Lowe, Wood Brothers Conquer eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Action in Kansas

Images via Justin Melillo

Garrett Lowe snapped a nearly three-year eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series win drought on Tuesday night, taking the checkered flag in a high-attrition 100-lapper from Kansas Speedway. The Wood Brothers Racing driver used four fresh tires to put himself in the fight for the lead, before holding off a late charge from Daytona winner Femi Olatunbosun of Clint Bowyer Racing, to score the second victory of his eNASCAR career and punch a ticket into the 2022 series playoffs.

Many Kansas races in years past have come down to fuel mileage, with an average of just two or three cautions, but the field hit that quota before the halfway point of the race—and no level of talent was spared. Two-time 2022 winners and past series champions Michael Conti and Nick Ottinger were caught up in the same incident early in the race; four-time champion Ray Alfalla spun on his own to cause a caution before the halfway point. Defending champion Keegan Leahy, 2021 runner-up Logan Clampitt, and multi-time Championship 4 finalist Bobby Zalenski all had issues of their own.

The incident that collected both Clampitt and Zalenski started when championship frontrunners Graham Bowlin and Steven Wilson, the latter of whom had led 38 laps earlier in the race, came together, giving Wilson damage that took him out of the late running for the win. A few laps after the subsequent restart, four new tires would allow Lowe to reel in the leaders after they took two, and when Bowlin went to block Lowe the way he’d blocked Wilson, he’d end up in the wall himself the second time. The last wreck collected both Bowlin’s Charlotte Phoenix teammate, Kollin Keister, and polesitter Mitchell deJong of 23XI.

Controlling the final restart, Lowe would time the green flag perfectly, while the field split deJong’s battered car as it restarted from the second row. Olatunbosun would get past XSET’s Casey Kirwan for second, but the two couldn’t link up quickly enough to go for the top spot. Lowe’s win marked the first for the Wood Brothers in their fourth season of eNASCAR competition, and his first since Michigan in August 2019.

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

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts

12821Garrett LoweWood Brothers Racing1000.0001030.78640
21479Femi OlatunbosunClint Bowyer Racing100-0.381030.79235
31195Casey KirwanXSET100-1.117130.70934
43419Vicente SalasWilliams eSports100-1.118030.79533
51220Donovan StraussWilliams eSports100-1.187030.85832
6245Zack NovakRise eSports100-1.529031.03431
71033Taylor HurstTeam Dillon Esports100-1.572030.98930
8219Michael GuestJim Beaver eSports100-1.561030.90129
9352Liam BrothertonElliot Sadler eSports100-1.715031.10228
102288Briar LaPraddJR Motorsports100-1.892031.00527
11257Malik RayiRacing Motorsports100-2.073030.89326
122651Ray AlfallaJoe Gibbs Racing100-2.144031.03225
131546Jimmy MullisRise eSports100-2.221031.00124
143131Garrett ManesElliot Sadler eSports100-2.422031.08523
15203Corey VincentTeam Dillon Esports100-2.549331.08422
16975Matt BussaMode Motorsports100-2.683030.97321
1758Michael ContiJR Motorsports100-2.820030.99820
182341Dylan DuvalStewart Haas Racing100-2.811031.06219
19345Keegan Leahy23XI100-3.123030.94318
20123Mitchell deJong23XI100-3.4752130.76817
212715Blake ReynoldsJim Beaver eSports100-3.703031.02416
223812Derek JustisiRacing Motorsports100-3.872031.02815
23810Steven WilsonStewart Haas Racing100-3.9513830.81914
24326Parker RetzlaffRoush Fenway Keselowski100-4.143031.08313
25364Ryan LuzaXSET100-4.152030.94512
263714Nickolas SheltonClint Bowyer Racing100-4.181031.14911
273016Blade WhittWood Brothers Racing100-4.199031.09910
28724Cody ByusMode Motorsports100-6.714031.0109
293336Brian MercurioLetarte Esports100-13.938031.1158
30425Nick OttingerWilliam Byron eSports99-1L030.9777
311842Darik BourdeaueRacr92-8L030.7746
321943Kollin KeisterCharlotte Phoenix92-8L030.9055
331648Graham A. BowlinCharlotte Phoenix91DNF2330.7644
342917Kaden HoneycuttRoush Fenway Keselowski85-15L031.1003
35618Bobby ZalenskiJoe Gibbs Racing79-21L430.9672
36297Logan ClampittWilliam Byron eSports78-22L030.9351
373969Collin BowdeneRacr43DNF031.0041
381740Dylan AultLetarte Esports35DNF031.2051
391355Allen BoesSpace Station Gaming25DNF031.1281

 

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

  1. Femi Olatunbosun, 203
  2. Nick Ottinger, 199
  3. Steven Wilson, 198
  4. Matt Bussa, 179
  5. Casey Kirwan, 178
  6. Blake Reynolds, 169
  7. Taylor Hurst, 168
  8. Corey Vincent, 162
  9. Michael Guest, 158
  10. Michael Conti, 157

The 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series resumes in two weeks’ time at Charlotte Motor Speedway for one of its staple events the week before Memorial Day. Broadcast coverage begins on Tuesday, May 24 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.

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.