Vargas Recovers From Late-Race Crash to Take DBOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series Win at Daytona

As far as wins go in the DBOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series powered by Digital Motorsports, Ryan Vargas may have scored the most unique one in series history on Sunday. He spent plenty of laps up front at Daytona International Speedway, but after a late-race accident, came from ninth to first in overtime to take the checkered flag in thrilling fashion.

Vargas, a NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduate who has spent much of the past few seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, joined the International Series grid in one of its most exciting events yet. Instead of running in its usual Tuesday time slot, the race was shifted to Sunday to be a part of the ADAC SimRacing Expo in Nuremberg, Germany. NASCAR Pinty’s Series driver and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park race winner Treyten Lapcevich flew to the event to compete from the expo floor, and the race was shifted to the Daytona oval to become the first superspeedway race in series history.

Miguel Gomes would take the pole ahead of Lapcevich and Vargas and lead the 18-car field to green for the 50-lap race. Despite a handful of cautions along the way, that group would spend most of the race towards the front of the field, combining to lead more than half the laps; Las Vegas winner Victor Barrales Jr., CTMP runner-up Paul Jouffreau, and Justin Campbell would also spend time at the front of the field.

The fourth and final caution of the race, for a massive wreck that collected most of the top cars and sent Vargas airborne, would set the stage for a thrilling finish. Campbell and Lapcevich would lead the field to green with Vargas in ninth, but he’d dice his way through the field to get to first before reaching the white flag. Gomes would push through the field from sixth to get back into a podium spot, but would fall just .028 seconds short of nipping Vargas for the win at the line, with Lapcevich coming home third from Germany.

DBOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series powered by Digital Motorsports results from Daytona International Speedway were as follows:

DBOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series powered by Digital Motorsports points through three rounds are as follows:

1. Treyten Lapcevich, 105
2. Victor Barrales, 96
3. Jake Cosio, 95
4. Jean-Philippe Bergeron, 88
5. Miguel Gomes, 86
6. Giorgio Maggi, 83
7. Paul Jouffreau, 83
8. Ulysse Delsaux, 83
9. Gil Linster, 76
10. Gordon Barnes, 71

The next DBOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series powered by Digital Motorsports round returns to road course racing with a visit to Circuit Zolder, home to the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series since 2015. The race will take place on Tuesday, December 13 at 6PM ET, airing on eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.

For more information on the DBOX eNASCAR International iRacing Series powered by Digital Motorsports, visit www.enascar.com/international. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, including the 2022 Black Friday sale, visit www.iracing.com.

Image via Justin Melillo

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