Luza Spoils Playoff Party in eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Action at Bristol

When the green flag falls on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs each year, attention inevitably shifts to the 10 drivers who make the cut. Each fall, that group has three opportunities to secure a race win—something most of them have already done to earn their playoff spot anyway—and secure a Championship 4 spot heading into the final round.

Somebody forgot to remind XSET’s Ryan Luza of all that on Tuesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. The former series champion missed this year’s playoff cut, but he ensured that he won’t have a winless season for the first time in his eNASCAR career after scoring his 17^th career victory under the lights thanks to the right pit strategy in the closing laps. On four fresh tires, Luza made quick work of those who stayed out for track position after the final green flag flew, and came home ahead of Cody Byus for Kyle Long’s Mode Motorsports and four-time series champion Ray Alfalla of Joe Gibbs Racing for the win.

Defending eNASCAR champion Keegan Leahy of 23XI led every lap at Bristol last year to punch his Championship 4 ticket, and qualified on pole again on Tuesday before leading the first 101 laps. It wasn’t until the second caution of the race, one that included multiple playoff drivers, that Leahy finally gave up the top spot to playoff driver Bobby Zalenski of Joe Gibbs Racing. Zalenski would lead through multiple cautions as well before Charlotte Phoenix driver Kollin Keister took the lead on Lap 139.

The fifth and final caution was the biggest one of the night, collecting most of the playoff drivers who hadn’t already taken damage and even putting a few others through their second wreck of the night. Keister, Zalenski, and Williams Esports’ Vicente Salas led those who stayed out, while Byus took two tires and Luza led those who took four. It took Luza less than 10 laps from the green flag to pass the nine cars ahead of him, with Byus and Alfalla settling into second and third soon after. Jim Beaver eSports driver Blake Reynolds made a late pass on Wood Brothers Racing driver Garrett Lowe for fourth, but Lowe remained the top playoff driver in the results as he came home fifth. Only Lowe and points leader Steven Wilson of Stewart-Haas eSports scored top 10s among the playoff drivers in the field.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Bristol Motor Speedway were as follows:

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series points after 15 rounds are as follows:

1. Steven Wilson, 2036
2. Garrett Lowe, 2035
3. Graham Bowlin, 2029
4. Michael Conti, 2026
5. Bobby Zalenski, 2021
6. Femi Olatunbosun, 2019
7. Casey Kirwan, 2018
8. Nick Ottinger, 2013
9. Matt Bussa, 2012
10. Mitchell deJong, 2007

The 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series playoffs continue in two weeks with a visit to Talladega Superspeedway. Broadcast coverage begins on Tuesday, September 27 at 8:30PM ET with Countdown to Green before the 9PM ET green flag. Live coverage of all the action can be seen at enascar.com/live. The season will culminate with a live, in-person event from the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte on October 25, with the Championship 4, commentary team, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all in attendance.

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.

Images via Justin Melillo

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