By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
After performing the coveted ‘spin and win,’ Tyler Garey overcame adversity to win in The Legends of the Future Series at the Legacy Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Adversity
With 53 laps to go, Garey jumped to the outside of Ryan Andrew. Andrew had been black-flagged and attempted to pit to serve his penalty. However, he locked his brakes up, clipping Garey. That sent the No. 86 Dinoco Chevrolet spinning.
At this point, the polesitter of the Alan Kulwicki 300 had fallen a lap down. Shortly after the restart from the caution for his spin another caution waved. Alex Kolonics spun from the lead, giving Garey the free pass.
Taking the Win
With under 40 laps to go, Garey quickly made his way up through the field. With 20 laps to go, he had reached second, running about a second behind leader David Brown. Unfortunately for Brown, internet connection issues dropped him from the server. Garey inherited the lead ahead of Logan Helton.
The battle for the lead in the closing laps ultimately came down to Garey and ‘No Bull 5’ driver Kevin McAdams. The driver of the No. 26 Publix Buick chased down the Chevrolet driver. But McAdams ran out of time. He finished second, 0.523 seconds behind Garey, missing out on a $100 bonus.
Drove through the field after getting stuck a lap down after pitting and getting an instant yellow. Set was fun to drive and had some good clean racing. Dinoco Blue is back where it should be https://t.co/gfPAwcVbFJ
— Dr.iRacing PHD (@TGarey26) December 9, 2022
Mitchell Riggs, Trevor Perry, and Jon Adams completed the top-five. Gabriel Mauricio, Dylan Roberts, Blake McCandless, Michael Frisch, and Helton rounded out the top-10 finishers.
Incidents
The 300-mile race was slowed six times by cautions. The biggest incident of the night came during the only round of green flag pit stops. eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series driver Brian Mercurio spun across the nose of former eNASCAR driver John Gorlinsky. The wreck collected Logan Helton, Michael Guariglia, and others.
Next for the Shenandoah Shine Legends of the Future Series is a 250-lap night race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, December 15. Coverage of the eSports league begins at 8:45 p.m. ET on twitch.tv/ftf_gg.
The results:
1. 86-Tyler Garey [1], 2. 26-Kevin McAdams [13], 3. 09-Mitchell Riggs [26], 4. 13-Trevor Perry [6], 5. 81-Jon Adams [11], 6. 04-Gabriel Mauricio [29], 7. 74-Dylan Roberts [14], 8. 71-Blake McCandless [21], 9. 58-Michael Frisch [2], 10. 63-Logan Helton [4], 11. 76-Quami Scott [19], 12. 79-Danny Thomson [30], 13. 97-Jackson von Volkingburg [17], 14. 90-Michael Sturgill [37], 15. 6-Christopher Norris [35], 16. 98-Matt Taylor [26], 17. 70-Davis Warren [28], 18. 8-Ryan Andrew [12], 19. 28-John Gorlinsky [36], 20. 023-Michael Rosero [40], 21. 49-Art Rymer [41], 22. 17-Sean Peleg [15], 23. 39-Daniel Faulkingham [3], 24. 89-Mike Rasimas [10], 25. 11-Paul Gallimore [39], 26. 83-David Brown [16], 27. 22-Alex Kolonics [8], 28. 23-Ben Bafford [9], 29. 60-Tyler Dubosh [22], 30. 32-Shawn Butler [27], 31. 41-Brian Mercurio [5], 32. 015-Michael Guariglia [24], 33. 14-Chris Jahnke [31], 34. 80-Brandon Kettelle [7], 35. 35-Santiago Tirres [25], 36. 50-Tyler Lahnen [32], 37. 039-Tom Miller [38], 38. 9-Dylan Kehm [20], 39. 15-Cole Fralick [34], 40. 37-Ryan Nawrocki [42], 41. 026-Ryan Vargas [18], 42. 97-Adam Martin [33], 43. 06-Spencer Burns [43].
Lead Changes: 21 among six drivers.
Lap Leader(s): Michael Frisch 1-2, Tyler Garey 3-7, Michael Frisch 8, Daniel Faulkingham 9-18, Logan Helton 19, Daniel Faulkingham 20, Logan Helton 21-23, David Brown 24-34, Logan Helton 35-46, David Brown 47-54, Tyler Garey 55-78, Logan Helton 79-85, Tyler Garey 87-88, Logan Helton 88-92, David Brown 93-109, Tyler Garey 110-137, Michael Frisch 138-154, Alex Kolonics 155-158, Michael Frisch 159, Logan Helton 160, David Brown 161-179, Tyler Garey 180-200.
Laps Led: Tyler Garey 81, David Brown 54, Logan Helton 29, Michael Frisch 21, Daniel Faulkingham 11, Alex Kolonics 4.
Hard Charger(s): 04-Gabriel Mauricio (+23).
Caution Flags: Six for 24 Laps.
Margin of Victory: 0.523 seconds.
Time of Race: Two hours, 14 minutes, 43.554 seconds.
Average Speed: 137.167 MPH.
Pole Winner: 86-Tyler Garey, 32.954 seconds, 168.235 MPH.
Fastest Lap: 8-Ryan Andrew, Lap 164, 33.281 seconds, 166.582 MPH.
Failed to Qualify: Chandler Carroll, Dylan Dreiling, Brian Hicks, Matthew Griechen, Justin Melillo, Michael Moody, Terry Murphy, Josh Parker, Jake Poulin, Adam Thompson, Kyler Wynn