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 17th 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:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts

1144Ryan LuzaXSET1750.0002414.76640
23524Cody ByusMode Motorsports175-1.303014.87835
33151Ray AlfallaJoe Gibbs Racing175-1.343014.91534
42415Blake ReynoldsJim Beaver eSports175-1.434014.83233
51821Garrett LoweWood Brothers Racing175-1.841014.91632
62636Brian MercurioLetarte Esports175-1.909014.95731
7333Corey VincentTeam Dillon Esports175-3.309014.96430
82840Dylan AultLetarte Esports175-3.438014.90629
93612Derek JustisiRacing Motorsports175-5.220015.01628
10210Steven WilsonStewart Haas Racing175-11.444014.86827
11548Graham A. BowlinCharlotte Phoenix175-11.520014.97026
121541Dylan DuvalStewart Haas Racing175-11.880014.83325
133814Nickolas SheltonClint Bowyer Racing175-12.409015.02224
141243Kollin KeisterCharlotte Phoenix175-12.7561314.82723
153720Donovan StraussWilliams eSports175-13.937014.91822
16318Bobby ZalenskiJoe Gibbs Racing175-14.0863714.84321
1748Michael ContiJR Motorsports175-14.237014.86220
182388Briar LaPraddJR Motorsports175-14.385014.92719
191131Garrett ManesElliot Sadler eSports174-1L014.90018
203019Vicente SalasWilliams eSports174-1L014.84517
212779Femi OlatunbosunClint Bowyer Racing174-1L014.93116
222995Casey KirwanXSET174-1L015.00415
23145Keegan Leahy23XI173-2L10114.87314
24135Zack NovakRise eSports172-3L014.89813
25106Parker RetzlaffRoush Fenway Keselowski172-3L014.96212
263297Logan ClampittWilliam Byron eSports169-6L014.96811
273946Jimmy MullisRise eSports168-7L015.01410
28775Matt BussaMode Motorsports159-16L014.8969
291942Darik BourdeaueRacr158-17L014.8858
30925Nick OttingerWilliam Byron eSports150-25L014.9747
31817Kaden HoneycuttRoush Fenway Keselowski146-29L014.8956
32179Michael GuestJim Beaver eSports144-31L014.9315
33623Mitchell deJong23XI144-31L014.9154
34167Malik RayiRacing Motorsports142DNF014.8903
353469Collin BowdeneRacr142-33L014.9682
362216Blade WhittWood Brothers Racing142Disqualified014.9511
37212Liam BrothertonElliot Sadler eSports134-41L015.0911
382555Allen BoesSpace Station Gaming100DNF015.0651
392033Taylor HurstTeam Dillon Esports79DNF015.3791

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