It was a night of pit stop strategies and Kollin Keister played the right one to win his first eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series race at virtual Charlotte Motor Speedway Tuesday night (May 12).
Keister, who drives the No. 17 car for Roush Fenway Racing, utilized a two-stop strategy to his success.
“That was our plan before the race,” said Keister after the race. “If it went green all the way we were going to do the two-stop strategy — we figured it would be faster. I actually got mired back in traffic as my pit stop- messed that up. Had to drive from 18th and beginning of those runs I was kind of out-of-control loose, but it helped in the long run that’s for sure.”
Garrett Lowe ended up getting around Ryan Luza for second in the final laps. Luza later said he was “really really tight.”
“I thought [Luza] was saving tires there behind me,” said Keister. “I was able to pull away there at the end. We were really close there for awhile but I was able to drive away with about 30 to go and just kept on going.“
Graham Bowlin finished fourth and polewinner Keegan Leahy rounded out the top five.
The No. 27 Renegades driver Corey Vincent was sixth in the Coca-Cola 300. Brad Davies was in the mix for a top five but pushed too hard for position and ran into a lapped car just before the checkered flag.
We know it was virtual, but we still think @bdavies_88 is going to wake up sore after this one. ? pic.twitter.com/Yq1hMNxAWk
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 13, 2020
Davies ended up in seventh place. Eric Smith, Justin Bolton, and Casey Kirwan completed the top 10.
There was just one caution early in the race; Phil Diaz spun and hit the wall after Dylan Duval tagged him.
I don’t know if I would have taken out one of @Ky1eLong’s cars! Tough break early for @PMD9409 #eNASCAR @CocaColaRacing @iRacing @CLTMotorSpdwy pic.twitter.com/DJVH2Dg8Th
— Steve Luvender (@steveluvender) May 13, 2020
Later, a dicey moment occurred on pit road with about 63 laps to go. Lowe and Bowlin entered pit lane side-by-side but got squirrelly and made slight contact with each other. It could’ve been much worse, though, for both competitors.
Close one for @GarrettLowe_6 and @BowlinGraham! #eNASCAR @CocaColaRacing @iRacing @CLTMotorSpdwy pic.twitter.com/mmQvtMsjNV
— Steve Luvender (@steveluvender) May 13, 2020
Last week’s Dover International Speedway winner Nick Ottinger unfortunately had connection issues during the race and finished nine laps down in 39th.
Keister became the 12th different driver to win at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola iRacing Series.
#eNASCAR @CocaColaRacing @iRacing Series results from @CLTMotorSpdwy pic.twitter.com/j0M7QOV5DA
— Steve Luvender (@steveluvender) May 13, 2020
The series heads to virtual Atlanta motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 26. Coverage will begin at 9 p.m. ET on eNASCAR.com/live and NASCAR’s YouTube channel.
About the author
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
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