It’s been five years and 26 days since Malik Ray completed his first lap in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series back at Daytona in 2019. 94 races later, after years of close calls and near victories, the Spire Motorsports driver can finally call himself an eNASCAR winner.
On Tuesday night, in the second attempt at eNASCAR Overtime, Ray lined up in eighth for what would be the final restart. Taking the white flag, Ray was sixth behind a pack about to go four-wide. Going with the momentum, Ray pushed Collin Bowden (RFK Racing) in the second lane from the top and cleared Jimmy Mullis (Kevin Harvick Inc.), Garrett Lowe (BS+COMPETITION), and Kollin Keister (Kanaan Esports) before Turn 1.
Out of Turn 2, only Bowden and Michael Guest (23XI) were ahead. Ray chose to shove Bowden, clearing Guest out of the equation. Into Turn 3, Ray backed up to the car that had followed him through—Darik Bourdeau. The Front Row Motorsports driver connected with Ray and the two built a huge run exiting Turn 4. Bowden held his line as Ray and Bourdeau surrounded him. At the line, Ray was victorious, winning by 0.024 seconds. The three-wide finish resembled the real-world NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta finish from two weeks ago.
“I just finally put it together,” Ray said post-race. “It’s really special. I’ve been trying to put a race together and I was finally able to do it with the help of my teammates… I just can’t thank them enough.”
Later in the evening, Ray explained his mindset on the final lap, overcoming his instincts to put himself into a winning position. “I heard from a bunch of people that I need to stop being friendly at the end of the races. It was the perfect scenario… I had Mike (Guest), he’s my best friend on the game, and I wanted to go with him, but I knew if I went with him, I was not going to win the race, Bowden was going to side draft me. I had to physically tell myself to go with Bowden even though I wanted to go with Mike. I think that’s like the perfect scenario. I’ve started paying attention to what people are saying around me. They were right.”
Atlanta was scheduled for 100 laps, but it went an extra five in double eNASCAR Overtime. There were only three cautions, two of which flew in the last 10 laps. Ray only led three laps on the night. A total of 15 drivers in the field led a lap at some point, not to mention many others, like Bowden, who had their car in front of the field, but not at the line to be scored as a lap led. The other Spire Motorsports car, Casey Kirwan, led the most laps with 26, before ultimately finishing 16th after pushing his teammate into a spot to win.
M80’s Ryan Luza led the field to the green alongside rookie Matthew Zwack (Nitro Circus Sim Racing). The two virtually tied for the pole, but the tiebreaker was awarded to Luza. Zwack led the first lap, but by the sixth lap, he found himself outside the top 10. Before the first yellow on Lap 13, the lead swapped nearly every lap, with Williams Esports’ Parker White and the two BS+COMPETITION Zebras of Lowe and Jordy Lopez controlling the lines.
Ray Alfalla (eRacr) found himself caught up in the Lap 13 incident after contact with Graham Bowlin (QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming). Alfalla slid down the track out of Turn 2 into Steven Wilson’s M80 Dark Horse Mustang. Quami Scott (Letarte eSports), Tucker Minter (William Byron eSports), and Jonathon Dulaney (Team Dillon Esports) were also involved. Dulaney got the worst of the damage, losing 15 laps making repairs.
The racing never settled down after that. While the lead stopped switching hands nearly every lap, there were comers and goers through the night. Lowe, Kirwan, Kaden Honeycutt (JR Motorsports), and Tyler Garey (eRacr) did the majority of the leading until the pit cycle began at halfway. There were four takers on the initial green flag stop—Bowden, Guest, and Keister were three of them. Timmy Holmes (RFK Racing) was the fourth, but he was dealt a speeding penalty on entry.
On Lap 58, the field got jumbled up. Alfalla, Scott, Garrett Manes (fgrAccel eRacing), and Dylan Ault (Letarte eSports) all crashed without triggering a caution flag. This split the field into fragmented packs as the pit cycle continued on. Ray was in the second pack after the chaos, opting to pit on Lap 66, taking only two tires for a shorter stop.
With 10 laps to go, the field finally cycled together. The trio of undercut stoppers were caught, but still very much in the fight. Ray first hooked up with Kirwan, then after they got separated, Ray continued marching forward with the help of Guest. The two were nearly to the lead, but the caution flew for a stack up involving Bowlin, Garey, Vicente Salas (Kanaan Esports), and more.
Lowe barely held the lead over Ray heading into eNASCAR Overtime. On the restart, Lowe moved to the top, but Ray moved to the middle with help from Kirwan. The side forces were not in their favor, however, as the two Spire Motorsports Chevrolets were sucked backwards. Guest managed to take the lead as they nearly took the white flag, but another caution bunched the field up for one last attempt. Incredibly, Ray put himself in a position to win on the final lap and made every right move to pull off his first career win.
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Race 3 at Atlanta results were as follows:
Fin.
St.
No.
Name
Team
Laps
Interval
Led
Best
Pts
1
33
7
Malik Ray
Spire Motorsports
105
0.000
3
29.017
40
2
32
34
Darik Bourdeau
Front Row Motorsports
105
-0.024
0
28.832
35
3
40
17
Collin Bowden
RFK Racing
105
-0.042
0
29.029
34
4
20
45
Michael Guest
23XI
105
-0.217
12
28.987
33
5
25
66
Kollin Keister
Kanaan Esports
105
-0.253
0
29.063
32
6
5
53
Parker White
Williams Esports
105
-0.404
5
28.851
31
7
3
41
Dylan Duval
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
105
-0.470
1
28.839
30
8
31
88
Briar LaPradd
JR Motorsports
105
-0.674
0
28.902
29
9
14
51
Donovan Strauss
Williams Esports
105
-0.704
0
28.890
28
10
27
25
Nick Ottinger
William Byron eSports
105
-0.893
0
29.273
27
11
4
20
Wyatt Tinsley
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
105
-1.488
0
29.002
26
12
9
89
Garrett Lowe
BS+COMPETITION
105
-1.550
18
29.033
25
13
7
90
Jordy Lopez
BS+COMPETITION
105
-1.563
8
28.743
24
14
21
29
Jimmy Mullis
Kevin Harvick Inc.
105
-1.558
0
29.067
23
15
2
99
Matthew Zwack
Nitro Circus Sim Racing
105
-1.732
1
29.259
22
16
15
77
Casey Kirwan
Spire Motorsports
105
-1.760
26
28.994
21
17
34
62
Matt Bussa
Kevin Harvick Inc.
105
-1.771
11
29.262
20
18
8
54
Daniel Faulkingham
Joe Gibbs Racing
105
-1.920
0
28.840
19
19
6
97
Tucker Minter
William Byron eSports
105
-1.930
2
29.167
18
20
13
14
Seth DeMerchant
fgrAccel eRacing
105
-1.957
5
29.154
17
21
18
42
Tyler Garey
eRacr
105
-3.564
5
28.979
16
22
29
11
Vicente Salas
Kanaan Esports
105
-3.705
0
29.006
15
23
17
5
Zack Novak
OXYGEN Esports
105
-3.784
0
29.152
14
24
1
80
Ryan Luza
M80
105
-4.960
1
29.106
13
25
37
18
Bobby Zalenski
Joe Gibbs Racing
105
-5.705
0
29.111
12
26
19
38
Michael Cosey Jr
Front Row Motorsports
105
-5.785
0
29.168
11
27
35
48
Graham A. Bowlin
QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming
105
-10.992
0
28.895
10
28
38
22
Femi Olatunbosun
OXYGEN Esports
105
-11.570
0
29.190
9
29
28
40
Dylan Ault
Letarte eSports
105
-12.298
0
29.177
8
30
11
33
Taylor Hurst
Team Dillon Esports
105
-13.133
0
29.201
7
31
39
8
Kaden Honeycutt
JR Motorsports
105
-15.291
6
29.161
6
32
26
10
Steven Wilson
M80
105
-28.474
0
29.166
5
33
36
23
Keegan Leahy
23XI
105
-28.533
0
29.117
4
34
23
12
Garrett Manes
fgrAccel eRacing
104
-1L
0
29.122
3
35
22
55
Ryan Doucette
Pittsburg Knights
104
-1L
0
29.103
2
36
24
27
Cody Byus
Pittsburg Knights
98
-7L
1
29.083
1
37
10
6
Timothy Holmes
RFK Racing
95
-10L
0
29.290
1
38
30
3
Jonathon Dulaney
Team Dillon Esports
90
-15L
0
29.109
1
39
16
36
Quami Scott
Letarte eSports
87
-18L
0
29.187
1
40
12
69
Ray Alfalla
eRacr
85
-20L
0
29.102
1
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Driver’s Standings through Round 3 are as follows:
Kollin Keister, 89
Casey Kirwan, 85
Parker White, 83
Wyatt Tinsley, 82 (1 WIN)
Donovan Strauss, 81
Nick Ottinger, 80
Keegan Leahy, 72 (1 WIN)
Steven Wilson, 68
Michael Guest, 67
Briar LaPradd, 67
13. Malik Ray, 60 (1 WIN)
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Segment 1 Standings through Round 3 of 4 are as follows:
Kollin Keister, 89
Casey Kirwan, 85
Parker White, 83
Wyatt Tinsley, 82
Donovan Strauss, 81
Nick Ottinger, 80
Keegan Leahy, 72
Steven Wilson, 68
Michael Guest, 67
Briar LaPradd, 67
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Team Standings through Round 3 are as follows:
Spire Motorsports (#7/#77), 179
Williams Esports (#51/#53), 164
Kanaan Esports (#11/#66), 155
23XI (#23/#45), 139
JR Motorsports (#8/#88), 133
If not for a 34-point penalty at Daytona, Ray would be leading the driver’s championship with 94 points. Instead, with only one race remaining in Segment 1 of the season, he sits 13th, 29 points behind new points leader Kollin Keister. Keister’s worst finish this season came at Daytona, 14th, and now has two top-five finishes to compliment. Casey Kirwan sits four points back in second while Parker White is third, two points behind that. Daytona winner Wyatt Tinsley (QuikTrip Pioneers Gaming) is fourth, Donovan Strauss (Williams Esports) is fifth, and sitting sixth with a chance at the Segment 1 win is Nick Ottinger (William Byron eSports), only nine points behind.
23XI’s Keegan Leahy (23XI) falls to seventh after finishing 33rd at Atlanta. While 17 points isn’t insurmountable, Leahy on back likely won’t be in the conversation for the Segment 1 title. As for the Team Championship, Spire Motorsports continues to hold it. Williams Esports is closing in, however, only 15 points behind following a solid day at Atlanta for both Strauss and White.
The 40 top-rated eNASCAR drivers return in two weeks for the conclusion to Segment 1 at Richmond Raceway. Last season, Bobby Zalenski dominated from the pole position to score his first of three wins on the year. Tune in on Tuesday, March 26th, at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Countdown to Green. Race coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET at eNASCAR.com/live and across iRacing social media channels.
For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit www.enascar.com or www.iracing.com/enascar. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.