Faulkingham puts Maine at Machias in eNASCAR College iRacing Series Victory Lane at Daytona

Class is back in session for the eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague. The 2023-24 campaign kicked off with a trip to Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday night, where 40 of the top collegiate iRacers were set to battle for scholarship funds as well as points towards the championship in this first full academic calendar year.

It took four extra laps in eNASCAR Overtime, but when the dust cleared, University of Maine at Machias’ Daniel Faulkingham stood atop the podium as the winner of the opening round by only 0.015 seconds over St. Charles Community College student Anthony Burroughs. They were the only two to fully escape the chaos of the final lap, making the fight to the finish a matter of who was able to side draft who at the right time coming to the line.

Arizona State’s Garrett Viton escaped the wreckage to finish third, nearly five seconds behind the battle for the lead. Spring 2023 champion Logan Clampitt, now representing California State University Fullerton, recovered to finish fourth while St. Johns River State College Freshman Alexander Heider came home fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Brandon Shulenberger (Wingate), Austin Farr (Liberty), Mario Merenda (Oklahoma), Caden Mobley-Kelly (Florida Memorial University) and Matthew L Morton (Ohio State Newark). The top 10 finishers in the A-Main event all receive scholarship winnings, with Faulkingham collecting a cool $1,000, trickling down from there to Morton taking home $100 in 10th.

Mississippi State University’s JT Poole led the field to the green flag with Clampitt alongside. For the first stage of the event, the drivers kept things gridlocked at two-wide, with the high line prevailing at times and new faces finding their way up front. About a quarter of the way through the 60-lap scheduled distance, a third lane formed with Austin Green, a Meteorology student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach, taking control of the race. Pensacola State’s Benjamin White, Oklahoma’s Mario Merenda, and San Jacinto College student Abraham Vela also found their way to the top of the charts through managing the lines.

On Lap 21, it all came unraveled at the front of the pack and the first caution flew. Liberty University Business major RP Allen was three-wide in the middle of the second row when he lost control of his car following contact with Merenda in the top lane. The incident included a few hopefuls, including Vela, Chris Treppa from Lawrence Technological University, and Jack Coyne, representing Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

When the field went back green, it was Chattahoochee Technical College freshman Drew Jewah on point, but it didn’t take long for two familiar names to find their way into the conversation. Burroughs managed to push to the front of the field with help from Liam Sheen, once again racing for University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Sheen, the defending winner of the race from the spring semester, was in prime position to take another one at the World Center of Racing. But the pair would need to get through White and also stave off University of North Carolina – Charlotte senior Garrett Lowe, who will be racing for $100,000 next week at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC as an eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Championship 4 competitor.

The final stint of the race started to see some desperation, and in turn, some wild incidents. Lowe wound up on the wrong end of things after contact with Drexel’s Jason Walat on Lap 42, which brought out the second caution of the night. Morton ended up backwards in the middle of the pack a few laps later for the third caution of the night, and Liberty University’s Austin Farr got caught up in chaos with St Johns River State’s Alexander Heider on the ensuing restart. The field was thinning out, but there were still plenty of drivers who could take glory by the end of the night.

A final caution between Walat and Bergen Community College student Bryan Liranzo set up what would be the first of three possible attempts at eNASCAR Overtime. The field had White up front, but University at Maine at Machias Business senior Daniel Faulkingham, a rookie eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series competitor this season for Joe Gibbs Racing, was also in the conversation on the front row of what would be the final restart. After the field successfully made it to the white flag, it all came undone in Turn 1. White was turned in front of the field, and nearly every car in the pack was collected. Faulkingham and Burroughs were the two survivors, leaning on one another for the entirety of the final lap. Faulkingham timed the run perfectly and claimed the victory, his first in the series. White fell from being in contention to finishing 20th when it was all said and over with.

eNASCAR College iRacing Series 2023-24 Season Race 1 results from Daytona were as follows:

Next up for the eNASCAR College iRacing Series is a date with Charlotte Motor Speedway. Qualifying begins later this month, on September 27, and lasts through October 10. The race itself is scheduled for Tuesday, October 17 and it once again will stream live on Tuesday at 8PM ET on eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.

The eNASCAR College iRacing Series Powered by NACE Starleague is supported by Coca-Cola, Logitech G, and DBOX. For more information on the series and how to compete, visit https://playfly.com/enascar-college-iracing-series/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

About the Series: The eNASCAR College iRacing Series gives college students from the United States and Canada the opportunity to compete for their share of $60,000 in scholarships. Using machines from the NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 40 drivers qualify for the event by registering here and posting their fastest lap times in a two-week Time Attack through the iRacing UI. With hundreds of colleges and universities represented in each Time Attack and only one representative per school, drivers are competing not only against the greater iRacing community, but also their own classmates, for a spot on the prestigious grid.

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