Kollin Keister Wins First eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Race in Charlotte

May 13th, 2020 by

Roush Fenway Racing’s Kollin Keister put the perfect mix of speed and pit strategy to use in Tuesday night’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series action, becoming the 52nd winner in series history when he took the checkered flag in the Coca-Cola 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The series rookie pulled away from the field in the race’s closing stages, leading a race-high 84 of 200 laps to take the win in just his first career start.

Charlotte saw a return to the high-caliber racing of the series’ opening rounds, as just one early caution for contact between Phil Diaz and Dylan Duval slowed the field. With Charlotte serving as the longest race of the season, those 192 green flag laps meant that whichever driver nailed the strategy best would likely find himself in victory lane. Some drivers relied on saving fuel in hopes of a late-race caution giving them track position, while others planned around a three-stop strategy and looked to turn as many fast laps as possible. JR Motorsports’ Michael Conti led 75 laps, second most in the field, before shuffling back to 16th at the finish.

In the end, it was Keister who shuffled into the lead for the first time at Lap 104, and for good a second time on Lap 151. Unfazed by points leader Ryan Luza of Williams Esports in his rear view mirror, the series rookie—who had missed the previous round at Dover International Speedway—drove a smooth and consistent final stint, extending his lead to just under two and a half seconds at the finish. He continued a streak dating back to 2010 where Charlotte has produced a different winner every season, and became the fourth driver to earn his first career victory at the track.

Wood Brothers driver Garrett Lowe added yet another top five finish to a stellar 2020 campaign so far, getting around Luza for second, while front row starters Graham Bowlin and Keegan Leahy completed the top five, with Leahy climbing to second in points behind Luza in the process. 28 of the 40 starters finished the race on the lead lap.

Results from Tuesday’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Coca-Cola 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Manufacturer

Laps

Led

Interval

Best Lap

Pts
1 8 17 Kollin Keister Ford 200 84 0 28.691 45
2 17 21 Garrett Lowe Ford 200 0 -2.457 28.682 39
3 12 53 Ryan Michael Luza Ford 200 12 -2.757 28.672 39
4 2 18 Graham A. Bowlin Toyota 200 0 -4.625 28.872 37
5 1 32 Keegan Leahy Toyota 200 28 -5.406 28.692 37
6 18 27 Corey Vincent Ford 200 0 -6.519 28.849 35
7 31 88 Brad Davies Chevrolet 200 0 -8.561 28.72 34
8 25 9 Eric J. Smith Ford 200 0 -8.618 28.76 33
9 29 10 Justin Bolton Ford 200 0 -9.423 28.823 32
10 11 23 Casey Kirwan Toyota 200 0 -10.841 28.815 31
11 14 51 Malik Ray Toyota 200 0 -11.59 28.842 30
12 10 83 Bobby Zalenski Chevrolet 200 0 -12.996 28.829 29
13 19 15 Michael Guariglia Ford 200 0 -13.77 28.873 28
14 32 24 Jake Nichols Ford 200 0 -15.843 28.797 27
15 24 2 Ray Alfalla Chevrolet 200 0 -16.074 28.879 26
16 15 8 Michael Conti Chevrolet 200 75 -17.008 28.574 26
17 30 46 Jimmy Mullis Toyota 200 0 -20.74 28.806 24
18 5 6 Nathan Lyon Ford 200 0 -20.949 28.799 23
19 35 97 John Gorlinsky Chevrolet 200 0 -21.393 28.656 22
20 20 99 Logan Clampitt Toyota 200 0 -22.269 28.582 21
21 36 42 Bob Bryant Chevrolet 200 0 -22.32 28.655 20
22 9 55 Caine Cook Ford 200 0 -22.737 28.765 19
23 4 36 Chris Shearburn Chevrolet 200 0 -26.296 28.717 18
24 6 33 Michael Guest Chevrolet 200 0 -30.617 28.894 17
25 3 66 Jarl Teien Chevrolet 200 0 -30.659 28.828 16
26 16 77 Ashton Crowder Toyota 200 0 -31.359 28.736 15
27 34 14 Brandon Hayse Kettelle Ford 200 1 -38.207 28.756 15
28 33 1 Steve Sheehan Chevrolet 200 0 -46.267 28.645 13
29 23 37 Christian Challiner Chevrolet 199 0 -1 L 28.68 12
30 38 47 Jeremy R Allen Chevrolet 199 0 -1 L 28.612 11
31 13 54 Alex McCollum Chevrolet 199 0 -1 L 28.732 10
32 7 3 Blake Reynolds Chevrolet 199 0 -1 L 28.982 9
33 27 41 Dylan Duval Ford 199 0 -1 L 28.825 8
34 40 5 Matt Bussa Ford 198 0 -2 L 28.907 7
35 39 90 Zack Novak Toyota 198 0 -2 L 28.989 6
36 28 16 Chris Overland Ford 197 0 -3 L 28.864 5
37 22 75 Phillip Diaz Ford 197 0 -3 L 28.984 4
38 21 4 Santiago Tirres Chevrolet 195 0 -5 L 29.081 3
39 26 25 Nick Ottinger Chevrolet 191 0 -9 L 28.941 2
40 37 79 Brian Schoenburg Ford 43 0 -157 L 29.007 1

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

  1. Ryan Luza, 247
  2. Keegan Leahy, 227
  3. Bobby Zalenski, 224
  4. Garrett Lowe, 213
  5. Brad Davies, 199
  6. Michael Conti, 196
  7. Graham Bowlin, 190
  8. Nick Ottinger, 189
  9. Jake Nichols, 176
  10. John Gorlinsky, 173

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series returns to action on Friday, May 29 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, moving from its normal Tuesday race date to accommodate real-world NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series racing at Charlotte. Williams Esports’ Matt Bussa is the most recent Atlanta winner, having taken the checkered flag in the series’ last visit to the track in 2018. The race can be seen at 9PM ET at eNASCAR.com/live. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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