By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
Managing lapped traffic was ultimately the name of the game and what earned Ryan Luza his second eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series victory in a row.
In the narrow confines of the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, Luza’s No. 53 Williams/Chillblast Ford Mustang took advantage of the slower traffic when it counted. With 85 laps to go, the Williams eSports driver took the lead from Brad Davies and never looked back.
A rash of late cautions brought new challengers, including Garrett Lowe, Zack Novak, and pole sitter Michael Conti, but not could match the speed of Luza. Just when it looked like Lowe was about to challenge for the lead, another caution would wave.
Ultimately, the race went into eNASCAR overtime. Lowe made a last-ditch effort to catch Luza, but it wasn’t enough. For the second race in a row, Williams eSports took the checkered flag. Lowe, Novak, Conti, and Bobby Zalenski rounded out the top-five.
“We had an amazing long run car,” Luza explained. “I had a pit stop malfunction on the first pit stop after I got to third on the first run. I was pretty upset, but we got another long run and I came flying through the field after about 30 laps.
“Garrett was pretty fast as well, but I think we had the field covered on the long run there. That really showed. That’s probably the best car that I’ve ever had in a race as far as dominance is concerned.”
Although Luza took the checkered flag, the race was dominated by JR Motorsports drivers Conti and Brad Davies. Starting from the pole, Conti led the first 40 laps until Graham Bowlin snuck by in lapped traffic. Davies inherited the lead when Bowlin was swept up in the first caution of the day. The two JRM drivers combined to lead 157 of the 253 laps.
Despite the pit stop malfunction for Luza, he never fell too far down the running order. That allowed him to challenge the JRM juggernaut as he held on to his track position.
“We just wanted to hold onto our track position,” Luza admitted. “That’s all that it was about. That was the safest thing, there’s a ton of carnage at Bristol. I just wanted to stay up front and be safe.”
Even Luza finished the race with some battle scars. As he climbed through the field, he battled Conti for second. The duo were three-wide with Steve Sheehan as Luza squeezed his competitor. Conti was hooked into the wall before righting his car.
Luza explained he didn’t know they were three wide:
“I had a really close call with Conti and I want to apologize him. I didn’t think we were three-wide. Luckily that didn’t end either of our nights.”
Few drivers were immune to Bristol’s reputation for beating and banging. A total of 11 cautions waved in the 253-lap event. Several multi-car incidents wiped out contenders including Ray Alfalla, Logan Clampitt, Casey Kirwan, Malik Ray, among others.
Davies, Alex McCollum, Michael Guest, Caine Cook, and Justin Bolton rounded out the top-10.
Next for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series is Richmond Raceway on April 14.
The Finish
1. Ryan Luza [10], 2. Garrett Lowe [30], 3. Zack Novak [19], 4. Michael Conti [1], 5. Bobby Zalenski [17], 6. Brad Davies [5], 7. Alex McCollum [14], 8. Michael Guest [15], 9. Caine Cook [7], 10. Justin Bolton [22], 11. Bob Bryant [23], 12. Keegan Leahy [8], 13. Nick Ottinger [4], 14. Jake Nichols [18], 15. Ray Alfalla [26], 16. Christian Challiner [11], 17. Graham Bowlin [2], 18. Steve Sheehan [35], 19. Matt Bussa [40], 20. Kollin Keister [27], 21. Logan Clampitt [3], 22. Michael Guariglia [28], 23. Chris Shearburn [13], 24. Jarl Teien [32], 25. Phil Diaz [24], 26. Brian Schoenburg [38], 27. Casey Kirwan [20], 28. John Gorlinsky [34], 29. Ashton Crowder [9], 30. Brandon Kettelle [37], 31. Malik Ray [36], 32. Jimmy Mullis [16], 33. Chris Overland [39], 34. Santiago Tirres [6], 35. Corey Vincent [21], 36. Dylan Duval [31], 37. Jeremy Allen [25], 38. Eric J. Smith [29], 39. Nathan Lyon [12], 40. Blake Reynolds [33].
Lead Changes: Three among four drivers.
Lap Leader(s): Michael Conti 1-40, Graham Bowlin 41-46, Brad Davies 47-164, Ryan Luza 165-253.
Laps Led: Brad Davies 117, Ryan Luza 89, Michael Conti 40, Graham Bowlin 6.
Cautions: 11 for 55 laps.
Margin of Victory: 0.163 seconds.
Average Speed: 88.477 mph
Strength of Field: 6,295 average iRating