After a week off, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series resumed action Tuesday night, as 40 of the best drivers took on the fast yet bumpy Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In a race where drivers found themselves five wide at times, Jim Beaver eSports’ Kollin Keister executed after a perfect strategy call to be the first surprise victor of the season. With the win he ended a 1750-day winless spell, his first Coke Series win since May 12, 2020.
The Early Stages
Kanaan eSports’ Vicente Salas started on the pole with last week's winner Steven Wilson of Spire Motorsports to his outside. Last season, Wilson led the most laps but was unable to capture the win, as Keegan Leahy scored the victory. He was motivated to get revenge and showed it immediately at the drop of the green flag.
As the pack rumbled out of turn two Wilson jumped out to the lead taking firm control of the lead down the backstretch. Unfortunately for Wilson, revenge at Vegas would need to wait another year as on lap 7 Internet troubles hindered him, lagging him out of the race. Wilson eventually returned 14 laps down, but the lead briefly turned hands to Donovan Strauss of Williams eSports.
Strauss led the next twelve laps before Channel199’s Zack Novak took the point on lap 19. The next 30 laps saw the day's only long run play out to show who had the best car as on lap 37, Femi Olatunbosun of Spire Motorsports took the lead showing real strong command.
The Big Twist
Things took a real big turn later as on lap 49, eRacr.gg’s Tyler Garey crashed with Nate Stewart of Jim Beaver eSports, bringing out the first caution of the event.
What ensued after was chaos, the aggression level rose mightily with the field stacked back together and every driver being inside the fuel window.
Throughout the period Olatunbosun kept the lead and did not have much of a challenge as cars wrecked behind him in multiple instances as a result of going four to five wide bringing out cautions.
No one hurt more from this chaos than Kansas City Pioneer’s driver Graham A. Bowlin who was a victim in one of the crashes ending his day early just 55 laps in after being hit by multiple cars in the first pileup of the race in turn 1.
It seemed no one would be able to challenge Femi. But with all the cautions occurring, strategy plays were being played throughout the midfield, as many drivers who did not have track positions opted to attempt to change their luck with fresh tires.
With 20 laps to go Femi finally had a challenger as defending series champion Parker White of Williams eSports who was not on a differing strategy got to his outside, powering to the lead. Multiple wrecks continued to happen as White had control.
The Race for the Win
The biggest moment that changed it all, was a restart with 10 laps to go. With 25 lap fresher tires than the leaders, Kollin Keister missed multiple wrecks putting him in the opportunity zone to race for the win.
On the restart, White jumped out to a solid lead while Keister briefly fell back, before beginning his charge. The tire advantage became clear after a few laps as with 6 laps to go he overtook Strauss for the 2nd position putting him in striking distance of Parker White.
Then a lap later Keister made the move, going to the bottom of White. Parker attempted with all his might to pin Keister to the bottom, but it wasn’t enough as out of 4 he was cleared.
Keister would not be home free of the victory, however, as ERA eSports driver Michael Cosey Jr. grabbed 2nd from White with 4 laps to go. Cosey attempted everything in his power to try to get a run. On the white flag, it was his best chance as he closed in out of two multiple-car lengths back into turn 3.
Cosey sent it in deep just getting to the back end of Keister’s bumper but it did not phase Keister as he held the wheel steady racing off of turn four to secure the upset victory!
The win for Keister was not only huge for himself after ending the 1075-day dry spell, but was also meaningful for Jim Beaver eSports, after not being in the Coke field in 2024. The team returned this season with many speculating and questioning the team's roster structure for the year.
While Jim was very vocal on X, one thing for sure that wasn’t questioned was his optimism for this group and belief in both Keister and Stewart. This win certainly will be a memorable one and perhaps even a personal favorite for the owner considering the circumstances.
Up Next
The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series continues action at Autódromo José Carlos Pace- Interlagos, on Tuesday, March 4, at 8:00 ET. It serves as the first road course race of the season replacing Monza, which was raced last season
You can find coverage of the race on iRacing and NASCAR’s Twitch and YouTube live-stream platforms.
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