Alfalla Survives eNASCAR Overtime to Claim Checkered Flag in Nashville

Four-time eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion Ray Alfalla drove from 37th on the grid to score his first win of the 2022 season for Joe Gibbs Racing at Nashville Superspeedway on Tuesday night. Despite staying out on older tires late in the race, Alfalla got the jump on Jim Beaver eSports’ Blake Reynolds on two tires in the Restart Zone during eNASCAR Overtime to take the record-extending 27th win of his eNASCAR career.

After an immediate caution at the start of the race, things stayed green until the trickiest possible time for much of the field. During green flag pit stops just past the halfway point, RFK Racing’s Parker Retzlaff and Daytona winner Femi Olatunbosun made contact and spun through the tri-oval after trying to avoid Team Dillon Esports’ Taylor Hurst. Some of the drivers who had pit early, led by 23XI’s Mitchell deJong, stayed out, while early front-runners like Charlotte Phoenix driver Graham Bowlin were shuffled to the middle and others who were still a lap down after taking their pit stops needed to take wave arounds and start from the back.

While deJong had the oldest tires of anyone who stayed out, Atlanta winner Steven Wilson of Stewart-Haas eSports would take him side by side with 25 laps to go, and 2019 series champion Zack Novak of Rise eSports would make it a three-wide battle a lap later before eventually taking the spot. Soon after, a stack-up on the backstretch led to a multi-car incident, with polesitter and local hero Briar LaPradd of JR Motorsports getting the worst of it.

The field would only make it one lap before another multi-car wreck, this time including the two most recent eNASCAR race winners in Garrett Lowe and Bowlin, but not before Alfalla took the lead. He’d begin to pull away before another caution with four to go would lead to overtime. But despite having drivers behind him with two or four tires, Alfalla took advantage of the Restart Zone’s debut in the series to take control of the green flag in his own hands. Novak would get past Reynolds for second, while Michael Guest and two-time 2022 winner Michael Conti completed the top five.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Nashville Superspeedway were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts

13751Ray AlfallaJoe Gibbs Racing1030.0001529.87340
235Zack NovakRise eSports103-0.227729.76935
31915Blake ReynoldsJim Beaver eSports103-0.447029.88434
4169Michael GuestJim Beaver eSports103-0.748029.97233
5258Michael ContiJR Motorsports103-0.944030.03932
62110Steven WilsonStewart Haas Racing103-0.959430.06531
71495Casey KirwanXSET103-1.033030.04630
8203Corey VincentTeam Dillon Esports103-1.441030.05329
93975Matt BussaMode Motorsports103-1.515130.23728
10941Dylan DuvalStewart Haas Racing103-1.575030.14927
11755Allen BoesSpace Station Gaming103-1.848130.11726
12548Graham A. BowlinCharlotte Phoenix103-1.8803730.11925
132969Collin BowdeneRacr103-1.950030.30924
143297Logan ClampittWilliam Byron eSports103-1.989430.23923
15156Parker RetzlaffRoush Fenway Keselowski103-2.046030.14922
162623Mitchell deJong23XI103-2.0581630.16521
17284Ryan LuzaXSET103-2.058030.24320
183018Bobby ZalenskiJoe Gibbs Racing103-2.151030.15119
192242Darik BourdeaueRacr103-2.228030.11118
20188Briar LaPraddJR Motorsports103-2.3671830.13517
21424Cody ByusMode Motorsports103-2.379030.10616
221779Femi OlatunbosunClint Bowyer Racing103-2.386030.23015
23620Donovan StraussWilliams eSports103-2.454030.23214
24243Kollin KeisterCharlotte Phoenix103-2.472030.12113
253336Brian MercurioLetarte Esports103-2.501030.18212
264012Derek JustisiRacing Motorsports103-2.637030.11111
273616Blade WhittWood Brothers Racing103-2.690030.20610
282740Dylan AultLetarte Esports103-2.782030.2269
293814Nickolas SheltonClint Bowyer Racing103-2.894030.1688
301825Nick OttingerWilliam Byron eSports103-2.997030.1197
31342Liam BrothertonElliot Sadler eSports103-3.025030.3496
323545Keegan Leahy23XI99-4L030.3405
333154Kyle PeddleSpace Station Gaming95DNF030.1854
342431Garrett ManesElliot Sadler eSports95-8L030.2363
352321Garrett LoweWood Brothers Racing89DNF030.3052
36833Taylor HurstTeam Dillon Esports83-20L030.0401
371046Jimmy MullisRise eSports81-22L030.0631
38127Malik RayiRacing Motorsports2DNF0———1
391119Vicente SalasWilliams eSports0DNF0———1

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series points through 10 rounds are as follows:

  1. Matt Bussa, 278
  2. Steven Wilson, 272
  3. Nick Ottinger, 252
  4. Casey Kirwan, 250
  5. Graham Bowlin, 238
  6. Corey Vincent, 237
  7. Femi Olatunbosun, 235
  8. Zack Novak, 235
  9. Michael Guest, 226
  10. Michael Conti, 218

The 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season resumes in two weeks at Road America, where Mitchell deJong scored his second win of the season in 2021. Broadcast coverage begins on Tuesday, July 5 at 8:30PM ET with Countdown to Green before the 9PM ET green flag, and 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.

Images via Justin Melillo