Season 5 of Monday Night Racing began with a bang on Monday night (May 2) with Anthony Alfredo taking home the iRacing checkered flag in a crazy finish with Parker Kligerman.
“It was insane,” Alfredo said. “I’ve lost a lot of Next Gen speedway races due to similar circumstances.”
It was the closest finish in the history of the league.
Founded by Ford Martin, MNR — as many call it — features many of the names in the NASCAR industry such as drivers, reporters, spotters and others behind the scenes every NASCAR weekend. Fans might recognize a few top names here from the industry, such as Kligerman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., TJ Majors, Rajah Caruth and many more.
Daytona normally provides the wildest races in the league, and this event was no different. Wild racing with three-wide action was a theme all night long.
The biggest incident came on lap 93 when the Big One took place, claiming nearly 20 cars and knocking some completely out of contention. This set up a 30-lap run to the end, in which a photo finish took place between Alfredo and NASCAR pit crew member George Balfanz Jr..
While the race did not have many green flag runs, the drivers put on a show with some close calls all night long. The racing up front featured several different leaders, primarily Earnhardt Jr., Caruth and Kligerman. Those three drivers combined to lead a large portion of the event. In the end, Alfredo prevailed and locked himself into the playoffs.
Balfanz Jr., Brad Perez, Kligerman and Matt Stallknecht rounded out the top five.
Stay tuned for a video recap that will be posted on the Frontstretch.com YouTube channel.
The next race will be next Monday (May 9) Martinsville Speedway with the Mazda MX-5 car. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. on Twitch.tv/podiumesports.
About the author
Brandon is a 22-year-old from NY and has been a passionate follower of motorsports for 14 years now. He recently graduated from Molloy College on Long Island with a BA in Communications. Working within NASCAR has been a dream for Brandon for a while, and he hopes to be able to live out the dream in the very near future.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.