eNASCAR iRacing Series: Rookie Keister stars at Charlotte

Roush Fenway Racing’s Kollin Keister put the perfect mix of speed and pit strategy to use in Tuesday night’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series action, becoming the 52nd winner in series history when he took the checkered flag in the Coca-Cola 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The series rookie pulled away from the field in the race’s closing stages, leading a race-high 84 of 200 laps to take the win in just his first career start.

Charlotte saw a return to the high-caliber racing of the series’ opening rounds, as just one early caution for contact between Phil Diaz and Dylan Duval slowed the field. With Charlotte serving as the longest race of the season, those 192 green flag laps meant that whichever driver nailed the strategy best would likely find himself in victory lane.

Some drivers relied on saving fuel in hopes of a late-race caution giving them track position, while others planned around a three-stop strategy and looked to turn as many fast laps as possible. JR Motorsports’ Michael Conti led 75 laps, second most in the field, before shuffling back to 16th at the finish.

In the end, it was Keister who shuffled into the lead for the first time at Lap 104, and for good a second time on Lap 151. Unfazed by points leader Ryan Luza of Williams Esports in his rear view mirror, the series rookie—who had missed the previous round at Dover International Speedway—drove a smooth and consistent final stint, extending his lead to just under two and a half seconds at the finish.

He continued a streak dating back to 2010 where Charlotte has produced a different winner every season, and became the fourth driver to earn his first career victory at the track.

Wood Brothers driver Garrett Lowe added yet another top five finish to a stellar 2020 campaign so far, getting around Luza for second, while front row starters Graham Bowlin and Keegan Leahy completed the top five, with Leahy climbing to second in points behind Luza in the process. 28 of the 40 starters finished the race on the lead lap.

Results from Tuesday’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Coca-Cola 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway were as follows:

Fin.	St.	No.	Name	Manufacturer	Laps	Led	Interval	Best Lap	Pts
1	8	17	Kollin Keister	Ford	200	84	0	28.691	45
2	17	21	Garrett Lowe	Ford	200	0	-2.457	28.682	39
3	12	53	Ryan Michael Luza	Ford	200	12	-2.757	28.672	39
4	2	18	Graham A. Bowlin	Toyota	200	0	-4.625	28.872	37
5	1	32	Keegan Leahy	Toyota	200	28	-5.406	28.692	37
6	18	27	Corey Vincent	Ford	200	0	-6.519	28.849	35
7	31	88	Brad Davies	Chevrolet	200	0	-8.561	28.72	34
8	25	9	Eric J. Smith	Ford	200	0	-8.618	28.76	33
9	29	10	Justin Bolton	Ford	200	0	-9.423	28.823	32
10	11	23	Casey Kirwan	Toyota	200	0	-10.841	28.815	31
11	14	51	Malik Ray	Toyota	200	0	-11.59	28.842	30
12	10	83	Bobby Zalenski	Chevrolet	200	0	-12.996	28.829	29
13	19	15	Michael Guariglia	Ford	200	0	-13.77	28.873	28
14	32	24	Jake Nichols	Ford	200	0	-15.843	28.797	27
15	24	2	Ray Alfalla	Chevrolet	200	0	-16.074	28.879	26
16	15	8	Michael Conti	Chevrolet	200	75	-17.008	28.574	26
17	30	46	Jimmy Mullis	Toyota	200	0	-20.74	28.806	24
18	5	6	Nathan Lyon	Ford	200	0	-20.949	28.799	23
19	35	97	John Gorlinsky	Chevrolet	200	0	-21.393	28.656	22
20	20	99	Logan Clampitt	Toyota	200	0	-22.269	28.582	21
21	36	42	Bob Bryant	Chevrolet	200	0	-22.32	28.655	20
22	9	55	Caine Cook	Ford	200	0	-22.737	28.765	19
23	4	36	Chris Shearburn	Chevrolet	200	0	-26.296	28.717	18
24	6	33	Michael Guest	Chevrolet	200	0	-30.617	28.894	17
25	3	66	Jarl Teien	Chevrolet	200	0	-30.659	28.828	16
26	16	77	Ashton Crowder	Toyota	200	0	-31.359	28.736	15
27	34	14	Brandon Hayse Kettelle	Ford	200	1	-38.207	28.756	15
28	33	1	Steve Sheehan	Chevrolet	200	0	-46.267	28.645	13
29	23	37	Christian Challiner	Chevrolet	199	0	-1 L	28.68	12
30	38	47	Jeremy R Allen	Chevrolet	199	0	-1 L	28.612	11
31	13	54	Alex McCollum	Chevrolet	199	0	-1 L	28.732	10
32	7	3	Blake Reynolds	Chevrolet	199	0	-1 L	28.982	9
33	27	41	Dylan Duval	Ford	199	0	-1 L	28.825	8
34	40	5	Matt Bussa	Ford	198	0	-2 L	28.907	7
35	39	90	Zack Novak	Toyota	198	0	-2 L	28.989	6
36	28	16	Chris Overland	Ford	197	0	-3 L	28.864	5
37	22	75	Phillip Diaz	Ford	197	0	-3 L	28.984	4
38	21	4	Santiago Tirres	Chevrolet	195	0	-5 L	29.081	3
39	26	25	Nick Ottinger	Chevrolet	191	0	-9 L	28.941	2
40	37	79	Brian Schoenburg	Ford	43	0	-157 L	29.007	1

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

Ryan Luza, 247
Keegan Leahy, 227
Bobby Zalenski, 224
Garrett Lowe, 213
Brad Davies, 199
Michael Conti, 196
Graham Bowlin, 190
Nick Ottinger, 189
Jake Nichols, 176
John Gorlinsky, 173
The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series returns to action on Friday, May 29 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, moving from its normal Tuesday race date to accommodate real-world NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series racing at Charlotte. Williams Esports’ Matt Bussa is the most recent Atlanta winner, having taken the checkered flag in the series’ last visit to the track in 2018. The race can be seen at 9PM ET at eNASCAR.com/live. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.