Round 3 of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series moved onto the Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s been a strong debut for all of the Altus Esports entries, however Round 2 was definitely more of a struggle since our opening win in the hands of Tucker Minter.
Qualifying would prove to be solid if not spectacular, with Tucker Minter making it into the top 10, with Cosey and Ryan solidly in the top 20. However Jordy Lopez would end up qualifying in 29th, but only missing pole by 0.082sec such are the margins at this level.
Much of the focus was on long run pace and pack racing, and despite qualifying down towards the back Jordy was able to make solid inroads and would find himself in the Top 5 for the back half of the race. It wasn’t until the final restart where Jordy starting 2nd, would ultimately fall back with the high line would prove to be bad, dropping him back down to a P15 finish. A disappointing result that is not reflective of his performance today.
The man who made the most at the end however was Michael Cosey Jr, who chipped away with his positioning in the final few cautions, and avoided most of the fracas. A drag to the line would see him finish with a season best 4th place, and consequently move him to 4th in the championship standings!
An season best was also achieved by Ryan Doucette. Running the yellow and black #77 Camry, he would get tangled early on with the Williams of Donovan Strauss, and claw his way back towards the front in the dying stages. Ryan also moves into the Top 20 in the championship standings for the first time as a result, which is the all-important requalification window.
Perhaps the save of the night goes to Tucker Minter, who was running strongly for much of the race but was caught up in a big crash with just 10 laps to go. It could have easily have been game over, however he escaped race-ending damage to bring his Chevy home in 19th place. When others failed to finish, this was a result that would consolidate his championship position, keeping him in the hunt.
Championship Standings after 3 Rounds
- Graham Bowlin – 93 pts
- Nick Ottinger – 89 pts
- Michael Conti – 84 pts
- Michael Cosey Jr – 81 pts
- Tyler Garey – 81 pts
- Tucker Minter – 79 pts
- Dylan Duval – 78 pts
- Allen Boes – 78 pts
- Malik Ray – 70 pts
- Michael Guest – 68 pts
- Kollin Keister – 67 pts
- Casey Kirwin – 65 pts
- Jordy Lopez Jr – 65 pts
- Bobby Zalenski – 64 pts
- Keegan Leahy – 61 pts
- Parker White – 61 pts
- Wyatt Tinley – 60 pts
- Zack Novak – 54 pts
- Ryan Doucette – 52 pts
- Steven Wilson – 50 pts
