Images via Justin Melillo
For the second year in a row at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Malik Ray took a gamble to stay out front, but a different eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series veteran would end up in the winner’s circle. Matt Bussa returned Kyle Long’s Mode Motorsports to the winner’s circle for the second year in a row on Tuesday night, taking the Coca-Cola 150 after saving just enough fuel to cross the finish line and Justholding off former series champion Zack Novak of Rise Esports.
While this year’s event was shorter than previous eNASCAR rounds at Charlotte, it still ended up being a fuel mileage race thanks to just two cautions in the first 30 laps of the race. Outside polesitter Collin Bowden of eRacr spun on lap 24, collecting 2021 series runner-up Logan Clampitt of William Byron eSports and RFK Racing’s Parker Retzlaff, and Retzlaff’s teammate Kaden Honeycutt took rear contact to spin on the subsequent restart and bring out another yellow, but the race stayed clean and green from there.
As a result, the question became whether or not drivers should pit under green flag conditions, or attempt to hold out. Polesitter Michael Conti of JR Motorsports dominated the race before pitting on lap 70, leading the pack of drivers who gambled on fresh tires and refueling, while XSET’s Casey Kirwan pit 10 laps later. That enabled Ray to inherit the lead after running in the top 10 all night, and just like last year, he’d take it into the final stages of the race.
But a group of drivers committed to the same gamble, led by Bussa, Novak, and points leader Steven Wilson of Stewart-Haas eSports, saved enough to chase Ray down in the last few laps. Bussa was the first to get by on lap 96, and Ray pit a lap later. But that didn’t leave enough time for Novak, who had three more laps of fuel than Bussa, to get past, and Bussa would hang on for the win before his car ran out of fuel on the cool-down lap. Wilson’s fuel tank would run dry a little earlier, enabling Michael Guest of Jim Beaver eSports to take third and put his team back atop the team standings.
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from the Coca-Cola 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Name | Team | Laps | Interval | Led | Best | Pts |
| 1 | 28 | 75 | Matt Bussa | Mode Motorsports | 100 | 0.000 | 5 | 30.077 | 40 |
| 2 | 34 | 5 | Zack Novak | Rise eSports | 100 | -0.366 | 0 | 30.036 | 35 |
| 3 | 6 | 9 | Michael Guest | Jim Beaver eSports | 100 | -0.885 | 0 | 30.019 | 34 |
| 4 | 19 | 46 | Jimmy Mullis | Rise eSports | 100 | -4.327 | 0 | 29.933 | 33 |
| 5 | 33 | 51 | Ray Alfalla | Joe Gibbs Racing | 100 | -4.491 | 0 | 29.929 | 32 |
| 6 | 3 | 10 | Steven Wilson | Stewart Haas Racing | 100 | -5.068 | 0 | 29.853 | 31 |
| 7 | 22 | 31 | Garrett Manes | Elliot Sadler eSports | 100 | -6.124 | 0 | 29.995 | 30 |
| 8 | 4 | 45 | Keegan Leahy | 23XI | 100 | -6.358 | 0 | 29.862 | 29 |
| 9 | 20 | 18 | Bobby Zalenski | Joe Gibbs Racing | 100 | -6.807 | 0 | 29.952 | 28 |
| 10 | 32 | 21 | Garrett Lowe | Wood Brothers Racing | 100 | -7.646 | 0 | 30.075 | 27 |
| 11 | 30 | 16 | Blade Whitt | Wood Brothers Racing | 100 | -10.516 | 0 | 30.103 | 26 |
| 12 | 29 | 2 | Liam Brotherton | Elliot Sadler eSports | 100 | -13.204 | 0 | 29.995 | 25 |
| 13 | 21 | 36 | Brian Mercurio | Letarte Esports | 100 | -14.539 | 0 | 30.019 | 24 |
| 14 | 15 | 24 | Cody Byus | Mode Motorsports | 100 | -16.618 | 0 | 30.029 | 23 |
| 15 | 39 | 54 | Kyle Peddle | Space Station Gaming | 100 | -17.548 | 0 | 30.050 | 22 |
| 16 | 7 | 95 | Casey Kirwan | XSET | 100 | -18.048 | 10 | 29.857 | 21 |
| 17 | 17 | 23 | Mitchell deJong | 23XI | 100 | -18.997 | 0 | 29.975 | 20 |
| 18 | 36 | 3 | Corey Vincent | Team Dillon Esports | 100 | -20.307 | 0 | 29.996 | 19 |
| 19 | 8 | 25 | Nick Ottinger | William Byron eSports | 100 | -20.409 | 0 | 29.951 | 18 |
| 20 | 5 | 19 | Vicente Salas | Williams eSports | 100 | -21.724 | 0 | 29.949 | 17 |
| 21 | 11 | 48 | Graham A. Bowlin | Charlotte Phoenix | 100 | -21.836 | 0 | 30.034 | 16 |
| 22 | 25 | 42 | Darik Bourdeau | eRacr | 100 | -21.913 | 0 | 29.993 | 15 |
| 23 | 1 | 8 | Michael Conti | JR Motorsports | 100 | -22.295 | 69 | 29.952 | 14 |
| 24 | 18 | 15 | Blake Reynolds | Jim Beaver eSports | 100 | -23.360 | 0 | 29.891 | 13 |
| 25 | 13 | 20 | Donovan Strauss | Williams eSports | 100 | -24.506 | 0 | 29.957 | 12 |
| 26 | 14 | 79 | Femi Olatunbosun | Clint Bowyer Racing | 100 | -24.823 | 0 | 30.028 | 11 |
| 27 | 10 | 55 | Allen Boes | Space Station Gaming | 100 | -25.658 | 0 | 30.026 | 10 |
| 28 | 16 | 33 | Taylor Hurst | Team Dillon Esports | 100 | -26.203 | 0 | 29.981 | 9 |
| 29 | 26 | 88 | Briar LaPradd | JR Motorsports | 99 | -1L | 0 | 30.024 | 8 |
| 30 | 23 | 4 | Ryan Luza | XSET | 99 | -1L | 0 | 30.120 | 7 |
| 31 | 9 | 41 | Dylan Duval | Stewart Haas Racing | 99 | -1L | 0 | 30.028 | 6 |
| 32 | 37 | 14 | Nickolas Shelton | Clint Bowyer Racing | 99 | -1L | 0 | 30.129 | 5 |
| 33 | 38 | 12 | Derek Justis | iRacing Motorsports | 98 | -2L | 0 | 30.059 | 4 |
| 34 | 35 | 40 | Dylan Ault | Letarte Esports | 98 | -2L | 0 | 30.132 | 3 |
| 35 | 12 | 7 | Malik Ray | iRacing Motorsports | 97 | DNF | 16 | 29.950 | 2 |
| 36 | 31 | 17 | Kaden Honeycutt | Roush Fenway Keselowski | 97 | -3L | 0 | 29.961 | 1 |
| 37 | 24 | 97 | Logan Clampitt | William Byron eSports | 43 | -57L | 0 | 30.004 | 1 |
| 38 | 2 | 69 | Collin Bowden | eRacr | 25 | -75L | 0 | 30.014 | 1 |
| 39 | 27 | 6 | Parker Retzlaff | Roush Fenway Keselowski | 24 | -76L | 0 | 30.064 | 1 |
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver points through eight rounds are as follows:
- Steven Wilson, 229
- Matt Bussa, 219
- Nick Ottinger, 217
- Femi Olatunbosun, 214
- Casey Kirwan, 199
- Michael Guest, 192
- Blake Reynolds, 182
- Corey Vincent, 181
- Taylor Hurst, 177
- Garrett Manes, 175
The 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series resumes in next week at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, which will play host to the series for the first time. Broadcast coverage begins on Tuesday, May 31 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.
