie Bag $5.00 presented by Wendy’s came down to pure skill and determination as Casey Kirwan willed his XSET Chevrolet just ahead of Collin Bowden’s eRacr machine, giving him just enough of a boost to best Jim Beaver Esports’ Malik Ray at the line by 0.036 seconds.

The victory marks Kirwan’s fourth in series history, but more importantly, it’s his first of the 2023 season which all but guarantees his place in the 2023 eNASCAR Playoffs later down the road. The victory propelled Kirwan into the fourth position in the points standings as he joins JR Motorsports’ Michael Conti, Team Dillon Esports’ Tucker Minter, Stewart-Haas Esports’ Steven Wilson and two-time winner on the season, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bobby Zalenski as now the fifth driver all-but-locked into the championship hunt.

In the race, eRacr’s Kollin Keister, sporting Wendy’s new Blueberry Pomegranate Lemonade drink on the hood, took the pole position alongside Rise Esports driver Zack Novak, who would be sporting a paint scheme similar to the one that NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. drove to his final career victory in 2000. From the moment Barney dropped the green flag, the racing action was fierce as drivers opted to take most every run that was presented to them.

This led to a total of 36 lead changes among 15 drivers, with even more drivers taking the lead that were unable to hold it across the finish line for official scoring. Things were competitive and changing fast around the 2.66-mile venue in Lincoln, AL. There was a total of six caution flags, the biggest one of which came first on lap 31. At least a third of the field was collected in the initial pileup, but all 39 drivers would continue on at that point.

The race was extended a lap for eNASCAR Overtime following the sixth and final caution of the evening. After barely making it back around to the white flag, the race would end under green conditions no matter what. Ray had the lead with a push from Bourdeau and Bowlin. Those two would wreck in the tri-oval, leaving Ray alone and out to dry as the others closed in coming to the checkers. Kirwan somehow made the right moves and can now breathe easier with getting his first win of the season out of the way early.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Talladega Superspeedway were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts
1 25 95 Casey Kirwan XSET 71 0.000 11 47.716 40
2 23 7 Malik Ray Jim Beaver eSports 71 -0.036 9 47.691 35
3 35 69 Collin Bowden eRacr 71 -0.066 6 47.487 34
4 26 20 Wyatt Tinsley Kansas City Pioneers 71 -0.104 0 47.417 33
5 1 42 Kollin Keister eRacr 71 -0.201 0 47.823 32
6 3 2 Corey Vincent Pittsburgh Knights 71 -0.201 1 47.923 31
7 14 45 Michael Guest 23XI 71 -0.243 0 47.659 30
8 30 41 Dylan Duval Stewart-Haas Racing 71 -0.250 2 47.912 29
9 22 17 Kaden Honeycutt RFK Racing 71 -0.384 0 47.901 28
10 17 97 Matt Bussa William Byron eSports 71 -0.413 0 47.975 27
11 18 3 Jordy Lopez Jr Team Dillon eSports 71 -0.432 0 47.919 26
12 6 8 Michael Conti JR Motorsports 71 -0.732 6 47.885 25
13 4 12 Garrett Manes fgrAccel 71 -0.913 3 47.878 24
14 29 36 Brandon McKissic LETARTE eSports 71 -1.151 0 48.065 23
15 19 66 Tyler Garey Tony Kanaan Esports 71 -1.198 0 47.970 22
16 32 27 Cody Byus Elliott Sadler eSports 71 -1.242 0 47.667 21
17 11 25 Nick Ottinger William Byron eSports 71 -1.267 6 47.647 20
18 39 14 Joey Brown fgrAccel 71 -1.418 0 47.385 19
19 10 51 Donovan Strauss Williams eSports 71 -1.680 0 47.717 18
20 21 15 Garrett Lowe Jim Beaver eSports 71 -1.682 0 47.530 17
21 31 6 Timmy Holmes RFK Racing 71 -1.693 0 47.854 16
22 15 18 Bobby Zalenski Joe Gibbs Racing 71 -1.758 1 47.822 15
23 7 38 Michael Cosey Jr Front Row Motorsports 71 -1.976 1 47.769 14
24 33 34 Allen Boes Front Row Motorsports 71 -2.252 0 47.404 13
25 37 10 Steven Wilson Stewart-Haas Racing 71 -2.298 0 48.090 12
26 12 31 Derek Justis Kansas City Pioneers 71 -3.036 2 48.052 11
27 38 55 Vicente Salas Williams eSports 71 -3.278 2 47.435 10
28 20 11 Parker White Tony Kanaan Esports 71 -3.559 0 47.768 9
29 24 23 Keegan Leahy 23XI 71 -3.571 0 47.729 8
30 5 33 Tucker Minter Team Dillon eSports 71 -3.657 0 47.917 7
31 27 48 Graham A. Bowlin Charlotte Phoenix 71 -5.133 10 48.082 6
32 34 1 Darik Bourdeau Elliott Sadler eSports 71 -5.387 0 47.667 5
33 36 88 Kevin King JR Motorsports 71 -7.942 0 47.667 4
34 8 4 Ryan Luza XSET 71 -16.316 1 47.710 3
35 13 40 Dylan Ault LETARTE eSports 71 -18.638 0 47.871 2
36 16 46 Jimmy Mullis Rise eSports 71 -23.652 0 48.074 1
37 2 75 Zack Novak Rise eSports 66 -5L 10 47.807 1
38 28 54 Daniel Faulkingham Joe Gibbs Racing 65 -6L 0 47.861 1
39 9 77 Ryan Doucette Pittsburgh Knights 57 -14L 0 48.143 1

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series points through six rounds are as follows:

  1. Michael Conti, 170, 1 win
  2. Nick Ottinger, 160
  3. Bobby Zalenski, 159, 2 wins
  4. Casey Kirwan, 158, 1 win
  5. Graham Bowlin, 151
  6. Michael Cosey Jr., 148
  7. Tucker Minter, 147, 1 win
  8. Jordy Lopez Jr., 145
  9. Malik Ray, 138
  10. Keegan Leahy, 135

Back to its normal two-week breaks, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will return with open setups once again for the 1.5-mile tri-oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Race coverage will start on Tuesday, May 2 at 9 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live. The Countdown to Green, now presented by Wendy’s, kicks off the festivities off at 8:30 p.m. ET as usual.

For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit www.enascar.com or www.iracing.com/enascar. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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