Conti Takes First Win of eNASCAR Retirement Tour in Series Debut at Milwaukee

Michael Conti has been a staple of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series for more than a decade, scoring the 2014 championship and earning plenty of race wins along the way. When he announced earlier this year that the 2023 season would be his last, it didn’t just give him one more shot at that second title—it also left him with only one shot to score an eNASCAR win at a handful of tracks making their series debut for this year.

The first of those was the Milwaukee Mile for Tuesday night’s DBOX 100, and the JR Motorsports driver wasted no time. He took the lead from Jim Beaver eSports driver Malik Ray with 20 laps to go shortly after a restart, and after surviving one more yellow flag, hung on to score his 14th career eNASCAR win. It marked the third year in a row that Conti either won the first or second race of the season, after he won the opener at Daytona in 2021 and the second round of the season at Las Vegas last year.

With no eNASCAR history at Milwaukee, which drivers would excel was anyone’s guess coming into the night. Conti’s close friend and setup teammate, fellow former series champion Nick Ottinger of William Byron eSports, qualified on pole and led more than half of the race to kick things off. The race started with more than 40 green flag laps before the first caution came out for eRacr’s Collin Bowden, allowing most of the field to pit. That set off a flurry of yellow, with seven of the eight cautions on the night coming between laps 42 and 69 and the field eventually switching to single-file restarts.

Ray took the lead from Ottinger just as the fifth caution flew, using the bumper to unsettle Ottinger and nosing ahead coming out of Turn 2. He’d hang on up front for 18 laps before Conti finally made the winning pass on Lap 81, with Ottinger returning the favor for second a few laps later. fgrACCEL’s Garrett Manes would also sneak past for third with two to go, but with two top-fives to start the season, Ray would nonetheless leave Milwaukee with the points lead.

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from the DBOX 100 at Milwaukee were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts

1108Michael ContiJR Motorsports1000.0002029.51840
2125Nick OttingerWilliam Byron eSports100-0.2916129.66735
32112Garrett ManesfgrAccel100-1.417029.77034
497Malik RayJim Beaver eSports100-1.9721829.69533
5848Graham A. BowlinCharlotte Phoenix100-2.001029.75532
6695Casey KirwanXSET100-2.101029.78731
71318Bobby ZalenskiJoe Gibbs Racing100-2.203029.86430
83175Zack NovakRise eSports100-2.313029.81229
92740Dylan AultLETARTE eSports100-2.769029.88128
10741Dylan DuvalStewart-Haas Racing100-2.903029.85327
1153Jordy Lopez JrTeam Dillon eSports100-3.121029.79826
122488Kevin KingJR Motorsports100-3.418029.90725
131920Wyatt TinsleyKansas City Pioneers100-3.622029.92724
141534Allen BoesFront Row Motorsports100-3.908029.89923
15234Ryan LuzaXSET100-4.007029.88922
163633Tucker MinterTeam Dillon eSports100-4.019029.83721
172666Tyler GareyTony Kanaan Esports100-4.438029.91020
181817Kaden HoneycuttRFK Racing100-4.665129.87919
192546Jimmy MullisRise eSports100-5.287029.81518
202011Parker WhiteTony Kanaan Esports100-5.549029.81217
211738Michael Cosey JrFront Row Motorsports100-5.759029.81016
223431Derek JustisKansas City Pioneers100-5.768029.95715
233242Kollin KeistereRacr100-6.138029.89414
243045Michael Guest23XI100-6.310029.92213
25297Matt BussaWilliam Byron eSports100-6.359029.76212
26162Corey VincentPittsburgh Knights100-6.393029.71811
273523Keegan Leahy23XI100-6.514029.89810
283715Garrett LoweJim Beaver eSports100-6.603029.9069
2941Darik BourdeauElliott Sadler eSports100-6.706029.8908
303377Ryan DoucettePittsburgh Knights100-6.787029.8877
312236Brandon McKissicLETARTE eSports100-7.093029.9296
321469Collin BowdeneRacr100-7.312029.9535
333851Donovan StraussWilliams eSports100-7.450029.9634
34327Cody ByusElliott Sadler eSports100-7.498029.9613
352814Joey BrownfgrAccel100-8.099029.9372
361110Steven WilsonStewart-Haas Racing100-9.609030.3341
371255Vicente SalasWilliams eSports91-9L029.8941
383954Daniel FaulkinghamJoe Gibbs Racing86-14L030.3731
39296Timmy HolmesRFK Racing48-52L030.4391

 

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

  1. Malik Ray, 68
  2. Nick Ottinger, 66
  3. Michael Conti, 65
  4. Casey Kirwan, 64
  5. Tucker Minter, 61
  6. Graham Bowlin, 61
  7. Zack Novak, 53
  8. Allen Boes, 51
  9. Tyler Garey, 50
  10. Dylan Duval, 49

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway for its next event, but Round 3 of the 2023 campaign will mark the first time that the series has used its newer oval configuration. Race coverage begins on Tuesday, March 14 at 9 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live, with Countdown to Green kicking off at 8:30 to set the stage for the action.

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