Daniel Faulkingham held off a furious charge by Steven Wilson in the closing laps to take the checkered flag at a virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday night, and in the process picked up his first career eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series win.
Faulkingham, who resides in Jonesport, Maine, led the field to green on the final restart with three laps to go, with Wilson restarting in fifth — but with much fresher tires. Collin Bowden immediately bumped Faulkingham when the green flag dropped, sending the leader well clear of the field.
But Wilson began to make his move with two laps to go, getting to the back bumper of Faulkingham’s No. 54 Toyota midway through Turn 4. But Faulkingham guessed right and blocked Wilson’s No. 10 Ford to stay in front down the home stretch.
“I can’t believe we just won a Coke Series race, man,” said Faulkingham, who currently holds a playoff spot. “I’ve been (in iRacing) for seven, eight years now and always thought about getting to this level and to actually win at this level, man. Over the moon. Loss for words. We’re going to celebrate, that’s for sure.”
Wilson, an Iowa City, Iowa, resident, felt like he was in good position to steal the victory.
“Yeah I definitely thought I had a shot, you know,” said Wilson, who was seeking his fourth win of the season. “Fresher tires, we were moving. I think honestly we were the fastest car in the race for a race we were expecting to have a very tough time passing.”
Garrett Lowe, in the No. 89 Ford, finished third, followed by Casey Kirwan’s No. 77 Chevrolet in fourth. The No. 66 Toyota driven by Kollin Keister rounded out the top five.
With his three wins, Wilson currently sits atop the field if the playoffs were to begin today. Bobby Zalenski has two wins and Faulkingham is in a group of six drivers with one win on the season.
The regular season concludes on July 30 at a virtual Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.
–Field Level Media
