Nathan Lyon finds victory; Ray Alfalla takes title; 20 drivers advance to 2020 eNiS
As motorsports finales can sometimes play out, multiple story lines concluded on Tuesday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Close on many occasions on the 2019 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Series season, Nathan Lyon finally wrapped one up in victory lane, outlasting Bryan Blackford and Jeremy Allen in a pair of overtime restarts.
“I’ve kind of thrown away the last three races, so to finally get the job done, it feels good,” Lyon said to Podium eSports post-race. “I thought there for a second that it might just play out like it has the last few races, but I’m just kind of relieved that it all worked out finally.”
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The race within the race, the battle for the 2019 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Series championship came down to the wire between Ray Alfalla and Graham A. Bowlin, only separated by six points entering the final race of the season.
Bowlin showed his strength early, taking the lead away from Blackford at lap 19.
On lap 44, Bowlin conceded the top spot to Lyon, and it only got worse from there. By lap 55, he slid down to ninth position, and less than a lap later, he took it for a spin in Turn 3, collecting damage in the process.
Bowlin rebounded to finish in 14th, but that left the door open for the four-time eNASCAR iRacing Series Champion, Alfalla, to take full advantage.
Alfalla never truly showed off any race winning speed on Tuesday night, but he was fast enough to run in the Top 5 for the majority of the event. In the closing laps, Alfalla slid from second to fourth, but it was still enough to win the title by three points over Bowlin.
“It’s a nice accomplishment, but it’s an accomplishment only made by having a bad season the year before,” Alfalla laughed as he joined Podium eSports post-race to talk about the title. “Obviously, if you’re going to run Pro, you want to win the title… I think I’m just ready to get started on next year.”
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It was close, but the second place effort by Bryan Blackford was not enough to vault him in to the Top 20 in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Series Standings.
Blackford and Casey Tucker were both only two points shy of advancing to the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Series roster, as Tucker finished ninth on the day.
The last man to advance was Michael Guest. Guest was swept up in a late race incident and limped back home to a 27th place finish.
All in all, the 20 that entered the race above the cut line all stayed there, although it was tense for one Michael Guariglia, who was involved in the first caution of the race.
Guariglia was mired outside the Top 20 for the majority of the event, while his next closest competitor on points, Cody Byus, ran inside the Top 10.
Everything changed on the final caution on the night.
Byus was swept up in the big one, and wound up 25th. Guariglia made it through, and managed a Top 10.
From the 2019 Peak Series roster, Casey Tucker, Cody Byus, Nickolas Shelton, Benjamin W. Nelson, Logan Kress, Adam Benefiel, Timmy Hill, and Ryan Lowe all failed to return to the 2020 roster.
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No official announcements have been made on the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Series schedule, or how the teams will play out.
Peak Antifreeze will not be returning to sponsor the series. No word on any replacement just yet.
Stewart-Haas Gaming recently rebranded as Stewart-Haas eSports and will join the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Series team roster. No word about the other teams status as of yet.
Enjoy the off-season!
SOURCES:
iRacing.com
Podium eSports
TOP 20 DRIVER STANDINGS – 2019 eNASCAR iRACING PRO SERIES
- Ray Alfalla
- Graham A. Bowlin
- Nathan Lyon
- John Gorlinsky
- Bob Bryant
- Ashton Crowder
- Jeremy R Allen
- Caine Cook
- Alex McCollum
- Kollin Keister
- Brian Schoenburg
- Chris Shearburn
- Eric J. Smith
- Justin Bolton
- Chris Overland
- Steve Sheehan
- Santiago Tirres
- Brandon Hayse Kettelle
- Michael Guariglia
- Michael Guest
RACE RESULTS:
- 47 – Nathan Lyon
- 32 – Bryan Blackford
- 08 – Jeremy R. Allen
- 2 – Ray Alfalla
- 5 – Brian Schoenburg
- 55 – Caine Cook
- 10 – Liam Brotherton
- 42 – David Shutt
- 28 – Casey Tucker
- 15 – Michael Guariglia
- 27 – Ashton Crowder
- 98 – Justin Bolton
- 21 – John Gorlinsky
- 41 – Graham A. Bowlin
- 64 – Jeremy B. Davis
- 00 – Will Cooley
- 02 – Chris Overland
- 01 – Braden Boulos
- 91 – Alex McCollum
- 18 – Santiago Tirres
- 12 – Nickolas Shelton
- 33 – Benjamin W. Nelson
- 34 – Brad Mahar
- 6 – Steve Sheehan
- 24 – Cody Byus
- 25 – Kollin Keister
- 54 – Michael Guest
- 51 – Eric J. Smith
- 36 – Chris Shearburn
- 81 – Adam Benefiel
Did Not Race: 7 – Ryan Lowe, 8 – Adam Gilliland, 13 – Matthew Wright, 26 – Ethan Lane, 30 – Corey A. Carpenter, 31 – Logan Kress, 53 – Bob Bryant, 56 – Timmy Hill, 80 – Brandon Hayse Kettelle, 95 – Jesse Schwarz
