It was an uphill battle for Stewart-Haas Gaming’s Graham Bowlin, but he claimed victory at Watkins Glen for his first career series victory. Having to fight off both Zalenski and deJong (two accomplished road racers on iRacing) in the late stages of the race, Bowlin showed speed that continued from qualifying – where he earned the fastest time and started on the pole. In a last lap effort, deJong made a move to the left side for the win in Watkins Glen’s famous final right hand corner. It was not enough, however, as Bowlin left no room and forced deJong into the tire barrier, claiming Bowlin the triumphant winner of the 13th round of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season.
Graham Bowlin has been having a breakout season in just his second campaign. Being 2nd in points and with an average finish of 13.3 heading into The Glen, Bowlin was looking to impress and did so behind the wheel of his virtual GoBowling.com number 10 Ford Mustang. Another impressing finish was from Steven Wilson, who finished 5th at COTA and 3rd at Road America for Roush-Fenway.
The odds did not get better for Ray Alfalla on making the championship and having a run at his fifth title. With Bowlin being a new winner on the season, that now also pushes Chris Shearburn out of the Playoffs, since Shearburn is behind Bowlin in the season points standings. Alfalla is also in trouble of facing relegation, meaning he would need to race his way back into the series through the eNASCAR Road to Pro Contender iRacing Series in the winter. Alfalla has faced relegation before, but has never falling back out of the series and had to compete through the qualifying series since he began competing.
In two weeks time the series heads to virtual Michigan International Speedway for the final race of the regular season. The ten drivers competing for eNASCAR glory will be decided, and the Playoffs will begin. The Playoffs see a unique schedule of race tracks, with Darlington opening up the schedule. A trip to Bristol in the middle of the round is just a tease, as the series will decide the Championship 4 at virtual Talladega. The decided four drivers will then race at virtual Texas Motor Speedway to crown a champion.
Tune in in two weeks, August 17th, for Round 14 of the championship live on iRacing’s social media platforms and eNASCAR.com starting at 8:30pm eastern with Countdown to Green!
Featured image from @NASCAR on Twitter
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